lapsinja's Journal

9:25am: leaving livejournal
Dear readers, I don't think there are too many of you, but just in case some of my friends (who already don't know how I am doing on facebook) are still reading this, I wanted to let you know that I am in a process of switching over to wordpress. I am starting a semi-professional blog, where I am going to reflect on my life as a social anthropologist, mom and a postpartum (postbirth) doula (woman's helper, actually servant or slave in Ancient Greece) in training. This is to be widely distributed. And, yes, we have just moved to the Bay area and are planning to stay here for some time. Will be eventually living in the house where Sherwin grew up. And in case I have not already said so I have two children now. Oliver will be four in February and Aleksandra turned one in August. They love to beat each other up. I think she will win in the long run, because she is tough. But who knows. You should never prejudged your children (even though parents do it all the same), as Western psychologists tell us. HAppy Halloween. I am happy I am in the USA for that.

YES, AND THE NEW BLOG IS http://karinadoula.wordpress.com/ (sorry livejournal, it was nice while it lasted)

5:48pm: Oliver turns 3
So, Oliver turned 3 last week. I could not sleep, so I was actually up at 4 am when he was born 3 years prior and thinking of how fast the time goes and how much has happened. Having a child is an amazing experience. To think that there is somebody who is totally yours and totally not yours at all. He is present in your life almost at all times while small and still he is so separate. I had a lot more to say, but I am hungry and cannot continue much, but to say that we will be visiting CA from February 22nd to March 13th.

10:59pm: Very quick update
I just read a post by a friend who was summing up a year. I am not even sure when I wrote last. In a way I have moved to Facebook for a quicker impact (and response from many more others) place for posting short news about myself. So, if somebody is still reading this and is not my facebook friend, please befriend me....

But here is my life very, very shortly.

I am a stay-at-home single mom (because Sherwin is in Moldova for 3 months) of 2 beautiful children, Oliver (3 in February) and Aleksandra who turned 4 months old yesterday. We are living in the suburbs of Riga, Latvia for another months. After that, we don't know what the hack we are gonna do. Sherwin's contract in Moldova ends in less than a month and I will be relieved of the burden (and lightness, as everything is in my own hands) of single parenthood. I don't think we will do this again, as it is really not good for the kids.

I wish my kids were best friends.... maybe my wish will be granted one day, but for now Oliver can smack and caress with the same hand and about the same time. Aleksandra still gazes adoringly at him. I wonder for how much longer....

2:20pm: Everyday miracles
I really don't think there is much more amazing experience than to see your child to share a private joke with another child for the first time, be it sitting in the stroller and wiggling their legs together in the same rhythm or standing at the Grand Army Plaza, pointing upwards and laughing about something.... the eagles seated on the top of the columns perhaps... to truth is... I am not completely certain. It is amazing that there is a human being who has come from within me and has been so much a physical part of me and who is now independent from me. And it shows in those everyday miracles... such as sitting and daydreaming for the first time or laughing about something just like that... or being scared from something that I do not right away comprehend. Yes, even being scared independently is a miracle.

12:02am: Brooklyn
I am not sure if anybody reads this anymore, but I am so totally out of touch with people, that I though as a nice first step I will update my livejournal.

We are living in Brooklyn at the moment. I don't have much time for myself. Almost all of it is taken up by a 16 months old, extremely attractive, young man, with dark brown eyes and light curly hair. He is into climbing furniture, stairs, slides... everything, in short. And I am running after him. Until I cannot any more.

I am a stay-at-home-mom I guess. A term that is only used here. In Latvia nobody identifies like that. They say majsaimniece, house-keeper, but nobody I know would refer to herself as such. I think it is because there is so much more state support for having a child (in the first year only, which is a problem, of course), that it is not extra-ordinary to stay home with a child. Whereas here it is a decision which you have to make and which puts you into a certain category. I am not sure if I like to be in this category, but I am ... for now

I might turn into a mom who works for home, but I still have not figure out, how I could manage that. But time will show.

