A Day at the Zoo

Before Dan and Deb came to spend the week, Don and I purchased each of them an e-talon for 20 bus or tram rides.  We thought we would probably use them while they were here.  Because we went out of town so much while they were here, we ended up not using them.  Consequently, with our own e-talons, Don and I have 40 bus/tram rides each that we can take.  We are trying to come up with ways to use them before we leave, yesterday we decided to take a trip to the zoo.

It's not a real big zoo, but it is definitely a nice way to spend the day.  It was a fairly pleasant day, but, as usual, it did rain a bit toward the end of our visit.  They have most of the animals that a typical zoo has, but they also have some that are unique to the area. (Although I can't say that with authority, because I haven't been to a zoo for a while.)  Below are some pictures of some of the animals that I found to be the most interesting.

One of the first sights we saw as we walked into the zoo was this group of flamingos.  As you can see, there were a bunch of them.  I had never seen the darker colored type before.  I asked Don if he had, and he said the only ones he had ever seen were pink and in people's yards.

Zoos always have peacocks, and this one was no exception.  We were able to catch two of the males chasing the females around with their feathers up and out.  Unfortunately, neither one of them were able to get any of the ladies interested.  We got a picture of one of them from the front and another one of them from the back.

There were a lot of owls on display.  We were able to get several good pictures.  Here are a couple of them.

Monkeys are always in abundance in most zoos, but this one didn't have that many different types.  I caught this picture while the baby monkey was nursing.

Here is a strange looking bird. It's called a secretary bird.  It looks kind of like a stork.

I was looking up the name of it on the internet, and I found this next picture.  I imagine this is how the secretary bird looks when the boss asks here to do something stupid.

The zoo had two hippopotamuses.  One was in the water, and the other one was standing on some cement.  They certainly are huge animals.  I don't know how their small legs support them.  Right as we walked away, they let out a bellow, and the one in the water snorted.  Unfortunately, they would never do it while I was near.  I had to include these pictures for my daughter, Deb.  She loves hippos.

This next bird is called a double-wattled cassowary.  I guess it's related to the emu.  As you probably guessed, it was two wattles.  The thing at the top is made of bone.  They grow them as adults, but no one knows the purpose of them.  They do make rather a stylish hat, don't they?

I can't remember whether this guy was a crocodile or an alligator, but I know that crocs have skinnier snouts, so I'm assuming that it was a croc.  Its skinny snout is rather strange looking.

Here are a couple of pictures of a camel.  I always thought that camel humps stood up straight and tall. As you can tell by the second picture, though, the humps on this camel are leaning quite a bit.  I don't know if that's normal or not.

Giraffes are found in most zoos, and this one had at least four of them.  I love to watch the giraffes walk.  I think they look so stately and elegant when they walk.  I've seen them run on TV, and they look absolutely magnificent when they run.  Here are a couple of them having dinner.

What zoo would be complete without a tiger?  We were able to get a great picture of this one.  Usually they are off somewhere asleep where you can't see them.  This one was out and about, walking around for all of us to see.

We took lots more pictures than these, but I decided to share just a few with you.  My camera batteries pooped out on us towards the end of our visit, and while I was able to find some at a shop, they were evidently not very good, because the camera kept turning off.

Tonight we get to go and celebrate the July 4th holiday at the American Embassy.  Woo hoo!  The ambassador and his wife, Mark and Maria Pekala, are hosting a picnic at the embassy, and we were actually the first to turn in our reservations.  (Gee, I wonder if we will get special treatment?)  It only lasts for a couple of hours, and we are supposed to dress casually.  It's pretty restrictive -- no cameras, no cell phones, no drinks, no umbrellas, and no bags are allowed.  I was hoping to get some pictures, but I guess I won't be able to.  Here are a couple I pulled off of the internet.  The first one is of Ambassador Pekala and the second one is of the American Embassy.

Saturday morning we leave and go to Tallinn for the Estonian Song Festival.  I am really excited about going, but I'm also dreading fighting the crowd.  I can't imagine what it will be like to ride the bus out to the festival grounds.  (I had better take my anxiety pills just in case.)  Our hotel isn't in Tallinn, but in a small town not far away.  We will take a bus from the hotel into the Tallinn bus station and then hop on another bus to go to the festival grounds.  The weather for the next two weeks is supposed to be awesome -- in the 80s with no rain in sight.  I am really looking forward to not having to take my umbrella everywhere.

