Well here it is, the tenth blog of my great Latvian adventure and it´s put me in a somewhat reflective mood. I never thought that I would make it to ten. Firstly I thought that I would get bored of writing all the time (which sometimes I do) and secondly, I thought that things would start getting more, you know.....normal, and that I would run out of stories to tell. But writing these blogs have been great for me to tell you all about the strange, the mad and the weird. What´s funny is that the blogs themselves have now become internationally known, they are read in parts of Europe, Asia, South America................................ and they all agree that my spelling is awful. Though I have had some really nice comments from others. I have even spoke to the first EVS volunteer that stayed here in Gulbene and she told me the origin of all the pictures of animals in the flat and the reason why there is a huge plant in the corner of the front room.
However for all you critics I now have an editor to help keep the spelling and grammar in check, this is just the start of bigger things, although when I say editor it´s probably fairer to say a lovely friend who is willing to help me.
Last weekend I hosted a party for all the people that I met on my on-arrival-training in Riga about a month ago. The party was organised by my new mentor Justinē, which was good as she did all of the organising, as I´ve been so busy lately with work and joining various projects. At the time I probably wasn´t in the party mood for several reasons. One being the fact that I was starting to get a bit tired of all the partying I´ve been doing, I love to party but I also need time to rest and be on my own. The second reason was that on that weekend, thousands of miles back home In Plymouth my ex-classmates from Uni were all celebrating their graduation. This put me in a bit of a sombre mood. It´s quite hard to give yourself a goal, work really hard for three years and achive that goal, especially at times when I didn´t think it was possible. I´m really pleased with how I did but I haven´t been able to celebrate with the people who helped me along the way. I couldn´t celebrate on the day we got our results because I was In India, but that ended ok with a sneaky beer on the rocks next to the river by the house.
But graduation is a chance to celebrate together, but as always Pa short had some great advice, "the awards are great but at the end of the day they are just trinkets and baubles". I know he´s right. You give your self personal goals and that´s what they are personal and you may forget the rewards that you have over time but the things you learned and the experiences you gain will last forever.
Well thats a bit too deep for this story. Let´s get back to the reasons I don´t like hosting parties. Here´s the big one: If it´s shit you can´t leave.
But thankfully it was a great and I think everyone had a great time. It was interesting to get their perspective on the flat, some were shocked with the smell of the water and the sleeping arangements and the pictures of random animals every where. One guy was saying that if im not happy I should do something about it, but I suppose I am happy, very happy, its not perfect by any means, but I have two choices - whine and complain, or just get on with it. There are times when it can be difficult here but the work is perfect for me and the opportunities are amazing, I’ve met so many people and already seen a lot and its still very early in my journey. Next year I´m going to travel across the Baltic countries and then see how far I can get after that.
I had a great time meeting the guys once again and I will meet them again soon somewhere else in December. But for the week it was back to work, I have created a couple of new interest groups at the centre and recently bought a really old manual camera, which I can´t wait to learn how to use because then I can develop my own pictures in the bathroom, which would be great as the red light will distract people´s attention from the orange stains and mould on the wall.
Plus I joined another project at the end of the week with people from Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. The centre was hosting a project that focused on the importance of young people being polictically active and there were workshops on how to make videos. So I even starred in my second short film in Latvia and my roles are getting higher, first I was just a random guy but in my second role my character had a name which was .................................waiter. Hopefully that film will also be on YouTube.
At the end of the week the group went to the capital, and in Riga we went to the Latvian parliament and even met the ex-Minister of Finance. This was fun, as Latvia is in a current economic crisis and also spent two million Lats (which is close to two million pounds) on a bridge that hasn´t even been completed yet. I donned my serious face, and gave him some hard-hitting journalistic questions about these issues.....worryingly he sort of just laughed the issue away and said this, I quote,
"when I was starting out in Politics a superior said to me you can make two types of decisions when you´re a politician a bad one........or an even worse one".............Knob.
Riga is a great place and the hostel I stayed in was awesome. Any place where they greet you with a free beer is going to be a good place especially when they have the Beatles, Rolling stones and Dylan on the video juke box. The nightlife is active in Riga, but they don´t start until quite late and as I was in English party mode, I started drinking at eight but it´s ok, people caught up, and me and the Lithuanian guys even managed to sneak into a night club full of cheesy euro trance music and Russians.
I learned a lot from these guys: They are currently squatting in England and have made getting stuff for free into an art form.
Once again I had another great week in Latvia and drinks with some new international friends.
