Good News

Some would say that I just got bad news… but I don’t think that would be accurate…

You see, due to the server crash at school, this morning I was checking my Yahoo account (for all those who wish to get in touch with me this is fullfirstnamelastname@yahoo.com :)). In checking this Yahoo mail, I noted that I had an old email about my summer internship sitting in my inbox. Since I’m at the very end of said internship, I decided to read it… I opened it and found that it was the note from the Europe HR lady saying that I could not go to France and had missed the selection date for Europe entirely. I had to grin. So, here I was in Latvia reading that old email. At the time I received it, I was crushed. I’d never have even considered the possibility of Latvia. I mean, I didn’t even know more about it than that it existed. But God knew all about it and had been planning for it… had been since the beginning of the fall semester when my car was totaled… had been from the beginning of time, for that matter, I suppose :).

Hit with this inspiration, I hunted down a favorite verse (and its successor) on BibleGateway:
“There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:30-31) If God wanted me to have an internship, the State Department was going to have a hard time stopping it happening. Likewise, I could put together an entire cavalry and, without God’s blessing, it would do me no good.

It is in that frame of mind that I received news this evening that I did not pass the Foreign Service Written Exam. I am… well, mostly surprised that I’m not disappointed. Do I think that I will end up being accepted anyway? Well, it could happen (all bets are off when discussing the actions of the State Department), but no, not really. That’s just not where I’m supposed to be right now. God has something better elsewhere… though only He knows what that might be. Heavens, I don’t even know what I’m going to do in this coming semester! But He does… and He’ll see me safely through it… and the next one… and post-graduation life. How do I know? Because He’s seen me through the past year and the twenty before that.

In all of this, I can’t help but marvel at Providence – even in server crashes… which cause you to check another account… read an old email… which increases your faith… so you can meet whatever challenge may come your way later… :)

More Adventures

This is my last week in Riga (how hard to imagine!), so I’ve been making the most of it :). This past Saturday included a trip to Pilsrundale, a large residence out in the countryside. It was just too fun not to discuss here :).

As I walked out the front door, I felt I was heading off for an adventure. Home was behind, the world ahead – a world full strange sights and sounds and unknown peoples speaking unknown tongues. The perfect way to spend a Saturday :). I was, at least, well equipped for adventuring: cane, camera, extra battery, money, and my hand-drawn copy of the map to bus station. I also brought my magic umbrella, and, true to form, it kept it from raining the entire time.

I made it to the bus station without taking a wrong turn and bought a ticket to “Bauska.” This was not the end of my journey, but the place I was going was so far off in the country that I had to go to Bauska first and then get a bus from there to Pilsrundale. The bus, to its credit, was at least as comfortable as an airplane. The seats were back just the right amount, their headrests were at just the right spot, and they were nicely concave, so you kind of sank down in. Granted, if I thought it was comfortable, it was probably a torture worthy of one of the lower levels of Hell for most people. But I was happy :).

The Latvian countryside, incidentally, is lovely – I should have traveled through it more often. It actually reminds me of Alabama: flat, same number of fields and trees, same ratio of good to dilapidated buildings. It just does the heart good to see such things. To see the wind caress the soft heads of golden wheat… the white birches with silver leaves… the chestnut cows grazing on green grass… the sky that stretches from horizon to horizon.

After an hour and a bit, we pulled in to the Bauska “autoosta” (bus station). There I discovered that the next bus past Pilsrundale wouldn’t leave for another hour and a quarter. So I explored Bauska and found a grocery store where I purchased some things to lunch on. I carried them back and found a bit of grass and shade at the autoosta in which to eat.

Finally, the bus arrived. I rode a little farther into the Latvian countryside and found myself getting off at a little stop in (seemingly) the middle of nowhere, yet named “Pilsrundale.” A group of young people who got off with me headed down the road, presumably knowing where they were going. But there are easier ways of finding what you want. There was a little café and 7-11 equivalent nearby and I walked in and asked directions. The lady pointed to a path just outside. I followed it and found that I had been given a short cut. I arrived ahead of the group. I was very gratified.

It seems that, unless you’re with a group, the trip through the house is self-guided. Which was just as well, in my opinion. Along with my entrance, I purchased the right to take pictures inside the house – and this was well worth it. It was gorgeous. I’d love to live in a place like that, really. I know gilding and mirrors and ballroom sized halls are turn offs to some people. I’ve never understood those people. Rich and ornate are good in my book, and I got my fill of it then. I basked in the glory that is big rooms, painted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, beautifully patterned wooden floors, and rich color. But words simply can’t do it justice… ... and Blogger's image uploader is giving me a hard time... so, I've succumbed to a slightly less aesthetically pleasing and efficient way of getting them up here. You'll have to scroll down :).