For now, we are in Park Slope, we live close to a big park, which we frequent twice a day (and Oliver climbs everything possible in it) and I am trying to be happy with what I've got. It is not always easy, but then, I am sometimes wondering, if getting older, you just have to work harder on reminding yourself, that all is not that bad actually. Or is it just a self-delusion. I don't know.

All I know is that I have some very precious time that I get to spend with an amazing human being, my son.

6:43pm: Updates from New York
Is there anybody who still reads my online diary? If there is, I just wanted to let you know that the following things have happened in the last year

1) Oliver Viesturs Das, our almost one year old, flirtatious and headstrong son was born on February 4th, 2008 in a planned home birth in Riga, which was absolutely amazing and the ride has been amazing too, bumpy at times (like the first 3 colicky months), but amazing as well.

2) Sherwin, Oliver and I moved to the USA on 10th of October, 6 days after that Sherwin got a temporary job offer with the UN in New York and considering the financial situation we moved, even though the initial plan was to settle in San Francisco, closer to Sherwin's parents. We did spend a month in San Francisco until middle November, when the UN was finally ready to embrace Sherwin into his internationally generous embrace.

3) Since we moved, Oliver and I are an item. He is not ready for a baby-sitter (though I am getting ready for one... for him that, not me :)) , which he manifests with loud cries and big tears, whenever left unattended by me or Sherwin (his two buddies). We have been strolling around Manhattan for the last two month and a half. It sound more fun than it sometimes is, as there is a certain sense of lonliness and aloofness that two immigrants are bound to experience in this big city, but I think it is mostly me who feels lonely, Oliver is fine. His whole world is limited to two people at the moment. And he is not so much into things anyways.

4) We are moving to Brooklyn (from East Village in Manhattan) this weekend. We will be living next to Prospect Park. I am looking forward to that bit of nature and a better internet connection, which will hopefully enable me to write more often.

5:38am: How to spot a new mother
1) Her day is no longer 12 hours or even 16 hours long, it lasts all 24, ready to be awake and alert at any time
2) She is known to have written lists that contain the following information: Tummy 00:05, 6:50, 12:35 Eating 00:00, 4:30, 11:00
3) Even when in a bakery buying pastries (without the baby), she moves back and forth as if rocking a baby
4) Every squeaking door sounds like her baby crying to her
5) She has developed a very deep appreciation for anybody who has ever raised a child. Those people (and there are so many of them) are real heroes

Human life is a miracle. Oliver is a great proof to it.

4:10am: baby, New Year, blasts in luxury hotel, life and death
I saw our midwife today, who confirmed my feeling that our baby is not feeling like appearing any time very soon, even though he or she is already pretty tight in there. I can feel it too by the relatively limited movements in comparison to what they used to be (basically, one could see our little one dart from one side of the belly to the other from OUTSIDE, that was pretty fascinating). I am to expect a bigger than average child as well, according to her experience, which has not yet been confirmed by an ultrasound. This I find very strange, as both me and Sherwin were born quite small. It is strange to think that we have produced somebody different from us. I guess that will always be a wonder of parenthood.

New year has started pretty uneventful here. We are still expecting our biggest event in February. The events have taken place outside Riga however. And they are very sad. Besides to what is happening in Pakistan and seems really awful, the Afghanistan situation is also once more proven to be going out of control with blasts in a well guarded luxury hotel which appear to have killed a close friend of Sherwin, Thor (it is not confirmed yet definitely, but it seems like there is no mistake, even though all Thor's friends and he has so many are still hoping that there might be). Sherwin is devastated, and I who knew Thor only briefly having never lived in the same place as he, but having been touched by his bigger than life personality, cannot sleep tonight. It is quite usual for me not to be able to sleep for a couple of hours each night, but I usually spend them doing something baby related (crochet a blanket or read some pregnancy book or write something), but today I am thinking about life and death, which are brought very close while being pregnant and anticipating the birth, which is in a way a trip into the other word, a kind of afterlife or before land. And also thinking about how I know quite a few people (most of them closer friends of Sherwin, as I only spent about two years in the mission life), who are in very dangerous places in the world and are risking their lives all the time. I keep them in my thoughts, and naively pray for world peace. Sadly, it does not seem to be happening. Quite the contrary.