But next week I think I´m going to take it easy with a new book, a cup of tea and some biscuits. It´s coming up to two months of being here now and the time has gone fairly fast, I´m going home for Christmas in December but after that I might have to do a full seven-month stretch away from home and whether it will be easy or not, who knows, but I´m sure I will have some stories to tell.
svētdiena, 2009. gada 29. novembris
svētdiena, 2009. gada 22. novembris
Danger Danger, High Voltage
Me and electrical goods have been having slight disagreements lately. About three weeks ago my apartment had a blackout and now and again the electricity would just cut off. I think it was because one of the sockets is a little dodgy, Usually this would nt be a problem but always seems to be when Im cooking and using the oven, I had to wait till 11 in the evening one night just to have an egg sandwich. The flat wasn't just struggling with electricity but the heating was on blink too, It was OK for me because Ive been going away and staying at other places which is lucky because for about five days we had no hot water neither.
But the worst was about to come.....since Ive been here evenings can be a little queit sometimes, without a laptop to keep me occupied I have to rely on the Four books that I brought, ( three down one more left) and the DVDS that i brought with me. Some classics (blade runner, The good, the Bad and the Ugly and some more of my favourite films. I was lucky enough to get a TV from the youth Center and I was given permission to borrow the centers DVD player in the evenings. It was a good time, Films a cup of Tea and some of the finest Oatmeal biscuits that Latvia can offer.......but that has come to pass, as the other day my Latvian TV.......died.
I was in the middle of watching a film in the morning and then i could hear this strange ticking and then I heard a soft boom the screen went blank and then smoke began to rise from the doomed Television set. I am still able to watch films in the evening at the center but that means that Ill have to remember to take the biscuits.
On the 18th of November It was the celebration of 91 years of Latvia's Independence. To celebrate there was a party being organized across the street from the center, we had to all dress smart and bring food. I got my party on with some potato salad mother fuckers.
During the afternoon the center was open and the boss thought that it would be a good idea to use the light installations which were made last week at the seminar. The light installations use multi coulured bulbs and look really good in the evening. The only problem was that for some reason they were not working, they were in a chain so, I tried other bulbs to see if it was any better, the new bulbs worked but the coloured bulbs were being stubborn bastards. So I thought maybe I should see if a coloured bulb would work inside, I took the bulb and put it in to one of the rooms, as I put turned the light on I could see that shining glow of yellow, the image of success for about a second then the bulb blew, and there was only darkness, not just in the room but I fucked the electricity in the whole building. It was bad timing as the center was full of young people listening to decks, going on the computer and even the boss was in the middle of having her nails done. Its another thing to add to the list of fuck ups and mistakes Ive done at a job (not this one, but just in general) Most fuck ups and mistakes were probably in the bar that i worked in for two years, but they never got mad if anything I think they encouraged that type of behaviour, and I have to respect any job that wouldn't mind employees flashing their pants at other employees in the wine cellar, Mouthing off to policemen, uncomfortable encounters with Frank Bruno and being on the whole a bit of a lazy twat but thats whole different blog altogether.
The fuse box was the tricky part located in a separate building next door, completely pitch black in a warehouse type building with obstacles all over the floor and even a spiral stairway which has no banister and a drop that can be easily mistaken for a black hole. It was so eerie walking down the stair case with a candle as our only light to reach the fuse box looked like a scene from a 30's horror movie.
In the end everything worked out fine, the electric came back on, and I got to share my Potato salad with the good people of Latvia, Ill just be staying away from any electric goods for a while., and stick with books............................I just hope I dont get any paper cuts catastrophes.
I would like to Dedicate this Blog to My Latvian television
Latvian TV
08/10/09- 17-11-09
But the worst was about to come.....since Ive been here evenings can be a little queit sometimes, without a laptop to keep me occupied I have to rely on the Four books that I brought, ( three down one more left) and the DVDS that i brought with me. Some classics (blade runner, The good, the Bad and the Ugly and some more of my favourite films. I was lucky enough to get a TV from the youth Center and I was given permission to borrow the centers DVD player in the evenings. It was a good time, Films a cup of Tea and some of the finest Oatmeal biscuits that Latvia can offer.......but that has come to pass, as the other day my Latvian TV.......died.
I was in the middle of watching a film in the morning and then i could hear this strange ticking and then I heard a soft boom the screen went blank and then smoke began to rise from the doomed Television set. I am still able to watch films in the evening at the center but that means that Ill have to remember to take the biscuits.
On the 18th of November It was the celebration of 91 years of Latvia's Independence. To celebrate there was a party being organized across the street from the center, we had to all dress smart and bring food. I got my party on with some potato salad mother fuckers.
