Meltdown

We went camping. Our choice place was Sigulda. It's one of the most beautiful places in Latvia where there are actually hills & trees. I'm quite fond of both. Somehow we managed to find a camping spot by a lake below what was once THE bobsled/luge training track of the Soviet Union. You can see it in the background of the image below where Ieva & Peteris are sparring with quarterstaves made from obliging dead trees.


It was an idea I had while Peteris & I were gathering firewood. Below he & I demonstrated how I could be beaten every time! Peteris is a natural at anything he does.


During our one full day we went to the Turaida Castle where it's in the process of being restored. It's not much of anything to see really, as castles go, but the view is amazing from the top of the one rebuilt tower. We took some photos of the group while there. This one in the field of tiny daisies with the castle in the background is my favorite.

The Crew

The guys

The Divas

Yes, we had a lot of fun. However, I had a recurrence of all kinds of junk. Even though these guys speak English really well, they spoke a lot of Latvian, which is an excellent thing... especially since we're in Latvia! The problem was that I couldn't get many of their jokes because I just didn't understand the words. This became a source of major frustration to me, which kicked in my "turtle" reflex of closing myself off. It unfortunately caused a lot of tension in the group, which I regret. I didn't know how to express it, but I've since apologized to them & plan to explain to them what happened. I once wrote a paper on a similar experience I had in the first year of living in the Czech Republic. This time wasn't nearly as dramatic as that one, but it still hurt. But in true-friend fashion, these teens have loved me back "into the fold" as it were & I love them more & more every day.

~t