Hi Everyone,

Happy Spring!  There are many indicators that spring has arrived in Mazsalaca. Snow is becoming a distant memory, especially on days like today, when the temperature was at least 70 degrees.  Things started last month, when I was given some Klavas Sula (maple "juice"; aka, sap) to drink.  It is a thick, clear liquid, that is slightly sweet and tastes a bit like chewing on a twig.  I think this was the first truly new thing I have consumed in many years, and it was strange at first. Sort of like drinking the life blood of a tree.  It felt very special. Unfortunately, the season for maple juice is pretty short, but then we were on to birch juice.  This is less sweet than maple juice, but still a refreshing beverage.  People drink it fresh, but also put it in root cellars in jars, sometimes with a few currants, some sugar, or some lemon peel, to drink during the hot days of summer.  It ferments, but doesn't become alcoholic (at least I don't think so :-).

We had snow on the ground until a few weeks ago, and then lots of mud, but things are drying out now.  The lawn grass is more green than brown, and crocuses, daffodils and snowdrops are blooming.  I also saw my first wildflower in the wood, an intense purple anemone (Ranunculaceaea).  Birds are coming back, and a pair is nesting in the house in the tree opposite my balcony.  I haven't identified them yet, but did identify the small bird whose chatty, lilting song stopped me in my tracks on the way home from school one day.   A little brown bird with a white belly and orange-red breast, it is what is called a robin here (Sarkanriklite; Erithacus rubecula).  On a walk in the woods yesterday morning I saw a great spotted woodpecker and a bullfinch (Svilpis; Pyrrhula phrrhula).  The bullfinch had a bright orange front and looked like an oriole.  I don't know if we have bullfinches in the U.S., but I had never seen one before.  And, of course, there are the storks.  I still am not used to seeing these big birds standing in the fields, or perched in their huge nests atop electrical poles or water towers.  Their food source is also in evidence.  Walking in the town center in the evening, I have twice been startled by movement at my feet, a frog hopping across the sidewalk.

The herb seedlings I started in my window are doing nicely, and today I dug some soil from a neighbor's garden plot to transplant them into larger pots.  So far I've got sweet basil, lemon basil, parsley, rosemary, red rubin basil, and thyme.  I'll be starting some lettuce and spinach soon, and maybe some flowers.  My landlord is going to let me have a small patch of ground in the allotment gardens by our building, where I can grow flowers, herbs, a few tomato plants, and salad greens. I asked someone if there were problems with rabbits eating things in the garden, and it turns out I don't have to worry.  There are no "rabbits" here!  A few hares in the woods, but that's all.  The person I asked laughed, and said that there's no way rabbits could survive with all the cats that are hanging around.  And then there are the foxes...  I'm looking forward to enjoying a bit of normalcy this summer, pottering about in the garden.

Another sign of spring is the burning that is going on everywhere. People rake gardens and lawns and set fire to the accumulated organic debris and trash.  They also burn fields.  It is surprising that with all the forests around, these fires don't spread to the woods, but so far I haven't heard of any forest fires.  At night the light of the fires gives the countryside a eerily festive look.  Unfortunately, the smoke makes it unpleasant to breathe, and I don't like to think about the toxins I'm inhaling.  At school today it was particularly bad when we had the windows open because the rooms were hot.  The spring burning finally motivated me to find out what happens to our trash, since I know some towns burn everything.  It turns out Mazsalaca is one of those towns.  There is a pit about 6km from town where everything is taken and burned.  Some of my students have expressed concern about the environmental impact of all the burning, but I don't know if there are any alternatives being explored.

And finally, last week our heat and hot water schedule changed; they are now only provided from 6am to 10pm.  This means that I need to do more planning about when to take a bath or wash my hair, since the water is lukewarm in the early morning and tepid by 9pm.  But it helps ease the transition to our summer schedule, which is no heat, and hot water on Wednesdays and Saturdays only.