During the afternoon the center was open and the boss thought that it would be a good idea to use the light installations which were made last week at the seminar. The light installations use multi coulured bulbs and look really good in the evening. The only problem was that for some reason they were not working, they were in a chain so, I tried other bulbs to see if it was any better, the new bulbs worked but the coloured bulbs were being stubborn bastards. So I thought maybe I should see if a coloured bulb would work inside, I took the bulb and put it in to one of the rooms, as I put turned the light on I could see that shining glow of yellow, the image of success for about a second then the bulb blew, and there was only darkness, not just in the room but I fucked the electricity in the whole building. It was bad timing as the center was full of young people listening to decks, going on the computer and even the boss was in the middle of having her nails done. Its another thing to add to the list of fuck ups and mistakes Ive done at a job (not this one, but just in general) Most fuck ups and mistakes were probably in the bar that i worked in for two years, but they never got mad if anything I think they encouraged that type of behaviour, and I have to respect any job that wouldn't mind employees flashing their pants at other employees in the wine cellar, Mouthing off to policemen, uncomfortable encounters with Frank Bruno and being on the whole a bit of a lazy twat but thats whole different blog altogether.
The fuse box was the tricky part located in a separate building next door, completely pitch black in a warehouse type building with obstacles all over the floor and even a spiral stairway which has no banister and a drop that can be easily mistaken for a black hole. It was so eerie walking down the stair case with a candle as our only light to reach the fuse box looked like a scene from a 30's horror movie.
In the end everything worked out fine, the electric came back on, and I got to share my Potato salad with the good people of Latvia, Ill just be staying away from any electric goods for a while., and stick with books............................I just hope I dont get any paper cuts catastrophes.
I would like to Dedicate this Blog to My Latvian television
Latvian TV
08/10/09- 17-11-09
otrdiena, 2009. gada 17. novembris
Away I go
well I have changed my mind I was going to write a blog titled "game over" which was going tell the account of how I got my ass kicked my six people aged 13-20 at ping pong (Latvians love ping pong who knew) but as I didn't have any similar stories Ive decided to write about my recent travels and the people Ive met along the way.
In the last three weekends i have met, had dinner with and consumed alcohol with people from-
Morroco, Spain, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, France, Italy, Hungary, Palestine, Algeria, Estonia, Tunisia, Molidivia, Bulgarian, Greek,......not all at the same time.
A couple of weeks ago i went to France to attend a training seminar, the seminar was about sustainable development, actually a lot more interesting than it sounds.
To get to France I had to go to Riga first, I was little worried and tired. I had to leave for Riga at six in the morning and then i found out that we wernt taking off until 3.30 then we land in Prague and have to stay in Prague for 4 hours and we wont land until 11.00 which worried me a little as everyone else was meeting at 7, and when we did land we had to get on this bus for 35 mins and then when we were on the bus ring a number that we were given, but because of the international block on the Latvian sim I have I couldn't make any outgoing calls and nor could my traveling companion.
So at this point she had the idea of going to get some food at her Aunts, so were on are way getting further and further away from the airport, and im starting to worry about time, walking through a strange town and then we got to a really old building and then at the apartment i can hear her dog bark,.....................as we went in , I saw that the place looked nothing like the outside it was like the Tardis , and there was a sweet old lady who could not speak a word of English sat me down, and then created a mini feast, massive cups of coffee, three boiled eggs, cheeses, breads and waffles. Its been said by someone before that I can be a bit of a hobbit but all my worries were gone with a nice full belly.
I had to use the communal toilet at the apartment and as i walked into the small old fashioned toilet trying to be funny and clever thinking oh i could write how this toilet looks like the one from trainspotting in my blog............i broke the pull handle.......fuck...when i thought the day was going to get better. I fixed it in the end, after three boiled eggs I was at the top of my game and only panicked a little.
Got to France quite late and found out I was sharing my room with a elderly gentleman from Morocco that looked just like Barrack Obamma's dad, who was nice enough guy but kept asking me if I was asleep when I had my eyes closed.
The week in France was great, and even got the chance to walk around the streets of Aix en Provence, which was full of rich yellows and browns and has a strong Mediterranean vibe to the place. Also got to go to Marseilles for the evening, went to the Notre Dame le garde at the top of this hill and you can see the whole of Marseilles, and it was very impressive.
Most of the guys went shopping but a few of us decided to have a look around the smaller areas and I even found a small independent cinema. It was funny because I was talking to this Italian girl about how much i miss watching films and going to the cinema than we find this one, and it was showing the Sam Mendes Movie 'away we go'. Absolutely brilliant one of the best films Ive see this year........and one of the best sound tracks ever, you cant argue with a film that has Bob Dylan and the Velvet Underground.
It was nice to meet these people and will hopefully get to work with some of them soon for new projects i was even given a nick name from one of the Palestinian girls.....'Mr Smileyface. I'm not sure why Im getting these types of nick names I thought i give of the impression of a serious mysterious poetic young man ......................................................................................... but its probably closer to a permanently grinning rodent.
