April 2, 2002: Washington, D.C.
Well here I am in Washington. I have been here about 5 weeks now and I will be going to Texas this week. I guess there has been lots of news. About 5 weeks ago I was flown to DC by Peace Corps to see a doctor. I am all better now and I will return to Texas. This has been interesting. I was able to fly from Tallin in Estonia, through Frankfurt to Washington. You know jet lag to the East Coast isn't as bad as it is to Texas.

Right now I am finishing my applications to graduate school. My plan is to study Library and Information Science. Amazing that I now havee a career in mind. I believe my inspiration was my CD-ROM project with Peace Corps, which I enjoyed quite a lot. I already took the GRE and with luck I will get myself into school this fall.

January 11, 2002: Riga
Christmas was fantastic. Courtesy of my family I went to Prague with some friends and spent the holiday there. Many beautiful things there and thousands of tourists, even on Christmas. I had the privilege to try Squirrel Soup. Yes, soup from those furry little rodents. That was the second course of my Christmas Eve dinner. It wasn't half bad only I kept thinking about the squirrel.

December 22, 2001: Aizpute
Well Thursday the most amazing thing happened. Well I went to bed and it was snowing lightly, super and I was pleased. But then some time in the night, Latvia was transported to Siberia. A huge - dare I say it- blizzard descended upon Latvia, dumping about two feet of snow, complete with wind that made me hold on to the fences as I walked to school Friday morning. I had about 4-6 feet of visibility. The funny thing was that the temp was about -7degC and I was hot in my jacket - thanks LL Bean! So I arrived at school a bit windblown with a frozen nose, but in one piece!

It is still snowing a bit now (on Saturday) but at least the wind has calmed. Now the struggle is to walk and hope that the sidewalks will be shoveled eventually. I am glad I don't drive. There is so much snow on the roads cars are getting stuck all over the place in my town.

Prague!!! I can't wait. I just heard they have bagels. I just want bagels every day, I hope it is possible! December 13, 2001: Aizpute
I had a fantastic Thanksgiving. After a long,long day at school I met my neighbor for dinner at my apartment. Normally she won't let me cook anything, and I go there, but this time we needed to eat before watching the German language show on tv. (The show is for intermediate speakers) Anyhow, so I had been to Riga shopping the weekend before and I bought tortillas and some dip mix. So my Thanksgiving dinner was bean and cheese quesadillas (sp?). They were fantastic, I used an odd cheese from Switzerland and some beans from Spain. International it was, but very tasty. Halfway through her meal Arija asked if it was fattening? How did she guess with the sour cream and all the gooey tasty things.

The semester is just about over here for the year and I am pooped. I don't think I have ever been this tired. Grades are due Monday Dec 17, but classes continue the whole week - so guess how effective that is, grades a week before the last lesson, no luck. My threats about the material on a test next semester so far aren't heeded. But we shall see.

For Christmas I will be going to Prague with three friends here in Latvia. We are just excited to get the hell out of dodge (so to speak). I figure at this point I would go anywhere just to be able to leave Latvia for a while. Oh yes I still like it here, but to not be able to go anywhere except when permitted and then have it be so expensive isn't cool. I want to live near a hub airport and drive a car - not possible as a Peace Corps Volunteer!

November 18, 2001: Aizpute
Today is Latvian Independence Day. I just returned from Lithuania, from the All Baltic Volunteer Conference. All the Peace Corps folks from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia met for discussion, learning and of course fun. One of my sessions was about the CD project and I presented our course of events and plans to the whole group. I also was the co-host of the Annual Talent Show. That was a blast. My co-host Delana and I helped keep things going between the great acts.

I have to work again now and I feel a bit more rested after the conference, I just hope my students are the same. Ready for some work and learning.

With the sky the way it is, and the meteors falling, I feel quite lucky. I saw 2 last night walking home and then 2 earlier in the week. It is super clear today and I hope it stays that way for tonight too!

November 4, 2001: Aizpute
Another month down. October flew by in the very fastest sense. Halloween was fun. In my gardening fun of last summer I managed to grow three pumpkins for the express purpose of Halloween carving. It was a great success. Both my english clubs - students and adults - loved it. Then we raffled them off and lucky people got to take one home. In my own home I carved some decorative pumpkins - the tiny ones- and had fun doing it.

Latvia has been having a major wind storm, the television news estimated that 1000 electrical transformers were destroyed by this storm. What is amazing is that there wasn't thunder or lightning, just wind and rain. I destroyed one umbrella and if this continues, I will destroy another. Flooding, trees damaged and generally bad feelings are all around Latvia. Near the big rivers the damage has been the worst, luckily they are not near me. The gusts were up to 27 meters per second, which is fast for here!

I am following the news from America the best I can. It is scary to think that such a nasty thing is being done to people in my homeland. Being someone working for peace and education it is disheartening and sad, but I have faith in the United States of America and in Americans too. But most of all I believe that the intelligent human beings will prevail, hopefully sooner than later! God Bless America!