Just as enjoyable as the house were the grounds. It was threatening rain, with steely, swirly clouds overhead – and that helped. It particularly made for lovely photos. I wandered among the gardens and probed the secrets of the high hedges. I took copious pictures. To walk, to smell grass, to breathe the clean, rain-ish air, to imagine what fun must’ve taken place there – ah, it was heaven.

When Ashlea, Sarah, and I take over the world, I’m living at Pilsrundale. At least for the summer :).

"Detail"

Here's a gilt wall detail from the main receiving room. The picture doesn't show its size - it's a good four to five feet tall.

The Ballroom

Imagine having the Liberty Ball in here!

My Kind of Decor

Ah... the furniture... the floors... I could definitely bring myself to live here. :)

Pilsrundale from the Back

The house itself, in all its splendor.

Gardener's House

The building is the "gardener's house," as seen from one of many hedged lanes through the "back yard."

Gorgeous Roses

The Latvians do love their roses... The one thing this picture doesn't capture is their positively wonderful smell. :)

The Daily Grind

It occurs to me that y’all have heard about all my “extra curricular” activities and not really about my day-to-day existence at work. There is a reason for this. Work is... well, work. It's mundane. There are many more interesting things to talk about. Nevertheless, I suppose I ought to include it to provide the full flavor of the experience… at least for Josh’s sake, since he, lucky boy, will be in the same boat soon enough :). So, in that spirit, here is a normal weekday:

0830-0845: Arrive at work and check email
0900-0930: Listen in on ambassador’s “press briefing” (what’s going on in the local media)
0930-1000: Coffee in the cafeteria, if lucky, with Alvis and Iveta (Latvians colleagues)
1000-1200: Hopefully there will be some sort of meeting or my boss will hand me something to work on; if not, go back to the office and read emailed news articles… maybe check home email…
1200-1300: Take a nice, leisurely lunch
1300-1700: This is the worst stretch, because it’s the longest… Hopefully, again, my boss will have something for me to do. If not… check cables in the frostily air conditioned room, check email, send email, type up personal philosophizing and email to self, draw something if I’m really hard up – all to the tune of “Star FM” on Dainis’s radio or the recorded sound of running water coming from a supremely annoying advertisement across the street.

(Granted, some of my days at work have been really exciting/interesting: going to conferences and speeches, traveling somewhere as part of the ambassador’s entourage, and meeting Latvian officials. But, then, that’s interesting ‘cause it doesn’t happen everyday :).)

Fortunately, since the sun stays up ‘til about 2200, I still have about five hours of free time left when I come home – which is devoted to “extra curriculars,” dinner, etc… the fun stuff. In fact, now is part of that free time… and I must leave to meet my boss’s wife for shopping and dinner… so, toodles for now :).

Half-Blood Prince

After reading about a hundred pages of my new book on Sat., I proceeded to simply finish it off over 13 hours on a long, cold, rainy Sun. (I had to get up early to take Daniel to the airport – this added extra reading time. :)) Such practice is, I grant, rather uncharacteristic. I am the sort of person who takes a rather long time to read a book and I therefore don’t normally have time to read a whole one in one sitting (not since about 7th grade, that is :)).

I savored each word, yet couldn’t keep from scarfing up paragraph after paragraph… so I finished the whole thing… I think, maybe, this is what a boa constrictor feels like after eating a whole deer or some such. Anyway, I now feel like talking about it – but I’ll try to keep it to general/cryptic terms for those of you who haven’t finished yet.

At the most basic: I think Em’s theory about the odd-numbered books being best is probably right. This one, while good, wasn’t up to par with, say, books 3 and 5. But it was obviously not awful, either, since I spent all day reading it :).

The cons:
It lacks, in many places, some of the rich detail (without long descriptions) that the other books possess.
It gets stuck in a little bit too much character interaction and not enough action and movement. Yet one facet of interaction conspicuously missing is that between the students and the adults/professors (which I had always liked). Most of the scenes focus solely on the trio and their satellites. Because of this phenomenon, the plot seems “looser” than the others.
And then there’s the ending/climax… I had best keep my commentary to the fact that I saw it coming, but hoped it would be effected in a more favorable manner, since they are my favorite characters. (Yeesh, how’s that for vague?)

