Game of Thrones and Philosophy and Latvia
Game of Thrones leads me to think about my place in the world. What is my identity? What is my culture?
Winter 2018-2019: Ziema
March 2019 It is true that I have not written in awhile. Winters in Latvia are really like a hibernation. Everyone kind of buckles down and settles into a routine to stay warm and alive during the darkest months of the year. It begins some time in late October or early November. You start to …
Romani
Warning: I am writing this with no photos or hard evidence. This is all based on speculation, and I will use the term “Gypsies” because that is what the locals call the Romani people who live in Riga. I just felt inspired to write this after a long conversation with one of my English classes. …
The Latvian Winter Solstice
A Very Pagan Christmas On this Christmas Eve eve, I am pondering much about this wonderful world that we are all a part of. It is an amazing feat of imagination to stop and think for a moment about all the people you know, have ever met, and —even more incredibly– the ones you have …
Hillforts 2018
22 December, 2018 Pilskalni Last weekend, Rita, Max and I went on a Hillfort adventure in Latgale, the easternmost region of Latvia. This was something like the 10th or 11th year that Rita and her colleagues have set out to explore the Latvian wilderness in search of pilskalns. What is a pilskalns? Well, it is …
Pirmais Gads: The First Year
One Year Jubilee Well, I did it! I have officially lived in Latvia for over a year, and I have a lot of people to thank for that! As with any jubilee, I think there should be a celebration, so this post is dedicated to all the people I have met and all the adventures …
Election Day 2018
6 October 2018 UPDATE! The results are in and the Harmony/Saskaņa won the overall election, but to have any power, a party has to have a coalition since no party won the majority. I am not sure what it means, but I think I feel a little disappointed. I do like that all these parties …
The Pope! 2018
I saw the Pope today. Pope Francis to be exact. Rita got on some list and we managed to score tickets to the Riga Dome Cathedral service starring Pope Francis himself. It was pretty cool. In fact, it was BlogPostCool™. I remember when I was quite young, and I saw news stories of Pope something …
Barefoot Trail: Valguma Pasaule
My newest post is going to be a reflection of my first full year of being a Latvian. However, this short post will be a quick explanation of the barefoot trail of Valguma Pasaule. The bad news is there will not be many photos. This weekend, we rented a car so that we could travel …
Positivus Music Festival
Three Days in a Tent When I was in Latvia in 2016, I learned about this big music festival that happens every July. Both Ansis and Rita talked about it. It is one of those classic stories where a couple of Latvians had a dream to get some bands to come to this tiny country, …