When I came back from France I had another seminar to go to, this one though was being held in Gulbene the place I'm living in which makes traveling a lot easier. This seminar was called 'Ā million reasons light is better than dark' and I already missed some very creative work shops and making some light installations because I joined the group of Estonians, Austrians, Latvians and Slovenians about five days after the rest of them arrived so i didn't have much time left to get to know everyone but I was lucky because they were all very friendly and sociable and on the first night i was with them I even learnt about Slovenian poetry.
On the last two days their were four workshops Fire juggling, Music, Theater and Synography. I decided to join the music work shop and the four of us decided to play the music for the theater guys. It was great jamming with them, we had around two days to practice and we all swapped instruments and I learned some new tricks on the guitar.
One of the funniest things was when i asked one of the Slovenian girls what the band should be called......and she came up with the 'Milk Tits'....even stranger was the dance that she made for the band which simply put just looked like she was milking her tits.?
Before the night of the big performance we had a party at a sauna house, which is as cool as it sounds, got very drunk and had some great Estonian Quiche and various fruits, as the party went on I got into a very philosophical chat about time, with an other Slovenian girl who is currently studying philosophy and then astronomy...... you cant beat drunken philosophical chats whilst at a party.
The sauna was hot, really hot at times I could hardly open my eyes. I shared it with some of the Estonian gang and they were telling how they like their saunas hot and how they also like to hit each other with branches....hard,................ so What else could I do I got smacked with a twig and maybe it was the heat or maybe it was the alcohol but I really enjoyed it....but they were taking it a little easier on me the next day one of the guys still had marks where they hit him so hard, Its also custom to roll in the snow after but as they wasn't any there Id just hang outside in my pants drinking a nice cold beer watching all of this steam just roll of my body, but then a few minutes later it got very, very cold.
Back at the party, people were drinking and dancing to Nick Cave.....so it was very good night. I forgot how much fun it is to dance to good music when your pissed, I havnt really drunk much since ive been here in Latvia, so it was nice to get my dance on....and oh believe me I can dance with the best of them, it was like I was back in the dance room in mielleinium ( a refrence to all my Plymouthian friends).
Through the night people were being picked up at various times, I was in the last group to leave. One thing Ive noticed about young Latvians is their dry sense of humour and when something goes wrong a lot of them just say 'fail',
when i was getting in to my seat in the car, the door got closed on my hand...it didnt hurt and my hand is fine but what was funniest is the fact that the guy who was driving us just said in a really dead pan way "ultimate fail"......it was funny at the time.
The next day we had the performance, I played the drums, guitar and the harmonica and I really enjoyed my self, it was only the third time Ive ever played in front of an audience and one the most sober times. I was once played in a Bar but I was pissed out of my face dressed up as "the dude"from the Big Lebowski....as i recall a very good night indeed. The performance was being held at the cultural center, and the group of us did a lot of rallying people and informing people the night before, at times it looked like the circus has come to town with a group of foreigners roaming the streets of Latvia holding posters, waving flame torches around and having a quick exhibition of the fire jugglers doing their stuff, all the while the band was making as much noise they could with the drums and shakers. Quite a number of people turned up at the cultural center and it was great night of music and entertainment and the place looked fantastic with all the light installations put up and the lanterns that everyone made.
The theater was great as it starts out with using shadows only, inside a huge white cube then the guys come out of the cube and you notice the fantastic face paint their wearing and then the music and the dancing start to work together. Hopefully Ill be able to show you all a video of it soon.
Its been a very busy couple of weeks and Im probably forgetting lots of stories. Its also been very culturally diverse and I have learnt lots of things from lots of different people in such a short amount of time ....but if i take one thing learn from it, well ive learnt this. THE MILK TITS ARE THE BEST BAND EVER!
In the last three weekends i have met, had dinner with and consumed alcohol with people from-
Morroco, Spain, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, France, Italy, Hungary, Palestine, Algeria, Estonia, Tunisia, Molidivia, Bulgarian, Greek,......not all at the same time.
A couple of weeks ago i went to France to attend a training seminar, the seminar was about sustainable development, actually a lot more interesting than it sounds.
To get to France I had to go to Riga first, I was little worried and tired. I had to leave for Riga at six in the morning and then i found out that we wernt taking off until 3.30 then we land in Prague and have to stay in Prague for 4 hours and we wont land until 11.00 which worried me a little as everyone else was meeting at 7, and when we did land we had to get on this bus for 35 mins and then when we were on the bus ring a number that we were given, but because of the international block on the Latvian sim I have I couldn't make any outgoing calls and nor could my traveling companion.
