Deer, Oh Dear

Winter is not coming, it’s already here. We had the first snow a couple of days ago, and for sure it won’t be the last. So let’s put on some fluffy warm socks and catch up on the last few weeks!

School started again for the lowest grades, and with the creation of bubbles to avoid each other as much as possible, my help was needed with the school kids. It was nice to spend time with them and their teacher Dace, to get to know each other a little better. Although sometimes I felt they didn’t need me that much, or that I couldn’t help out the way I would like, since my knowledge of the Latvian language is not that great yet, so I was struggling to help the kids with their assignments. But besides that, time flew by, and so do the hours of daylight. It’s so weird that it’s not even 16:30 and the sun would have set already. Like, it’s dark outside. The curfew doesn’t help in that way either, but Lena and I make the best out of it by decorating the flat a little, to make it as cozy as possible!

On the weekend, Rasa invited us to come along to their countryside house for a sauna experience. I wasn’t feeling great, my headaches had been torturing me for the last few days, but I really wanted to spend time with them. I was a little anxious about the heat in the sauna, for I knew I don’t always respond well, in the sense that my headache can get worse.

So we went in, and it was HOT. In a good way though, and it was so pretty and a cool experience to be in a place that locals really enjoy. But when I got out for some ‘cool’ air, I noticed my suspicion was right, my head was about to burst. I went outside for some cold air, which helped, but Lena and Rasa got a little worried. I told them I was fine, because I know this can happen and what to do about it, but I appreciated their concern. After a good night sleep, it was sort of better the next day, so I was ready for the week!

It was going to be a long week as well, because there is this weird thing about national holidays. On November 18, everybody has the day of because it’s the birthday of Latvia. But then you have a gap in the week with Friday, so they decide you can have Friday of too, but only then you have to catch up on another day. Which meant in our case, go to work an a Saturday.

I don’t know if this happens in more countries, but this is super unusual in the Netherlands. It would be a long week, but the week after would be short, so it kinda compensated.

The three days before the long weekend were pretty hectic and a little chaotic too, for all the grades were back at school, and with all the bubbles, it took us a bit to figure out the schedules. And although I had some free hours during the day, we managed to have some fun.

On Wednesday, when both Lena and me got released from our duties, we took the bus to Rīga! Lena’s mom spontaneously decided to come over for the weekend, and my dad booked his flight a little while ago already. We were both super excited to see them again, because for me this would be the first time since I got here to be reunited with somebody from home!

We checked in to our hotels, different ones but super close to each other.

My dad arrived on Thursday early afternoon, but before I went to pick him up at the airport, I had booked a massage appointment. I was supposed to be there at 10:00, and I had checked my route to get there. I went a bit early to the busstop, like a proper Dutchie, to be on time. It was a pretty long street with multiple bus stops next to each other, so it took me a few minutes to be sure where my bus would be. When I saw the bus before the one I had to take stop at the right stop, I was comfortable and sure where to be. But then my bus didn’t come. I checked Google Maps again, because time was now ticking away fast, and I started to panic a little. Because it was the national holiday, the busses were on a weekend schedule, but Google Maps didn’t know this! So I basically took the next bus that was supposed to bring me close to the shop, but then it of course took a different route and made me even more late for my appointment. When I called the shop to tell them I was running a little late, they assured me it was fine and they would wait for me. I know how annoying and frustrating it is to wait for your clients, so even though she said it was okay, there was still this feeling of guilt and anger at myself. But I got there in the end, and the massage was amazing and really needed. All energised to spend the long weekend with dad!

I felt like such an idiot though, because I didn’t learn from my earlier mistake at all. Dad was arriving around 13:00 at the airport, but my bus to get there of course had a different time schedule than me. But luckily for me, dad had to wait at the car rental place, so I was waiting for him quite a bit.

It was so good to see him walking out of there and to give him a big hug! I don’t get homesick easily, but when you haven’t seen someone in 5 months, a hug is the best thing ever.

We walked to our car, avoiding and ignoring all the taxi drivers, and there were many. The hotel wasn’t that far away, but our parking space was not next to the hotel, but a few streets further. We unloaded our stuff, and when we wanted to walk away, the trunk door didn’t seem to lock. Dad doesn’t have a car at home, we always rent one, so a newer or modern version mostly has some unknown functions. The guy at the rental place told us he would drive by after work, but these lies didn’t help us. He never showed up, and it turned out when the key was further away, it would lock automatically. Case closed!