Well, I need to sign off.  We're off to the Embassy.  I feel so special!

Until next time.

Laundry Day -- Again!

Svieki!

It was laundry day again here in Riga, so off we trudged.  We put our dirty clothes in two of our rolling suitcases and headed for the tram.  The tram that we catch is about six blocks away, so we didn't have too much of a walk.  We got on the tram and rode it to Gertrudes Iela (Gertrude Street).  Unfortunately, our "laundromat" is about five blocks away from the tram stop, so we continued to trudge along.  We got there and all of the washing machines were busy.  I had decided before we got there that, since the price we paid when we stayed there and did it ourselves was the same as when we dropped it off and picked it up later, we would just drop it off and come back later.  We were told to come back in three hours.

In the area of Central Riga where we were, it's rather difficult to waste three hours.  What we probably should have done is get on the tram and go back to the apartment.  We walked around and ventured into a couple of stores and then went to our favorite place to eat -- El Carlito's Mexican restaurant.  It is a small place and is just a couple of blocks down from the  laundromat. We always enjoy going there when we do our laundry.  They have good food, and their waitress (the only one we've ever seen) is a real sweetheart.

The food was great again today, and after we finished eating, we asked the waitress to come over and talk to us.  We were the only customers there at the time, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem.  She came over and told us her name was Elena.  I asked her if she was from Riga, and she said that she was.  She had been a student at the Latvian Art Academy and was a year from finishing but decided to take this last year off.  She will resume in the fall and will finish her degree.  She then asked about us, and we told her where we were from and why we had come to Latvia.  It was an enjoyable conversation. When we left the restaurant, we had only been gone 2 1/2 hours, but we hoped that our laundry would be done.  Luckily it was, so we repacked our suitcases with the clean laundry and walked to the tram stop.

This evening we are going to the rehearsal of a gospel choir.  I'm not sure how I heard about them, but I emailed them and asked if I could come to their rehearsal.  They are preparing for the World Choir Games, so it will be great hearing them at their best.  I'm not sure that Latvia's idea of a gospel choir and our idea of a gospel choir is the same, but it will be fun to see.

While this country has some phenomenal choirs, I can't say that I have truly enjoyed their concerts from an entertainment standpoint.  They sing extremely difficult music, and they sing it very well.  I can certainly appreciate them for that.  However, the concerts are not what I would call "fun."  As a choir director, I am all about giving my audiences a fun experience when they come to a concert.  Granted, I also want to give them a great musical performance as well, but I always tell my singers that the most important thing for them to do is to enjoy themselves while giving the concert.  If the singers enjoy singing the music, then the audience is going to enjoy hearing the music and enjoy watching them sing.

Here in Latvia, as in the other Baltic countries, participating in a choir is something that a lot of people do.  It is a part of their history and their heritage, so they make time to do it.  Most of the choirs, especially the good ones, get financial support from the cities in which they are located.  The better the choir, the more support they get.  In America, as I'm sure it is in a lot of other places, singing in choirs is not something that is promoted or very popular.  People lead such busy lives, and making the choice to commit one evening a week to sing in a choir is a big commitment.  It is also something that a lot of people who don't do music don't understand.

I love my choirs, and I love the fact that they are willing to commit one evening a week to come and spend time with me as we make beautiful music together.  Could they be doing something else?  Certainly.  That's why I work so hard at making sure we have a good time.  Singing together in a choir is unlike any other activity -- even that of playing in a band or orchestra.  We take our voices -- the most perfect instrument of all -- and combine them together to create this glorious sound, one that is full of richness and beauty.  And in the midst of all of that richness and beauty lie words that give a message to all who hear.  It is those words, that message, that make us different.

Well, off my soapbox.  I can't believe it's the end of June already.  Three weeks from tomorrow we leave this beautiful city and come back to reality.  I'm sure it will hit us hard.  However, there are many things that we look forward to, not the least of which is our washer and dryer!

Later!