So at this point she had the idea of going to get some food at her Aunts, so were on are way getting further and further away from the airport, and im starting to worry about time, walking through a strange town and then we got to a really old building and then at the apartment i can hear her dog bark,.....................as we went in , I saw that the place looked nothing like the outside it was like the Tardis , and there was a sweet old lady who could not speak a word of English sat me down, and then created a mini feast, massive cups of coffee, three boiled eggs, cheeses, breads and waffles. Its been said by someone before that I can be a bit of a hobbit but all my worries were gone with a nice full belly.
I had to use the communal toilet at the apartment and as i walked into the small old fashioned toilet trying to be funny and clever thinking oh i could write how this toilet looks like the one from trainspotting in my blog............i broke the pull handle.......fuck...when i thought the day was going to get better. I fixed it in the end, after three boiled eggs I was at the top of my game and only panicked a little.
Got to France quite late and found out I was sharing my room with a elderly gentleman from Morocco that looked just like Barrack Obamma's dad, who was nice enough guy but kept asking me if I was asleep when I had my eyes closed.
The week in France was great, and even got the chance to walk around the streets of Aix en Provence, which was full of rich yellows and browns and has a strong Mediterranean vibe to the place. Also got to go to Marseilles for the evening, went to the Notre Dame le garde at the top of this hill and you can see the whole of Marseilles, and it was very impressive.
Most of the guys went shopping but a few of us decided to have a look around the smaller areas and I even found a small independent cinema. It was funny because I was talking to this Italian girl about how much i miss watching films and going to the cinema than we find this one, and it was showing the Sam Mendes Movie 'away we go'. Absolutely brilliant one of the best films Ive see this year........and one of the best sound tracks ever, you cant argue with a film that has Bob Dylan and the Velvet Underground.
It was nice to meet these people and will hopefully get to work with some of them soon for new projects i was even given a nick name from one of the Palestinian girls.....'Mr Smileyface. I'm not sure why Im getting these types of nick names I thought i give of the impression of a serious mysterious poetic young man ......................................................................................... but its probably closer to a permanently grinning rodent.
When I came back from France I had another seminar to go to, this one though was being held in Gulbene the place I'm living in which makes traveling a lot easier. This seminar was called 'Ā million reasons light is better than dark' and I already missed some very creative work shops and making some light installations because I joined the group of Estonians, Austrians, Latvians and Slovenians about five days after the rest of them arrived so i didn't have much time left to get to know everyone but I was lucky because they were all very friendly and sociable and on the first night i was with them I even learnt about Slovenian poetry.
On the last two days their were four workshops Fire juggling, Music, Theater and Synography. I decided to join the music work shop and the four of us decided to play the music for the theater guys. It was great jamming with them, we had around two days to practice and we all swapped instruments and I learned some new tricks on the guitar.
One of the funniest things was when i asked one of the Slovenian girls what the band should be called......and she came up with the 'Milk Tits'....even stranger was the dance that she made for the band which simply put just looked like she was milking her tits.?
Before the night of the big performance we had a party at a sauna house, which is as cool as it sounds, got very drunk and had some great Estonian Quiche and various fruits, as the party went on I got into a very philosophical chat about time, with an other Slovenian girl who is currently studying philosophy and then astronomy...... you cant beat drunken philosophical chats whilst at a party.
The sauna was hot, really hot at times I could hardly open my eyes. I shared it with some of the Estonian gang and they were telling how they like their saunas hot and how they also like to hit each other with branches....hard,................ so What else could I do I got smacked with a twig and maybe it was the heat or maybe it was the alcohol but I really enjoyed it....but they were taking it a little easier on me the next day one of the guys still had marks where they hit him so hard, Its also custom to roll in the snow after but as they wasn't any there Id just hang outside in my pants drinking a nice cold beer watching all of this steam just roll of my body, but then a few minutes later it got very, very cold.
Back at the party, people were drinking and dancing to Nick Cave.....so it was very good night. I forgot how much fun it is to dance to good music when your pissed, I havnt really drunk much since ive been here in Latvia, so it was nice to get my dance on....and oh believe me I can dance with the best of them, it was like I was back in the dance room in mielleinium ( a refrence to all my Plymouthian friends).
Through the night people were being picked up at various times, I was in the last group to leave. One thing Ive noticed about young Latvians is their dry sense of humour and when something goes wrong a lot of them just say 'fail',
when i was getting in to my seat in the car, the door got closed on my hand...it didnt hurt and my hand is fine but what was funniest is the fact that the guy who was driving us just said in a really dead pan way "ultimate fail"......it was funny at the time.