The change of seasons seems to be happening very quickly.  We have gained more than two hours of day length in the past month, and I am now waking up shortly after 5:00 with the sun coming in my bedroom window. People seem more energetic and happy, and I feel that way myself.  At the same time, the school year is quickly coming to a close.  My 12th graders are anxious about their national English exam on May 15th, and we have a lot to do to get ready.  The other students are getting restless as the weather improves, and it becomes harder to keep their attention.  Of course, the teachers have the same problem.  I noticed today that by 3:30 the school was nearly empty, with almost no one staying after to work.  Everyone is busy preparing their gardens, working in their yards, or just enjoying the nice weather.

Good Friday (tomorrow) and the Monday after Easter are national holidays, as is May 1.  I don't know yet what I will do--probably get caught up on work, and go to Valmiera to be with Valentina & Andris on Sunday.  I'm not sure what people do on Good Friday, but here is a bit about local Easter traditions:

Willow branches, with their first white, furry spring buds, are used to symbolically spank people to wish them good health for the coming year.  While you hit the person with the branch, you recite a special poem or say something like, "Health in, sickness out."  This can be done before the person gets out of bed, or later.  You are supposed to get up as early as possible on Easter morning to ensure that you will have lots of energy and not sleep too much during the summer.

The Easter Bunny is visible on some candy wrappers and toys, but it's a fairly recent introduction from Western Europe. However, activities with eggs are a part of traditional Latvian spring celebrations. Boiled eggs are colored, and can then be used in "fights" where people bang the eggs together to see whose breaks first.  Also, you should eat the eggs with salt, or else you will tell a lie.

Swinging on swings is also sometimes done, but I don't know if any of my accquaintances do it. It was once the custom to go swinging in the mornings at the time when the sun came over the horizon.  You must swing in one direction three times and then in the other direction three times, to keep the summer mosquitoes away and be less sleepy at night.

I have taken two trips in the recent months, one to Daugavpils, Latvia, and the other to Tallinn, Estonia.  I went to Daugavpils to visit Kate, another PCV, during our spring break.  It was a quick visit, just two days, but well worth the three and a half hours on the bus and three more hours on the train to get there.  Most of my experience of Latvia so far has involved Latvian culture, and I wanted to go to Daugavpils to see what a mainly ethnic Russian city would be like. There are Latvians in Daugavpils, but most people are Russian, and it is rare to hear Latvian spoken.  Because of language laws implemented after independence, all signs have to be in Latvian.  So even though most everyone speaks Russsian, the grocery store labels, shop names, street signs, etc., are in Latvian.  This is a touchy subject here, and I can understand both sides.  The Latvians had Russian forced on them for 50 years.  Now the Russians are being forced to use Latvian.  There are no easy answers.

In two days I was able to see "everything there is to see" according to Kate.  We spent a lot of time wandering around the central market, where you can buy everything from food, clothing, and tools, to old Soviet medals.  We visited a somewhat spooky abandoned military training site, with historic fortifications nearby that were constructed during Napoleon's time.  And on Sunday we visited several churches.  The Orthodox Church is beautiful inside, and there was a small service going on in one of the side areas, with people singing while the priest swung an incense burner.  The music was haunting and lovely.  A highlight of the visit was the meal that Kate and I made (with some help from Kate's friend Ricardo).  It was a classic Peace Corps experience: making do with a tiny frying pan and two small aluminum pots, we made flour tortillas from scratch, and then a feast of quesadillas, rice & beans, and salad.  It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

Our other big event was going ice skating at the new indoor ice arena.  It is clean and modern, and it was a bit unsettling to be in this place, watching the families and teenagers skating 'round to the music.  We could have been in the United States from all appearances. It was the first time I have been ice skating in more years than I can remember, but I managed pretty well.  Unfortunately, I fell once, and that was enough to injure myself--a slight tear in the ligament of my right knee.  It's getting better slowly--going up and down three flights of stairs at school all day and then to get home, plus needing to walk everywhere, slows down the healing.  But I have learned a good lesson about asking for help.  When I first got home, I walked to the  town center to get some groceries, and it took over two hours round trip.  I realized that was pretty silly, and the next week I asked my co-worker Lilija if she would drive me around, and she was happy to.  I am still working on being comfortable asking for help, but it is getting easier.