9:53pm: Christmassssssssssss madness in Riga
Ok, so Christmas is here. And I know that I have not written in over 2 months. This time has been very intense, lots of work and also turning into a more and more (visibly) pregnant woman. So my creative energies have definitely been diverted elsewhere. In fact, it is hard even write a two sentence email or call people about administrative things. The only administration I feel like doing is baby related. BUT it is impossible to miss the Christmas madness in Riga. Today, Sherwin and I went to swim (and were lazy enough to drive) to a pool about 15 minutes walk from our home, on the way back we got stuck in traffic .... for about an hour (imagine that?????) and that ended when we decided to park at the end of the street to avoid driving for at least another half an hour. Can you believe it?????? Riga was not built for cars, it was not built for two lazy (well, one of them is pregnant, so it is half excusable) people to drive to a pool around 3 pm during pre-Christmas time, when all the other people are driving somewhere too. When we moved here, we always had a parking space in the back of our house, now 3 years later, we sometimes have to park in front of the house. It is crazy....

I went to a shopping mall today, as we have our annual make it your-self Christmas decoration party and I needed some arts and crafts stuff, but I have sworn not to buy any presents in a mall this year. Either they will be self-made or bought on the internet (such as tickets to some cultural events or some journal subscriptions) . I hate this whole ordeal around presents. Also, especially this year, I feel like my biggest present is still in coming, scheduled to be delivered in mid February, and that nothing else can match that.

Btw, regarding presents... we have finally received the rocking chair I ordered for my bd. It is not that convinient, but I think it will be ok for rocking myself and the baby. Jete is very suspicious of it though, she would not sit on it, unless very, very much begged.

All is well... the work stress if finally winding down. There was so much of it, I don't even want to remember. Two major projects... one on domestic violence (which included a field visit for 5 days to Latgale, the part of Latvia my father's family is from, it was cold and dark there) and on cultural sensitivity (for people working with asylum seekers.... we have like 20 who are actually awarded a refugee status per year, but the tendency is to increase)..... so the baby had suffer through all this, because my capacity for stress management was super low. Heidi came to visit end of November and calmed me down, prepared me an iron tonic and in general finally made me feel this womanly, sensual (see: massage) friendship one longs to experience when pregnant. In the Latvian non-touch culture, it is almost impossible. But there are other ways. Anna for example spend an evening at my place knitting baby socks for the baby and she is very busy, so I really appreciated it. I have been crocheting a lot, which is VERY unusual for me. Have attempted to make a baby blanket for example.... and a woll baby jacket... (it does suspiciously look more like a one year old jacket than a one months old...and it is not even finished yet.... oh well....)

Happy holiday time for everyone.... I feel like I might be a bit more online from now on, but who knows..... Feel like need to spend a lot of time with Sherwin and our son or daughter whom we will meet in person in mid-February.