The pros:
Harry is not angsty and annoying anymore! He’s actually matured! *and there was much rejoicing* Seriously, this is enough to outweigh much of the cons.
Some of the chapters were real gems. Numbers 22 and 23 set me off philosophizing, which is, for me, the sign of a good novel :).

Random comments:
They need to teach Latin at Hogwarts. That would have prevented a certain… “mistake.”
When I see/hear my name, I assume that I’m the one being referred to, since not many people in the English-speaking world bear it. I am continually weirded out, therefore, when I see it in print and applied to even a minor character.

This concludes my general opinion :). Those of you who are going to read it, please, please, please, finish it soon so we can get on to the more interesting details :).

*gloating*

In our travels today, my brother and I passed the local bookstore a couple times and it occurred to me... Harry Potter #6 just came out... It was at least worth checking on. Sure enough, when I asked for it, the lady at the desk smiled and said they certainly did have it in stock and ran off to go fetch a copy. So, without standing in long lines or waiting up 'til midnight, I'm now the proud owner of a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (British edition, what's more :)). I was in the process of reading Huxley's Island, but it didn't stand a chance when brought face to face with this new arrival :).

My Visitor

Who am I to disregard Carolyn and Nathan? :) ‘Tis, in fact, my pleasure to comply with their requests and provide a brief update on my existence…

Daniel – my brother, my partner in crime, “The D” (vocative is simply “D”) – arrived, finally, on Saturday last after spending some extra time in the Milan airport. Since then, we have wandered about town, eaten at some lovely restaurants, gone shopping, and gone to the beach. I managed to get Monday off (it’s not very hard, since they’re not paying me :)), so we had two and a half days to bum around before I had to head to work.

On Sunday he got the “Old Town from Gabi’s perspective” tour. Monday was a trip to Jurmala to see the town and relax on the beach – which for him was sunbathing listening to his MP3 player and for me was wading to stay cool and remaining as covered as possible as I finished Gaudy Night. I also finagled Wednesday afternoon off, and we walked around and went clothes shopping, mostly for fun, partly for an elusive outfit he wanted; we did accomplish the purchase of a pair of European-looking black leather shoes.

We’ve managed to eat at some fairly fun places – some old favorites of mine, others that were new to both of us. …The French bakery, where I fed the sparrows some of my pastry… the Iguana, next to my apartment, where we could get some fairly decent Mexican edibles… “Steiku Haoss,” which was sort of a Latvian take on the wild west (with really excellent steaks)… the Skyline Bar, on the 26th floor of the Hotel Latvia (taller than anything else in the area, so it has an excellent view of, no duh, the skyline :))…

We often watch movies in the evening – mostly in the apartment, but we managed to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith in the theater (and enjoyed it). Yesterday evening we watched the Bourne Identity over Ramen, ice cream, and pieces of a cake-sized napoleon in lieu of a birthday cake (since his birthday is on the 19th).

This evening we went to an organ/soprano concert in the Dom Church downtown. The D liked the lady's voice and survived the rest by observing what sorts of watches our neighbors were wearing. My highlight of the evening, on the other hand, was hearing the organist play "Adagio in G minor" by Albinoni - it was full, rich, moving. The notes spoke of something... terrible, in the fullest sense of the word. And the dramatic ending! Every molecule of air in the old cathedral quivered. As the last note died out, many wide-eyed smiles of appreciation could be seen in the audience.

So, we have kept busy but haven’t been hurried; we’ve taken it easy. Tomorrow is going to be something of a catch-all day for the other things we haven't gotten around to. Possibilities are to go to the zoo, get to the top of St. Peter’s, maybe return to Jurmala, and see the Fantastic Four in the theater… So, I'll see you 'round :).

Dinner at Suns

I would normally fix supper for myself and eat in on a week day, but I didn’t feel like it… so I found myself at Suns, a little “Latvian take on American food” restaurant in the shopping center in which I live. I ordered the nachos grande and an iced tea and sat back to contemplate. I contemplated the fact that my brother missed his connection and is stuck in Milan until Saturday. (At least it is the sort of situation that will be enjoyable in retrospect. :)) *shrugs* It really shouldn’t change plans much. I’ll just take my time off on Monday and Tuesday instead. I simply hope he finds something to entertain himself with in the day and a half he’ll spend there.