We strolled around Rīga Old Town, with all the narrow streets, towards the Statue of Liberty, where the locals would lay flowers to celebrate their freedom. For dinner we went to this Latvian restaurant, with only traditional dishes. It was the perfect introduction, because it is nothing like the food at home. Apparently we missed the fireworks, because we could here them firing away, but didn’t see anything.

What we did see where a lot of people outside, and some peculiar sights, like a guy with a rondom chicken, and of course, a lot of drunk locals.

On Friday we explored some more of the city, in the modern part we saw some cool Jugendstil houses and neighbourhoods, the big marketplace with a lot of food, where dad thought it was a great idea to look for a new hat. The shop owner loved it, clearly, but I was just glad he didn’t buy one. We went across the river to take a look at the national library, but it was closed, thanks to this weird rule of having the day off.

The weather was not really in our favour, so we just went back to the hotel and for dinner later. We walked around a little, and on one of the squares in Old Town, was in the middle a restaurant which existed out of glass. There was a liveband playing old school rock ‘ n ‘ roll, so obviously we had to go there.

Then it was Saturday, and time for our first part of the little roadtrip! Jūrmala was our first destination, a little coastal town with big hotels and retreats. We strolled around town and the beach, had lunch at another traditional Latvian little restaurant, and admired the it’s-so-ugly-it’s-actually-pretty orthodox churches. I don’t get them, it’s awful, like a pain to the eyes. But to each their own, I guess. We drove back to Rīga, and had a nice and easy dinner at the hotel, too tired too go out.

Sunday greeted us with rain and grey skies. We had a pretty long drive in front of us, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, and when we arrived at our first stop in Sigulda to visit some of the castles, we had some luck. It stopped raining at the right times for us to get out and enjoy the views.

So, remember how I’ve told you the sun is setting earlier each day. Now before 16:00, it’s gone. It’s getting dark super quick, and without any streetlights on the roads between towns, is pretty creepy. On our way back to Preiļi, we had a little accident. Nothing major, at least for us. Here’s what happened. Whilst we drove through one of the towns, almost at the end of it, after a curve and driving not even that fast, there were two seconds where it stared right at us. A small deer trying to cross the street. It did cross it, just not in the way it was supposed to, it made a small detour against the front of our car… You know that saying, “like a deer in headlights”? Exactly like that.. I screamed my ass of, or at least that’s what it felt like, and dad stopped the car immediately. Both freaked out, we had to check it. Well, dad did. I was in no circumstance gonna get out of that car and check upon a dead deer. A deer we had just killed…

Thankfully for the poor animal, it wasn’t suffering anymore, so dad told me, and lying next to the side of the road, so cars wouldn’t hit it again. We drove a bit further to put ourselves in a more safe parking spot, and called the rental company, for there was quite a little damage to the car. They would figure it all out later, when the car would be returned. Still in shock we continued our way, happily arriving in Preiļi, where dad’s hotel was around the corner of my flat. We dropped of his stuff and checked in, with a few language issues, which were solved easily, and had a quick home made dinner at the flat. After quite the eventful evening, we both needed to catch up on some sleep and pray for a nightmare-less night.

Next morning, a sunny morning! We needed this after yesterday, so feeling a lot better we went on our tour through town. My town! I had already told dad it probably wouldn’t take us more than an hour to see everything, and so it did. But it was nice and also slightly unrealistic to show him where I have spend my time for the last 5 months. So after the grand tour, we drove towards Daugavpils, to see the fortress. We had again, a sort of uncomfortable language barrier with the people in the restaurant, but with a nicely filled stomach, we were ready to explore some more! The Mark Rothko Centre was closed on Monday, so we just walked around the area for a little bit, and took the touristic route back home. I set the navigator to make a stop in Aglona, for I wanted dad to see the big church as well. Without any other accidents, we made it back to Preiļi. Before dinner, I wanted to show dad school, obviously. I think it was a lot smaller than he had expected, but the vibes were there. When we had met some of the lovely ladies, we went back to have dinner with Lena. And then it was already almost over. The next morning, it started to snow, so to avoid the weather and traffic problems, we said goodbye around 10:00 in the morning. I think this time around, it was more difficult, at least for me. It was such a weird feeling, having someone leaving you instead of the other way around, like it was when I came here. We kept it short and brief, but after a few big hugs, it was time for dad to go. He made it safely to the airport and eventually home, after having an amazing weekend together. I just can’t wait to see everyone again.