The next day we had the performance, I played the drums, guitar and the harmonica and I really enjoyed my self, it was only the third time Ive ever played in front of an audience and one the most sober times. I was once played in a Bar but I was pissed out of my face dressed up as "the dude"from the Big Lebowski....as i recall a very good night indeed. The performance was being held at the cultural center, and the group of us did a lot of rallying people and informing people the night before, at times it looked like the circus has come to town with a group of foreigners roaming the streets of Latvia holding posters, waving flame torches around and having a quick exhibition of the fire jugglers doing their stuff, all the while the band was making as much noise they could with the drums and shakers. Quite a number of people turned up at the cultural center and it was great night of music and entertainment and the place looked fantastic with all the light installations put up and the lanterns that everyone made.
The theater was great as it starts out with using shadows only, inside a huge white cube then the guys come out of the cube and you notice the fantastic face paint their wearing and then the music and the dancing start to work together. Hopefully Ill be able to show you all a video of it soon.
Its been a very busy couple of weeks and Im probably forgetting lots of stories. Its also been very culturally diverse and I have learnt lots of things from lots of different people in such a short amount of time ....but if i take one thing learn from it, well ive learnt this. THE MILK TITS ARE THE BEST BAND EVER!
pirmdiena, 2009. gada 2. novembris
What line is being said any way
well I start this blog with a big congratulations to My mentor Maris and his wife Ilena as two days ago they had a baby girl named Nora, I did originally spell it wrong but thanks to edit mode its all perfect now.
So I have to let you all know that I can not understand the Latvian Language what so ever, I'm trying but its just not happening, its just too difficult and Im slipping in to bad habits.
I have two Latvian lessons each week, but Ive only been to about five, (the teacher was poorly, or Ive been busy with work and training programmes) and it really is like a lesson. I was never a bad student at school academically, but I was a bit of a day dreamer and the truth is I still am, and its something that wont change. I remember as soon as i walked into French class in school my mind would already begin to drift and then i would cover at least half a page of my work book in nonsensical nonsense and doodles. It wasn't just French but History and Art too, At parents evening My history teacher said "Sonny has the unique ability to look like hes working but not do any thing productive"and my Art teacher "If sonny worked at his very best and only concentrated at Art .......well the mos the will get is a D"which I thought was particularly harsh, as he always was. He once shouted at me because I wanted to use cotton wool on one of my paintings as a cloud he looked furious and shouted "what do you think this is Nursery" well I showed him three years later and I was working in a nursery for a living.......all the cotton wool for clouds a young man could hope for.
Even in Later eduction My mind would drift and I would do doodles, I tried at the start of every year to keep my books clean and to resist the urge to draw but these attempts would always be a waste of time as I have the attention span of a baby chimp.
However Ive also learned during my time here that if I don't learn the language then Latvia will just become stranger and more surreal, and its strange and surreal enough.
Its my second Saturday night and I haven't got any plans to drive around in the evening and drink alco pops but instead I'm off to the theater to watch some Latvian Improv.
The show was being held at the local pub and the actors were an Improv group from Riga, there was about 4 guys and 4 girls and then the audience (mostly young people around 18, some from the center and some were colleagues of mine). The premise was pretty much Who's line is it any way, the host would ask the audience for situations and different styles and the actors would then continue with "hilarious"results.
Well I could tell one thing even though I didn't understand the language, and this was the fact that the actors were rubbish, every person held something in their hand and Ive never seen so many people pretend to sweep in my life. The weirdness probably wasn't helped by the double whiskey i was drinking ( with no coke may I add), This went on for two hours and By the end I was extremely confused. But not as confused when for no reason in particular the actors started gyrating on their pretend brooms and started to lick the walls.
So I carried on with my lessons on the Monday after the weekend, and as usual I continued with my doodles. I have a stock of doodles that I usually do, these are
Trees
The Aliens from Futurama and the Simpsons
Lines
Shapes
Water
Clouds with far away Birds
Cartoon Rabbits
The Rolling Stones Mouth Logo
and Cartoon eyes, none of them of any high Quality. I was once drawing at the flat and my room mates mentor commented on my pictures and said that I had a soul of an artist ( She may of been using the famous Latvian sarcasm I ve learnt about) and as I looked at the pictures she didnt see, one of me and Uncle Ben sharing a jar of KoK, Im sure I have more the soul of a Man/Child than artist.
But My attitude has to change and on the Thursday coming I knew that I would have an opportunity to see how other volunteers from other countries were doing with the Language at On arrival Training.
This was being held for four days just outside Riga in the Latvian Country Side. There were Seven/Eight Volunteers there and about 5 Latvian Mentors and Two Latvian Trainers.