2:39pm: surviving double birthdays
So, Sherwin and I collectivelly turned 70 end of September (our birthdays are 2 days apart, only he is slightly older, by 10 years that is). I got obsessed about having a big party for all the people we know in Latvia, with the baby on the way, I thought this would be the last time we could have a huge party for a while. So we did. Last Saturday we had about 40-45 people in our tiny flat (62 sq meters all together, including bathroom and all). It was so loud, that one could not even hear the music and there was no space for dancing. 3 kids aged 1,5 years to 4 years attended and had a great time. Most adults did too. Very multicultural mix of people, something that does not happen too often in Latvia, even though most parties we attend, tend to be quite international. So, after midnight, there is a ring at the door, which Sherwin opens, that's our local police force, a man and a woman hiding behind his back. None of the parties we have ever attended has been attended by the police, and they have been much louder. "Who are you?" is the policeman's first question (in English, surprisingly, after all the talk about the lack of language skills among our legal enforcement forces) to Sherwin. I am there already and tell him in Latvian that he is my husband. It is of course our lovely neighbours who have not been able to come up themselves, but have gone straight to the police. While we are looking for the documents our friend Samija is returning from outside and overhears a racist comment not meant for our ears. She is brought up in Latvia, but her dad is from Sudan, so the guy is quite surprised when she does not take his crap and confronts him in Latvian. Later on, he lets us off with a verbal warning, because our cowardish neighbours have not gathered enough guts to hand in an official complaint. 5 days have passed and I am still thinking of what to do exactly. Considering writing an official letter to the police station and offering them a volunteer lecture on cultural diversity and combating racism, because outrage does not work in Latvia, it has to be something more subtle. Hopefully will do it soon, but have this natural protection mechanism from negative feelings, so hard sometimes to start up something unpleasant, such as dealing with a racist police force.

12:01pm: October Dullness
So, it is October and it is no longer sunny, which should not be surprising, because it never is around this time of the year, or at least it never is so that it is sunny every day. I would just so much appreciate some sun to cheer me up, because getting over the jet-lag has been very tough this time (we came back almost a month ago) and I still wake up with a cloudy head and cannot work.

I have surprisingly many short-term job offers (research projects) in October, so I need to get out of the clouds and start doing some serious analytical work, but it is truly hard. Want to make a little nest and bake cookies or something all day long. Ok, that really seems more like a sign of pregnancy than anything else.

In fact, I should bake cookies. It could be therapeutic. Maybe I will.

10:09am: Turning thirty
I am back in Latvia, totally exhausted. The trip back took more than 24 h and was as tiring as I expected and more, sleeping (or rather trying to do so) on the horrible iron chairs in the Vienna airport while utterly exhausted for 5 hours was the absolute worst. Still not completely over that yet. However, gathered enough energy to celebrate my 30th birth day yesterday. Was unusually excited about it too. Feeling like 30 was a good number, which I kind of have been using already for a while to describe myself on the age chart and will probably stick with it for a few years to come. Despite tiredness and work (that I should be doing right now, such as writing up (more, edditting it from several sources) chapter in the background paper on the strategy for the sustainable development of Latvia for the next 25 (!!!!!!!!) years, no joking matter, of course, I decided to bake my own bd cake from scratch and to make pizza also from scratch for about 15 people, close family and friends... it was crazy, but worked out and everything was relatively tasty.

Now, need to really get in the mood for that strategy, and also go to meet somebody from the International Migration Organization on a project on cultural difference of asylum seekers.

Strange phenomenon, did not want any presents for bd, turning into my grandma.... well, not entirely true, asked for a rocking chair, a present described as a retired people' s present by my friend Anna, as a common present.... maybe really turning into a retired person.

9:07am: Post-labour day
This entry could also be titled almost-post-US-trip, because we are leaving on Sunday morning, so this is really drawing to its close. It is strange, when something has been so long anticipated and has seemed like it will go on for ever. Frankly, I have been quite tired of being here (especially last week) and have been longing to go home, but now when I think of it, I also think of all the work I will have to do and the very cold weather that I have been told about in Latvia at the moment, and my wish to go gets a bit diminished.

Labour day weekend was interesting. Nobody I asked knows why this day is actually called Labour day. Answer involves something about workers. It is not like 1st of May, which is widely celebrated all across the Western Europe and also in Latvia and people usually have a bit more concrete idea about the purpose. Here it just seems like another long weekend, even though in this super busy country, it does help the workers if the state grants them a whole day off.

