Hello Everyone!
 
It's hard to believe that more than a month has passed since I last wrote to you all.  I have been in Mazsalaca for over a month now, and life is gradually calming down.  First, my new address:

Sarah Brehm
12 "Parkmali-2"
Mazsalaca LV4215
LATVIA

phone number: 371-42-51635

This is for apartment number 12 in a building called Parkmali 2.  If you want to be really proper, you can use Latvian-style quotes, with the opening quotes on the bottom, something like ,,Parkmali-2" (it's hard to demonstrate with typed text).

I moved into the apartment last night.  For the first time in six months I have a home of my own!  It has been great living with my host families.  First in Valmiera, which I already told you about, with Valentina and Andris.  Then for the past month with Agita and her family.  I had a nicely remodeled room, with a big window looking out onto the fields at the edge of town.  The house was a lively place, with two children and a dog, and I was able to keep up with the news a bit because they get BBC World on their satellite TV.  The location was great for walking.  I walked one long loop out into the country, past the old church and a soviet-era factory of some sort, then down a long gravel road, and finally onto a birch-lined road leading back into town.  There was also a shorter loop, around the edge of town along the Salaca river, past the cemetery, and then back through the town center.

Mazsalaca is a quiet place.  The buildings are mostly old and made of wood, and there are a lot of trees, so it is visually quite pleasing.  Even though there are only two thousand people, it is a bit spread out, so walking from one end to the other, kitty-corner (e.g., from Agita's house to the school) takes about a half hour. Some people have animals,  especially near the edges of town, and walking to school I would usually pass someone leading a cow or two out to pasture.  The dairy farming here is mostly very small-scale, with 2 to 5 cows. I have seen some fields with up to 15, but that is rare.  It seems to be more common that there are just a few cows which are led to pasture and chained in place for the day, then brought in or moved at night.  Since the cows are on the long chains that are staked to the ground, there is no need for fences.

Most of my time the past month has been centered around school, first preparing for classes, and then commencing actual teaching.  I am co-teaching most of my classes with Agita (a few others with another teacher, Inga), so it was very convenient to be living in the same house so we could plan.  I have eight different groups of students, which I see from one to three days a week: three 9th-grade, one 10th-grade, two 11th-grade, and two 12th-grade classes.  This means a total of about 100 students, and 100 names to learn!  I am making some progress, and the classes are generally going well.  Some of the 9th-grade classes are a bit unruly, and they are enjoying testing the new teacher's patience!  But I have a lot of support from Agita and the other teachers. Actually, everyone I have met has been very friendly and helpful, both at school and around town.  People are patient with my slowly-improving Latvian, and seem geniunely glad that I am here.

The first day of school was a special event.  It is a ceremonial day: everyone dresses up, the children bring flowers for their homeroom teacher, have one class, and then there is a ceremony.  Ours was held in the wooded terrace behind the primary school, a big old building that was once the manor house for a German baron.  It was a lovely day, a few yellow birch leaves drifting down through the trees.  There were speeches, awards, introduction of the new teachers (including me), singing, poetry readings, and dancing.  One dance involved a group of girls in flowing white dresses, doing dreamy movements to poetry and music.  All in all, a very special day.  I was glad that I didn't have to do anything but receive flowers when I was introduced.  The day I moved to Maz., back in August, was the 80th anniversary celebration of the school. There was a big reunion, and I was introduced and had to say a few words to the assembled crowd of more than 500 people!  It was scary, but I did all right. What a way to make my entrance into town--now _everyone_ knows who I am.

But now the hubub of the first days has died down, the harvest is finishing up, the leaves are turning color, and the days are getting shorter.  I'm glad that my apartment is right next to the school.  This means that I'll have more time to walk in the woods and the park, which are also next to the school. Skanaiskalns Park is a regional attraction, and can be pretty busy on weekends. Of course, I mean busy for Latvia, which is nothing like busy for California or Wisconsin.  But during the week, the paths are almost deserted.  The park follows the winding Salaca river.  There are special cliffs, caves, healing springs, cliffs, and wooden sculptures.  You can imagine how thrilled I am to be living  next to a place like that!  Because I was on the opposite side of town at Agita's, I had only gone to the park once.  Now that I am next door, I can go more regularly.

I came to Valmiera just briefly today, to read email and pick up a few things. But I'm anxious to get back home, to unpack and start making my home.  The apartment is luxurious by Latvian standards:  "Three rooms" for one person. This means that, in addition to the kitchen, toilet closet, and bathroom, I have a living room, bedroom, and office. It is a Soviet-era building, with no frills, and looks a bit bleak from the outside.  But inside is solid and quiet, clean and spacious.  There are lots of cupboards, and everything is furnished. The colors are browns and golds, so I will need to bring in some blues and other colors to brighten things up.  But all in all I feel very lucky to have this place.  The owners, Vilis and Anita, are very nice, and I am looking forward to visiting them on their farm.  They prepared everything for me in typical Lativan welcoming fashion: flowers on the table, a bowl of apples, everything clean and tidy.  And when they came to bring me linens last night, they brought a bag of potatoes, some berries, and a pumpkin!  I really feel cared for.

I am excited to begin cooking my own meals, and using the spices I shipped from the states.  In addition to the food from Vilis and Anita, Agita gave me a basket of vegetables and more potatoes, and I have homemade jams from Valentian.  With additional supplies from the store, I'm ready to go.  I have lots of grains to work with: white rice, basmati rice (!), millet, buckwheat, bulghur, wheat berries, wheat farina; and pasta and dried beans.  Olive oil is available, which is great, as well as plain yogurt.  One odd thing, there is no whole-wheat flour in the stores, even though there are whole-grain breads available.  I am enjoying the dark rye bread, whole-grain breads, and also a sourdough rye.

Well, I should think about ending this so I can catch my bus.  I have written a lot about the facts of everyday life, but not much about how I am feeling.  In general, I am feeling good.  I am definitely lonely sometimes, and missing my friends and loved ones, but the people in Mazsalaca are very kind, and I am enjoying getting to know the other English teachers and my Latvian tutor.  I sometimes experience confusion about being a Peace Corps volunteer in a town that is doing so well in most respects.  But there are definitely problems and needs.  Alcoholism is one of the most visible, and I have had several encounters with intoxicated people, including seing a woman who fall down in the street on my way to school one day.  Unemployment is high, salaries are low, and there is a lot of pressure to buy things and attain a Western-style standard of living.  Right now I am just observing, trying to understand what it must be like for people to be in this situation.  Just ten years ago, there was no private property, the stores shelves were often empty, there was one flavor of ice cream, there were no bananas, etc.  The way I view my work here right now is that, by helping with English skills, and the development of English-teaching programs, I can give children and adults a tool to help them understand and navigate this rapidly-changing world.  Of course, there are three aspects to Peace Corps service.  The first is the helping aspect.  The other two are to learn about their culture, and to teach them about American culture.  So plenty of work to do, all in all!

Thanks to everyone for being so good at keeping in touch.

Visu Labu.

Sarah

p.s.  I still don't have regular email access.  The school does have an internet connection, but it is so slow that Yahoo mail times out before I can log in.  My sister Barb is forwarding this message to you all.  I am able to check mail in Valmiera, and hope to get here every week or two.  So please, send email or postal mail.  I'd love to hear from you!  And send realia (everyday materials using English)!  I recently did a speaking exercise on ordering food at a restaurant, and could have used more take-out menus!