The volunteers were a mixed bunch, we had for the boys Two Spanish, 1 Austrian, 1 Turkish1 British (yours Truly) for the Ladies there were 1 French, 1 German and 1 Italian don't think I forgot any one I shouldn't of as it was two days ago I came back and most of them are now friends on Facebook so they will be able to see this.
The training was focused on the EVS programme and the reason I'm here, it was interesting at times but it was more interesting to get to know the other volunteers and it was worth it because all the food was free with as much tea as an Englishman can drink. In the evenings we got to know one another, without any alcohol we still had a laugh. I wasn't alone with problems of mastering the Latvian Language as most of the people here have been in Latvia for around a month everyone was at the same level. But for some the problem was English, the Italian girl struggled at times but could still communicate, sometimes through purrs or during a game outside you could hear her shout one English Phrase she knew"Ī Kill You". I learned in these four days that not only could I speak Latvian but I also need to master Continental English as it would be easier for people from other countries need to understand me too.
The Turkish guy knew the least amount of English and found it hard to communicate with the rest of us. He would sometimes say something completely out of context which could be funny at times or beweildering. The next day his mentor turned up and was able to communicate for him and these translations showed me that you really cant get a grasp of somebody if you cant speak their language, and that here is an intelligent and thoughtful young man with valued ideas,...........or maybe his mentor just did a very good job of translating his thoughts. Later on that evening me and the Turkish guy were talking in continental English and I mentioned that young people in Latvia looked older than they were and his reply with a straight face and extend hand over his head and said "17 18...... big bitches" ...you can make up your own minds.
the food at the retreat was good but they were a few problems 1, no biscuits for the tea. One day we had tea and cake and next to the cake was some sort of diced meat sausage roll ( these Latvians love the meat), and 2 the veg they had would be next to slabs of meat and the veggies
in the group would have to make sure we got the veg on the edge of the tray. The concept of veggie is really not known here and one Latvian girl even gave me the nick name "British Bunny". Now I don't know why but Ive never had very Impressive nick names, and they mostly end up being animal related and always close to the rodent family. This girl was also took back my doodles who didn't think I was drawing eyes but actually nipples.
On the last day we were all sharing our experiences and thanking each other for a great time. Then when it was my turn I satrted with a little bit about how I usually dislike these sorts of things and that i can be quite cynical about these training methods but i was going to carry on and mention what a great time I had but I didn't have that opportunity as I could see opposite me the Latvian girl was doing something with her hands so I stopped my speech and finished off with "I'm sorry but I cant carry on that girl seems to be Playing with my nipples"
Even though it wasn't profound, or maybe not even true (it could of been my imagination) i thought it was funny, which Ive learned most of all, no matter what language you speak, Funny is funny, you can still have a good time not knowing the language you just neet to find other methods whether that is Purring, Making jokes or lot of noise because the language will come in time.
Later on the bus home I was contemplating my time away and then the nipple playing Latvian girl said "British Bunny I have a Present for you"and pulled out of her bag three carrots!
Latvia may be strange and surreal at times but its also very, very funny!
Next week I will be tackling the concept of competition in "Game Over man, Game Over"
So I have to let you all know that I can not understand the Latvian Language what so ever, I'm trying but its just not happening, its just too difficult and Im slipping in to bad habits.
I have two Latvian lessons each week, but Ive only been to about five, (the teacher was poorly, or Ive been busy with work and training programmes) and it really is like a lesson. I was never a bad student at school academically, but I was a bit of a day dreamer and the truth is I still am, and its something that wont change. I remember as soon as i walked into French class in school my mind would already begin to drift and then i would cover at least half a page of my work book in nonsensical nonsense and doodles. It wasn't just French but History and Art too, At parents evening My history teacher said "Sonny has the unique ability to look like hes working but not do any thing productive"and my Art teacher "If sonny worked at his very best and only concentrated at Art .......well the mos the will get is a D"which I thought was particularly harsh, as he always was. He once shouted at me because I wanted to use cotton wool on one of my paintings as a cloud he looked furious and shouted "what do you think this is Nursery" well I showed him three years later and I was working in a nursery for a living.......all the cotton wool for clouds a young man could hope for.
Even in Later eduction My mind would drift and I would do doodles, I tried at the start of every year to keep my books clean and to resist the urge to draw but these attempts would always be a waste of time as I have the attention span of a baby chimp.
However Ive also learned during my time here that if I don't learn the language then Latvia will just become stranger and more surreal, and its strange and surreal enough.
Its my second Saturday night and I haven't got any plans to drive around in the evening and drink alco pops but instead I'm off to the theater to watch some Latvian Improv.