We went to the horse racing yesterday. I had beginner's luck with betting and was the only one who came out even at the end. My bets of 1 or 2 dollars in 6 races made me a total of 16 dollars, which was very exciting, as well as watching the horses run. They are so amazingly fast. Only, I wonder about the ethics of making money off 1) gambling; 2) poor animals who don't always look like they want to be there with somebody on their back.

10:07am: San Francisco, baseball, weekend brunches and dog walking
So we spent the weekend in San Francisco at Sherwin's brother's Gavin's place. Attended the Giants (baseball) game on Thursday, which was fun actually. It was sunny and the AT&T park is located on the ocean, so the setting was beautiful. A lot food consumption was involved. And some screaming and clapping, as Giants who are generally one of the worst teams won the game. By the end I started figuring out when to clap myself, faster than I expected, in fact....

Did lots of walking in San Fran, up and down the hills of Noe valley, where Gavin lives and in the downtown (shopping). Had very nice breakfast/lunch (oh, there is a word for it in English BRUNCH.... I wish we had such a concept in Latvia....) in Gavin's neighbourhood on both Saturday and Sunday, and observed A LOT of dogs being walked by their owners. In Noe Valley the dogs were generally small (french bulldogs, Boston Terrier and the fury brands that I don't know so well), but then we went to the beach called Hutton Fort or similar, and there we saw both hand and paragliders and a lot of dogs all different sizes, walking their owners, who all had some fancy walking gear on (one no longer needs to touch the tennis ball thrown to the dog, there is a device for that). My mum would have loved the sight. I think her heart would go out for Boston terrier.

10:13am: Hailed be the SAMOSA !!!!
Yes, yes, that's right. Yesterday after the interview, which went very well btw, we stopped at a rather big Indian food store (about 6-7 cashiers were working, all of them very busy) in the Silicon Valley (not exactly sure which place it was) and bought samosas, 50 cents each, still warm. Hailed be the SAMOSA (especially from that one store). I love them, despite the oiliness and deep frieness and sometimes over spiciness. Sherwin's mum freezes them and then occasionally takes some out. It should not be too often, as they really are all the bad things that I mentioned before, but THEY ARE TASTY.

Going to a baseball game today in San Francisco. Sherwin's brother with 3 other friends own permanent seats, which he gave us and Sherwin's parents for the day game of Giants today. Can you believe that? That will be a new "cultural" experience. Will stay in SAn Francisco proper with Gavin afterwards for a couple of days.

10:50am: Turning into an internet addict
So, it is so unlike me to be turning an internet addict, but it is true. Hanging out in Burlingame has that effect on me. I guess I could do something in the garden. Water the plants or something... or cook a meal... but am not inspired at all.

Have an interview for one project set up in Los Altos (about 30-40 min drive from here) today. Sherwin does not want me to drive there myself (since I have never driven in the States and it is not our car), so he will have to drop me off. I am interviewing Latvian Americans involved in philanthropy (re education) on the practices of philanthropy. Could be interesting.

Shewin is trying to sell his 1970s beemer. It is a very nice car (even for an amateur like myself), silver-blue, but totally immobile at the moment. Maybe it just does not want to be sold. For the last 8 years it has been in a garage and it always has started after putting a new battery in. Will see what happens.... That's as much suspense as I can get per day here...

6:04pm: Californization
Ok, it is not exactly Californication, which I realize can be taken as a bad enough word, but Californization I would like to speak about today..... blah-blah-blah....

The actual matter of fact is that I am BORED... I have spent the day in the suburbs, that is the same old place where Sherwin's parents live.

We did go to the swimming pool, which is 1) outdoor; 2) lovely; 3) has salty water which is wayyyyyy nicer than the usual chlorinated stuff.

A dinner at Sherwin's friend's place was cancelled today, so I am hanging out in the room, knowing that there are tuns of different things I could do, but somehow none of them seem that interesting. Maybe I will go and watch "Arrested Development" Sandro (whom we saw in Toronto) introduced us to and Dave (Sherwin's friend in SanFran) lent us.