Coming to the end of that train of thought, I scanned the news playing at the bar to get an update on the bombings in London, a story which first broke here about the time I went down to the cafeteria to acquire some lunch. At least it looks like the death toll will remain relatively low… particularly compared to what it could have been. (Ever marveled at that phenomenon? How we said, when the WTC collapsed, that there should have been about 10,000 people working there, but less than 3,000 were killed? How these attacks at morning rush hour could have killed as many but the current death toll is only 33?)

Having gotten the update I desired, my thoughts turned to the current discussion between Carolyn, Ben, and Jonathan about conformity and individualism. I almost considered joining with a post on my views on/issues with “authority,” but decided on second thought that I didn’t feel the need to wade into that mess, particularly when I have the feeling I may be the lone defender of my controversial views :). Though I have no way of knowing for sure, because I don’t think that many of you know what those views are… though Josh, Em, and Nathan (in particular) have had the pleasure of suffering through them ;). Anyway, it’s a thing best left for dinner back on campus…

My attention then turned to the large-ish gathering of people gathered in the courtyard outside the restaurant. From what I could tell, they were all there for the unveiling of a fountain. The people were all dressed on the casual side of dressy and were sipping wine and eating fancy little hors d’oeuvres, with Handel’s water music playing in the background. The fountain, on the other hand, was a rather whimsical and ungainly-looking piece of metalwork and I think it had been “veiled” in wrapping paper. It seemed rather out of place at its own party.

By then I’d almost finished my meal and began to contemplate the food itself. It’s definitely not American. The chips weren’t the homemade kind you can get back home – just the bagged kind of the rather cheap variety. And instead of the normal pieces of chicken or beef, they had bean and ground beef chili… really weird chili that was both sweet and spicy. Not much cheese… or tomatoes… but there was plenty of lettuce and sour cream. The iced tea was garnished and very liberally flavored with orange, not lemon. Having eaten all the chips (and still left with a mound of toppings), I downed the orange slice garnish – along with a couple pieces of the ice, just to remind myself that it was an “American” restaurant :).

I wasn’t hungry then, but figured I might like some dessert later, so I walked a block and bit to get some of my favorite ice cream from a street vendor. There was one left. I was very gratified as I walked back to my apartment and placed it in the freezer.

PS to the Last

This summer, I think I have determined that, should I do this Foreign Service thing for a living, I will bring some warm-blooded, animate being along with me. (The top two on the list right now are “husband” and “dog.” The former would be preferable, I think, because you can take husbands more places, you wouldn’t have to quarantine them, and they are capable of engaging in conversation. But I cannot go about proposing to men, so a plan B was created, which depends entirely on my own initiative. Hence, “dog.” Yet this is rather a digression…)

All of this was begun to say that I am being visited, starting tomorrow, by a most excellent “warm-blooded, animate” being: Daniel (my brother). He will be making his belated senior trip to Riga, where the two of us will turn the town upside down with our adventures :)… at least for a three and a half day weekend, after which time I will have to go to back work and leave him to get into mischief by himself… which I am fully sure he will be able to do :). I am a very happy person :).

Pensees

I was in Jurmala, the seaside resort town, again the other day for a conference. I arrived very early (I don’t want to know how fast the driver was going) and had time to stroll around outside, enjoying the beach-y morning. There is a forest that comes right up to the beach, and as I walked through it, I breathed in gulps of clean, piney air. My footsteps on the path were the only sound. And it occurred to me… I really do love the country, the more rural areas of the world. But would I want to give up life in Riga for it? And this got me thinking…

Sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to do (believe it or not :)). Generally this is because I'm happy with so many things it becomes hard to make a choice.

For instance, I like the city and the country. I like the country's quiet, it's clean air, and its natural beauty. I like the city's bustle, the fact that everything is near to hand, and that all I have to do is walk out my door and let the sidewalk carry me around the corner to some adventure. I like most any climate as well, since I don't really hate any of the seasons. I like rolling grassy hills, the desert, mountains (be they Appalachians or Alps), and the sea.

I suppose that all this is a good reason to join the Foreign Service – you know, move around, see the world – all that jazz. Because I like all these things (and they're not all found in one place), I don't know that I could permanently live anywhere – at least, not without significant time spent traveling. I can be happy everywhere, but fully satisfied nowhere. (Granted, Northern Virginia contains most of the things I love: you have rural country and DC, you have all four seasons, you have hills, mountains, and ocean. It's the best place I've found so far.)