October 11, 2001: Aizpute
So I have been working again for more than a month, and more significant it has been a month since the disasters in New York and Washington. I feel sometimes as though it was far away from me, and at other times it is in my mind ever present.

Life here continues. Autumn has begun with great force. The wind right now is so extreme I am beside myself to move. The news said that today gusts were to 21 meters per second. What that means is that trees are falling and I can't walk. To make it even worse, it is raining a bit and umbrellas are useless of course in the wind. The colors are vivid this year, lots more yellow than red this year. The heat is finally on in my apartment and inside my temperature has risen about 10 degrees F. YEA!!

School is ever present. I have lots of lessons, plus an english club for students and another for adults. Those clubs are great fun, since they are people who want to learn and practice english. I have 10-12 graders this year and they seem to fit all the norms possible about apathy. Most days have some joy thankfully, and that is what I need.

September 16, 2001, Aizpute:
" In the depths of winter I learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Camus wrote that. The sun came up the day after and it will keep coming up!

News coverage of the events in America on the 11th has been very full. Quite a few Latvians live in the US and people here want to know what happens. The compassion I felt and feel from my friends and neighbors here has helped me, feeling so far from America. I stay up late each night trying to get radio coverage - either BBC, or VOA and the newest addition is NPR world. That has been my lifeline to news, since the internet tends to be more expensive and less accurate.

I am quite safe here and several Latvians have asked if I need any help. All last week they asked after all of you, in America, that my friends and family across the ocean were safe and alive. I thank God that you all are! I pray for those who were not so lucky. It is the thought of all those children without parents and the parents without children or grandchildren that gets me. I like everyone else am sad and angry that these events can happen in America, the land of the Free.

Perhaps that America is free, to think and feel and choose, is the cause of such events. But as I listen to the news and hear of events in the US, of the actions against minority groups and Mosques, I cannot help but feel that those people who choose to hurt innocent people are no worse than the criminals who orchestrated this terrorist attack on innocent Americans! That is strong and I am far away - this I admit - but America is supposed to be better than the bad guys. I believe that in time the instigator will be found but we must never forget the innocence that was lost, and remember it when complaining about the long line at the airport.

I hope and pray for peace on earth. I didn't join the Peace Corps to watch American make war. A country like Afghanistan needs Peace Corps more than it needs bombs. I pray for restraint and cool heads in Washington, and I pray for the souls of the terrorists, that they may know God's will. For all the families and friends of those lost in New York and Washington, I have only the strongest sympathy.

Sorry about this rant, but I need to share my feelings. In a week or so I will share my school news.

August 31, 2001, Riga:
So I am now 23 years old. I celebrated my birthday in Vilnius, Lithuania. In some ways by accident. I was at a conference/training thing for Peace Corps and I got to travel home on my birthday. The first bus I didn't get a ticket from the counter, and I had tried, but the cashier told me to buy it on the bus. When I saw the bus I was thankful that I didn't get on. It came from Minsk and was old dirty and full. The people that did get tickets may have even had to stand all the way to Riga. About 5 hours. So I got a ticket on the next bus, which was beautiful, clean and new! Plus they had freon in their air conditioner and I didn't roast on the trip home.
School starts Monday. I will have 21 lesson hours this year, plus all my activities. That and I have 2 classes of 12 graders who are preparing for the state exams in english, so their stress should keep the motivation up. Otherwise I am looking forward to the year, being more peaceful and prepared to teach.

August 14, 2001, Riga:
Well I am in Riga for a doctor's appointment, but the last weeks have been amazing. I went to visit Estonia for a long weekend. It was splendid. I visited a volunteer there in Poltsamma, near Tartu. We visited Tartu, Tallin, Poltsamma and had tons of fun. I bought a traditional Estonian sweater, which is cuter than ever! Hopefully warm too. The bus trip up there is crazy, with the highway as it is sleep was impossible. Too many holes in the road. So I read a book and listened to music.

Finally I had more visitors to my town. Hilary and Aimee came after Hilary's birthday to visit. There was some lesson plan swapping as well as a bit of sightseeing. The weather was terrible, so more relaxing than looking was done.

School starts on September 3, and should be easier than last year. This year I have a clue now and basically know what to do!

July 30, 2001, Aizpute
I am now back in town after an amazing 3 days. This big event was the Latvian Song and Dance Festival. Every four years Latvia holds this amazing event. So last September when I joined the school choir I had only a vague idea of what would happen. For the better part of 10 months choral groups from all over Latvia have been preparing for this weekend. Every group sang for a commission and was ranked, a high score was required to go to the Festival. So Friday we had 7 hours of rehearsal together and then Saturday another 7, followed by the dress rehearsal. The weather was amazing, only those 14 sun hours nearly killed people. I had sun block, so I came out looking a bit browner, but others looked lobster-ish.

