A day in the park

My toes on the edge of my yoga-in-the-park towel.

Today gave another opportunity to have a fitness adventure. We saw on the expat website that there was free yoga in the park on Saturdays that it did not rain. Luckily, today the sun was shining, and I came back to the apartment with a little Latvian sunburn since the class went for 1 1/2 hours and I had about an hour of walking to get there and back. On the way home I stopped in a cafe and discovered a new kind of chocolate croissant that had mini chips in swirls instead of a blob of chocolate somewhere inside the bread. Yum.

How long has it been since you have laid down on a towel or blanket in the park and felt the sun on your face and the wind in your hair? Exercising outdoors (in this climate) is delightful. I was happy to find that this class was given in English and had two instructors. Lauren was American and taught the Flow style of yoga that I was used to in the gym. This felt natural. Our Latvian instructor taught the Kundilini breath of fire style that was a little weird for me. I wasn't about to start chanting something I didn't understand, so I prayer-shouted (inside my head) over the top of their words. With each exercise I tried a different scripture, such as the Lord's prayer, or praying the fruits of the Spirit over our family. By the end of class, I was praying for believers to be strengthened in all the places in the world I could think of in alphabetical order...Albania, Botswana, Canary Islands, etc. It was actually an exhilarating prayer experience for me, although I have no idea what everyone else got out of it. Someone's Daschund got loose in the park and ran through the center of the circle while we were practicing, so that was a first for me, too.

If you look far in the back of this photo, you may see two Indian guys hanging out on a park bench. These were the first southeast Asian people I have seen on our trip!

 

Apparently, other people besides Napoleon wore hats like these.

Wasn't sure what I thought of the Titanic inflatable slide for children

After lunch with the family, Will and I went to the park to blow off some of his steam. He moved loads of dirt off of the merry-go-round, and scraped the sand off the retaining wall. He jumped, climbed and ran nonstop before I declared that I was tired (from sitting on the bench and reading). Boundless energy. His characteristic English phrase is "me not tired".

Barry, the Latvian tooth fairy bought some sentams (Latvian change) and a kinder egg. The fascinating thing is that I just read online that they are seized in customs as they are illegal in the US for being a choking hazard. I guess Brennan and Mary Jayne will not be receiving the kinder eggs I bought for them today. I think World Market has something similar.

This afternoon we roused the family against much growling and gnashing of teeth to go to an organ concert. Not something that we would ever do at home, but then again, we don't have churches that were built in the 1200s either. Will promptly fell asleep and began snoring loudly. We were also approached by a teen boy on the streets for food and bought him dinner. I wondered what his story was. He, too, could easily have been one of the many orphaned kids who simply age out of the system.

To make it up to our less than enthused kids, we watched a little bit of some kind of speed (fishing) boat race on the way back.

Andy has been so gracious to the kids. I tend to be the "sorry, you had your chance" when it comes to first time obedience or consequences, but Andy has been compassionate and forgiving. I am very proud of him. Know your prayers are "availing much".

 

Day 13 Jurmala

Today we took a train ride to the seaside. Jurmala literally means seaside, and as a matter of curiosity, Vilnis means "wave". We saw banners with his name on them, but they were referring to beach things. It was fashionable for wealthy Soviets to have a wooden home by the sea around the turn of the last century. The architecture has been preserved carefully.

Guess how long it took for Will to be completely soaked?

Can you say "high energy"?

Boy and seaweed stick

The water was warmer than we expected, but Andy and I spectated from the park bench. We'll hold out for Myrtle or Daytona another time.

My toes in the Baltic Sea

I thought this sign was hysterical as Andy and I have different vacation styles when we are able to get away.

Will lost a tooth on the walk back. Wonder what the Latvian tooth fairy brings?

 

We are looking forward to coming home a week from tomorrow.

Day 12 Through Her Eyes

Do you vaguely remember the story of the Bremem Town Musicians?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6eFV_srZYs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Amber and woolen items for sale in the markets

A little laundry downtown

Scenes like this help me visualize how people lived in the wall of the city. They were thick. Can't you imagine Rahab letting a spy out of her window by a scarlet cord, in another time and place?

Swedish Gate, last part of the city wall, 1698

The Bahm family has been spotted in Riga!

Quiet time spot... Not too shabby.

Today's "entertain me" game....race your sibling to the rock and back. 23 seconds...not bad! Can you make it in 22? (We have no shame in trying to burn off some energy before heading back to our apartment!)

I have loved being able to stroll each day. We had to dodge the rain coming home, but it was worth it to enjoy these parks each day that we can.

Daddy and Me America Ninja Warrior Training (how many years until he can compete?)

Mommy and Me Modern Dance Class (homeschool style)

 

Today we witnessed the changing of the guard at the Freedom Monument (3:00pm)

Spent a few lats discovering that none of us are sure shots

Got my first case of bow burn, or whatever it's called when you hold your forearm in the wrong place.

Looking at paintings of the city...wondering if it will still be there if I decide to go back later.

This morning I loved going to a Pilates on the ball class at Reaktors gym. It is a 20 minute walk across town, but I was so happy to be able to take someone elses's class and learn some new tricks. It also gave me some great perspective on how I should use more nonverbal cues for those occasional intentional guests who have no idea what I am saying. It was encouraging to know that we do about the same things halfway across the world in our fitness classes.

Happy discovery of the day...Rimi, a real supermarket next to the gym. I made the mistake of picking up the wrong kind of basket. It had wheels that you could drag along the floor, but I didn't figure that out until I was in line. You need a coin here for a shopping cart (like Aldi). I asked a woman which one of the dairy products I was staring at was cream for coffee. She pointed to these and I felt stupid, but I wasn't looking for juice box sized containers.