Gaudeamus 2014

"Gaudeamus" is the title of the 2014 Baltic Students' Folk Song Festival that is being held this year in Daugavpils.  I had heard of Daugavpils before -- a family we met from Texas are here on a 6-month mission trip of some type and live there.  It is the second largest city in Latvia, located on the very southern edge of the country -- close to Belarus and Lithuania (see map below).  If we'd had more time (and money) we would have stayed a few days and traveled to both of those countries.

I had looked at a schedule of events for the festival, and at 1:00, the schedule said that there would be concerts in the park, on the streets, and in churches.  We arrived in Daugavpils at 11:30, so nothing had officially started at that point.  Don asked me where we were supposed to go, and I really didn't know.  (I think he was a bit frustrated with me, but he didn't say anything.)  We found the street where everything was supposed to take place, and we started walking.  I figured we would eventually find something.  We found a pizza place along the way and bought a pizza for lunch.  With Daugavpils not being a real tourist haven, no one needed to know how to speak English.  Consequently, it was hard for them to understand what we wanted.  We were finally able to show them, and we had our lunch.

As we were walking along, Don decided that he needed to go to the restroom, so I knew that we needed to find one for him if at all possible.  Even though we were walking up and down the main street through town, there were no WCs (water closets) available.  We saw a huge building straight ahead of us and decided it was the train station.  We figured that there would be a restroom there.  Don went to find the men's restroom, and I headed for the women's.  When I first went in, this is what I saw:

 Nice wooden doors, relatively clean.  I admit I was relieved, because I didn't know what I would find.  When I opened the door, this is what I saw:

It was a hole in the floor!  I couldn't believe it.  I don't think the brown stuff is poo, I think it is rust, but, whatever it is, I left immediately!  Oh, it was sooooo gross!  I went outside and immediately saw Don. We looked at each other and started laughing.  Neither one of us had ever seen anything like that, except in an outhouse.  It was the grossest restroom we had ever seen.  Needless to say, Don (or I) didn't use the restroom there, either. In fact, he said that he no longer had to go.  I think the sight and smell of the one at the train station was enough to scare it away!  We laughed about it off and on the entire day.

We walked a ways to the other end of the street and saw a lot of buses.  We eventually heard some singing.  We had found the choirs.  They weren't performing in the street or park.  They were gathered together at the University of Daugavpils and were rehearsing.  We figured out that the first group we heard rehearsing was from Lithuania.  The group was fairly large, because it was several choirs combined into one group.  There were a lot of singers, and there were also several instrumentalists. While some of the instruments being played were the normal ones that you would expect to hear, there were several that weren't.  I went up to some of the players and asked them what their instruments were called.  Fortunately, they spoke enough English that they were able to understand, and I was able to understand what they said.  I assumed that, since this was a festival related to folk music, these were folk instruments from Lithuania.  I looked up Lithuanian folk instruments, and these were listed.  Here are pictures of them:

This wooden instrument is called a Birbyné (pronounced beer-bee-nee).  It is the national 

folk instrument of Lithuania.  As you can see, it is made of wood.  The bottom part is made 

of a bone.  It is played with a single reed, like the clarinet.  Don thought it sounded like a 

combination of a soprano sax, a clarinet, and an oboe.  We would love to get one, 

but they're almost $400, so we won't be getting one any time soon.

Here is a picture off of the internet of a group of guys playing birbynés.  

Notice they are different sizes.

This next instrument looks like a hammered dulcimer or zither, but it is called

a kanklès (pronounced conk-less).  It is the oldest string instrument

in Lithuania.  It is put on a stand and played with fingers.

This next picture is another one off of the internet.  It is an ensemble of 

Lithuanians playing a kanklès and the birbynè.

This is a picture of a skrabalai (I didn't find out how that one is pronounced).

When I saw them being played, I thought they were sets of temple blocks

that had been put on a stand.  Anyway, they look like temple blocks.  They

are pitched differently according to their size, and they are played 

with mallets.

I wish I could show you a picture of the instruments accompanying the choir from the Folk Festival in Daugavpils, because there weren't just one or two of the above instruments, there were a lot of them. They probably had 30-40 kanklèses  and 15-20 birbynès.  It was really neat to watch and listen to them. Don and I decided that the group we were watching was the group from Lithuania (duh).  We didn't get to see the Latvian or the Estonian group rehearse.  It started raining hard, plus it was getting late, so we decided to go and find something to eat.