The show was being held at the local pub and the actors were an Improv group from Riga, there was about 4 guys and 4 girls and then the audience (mostly young people around 18, some from the center and some were colleagues of mine). The premise was pretty much Who's line is it any way, the host would ask the audience for situations and different styles and the actors would then continue with "hilarious"results.
Well I could tell one thing even though I didn't understand the language, and this was the fact that the actors were rubbish, every person held something in their hand and Ive never seen so many people pretend to sweep in my life. The weirdness probably wasn't helped by the double whiskey i was drinking ( with no coke may I add), This went on for two hours and By the end I was extremely confused. But not as confused when for no reason in particular the actors started gyrating on their pretend brooms and started to lick the walls.
So I carried on with my lessons on the Monday after the weekend, and as usual I continued with my doodles. I have a stock of doodles that I usually do, these are
Trees
The Aliens from Futurama and the Simpsons
Lines
Shapes
Water
Clouds with far away Birds
Cartoon Rabbits
The Rolling Stones Mouth Logo
and Cartoon eyes, none of them of any high Quality. I was once drawing at the flat and my room mates mentor commented on my pictures and said that I had a soul of an artist ( She may of been using the famous Latvian sarcasm I ve learnt about) and as I looked at the pictures she didnt see, one of me and Uncle Ben sharing a jar of KoK, Im sure I have more the soul of a Man/Child than artist.
But My attitude has to change and on the Thursday coming I knew that I would have an opportunity to see how other volunteers from other countries were doing with the Language at On arrival Training.
This was being held for four days just outside Riga in the Latvian Country Side. There were Seven/Eight Volunteers there and about 5 Latvian Mentors and Two Latvian Trainers.
The volunteers were a mixed bunch, we had for the boys Two Spanish, 1 Austrian, 1 Turkish1 British (yours Truly) for the Ladies there were 1 French, 1 German and 1 Italian don't think I forgot any one I shouldn't of as it was two days ago I came back and most of them are now friends on Facebook so they will be able to see this.
The training was focused on the EVS programme and the reason I'm here, it was interesting at times but it was more interesting to get to know the other volunteers and it was worth it because all the food was free with as much tea as an Englishman can drink. In the evenings we got to know one another, without any alcohol we still had a laugh. I wasn't alone with problems of mastering the Latvian Language as most of the people here have been in Latvia for around a month everyone was at the same level. But for some the problem was English, the Italian girl struggled at times but could still communicate, sometimes through purrs or during a game outside you could hear her shout one English Phrase she knew"Ī Kill You". I learned in these four days that not only could I speak Latvian but I also need to master Continental English as it would be easier for people from other countries need to understand me too.
The Turkish guy knew the least amount of English and found it hard to communicate with the rest of us. He would sometimes say something completely out of context which could be funny at times or beweildering. The next day his mentor turned up and was able to communicate for him and these translations showed me that you really cant get a grasp of somebody if you cant speak their language, and that here is an intelligent and thoughtful young man with valued ideas,...........or maybe his mentor just did a very good job of translating his thoughts. Later on that evening me and the Turkish guy were talking in continental English and I mentioned that young people in Latvia looked older than they were and his reply with a straight face and extend hand over his head and said "17 18...... big bitches" ...you can make up your own minds.
the food at the retreat was good but they were a few problems 1, no biscuits for the tea. One day we had tea and cake and next to the cake was some sort of diced meat sausage roll ( these Latvians love the meat), and 2 the veg they had would be next to slabs of meat and the veggies
in the group would have to make sure we got the veg on the edge of the tray. The concept of veggie is really not known here and one Latvian girl even gave me the nick name "British Bunny". Now I don't know why but Ive never had very Impressive nick names, and they mostly end up being animal related and always close to the rodent family. This girl was also took back my doodles who didn't think I was drawing eyes but actually nipples.
On the last day we were all sharing our experiences and thanking each other for a great time. Then when it was my turn I satrted with a little bit about how I usually dislike these sorts of things and that i can be quite cynical about these training methods but i was going to carry on and mention what a great time I had but I didn't have that opportunity as I could see opposite me the Latvian girl was doing something with her hands so I stopped my speech and finished off with "I'm sorry but I cant carry on that girl seems to be Playing with my nipples"
Even though it wasn't profound, or maybe not even true (it could of been my imagination) i thought it was funny, which Ive learned most of all, no matter what language you speak, Funny is funny, you can still have a good time not knowing the language you just neet to find other methods whether that is Purring, Making jokes or lot of noise because the language will come in time.
Later on the bus home I was contemplating my time away and then the nipple playing Latvian girl said "British Bunny I have a Present for you"and pulled out of her bag three carrots!
Latvia may be strange and surreal at times but its also very, very funny!
Next week I will be tackling the concept of competition in "Game Over man, Game Over"
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