Yesterday's trip to the corner store was just as comic with me doing pantomime to find fingernail polish remover. The container had four different languages but no English. I thought I saw something that might be acetone in the ingredients, but just wanted to make sure! Megan, we have patriotic toes now, at your things-to-do suggestion. Keep the good ideas coming. :-)

 

Day 12 Through His Eyes

Latvia...through the eyes of Andy

Lots of old buildings and cobblestone streets. Ice cream is sold on every corner. Think mini ice cream carts connected to bicycles. Found a rare Baskin Robbins one today. Paid too much. Tourist trap...kind of like TGI Friday's and McDonald's. The food may be good but we haven't branched out much. Laura Hardy could even survive here...if I can. We've had our share of pizza, eggs, French fries, hot dogs, and hamburgers and cokes. You can forget getting ice with your drinks. With soft drinks you have 3 choices: Fanta Orange, Sprite, and Coke. If you're lucky, even Coke Light. Had some sausage yesterday at the a la carte buffet that looked good but tasted like meatloaf and stayed with us for the rest of the day. It wasn't pretty. So much for branching out.

Our favorite bathroom sign

People: most everyone is straight off the cover of Vogue magazine. I'm not a subscriber but I've seen it in stores. Well, not everyone for sure. Some look like us. Everyone is white. Diversity is non existent. I think steroids are sold over the counter at the gym. This is my trainer at the gym. His name is Aivars Visockis, Mr. Universe 2009. Sorry Brandon, you've been replaced.

Everything seems permissible here...scary. A lot of tourists roam through the streets from the constant cruise ships that come down from the Baltic. I've never seen so many tourists that don't speak English. The men wear "man-purses". Feel justified Chris? Crossing the street is interesting. Most everyone waits for the green pedestrian signal before they cross. Even when no car/bus/train is in sight. Also, everyone seems to know just before the green light appears as they step off the curb into traffic. Our deal is we get behind the old ladies and when they go, we go.

Our favorite traffic sign

Annoyances: the ac in our bedroom makes an old school alarm clock type sound ever few hours. Wakes us up at night but man can it blast some cold air. The oven in the kitchen beeps every 30 seconds and for the life of us and Google, we cannot shut it off. Let us know if you find the owner's manual for a Kaiser Platin oven, in English! As soon as the clothes are done, I'm heading for the breaker box. Speaking of shutting it off, "Will" has no such button. He is 100 mph everywhere he goes as he was last summer when we hosted. He'll keep us on our toes, and age us a bit. There are no extras here. Napkins are scarce...and no way should you refer to them as napkins T tells me. Ketchup and any extra sauce anywhere will set you back. And to think I once protested Zaxby's charging $.25 for extra honey mustard.

Today: Hillary Clinton is in town but no one seems to care. I've heard of a few protests but did not see any today. We went roaming the streets for the 11th time and still seem to find new things. T made the 20 minute walk to "my gym" and did a Pilates class this morning. Then we went out for pizza at Lulu's Pizza followed by the ice cream. We walked home via a couple of parks and playgrounds and then the rain came tumbling down. Now it's down time as I finish my 5th book, T takes a nap before editing out the callous and inappropriate portions of this blog, and the kids are somewhere around here.

Paranoia: There are a lot of mysterious white vans roaming the narrow streets. I'm sure most have recording devices or armed personnel inside. You can't walk the streets or eat in the cafe's without finding your escape paths, sight lines, suspicious persons, etc. I'm in a perpetual Matt Damon (Bourne series) or Liam Neeson (Taken) state of mind. Every street corner seems to have been on those movie sets. But, human trafficking is very prevalent here so we do keep our kiddos on a short leash.

Thankful: we're thankful for wifi for sure. Loving You Tube since all of the movie services (Netflix, Hulu, etc) will not work once they see you're coming in from a non approved region. The AC is nice along with this apartment and complex. This is a nice place considering the pictures I had in my head. There are some luxury type spas and stores on the first floor of this complex so the Bentley's, Mercedes, and BMW's, most of which I've never seen in the US are constantly parading through. God has blessed us with nice weather compared to how winter would be. The kids are doing great and getting along well in between the bickering. They seem to have lost a fair amount of weight since we hosted them last so we will do our part to put some good 'ole American pounds on them.

Thank you for your comments and emails. We look forward to them more than you know. I apologize to the Yangs and Cabinesses for not communicating more when you were overseas with your adoption journeys. I loved reading your posts and staying current with your events but didn't think you would care to hear from the uneventful back home. It makes a difference! We like hearing from everyone.

 

Pictures from around town

I enjoy details. I don't have to know every detail of what's going to happen in life, but I tend to notice (and often delight in) small things.

If you're not that into culture or architecture, you might want to

skip this blog entry. It's all small stuff.

Here are some pictures that were taken here and there around town to show some Latvian culture and artistry.

Ligo is one name for the Midsummer celebration

Scandinavian influence from Swedish occupation

I would like to stencil something simple like this in our house...

maybe in the kitchen over an arched window

Traditional tautas deju cibas,

Folk dancing slippers

I love wrought iron work. I would love to have a garden gate one day.

Beautiful flowers everywhere.... I like these wavy patterns



The smell of roses as you walk through the parks

Will showing "big smile for ice cream"

Lots of pubs around...with various ethnicities..an Irish one, an English one...

 

A walk down Elizabeta Iela building after building with amazing detail

Some in disrepair, but many reconstructed

 

 

 

Reminds me of Paris...except that I don't understand the language

Andy tells me that he's thinking about a blog entry for us to be posted soon. I'm as curious as you are how he sees this city. Man lenses.

He's actually at Double Coffee tonight having some Andy time...and wearing a sweater. I could swoon. Take the man to Europe and he starts hanging out in coffeehouses and thinking about writing.