We are still down to a hike every 2-3 days, have not shopped too much and have not been eating any fast food. Maybe Californization is better than I imagine. Yes, and we saw free Shakespeare in the park yesterday, which we came across only because we went to the Fresh market in Burlingame that very morning. A very decent performance of "Midsummer night's dream" by a professional theatre team.

Or maybe I could research grad schools. Oh, why, why is hanging out in a suburb so uninspirational?

9:30am: Califronication
Ok, so after a very intense end of the trip (a 120 guest wedding, where I knew lots of people, driving down from Canada, which involved 2 hours on the border in a rather short line, as they were taking it slow on the American side, a drive down to Vermont, where we met up with a friend and found a new friend in a colourful land-lady Elfriede, who was a German who married an American in 1959, then a long trip to Rhode Island through rain and Friday night traffic, worried crazy that will miss the rehearsal dinner, I felt so honored to be invited to, a longish trip over the continent, which involved waiting for an hour and a half for the flight to commence,.... well, you get the picture) WE HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED IN CALIFORNIA and my Californication can begin.

I am resisting... I don't even know why. Maybe because Sherwin is so enthusiastic about everything here, it is my opposing self who switches on. We had a very nice hike in Wunderlich park yesterday, about an hour long. We saw a street yesterday with different cemetaries on both sides that went on for miles in a town of Colma not far from Sherwin's parents live. There was something Disneylandish about the way the names (most of which did not include the word "cemetary" but rather park) were made out of flowers. And also we were aproached once more by somebody on the street asking for money who asked whether we had A MINUTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT..... what is this new craze in America????? everything is organic, trans-fat free and everybody all of a sudden cares for the environment. I HAVE MUCH MORE THAN 1 MINUTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, but somehow this marketed up interest in it in the general public, makes me very suspicious.... I guess I am just a very suspicious person....

6:41am: Toronto
I like Toronto. A very multicultural city with a taste of European of a big multi-ethnic Western European (maybe even Southern, but that is because we are staying in a district called Little Italy, where lot of Portugeese live) city. It hosts the largest China town on the North American continent, if we are to believe the bus tour guide in Boston. The consequences of this mixture and all the influences are sometimes funny. Here are my favorite and they have to do with religion somehow:

1) Right next to Sandro's house, there is a large church, that hosts condominum flats. It actually looks like the biggest part of the church is taken by the flats. There is also a sign for belly dancing studio in one corner.

2) A sign in a super market. Denim is my religion (well, that's probably not that Canadian, but goes with the religion theme).

3) Sunday morning. A Portugeese couple in their late 50s running to church. The woman is a few dozen feet ahead of the man, who is constantly talking from the back. She has an iron facial expression, determined to get there on time.

7:37am: From Boston to Toronto
We arrived in the US on a Tuesday night. Then spent the last four days on a very packed (curtesy to my ueberachiever planning inclinations) schedule visiting 1) Boston (mostly Cambridge actually and a bus tour with a funny driver, also a dinner with a friend in a lovely, but freezing Malaysian restraurant); 2) Mount Holoyoke (walked around in the heat with a former colleague); 3) Amherst (a professors house in a beautiful place in the middle of the woods); 4) Springfield (stayed with a Latvian friend, who used to go to the Boston Latvian school every weekend with me); 5) upstate New York, a little town called Seneca Falls, which proudly claims an important place in the women's rights movement, as it hosted an event that came up with a very important declaration in 1848, visited a friend there, who was just walking out of her office with a box in her hands, as it was her last day at work at a small local newspaper; 6) Niagra falls (a super touristy place, which was more than one can bear and the stunning natural beaty of it could not make up for it for me); 7) Toronto, where we arrived last night via Oakville a ghastly suburb, where we visited a restaurant owned by a friend's sister, which seemeed strangely misplaced, because it actually had some style.