Sunday the big day- the opening ceremony of the Riga 800 celebration. (The capital's birthday celebration). First the parade, through the center of town and ending with the President's reviewing stand. With President Vike-Freiberga were the Mayor of Riga (Guntars Boyars) and the Prime Minister Andris Berzins. The concert began at 10 with the procession of the choir. The estimated count was 19,000 members. Television reported that 30,000 people attended the concert. I don't know how many got seats, but not that many! Then of course there were those watching from home. Singing lasted about 2 and a half hours, with one repeated song, which the audience demanded again. Ending with Fireworks!!! Wow, it was an amazing experience, one I expect to remember for the rest of my life.

I was dressed in Latvian National Dress, of Lazas County pattern. The clothes here have local patterns just like Scotland, my town hasn't a pattern so we use the nearest one. The outfit was completed with a flower crown. I felt like reciting lines from A Midsummer Night's Dream, or some other story. I am struggling to find words, but the night was simply fantastic. We were back on the bus by 1:45am and I was in my apartment at 4:30am. It was a bit scary driving, since the driver had only a little more sleep than we did, but drove as fast as he could. I slept from about 5am until 1:45pm. Now it is evening and my goal is to sleep at a normal time.

The Song Festival is now over, next summer there won't be one; the option is open to try to attend the Northern Europe Song Festival this year in Lithuania but only time will tell.

July 17, 2001, Aizpute
More pictures are up, so that should be fun. My pictures are developed from Slovakia, so next week I'll go to school and scan them.

The weather has been unbelievable. Every day (or twice a day) there is a massive thunderstorm, with wind hail and lightning. My power has been going on and off like it just likes to. The wind though has been fantastic. I haven't seen my garden since three storms ago, and I can't imagine if anything is still there.

Next week is the Song Festival. It is a big national event. I will be singing with my choir and I am really looking forward to it. WOW. When I have pictures in my national costume, I will send those out right away

July 11, 2001, Aizpute
I thought I was behind before, look at me now. So in the last weeks, I have had my parents visit. (It was super) I have been to Bratislava, Slovakia for a computer training and spent a week at a camp for Latvian Girls. So all these things bring me up to date. In between all of these things, my English club continues, I visited Strenchi (near Valmiera, to visit Aimee). So all told, things are not dull now that it is summer.

The theory that Peace Corps Volunteers have lounging lives is far from the truth. I feel as though I am running from place to place. I guess this is better than boredom though. It has been quite warm here, and most Latvians are miserable. But really I have been thirsting for such weather. I even have a bit of a tan. You can imagine the improvement from pasty winter grey, to pinkish! :)

I just finished Harry Potter 2 & 3. Really very enjoyable books. I never thought I would enjoy them so much, but thanks to Nathalie, I now am looking for them. Later this summer I am going to try to read the first one again in Latvian, but we shall see!

June 16, 2001, Aizpute
Well wasn't I a slacker in May??? So yes! But in my own defense I did finally get pictures posted online, and I hope to do more as soon as I can.

So May was crazy. Busier than I could hope to even describe. (To think some people join Peace Corps to rest?? Not me!) So my 9th graders had their national exam in English. Grading it was unbelievable. I had that luck to grade, but oh well. Out of the 32 who took it, 5 did not get the minimum score required. I do hope everything turns out okay for them, since here if exams are not passed then students may not be able to go to high school with their class. THey can go to other schools or simply work.

Just ending school, with grading and other crazy work was fun too. All of my grades were posted on time and correct and I am pleased with that. Latvia has a lovely tradition called "Last Bell." For 9th and 12th graders, this ceremony brings some closure to their years at school. Here 9th is the end of Primary, and 10th begins High school. So at this assembly of sorts, students and teachers share their feelings and thoughts about moving along in the world.

With school over, Mom and Dad arrived quite tired. We spent the first weekend in Riga, looking around and getting them comfortable in Latvia. We managed to see an amazing contingent of Museums which were amazing. Some haven't had much updates since Soviet times, but the content was outstanding. Each exhibit had information in English, but I think Mom and Dad got some joy watching me struggle to translate things out of Latvian into English. (WOWSERS)

Driving around for the rest of their visit, we went to Kuldiga, Kazdanga, Rudbarzi, Liepaja, my town Aizpute of course, then Kleipeda and Palanga in Lithuania. I call their tour, the Kurzeme tour, since we never really went other places in Latvia out of Kurzeme and neighboring Lithuania.

I believe they had a good time, and were thoroughly tired when I put them back on the plane to go back to the US.

From there I went to Cesis, a city on the other side of Latvia for a training about a summer camp I am helping to plan, as well as work at this summer.

So I am celebrating a YEAR IN LATVIA! Wow, some days I can hardly believe it myself. But then I can talk to my neighbors and eavesdrop on the bus, so maybe things are correct that way. I am happy to be here, and happy that it is finally spring (yes I know it is June, tell it to the weather)

April 26, 2001, Aizpute
Well today the sun came out today finally. I was surprised to see it when I woke up today. This week was crazy weather really. One day warm, next cold then rainy then today sunny and perhaps warm later.

School is going well, summer is almost here of course and I cannot wait for all the possible adventures. My Mom and Papa finally bought tickets to visit, so when they get here I will have been gone a year. Wow. I never thought that would be me, the world traveler! (Well maybe I did, I just never believed it)

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