I suppose this is probably a trait I have learned through multiple moves and much travel. I've pretty much come to believe that there is no place on earth that is a whole lot better than any other (with, perhaps, the exception of the aforementioned section of VA). "Home" has never been linked to a geographical location and the things that come with it. So I can feel at home anywhere... kinda... “Home" has always been linked to family and friends – community. These are the only ties that could bind me to a certain spots on the globe for a long time. It is they that make living anywhere worthwhile; without them, life in the most wonderful paradise would be dull, at best. Yet the difficulty about moving around a lot is that community is hard to achieve...

So which do I choose? Do I make a "home" for myself? Or do I indulge my wanderlust and travel the globe? Are the two really mutually exclusive or can I, as my immediate family has done, have both - a sort of "nomadic home?" That would be ideal...

*sigh* Decisions, decisions...

Liberty!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

“I'm proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me.
And I'll gladly stand up next to you
And defend her still today,
‘Cause there ain't no doubt
I love this land –
God bless the USA!”

Wishing you all an excellent Fourth!

An Adventuresome Saturday

I actually just had an unexpected adventure trying to post this... I came up to the loft of my apartment to work on my computer, and flipped the switch to turn on the light. It gave a flash and a loud pop, surprised me thoroughly, and did not come on. I put getting a new bulb from the housing lady on the mental list of things to do. So I came to my computer… but it said that the network cable was unplugged – which was patently false. I was about to yell at poor Vlad when I noticed that he was running on battery power… I went to another light switch and tried it. Went to the hallway, the bathroom… None of it was working. I had succeeded in blowing the circuit breaker. Yippee.

I grabbed my flashlight (I knew I brought it for a reason :)) and went to the fuse box. It was all in Latvian. Not my day, I guess. So, I went back to the loft and looked up the words for “light” and “electricity” in my Russian dictionary to relay my problem to the fellow downstairs. I walked up to the door of the little office and sort of stared for a moment, trying to decide where to start explaining. I must have looked very odd and quite confused. I finally got out a “the electricity isn’t working,” which he kindly responded to by coming up with me to take a look at it. I think there was a point at which he asked me when I noticed it – I then attempted to explain the light… and realized I didn’t know the word one uses for “blew” in Russian. So I just made the noise accompanied with a hand gesture. That seemed to get the point across. He figured out the fuses, fixed it with no problem, and showed me how to fix it in the future. Now everything (but the blown light, of course) works again. So... here I am :).

My day, like most Saturdays, started late, when I got up at about 9:45 and then lazed around in my PJs… checked email and blogs, made myself a cup of chai, surfed the web. I then sorted through my shrinking collection of clean clothes, found a white T-shirt (to my great joy) and got ready to set out on a day of shopping. :)

There were only two items on the list: a “fuzzy Russian hat” for myself and a birthday present for Daniel, my brother. As to the latter, we will have to simply leave it at "I acquired one," since publishing the details now would be more than a little counterproductive :). The story of the hat, however, may be told...

Across from my first apartment there was/is a little hat shop - which is marvellously convenient, since ushankas (that's "fuzzy Russian hats") are not to be found in just any store, even here in Latvia. (Maybe particularly here in Latvia, considering the cultural feelings. Anyway...) So, I walked into the shop… and paused. I found that it is a hat and fur shop. This is, of course, a wonderful place to find an ushanka… but it’s also bound to be very expensive. And it looked like the furs must be mostly hand made, because that is what the two women there were doing when I walked in. But I figured it was worth a try. I asked them if they had any ushankas. I was, upon that, deluged with hats. First a grey rabbit… then a brown mink… then a black leather and fox… and there was a brown leather and something or other waiting in the wings. But the grey rabbit had won my heart with its color and softness and very good price. So I bought it. I was much gratified by the fact that I paid much less for it than I would have in the States - which is one of those joys of shopping that those who have not been initiated into the practice would never understand :). My new ushanka sits happily in my room, waiting to be transported back for what I now hope will be a very cold winter in VA :).

Of course, you can't go far in Riga without running up against something interesting... In my travels I stopped to watch a school dance competition. They were doing some neat folk dances -with some recognizeable contra moves included - and were in traditional costume. [I wish you could have been there, Em, you'd've liked it.] Later in the day, as I was walking in Old Town, I saw (I kid you not) a Lincoln Navigator limo decked in pink bows and frills. Never a dull moment :).