Since so few people spoke English and the menus were all in Latvian, and since we didn't pass any restaurants that were appealing to us, we ended up going back to the bus station and buying some things to eat at the market there.  We bought cheese and crackers, chips, grapes, and bananas.  Then we sat on the cement and ate our dinner.  Certainly not romantic by any means, but it sure did taste good.

That was our day in Daugavpils.  I was looking online for some things to do while there, and one writer said that there were only three things there worth seeing.  I don't remember what the first two were, but the third one was the "bus station, which would take you away from Daugavpils."  He wasn't really impressed, and neither were we.  However, we accomplished what we wanted, which was to hear some folk songs being sung.  I guess I can't complain.

The bus ride back was uneventful.  Oh, there is one thing -- about halfway through the 3 1/2 hour ride, we stopped for a potty break.  I went looking for a restroom, and the only one available was one similar to what you would find in a park.  When I went in, guess what I saw?  Two girls squatting over two holes in the floor, and there weren't even stall doors to hide them!  Needless to say, I left immediately, went back to the bus, and told Don.  We laughed off and on all the way home.

Until next time...

We're Rolling Downhill!

I know that we still have 3 1/2 weeks left here, but it seems like we are going downhill fast.  Other than the Estonian Song Festival and the World Choir Games (WCG), there isn't a lot going on at this point. None of the choirs are giving concerts, because they are all preparing for the WCG.  I still need to talk to a couple of composers, and they have asked me to put it off until July due to their busy schedules. We get out and about every day, but we don't really have anything to do right now that is related to music.  It seems like I am forgetting to do something all the time.

I went and purchased the rest of the tickets for the World Choir Games, which takes place July 9-19. I was able to purchase tickets for four events online.  They have a limit of purchasing eight tickets at a time.  When I went online to purchase more tickets, I could never get the system to work.  The ticket place is located here in Riga, so we decided to walk over and purchase them there.  They don't speak very good English, but I wrote things down and they were able to follow me okay.  We have eight events/concerts that we are going to attend. There are more things to do, but I chose the ones that interested me the most.  I would love to go to some of the workshops that are available, but the ticket for 12 workshops is 90 Euros, which is a lot of money to spend for something that I'm not sure will be worth it.  They sound like great workshops, but I'm not sure how they are going to handle the whole language thing (there will be people from all over the world here), and I also don't know how effective a workshop would be with hundreds of people attending it.  Needless to say, I have decided at this point not to purchase a ticket for the workshops.

Don and I went and did some more laundry yesterday.  We went to the same place that we had used earlier, but this time we had four loads of laundry.  (With Deb and Dan leaving, we needed to wash their bed clothes and the towels that they used.)  We stuck around the place this time and did everything ourselves, and it still cost us 38 Euro for the four loads (9,50 a load).  Boy, will I ever be glad to see my washer and dryer!  We went and did laundry while we were in Tallinn, and it only cost us 6 Euros a load.  They had a lot more washers and dryers available, too.  Unfortunately, since I don't want to hand wash everything, I guess we'll keep paying whatever we have to to get it done.

I haven't taken any interesting pictures the last couple of days, but there are a lot that I have taken that you haven't seen.  I thought I would just share some that I think are interesting in today's blog.

They have lots of statues of Riga, but this one is unique.  This "statue" is on a street that runs beside St. Peter's Lutheran Church.  It's a statue of the Bremen Town Musicians.  Don has never heard the story, but I always loved it.  I'm not sure why a statue is here in Riga, though.  If you haven't read the story, you really ought to.

This "tree" (or whatever you want to call it) is in the park that runs along the canal.  Riga is a very "artsy-fartsy" community, and things like this pop up all the time.  The tree is made out of wood, 

and I think the ornaments are made out of styrofoam.

The accordian is a very popular instrument in Latvia.  We have seen several street musicians playing them, and music groups that play in restaurants often have them, too.  This lady was sitting on the bridge beside the Freedom Monument.

This is just a picture of some electric tram and bus lines.  What amazes me about them is 

how far they extend.  They run for miles and miles.  

Here's a statue of a naked lady.  I am showing it to you because Riga has more naked lady statues 

than any place I have ever been before.  The park by the canal is full of them.  I often wonder 

what the little kids think of all of them.

