Atletika

I joined a gym this week (called Atletika), since as I said previously, I am planning to attempt to run the half marathon in Riga. Its right down the street from my house and despite the fact that their are only two treadmills it seems like a good decision. From walking around in Riga you can tell that the women here are very fashionable, well this hold true at the gym as well. I wore a UW t-shirt and exercise pants and listened to my i pod. I thought since they all know I am foreign anyway why try to hide it. I not only got looked up and down by every designer wearing stick thin Latvian I got looks like what the heck are you doing here. Lets just put it this way people here don't join gyms to lose weight they join gyms as a status thing. I saw girls walking on treadmills with faces full of makeup and bright white tennis shoes that have never touched the pavement.....as I am sitting there next to them sweating up a storm, with pit stains in my non-designer shirt. It was absolutely a circus show as people pretended to work out while staring at themselves in the mirror. I mean I know gyms in the US are probably like this as well, its just sometimes living in a society where everyone judges you on how you dress I would like for once not be thought of a frumpy unstylish foreigner. But I figure at least I am getting my money's worth..by getting a work out and hopefully being able to run the half marathon in May.

Estonian Lettuce

Since my host parents are out of town this week I tried to load up on the American food since I could have an infinite amount of time in the kitchen. I decided one day that I would make a salad. Seems easy enough right. When I got home from the store I realized that I had bought more than I bargained for.

Here is a picture of the lettuce (which was grown in Estonia) that I bought in the store (looks normal right?)

When I opened up the package I realized that the lettuce came in the pot (and dirt) it had grown in. I don't know if this is to keep the lettuce fresh or if Latvians really go home and continue to grow the lettuce. They say in America we are really separated and distant from the food that we eat (in growing and production), after this experience I don't think thats such a bad thing.

Easter Folk Dancing

There was a special Easter session of Folk Dancing this week with Scandinieki a folk group from the Latvian independence movement. I went with a couple of friends to listen to the music and folk dance. Here are a couple pictures from this event.

The group Scandinieki on stage while people are folk dancing.

The Doctor's Office

I hurt my knee a couple of months back and because I am planning on running the half marathon in May I thought I should get it checked out before I start training. I looked and asked around for the best place to go and finally found a private clinic with a doctor who spoke English (I feel that for health related problems its always best to speak in English, even though as I found out many of the terms are the same). She was very nice and her husband is even a famous Latvian politician which for some reason made me feel better.
So I went to doctor today to have it looked it. The office was very nice and instead of taking my weight and asking medical like questions I just sat in the room and waited for the doctor. She came in, said what seems to be the problem and then was like ok well let me take a look at your knee. I thought that her and her assistant would get up and leave the room so I could take off my leggings (because thank god I planned ahead and wore a skirt). Nope they just sat there and watched as I tried to take of my leggings without flashing them. Then I sat there with my leggings around my knees (because I was also wearing knee high boots) as she examined my knee and then consequently watched while I tried to pull my tights back up. Living here has really made me realize what a prudish American I really am. I mean almost every play I have seen has had naked people in it..on the beach there are always naked people and in the saunas. It always takes some getting used to me having grown up in a catholic family. After my doctor's appointment today I can't help but imagine what a gynecological exam in this country might be like. Yikes! On the plus side as I left I saw the former president Vaira Viķe-Freiberga walking her dog in the park..it was all very surreal.

International Women's Day

March 8th was International Women's Day, a day we don't really celebrate in the US, but I found out this is quite the holiday in the rest of the world. In Latvia they have been celebrating this day for the last 100 years (according to my host Dad). Basically on this day everyone gives flowers to the women in their lives honoring and thanking them for all that they do. They don't have Mother's Day here so this is the day that acknowledge women (which is a very patriarchal society is quite nice). According to my host Dad it was also celebrated during Soviet times but women still had to go to work. I thought well at least they got flowers one day year, even during the dreary days of the Soviet Union.

I walked past the main flower market, just down my street and it was packed with people buying red flowers (apparently the fashionable color). I took a picture so you can see how neat and colorful it looks.

Women's NGO Conference

Today the organization I volunteer for hosted a Women's NGO Network Conference at the City Hall in Riga. The network, made up of women's NGOs from all over Latvia, is basically the lobbying organization for women's issues in Latvia so the conference outlined what they did last year and what would happen in the upcoming year. The big goal for 2008 is the Gender Equality Law, which would make the concept of gender equality institutionalized in law and hopefully someday Latvian society. After the conference there was a reception at one of the art museums in Riga where we got to rub elbows with the Minister of Integration and other political figures. Here are some of the pictures from the event.

Riga City Hall
The inside of the City Hall
Inside the conference hall
The reception hall
My work colleagues, me and my friend Monika

Put, Vejini (Blow, Wind)

Today I saw one of the most famous plays from Latvia, Put Vejini (Blow, Wind) by Rainis the Shakespeare of Latvian prose. The play was about two star crossed lovers and their attempts to be together. In the end instead of hurting her sister, the heroine sacrifices herself and drowns, it is really a beautiful but tragic ending. I have really never read a Latvian play that has a happy ending which I think speaks volumes about Latvian culture but still despite the depressing content it is probably the best play I have ever seen. They had this Darwinian montage where the actors were at a museum and they came on stage and got dressed in their costumes. Plus if you look at the pictures below we were seated on the stage very close to the action so it made everything much more dramatic. In the end the only thing I didn't like was the audience interaction (they literally came into the audience and started talking to people).