"Won't My Mommy Be So Proud of Me..." or "Our Thanksgiving in Latvia"

A week after Thanksgiving and we are still enjoying the turkey from last Thursday in the form of SOUP! Our mothers and grandmothers would truly be proud of our ability to make soup from the remains of the turkey. We did, however, give the soup a Latvian twist by adding sauerkraut - Hey, don't knock it until you have tried it!
Our Thanksgiving Day in Latvia consisted of us attending language class in the morning, cooking like banshees with the office staff in the afternoon (see photos), Courtney preaching and leading worship in the evening, and eventually (around 8pm) eating turkey & gravy, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a variety of Latvian interpretations of "An American Thanksgiving Side-dish." While we enjoyed the cooking and serving of the food, the day itself did not feel very 'restful.' The following day the district office of the church hosted a pastors' meeting, which began with all the warmed-up leftovers. This day had a much slower pace and the meal itself was more relaxed for us - this helped to stoke the ember of Thanksgiving feeling. In these photos, you can see that the pastors and office staff enjoyed the turkey - for some, this was their first time ever eating turkey!
On Saturday, we celebrated a day of rest. We enjoyed more leftovers and unpacked two footlockers we shipped from the US. Shelving books and putting away kitchen utensils while still in our pajamas helped us to feel a bit more settled in this place. One of these photos shows some of the books and kitchen utensils we shipped from the US (notice the pasta machine!!). The other photo shows our smiles after successfully unpacking the trunks.

Where Did All The Music Go?

Well, you may or may not spend hours a day wondering what happened to the One-Hit Wonder Music from the '90's. Or maybe you wish you could listen to the cheesy (and downright weird!) love ballads of the '80's. Wait no more! Come to Eastern Europe! Over the past few days whilst running daily errands (A brief side-note: we cycle through the 7 items in our fridge frequently, requiring multiple trips to the grocery store each week - which we see as a good thing because it offers a a chance to practice our language...) we heard Vanilla Ice, Ace of Base, Spin Doctors, and some, well, let's just say if people really grasped the meaning behind some of the lyrics, then they probably wouldn't broadcast it at overly high decibel level for the entire store to hear.
Yet we will admit that some music caused our feet to tap and smiles to spread across our faces :)
On a more serious note, Latvians, on the whole, love to sing. Instead of protesting by abandoning work or lighting things on fire, they gather choirs from around the country, set up a stage in Riga, and sing for hours. This upcoming summer Latvia will have their National Song Festival with an expected attendance of more than 100,000 people (36,000 of those will be members of various choirs).
Well, that's all on this cool (33 degrees F) evening.

Bundled and Warm

Last Sunday (the 18th), Latvia celebrated her independence day. The festivities concluded with a fireworks show on the Daugava River. Courtney and I dressed in layers: long-underwear, long-sleeve shirts, heavy sweaters, jackets, scarves and hats. (The photo shows us happily bundled.) As we waited for the fireworks, we watched the river flow by us. Our friend, Kristine, said, "Wait until the winter when the river freezes over so thick that people will drive their cars on it!" We responded in unison, "You mean this isn't winter yet?" The three of us had a good laugh...
So, one of our new quests will be how to figure out how to remain warm this winter :)

Conceptions of Time

Time has a weird way of lingering and rushing at the same time.
Weeks and Months...
We sat in our living room tonight reminiscing that only two months ago we shared a meal with family in Boston before we went to training with the General Board of Global Ministry in New York. We had a fantastic time meeting 14 new people (pictured here) who became dear friends over three weeks (which seemed like months - in a good way). Only a month has passed since GBGM commissioned us - that seems like a year ago... We only arrived in Riga three weeks ago, and we have had no concept of time since arriving. While the actual arrival doesn't seem that long ago, the first few days here could have happened last winter...
Days...
Some days blur together, and before we know it the week ends. Other times, a day seems to last for 48 hours and we feel as though we actually accomplish a couple of things.
We think that part of this has to do with a whacky work schedule while another part is effected by our northern latitude. In winter, Riga starts to get dark around 4.30pm, and by 6pm it can start to feel like 10pm or 11pm. So as far as hours in a day goes, our internal clocks have yet to adjust.
Even so, the reality as we write is that it is getting later and we need to get up early - so no matter how we feel, we should head off to bed.
PEACE to you - in whatever space of time you currently feel like you live ~ Court and Dan

Learning the Language and Drinking Tea

Learning Latvian can take many forms. One way happens in the classroom - we have classes 2 mornings a week. Another way happens in ordinary experiences - like shopping.

So during our first week, Court and I decided to pick up some milk while buying some other groceries. I stood in the dairy section scanning all the cardboard cartons of various sizes and various prices. I noticed the numbers conveying milk fat (no terms of fat-free, skim or whole to help) and I found one at 1.8%. Satisfied that I had found milk as close as possible to skim, I tromped off to find Courtney and declare victory at finding milk for her cereal and our tea - (when moving to a new culture, it's the little successes that can make one's day!)

We walked home, started the kettle for tea, and unloaded the groceries filling our European fridge, which took about 15 seconds and consisted of 7 items.

I don't remember why I went to the living room, yet I remember the startled outburst from Courtney as she made tea in the kitchen. I ran around the corner to see a very perplexed look on her face...

We now know that kefirs (a mix between buttermilk and plain drinking yogurt with an odor of sour milk) is not milk, as kefirs does not look, smell, or taste the same as milk. We quickly learned that piens is Latvian for milk.
~ Dan

We've arrived!

So, our first official post to this blog - what to say? Well, We Have Arrived in Latvia. We landed in Riga a week ago Friday. Three of the people we will work with (Gita, the District Superintendent (not pictured); Kristine, the Admin. Assistant; and Inga, the finance person) greeted us at the airport in a traditional Latvian way - FLOWERS! The Latvians love their flowers! You can see flower stalls everywhere and all the time - below is a photo of some vendors in the snow.
Last Monday we purchased furniture for our apartment - and then we spent the next two days assembling some bookshelves, a bed, a wardrobe, a mini-dresser, and a table - it is nice not to live out of our suitcases.
What's the weather like? We experienced our first snow yesterday. The weather has not yet been as cold as we thought - in the 30's and 40's, yet today I (Dan) have officially felt the cold to the core most of the day. We are soooo glad that we have electricity to run the radiators that our landlord provided for us.

We thank God for the opportunity to live here for a bit.

Well, that's it for now - we wanted to start with a brief post. We look forward to sharing thoughts and experiences in days and weeks to come. PEACE ~ Dan and Court