This modern looking building is the new library.  It is on the other side of the River Daugava.  It was just completed this winter, and when they moved books from the old one to the new one, they used a fire bucket brigade line.  People stretched from the old library to the new and passed books along.  It would have been great to be a part of it.  (It was in January, though, so I imagine it was really cold!)

Here are a couple of pictures of some Latvian women wearing folk costumes.  The history of folk costumes is that each region or village had a different costume, and you could tell where people were from by looking at their costume.  That isn't the case any longer.  These women all have on different ones.  Aren't they colorful?  Notice that some of the women in the top picture are wearing scarves on their heads, while those in the other picture are all wearing floral wreaths.  At one time, unmarried women were the ones who wore floral wreaths, and married women wore scarves.  Again, that is no longer true.  Now everyone wears floral wreaths.

This is another example of Riga's "artsy-fartsy" side.  These cows showed up a couple of weeks ago.  They have been made by taking pieces of boards and putting them together.  Green pieces of wood have been put around their necks or on top of their heads for decoration.  This whole herd of 

cows is standing on the grass behind the National Opera House.

The thing I want to point out in this picture is the round red sign with the white line across it.  This must be the international symbol for "do not enter."  Old Town Riga streets do not have "One-Way" signs; they just have these.  There are also no stop signs at intersections.

Here are some more strange looking statues, but these are for sale at one of the shops.  They are made out of huge rocks and metal and are super expensive.  I can't imagine how much it would cost to have them shipped somewhere.  They're huge!  I saw a couple of them packaged and ready for shipping yesterday, though, so people must buy them.  Here we have a frog, a pig, and a duck.

This picture and the next one were actually taken in Tallinn.  I saw these lamb footstools in the window of a shop.  I went in and checked them out, but they were 150 Euros -- a bit too much for my blood.  Besides, how could I fit them in my suitcase?

This little guy was walking around on the ledge at a viewpoint in Tallinn.  People were standing 

all around him (or her), but he stayed right where he was.  He kept walking back and forth trying 

to get people to feed him.  One lady set her purse down on the ledge to get something out of it, 

and he stuck his beak in the purse.  He turned his head right as I snapped the picture, 

so you can see his ornery expression.  He's kind of cute, huh?

Anyway, I just thought I'd show you some random pictures of things that I thought were interesting. As I said, not much is going on right now.  However, I did find out that there is a Baltic Student Folk Festival this weekend in Daugavpils, a town a little over three hours away.  I think Don and I are going to take the bus and go check it out.  Sounds like fun.

Later!

The Estonian Song Festival

I am so excited!  When we visited Tallinn, I found out that the Estonian Song Festival is going to be held there this year on July 5th and 6th, and I get to go!  I don't know about the Estonian festival, but the Latvian Song Festival happens every five years. Their most recent one was last year, so it won't happen again until 2018.  I was really bummed when I heard that.

Now, a song festival may not sound too exciting, but a song festival here is unlike anything you have probably ever experienced.  For one thing, they have been going on for decades, so it holds a lot of tradition.  It's also a very unifying event, which helped a lot when Latvia was under the rule of other countries. The most amazing thing about it, though, is the number of singers that participate.  In Riga, it is typical to have over 20,000 people participate in the choir.  That doesn't include the number of people who are there to watch and listen, which can number around 100,000.  Here is a picture of a recent song festival in Riga.

I don't know about Estonia's song festival, but I imagine that it is similar to Latvia's.  While we were in Tallinn, we visited the song festival grounds.  Here is what we found.

This is what you see as you walk up to it.

This is the area where the singers sit.  I wouldn't be surprised if they add chairs along the front of it.

Here is a picture of the grounds.  It's really big, and I imagine that my ticket will put me about as far away as possible.  That's okay, though.  I just want to be able to experience 20,000 people in a choir all singing together.  I imagine there will be songs where the audience sings along.  When that happens, I know I will get goose bumps!

Here we are sitting on the stage area.  I didn't count how many rows or seats there were, but I know that there were a lot of them!

We will take the bus to Tallinn on Saturday, July 5th, in the morning.  We will get there around 1:30. There is a concert that night at 8:00 and one the next day at 2:00.  Then we will head back home again. It will be a quick trip, but I'm sure it will be worth every penny we spent on it.

I just wanted to share with you this amazing opportunity.  I am so excited!