Needless to add, I am exhausted. I stayed in last night, as Sherwin and Sandro, a Georgian friend we are visiting in Toronto, went out and was very happy to fall asleep at 10 pm. Now I am up bright and early and bothering Sherwin with the sound of the clicking computer key-board.

9:40pm: Another year, another wedding anniversary
And so it is. Sherwin and I have been married for two years now. We celebrated our wedding anniversary on July 15. I am not going to reflect on the married life here at any length and out of superstition (we Latvians are damn superstitious) will not evaluate it. I will only say that we spent a very nice day driving to the sea and eating blueberry pancakes in the morning (prepared by Sherwin, I picked the wild blueberries though). The weather is getting better here in Latvia. It was sunny on our wedding day and has been so on July 15 ever since.

2:40pm: East Coast trip
So, the East Coast part of the trip is more or less planned for now. Arrive in Boston July 31st (Tuesday) late evening. Overnight in Boston for two nights. Go to MHC on August 2nd, meet up with some friends and professors, overnight in Springfield or around, go to Seneca Falls (Amaris) the next day, arrive there around 5-6 pm. Go to Canada on August 4, meet up with Sandro by the Niagra Falls, overnight in Toronto (two nights), drive to Montreal on Monday, stay with Sherwin's aunty Agnes until Thursday, August 9, when drive back via Vermont to Rhode Island, where we would arrive August 10 (the plan is to stay overnight with a friend in Vermont on the 9th, but this is not confirmed), Little Compton for Ellen's wedding August 10 - August 12, have brunch on Sunday morning and drive back to Boston. Spend the night in Boston, hopefully with Sabina. We will depart for San Franciso from Boston on Mon, Aug 13 11:00 AM, where we will stay until September 9.

Ok, this is very technical, but it pretty much up-to-date. It involves a lot of driving, which might not seem a lot for an American, but for somebody living in Latvia, it seems CRAZY....

12:31pm: Summer solstice
I know that astrological solstice was two days ago, but here in Latvia we celebrate the eve of the 24th, which is Janis (John) day and also by coincidence my mum' s birthday, which is why I almost always spend it with my mum in Kazinas. This year we are driving to a friend' s place in the north of the country. Actually, Sherwin is already off, and I will be going later with my friend. Riga is empty already. There has been a mass exodus to the country side. For some reason I am not in too folksy a mood today. Have not made home-made kvass or baked anything, only ordered. Oh, and I just remembered that I am supposed to pick up some baked goods, that I ordered in half an hour, so priecigus Janus (happy Jani), everyone.

10:09am: Trip to the US
Ok, so the trip to the US is more or less confirmed now, as we have booked the tickets. We will be arriving in Boston on Tue, Jul 31 07:55 PM. Will then probably either overnight in Boston or go to Springfield, Mass and visit MHC the next day. Then we will proceed to Canada (Montreal) via Vermont to visit Sherwin's aunt. Ellen's wedding (btw, she caught the bouquet at our wedding, so it does woooooooorrrrkkk.... :) ) is on August 11 in Road Island, so we will make our way back by then. Not exactly sure about the details. We will depart for San Franciso from Boston on Mon, Aug 13 11:00 AM, where we will stay until Sun, Sep 09 07:55 AM, when we catch our flight back to Latvia.

The plan is to do some sight-seeing while on the East coast, as Sherwin has never really experienced it. We are trying to avoid the big cities, Boston excepted, which probably leaves out most people I could visit. ):

2:32pm: Bribe talking president for Latvia
So, it has happened. Latvian parliament has just elected a president (he does not have the same rights as if elected by the nation, but still has quite a lot of "moral" impact, at least used to), who is a doctor and has admitted taking money from patients (claiming that he has never asked, but has not declined if they happened to give it to him). His only mistake, was not paying taxes on the "presents", but other than that he claims to be blameless. Sherwin and I have actually seen him for Sherwin's foot problem last summer and did not have a very high opinion of him, even as a doctor. What is happening in Latvia.... !!!!

Slightly more at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6707233.stm