Luckily the knee was well enough that I was able to go on my other trip, this time to Tallinn, Estonia, for a meeting.  I didn't have much time for sightseeing--just Saturday morning and a few hours in the afternoon--but it was enough time to get a feeling for the old part of the city, and buy one of the beautiful Estonian sweaters from one of the women selling them in stalls against the old city wall.  My friend Ann, a PCV from Lithuania, was there, and we had fun exploring together.  She is the only PCV I have met here who is near me in age and temperament, and it was a real treat to spend hours sharing our experiences and feelings.  At times I really had trouble expressing myself, and it pointed up how little deep conversation I engage in these days--almost none really.  PCVs joke about losing their English, and I notice that I find myself searching for words more and more, but I didn't expect to also lose the ability to express complex thoughts.

Although it was fun to see Tallinn's old city, it was disappointing in some ways.  It was interesting to see the architecture and old city wall, but the whole area seemed to be mainly a backdrop for spending money in the many shops and restaurants, and familiar brand names were everywhere.  Some of the shops had lovely handcrafts like leatherwork and handmade scarves, linen goods or knitwear.  But even before coming to Latvia I was not a big consumer (by American standards), and living here on a Peace Corps living allowance has reduced my consumption habits even more.  So it was a little unsettling, maybe even depressing, to be looking at these beautiful things that were for sale.  Still, I'm glad to have had the chance to walk the cobblestone streets and admire the old buildings.

Coming home, I got off the bus near the border at Ainazi, and called Valda, our head teacher, who had said she would come and get me.  I was going to have a two-hour wait, so I walked over to the beach.  Ainazi is a little town, separated from the Baltic Sea by sand dunes and pine trees.  The beach is completely undeveloped.   The ruins of an old pier and a rusty lookout tower are the only structures.  It was a sunny, mild day, and there were two other people sitting by the water.  During the hour that I was there, two couples, and a group of kids came by, but that was it.  The rest of the time it was just me and the waves.  I felt so happy to be back in Latvia, where I understand the language (for the most part) and feel safe going about on my own!

Whenever I go on a trip, even if it's just to Valmiera, I'm always glad to return to Mazsalaca.  I feel very lucky to be in this quiet, safe, town surrounded by forests, meadows, and fields.  I know it drives my students crazy to live here, because there is "nothing for them to do," but for me it's just right.  The fact that I am in this town (and not in a city like Daugavpils, for instance) often gave me the strength to hang on during some of my darkest moments during the winter.  It also helped that I have such wonderful students (well, most of them), co-workers, and neighbors.  And your support, whether it be letters, care packages, or just keeping me in your thoughts, means more than you can imagine.

I am looking forward to experiencing this place during the summer, without the pressures of teaching.  Peace Corps requires TEFL PCVs like me to work for a good portion of the summer, but we get to do projects of our own choosing.  So far I have plans to help at the art school's week-long camp, conduct an English-Language day camp with my co-teachers, and work with the All Baltic Youth Camp.  I am planning to teach a special curriculum next year (things like study skills, test taking, organization, academic writing, career planning) so I'll need to spend some time preparing for that as well.  And if those things aren't enough to fill the required work days, I have some ideas for tourism projects related to Skanaiskalns Park.  But for now, I am just focusing on the last six weeks of school, and the many things that need to be done during that time.

Well, I think that's about it for now.  I should be able to write more often now that I have a real email account, so it won't be too long before you hear from me again.  I know I have been promising a web page, and I hope that once school ends I will have the time to make it a reality. In the meantime, keep those letters coming!  I love to hear from you.

Wishing you a wonderful springtime.

Liamigi,

Sarah

p.s.  A few weeks ago, Valda called me at about 10:30pm, to tell me to look out my window.  She said it was the Northern Lights.  I have seen them in Wisconsin a few times, but just as bands of white or very pale green.  On this night there were bands of intense red and white stretching across the sky.  Latvia is flat, and my apartment is in a large open area, so there is a lot of sky to see, like a big inverted bowl.  The entire northern half of the bowl was filled with lights.  I went out and laid down in the field behind my building and watched the show for over half an hour.  Eventually the red faded to rose, and the white bands started pulsing and shimmering.  When I went to bed around midnight, there were still traces of the white lights in the sky. Incredible!