Winter...What to Do?

Many people in the Northern Hemisphere often do not look forward to winter. I am one of them -- although my parents are from northern Europe and I grew up in the Midwest, I much prefer warm and sunny seasons to the colder and darker ones. Come November I begin to feel slightly anxious about the approaching winter. With the two last Washington winters having been rather harsh, I have been thinking about how to improve my relationship with winter (seeing as moving south from November through March is not a viable option!). The first step was purchasing a "happy light", which I have already begun trying to use almost every morning as the sun has been rising later and later, and setting earlier.

An October sunset

It seems my second step might be trying to adjust my mindset. The Atlantic recently published an enlightening article about Tromso, Norway, a city so far north that its dark winters are frighteningly long -- between November and January, the sun does not rise! This, of course, is in direct contrast to the summer, when between May and July the sun never sets. The article's author, Kari Leibowitz, received a Fulbright scholarship to research how people in Norway address winter, and spent ten months in Tromso doing research. I urge you to read the entire article -- it's fascinating. Additionally, during her time in Norway Ms. Leibowitz kept a blog, in which she features stunningly gorgeous photographs of various trips around the country in addition to pictures which show that the winter light there is quite beautiful.

In the vain of Tromso residents who look forward to winter, I figured one method of doing so is by constructing a list of activities to plan and look forward to this winter. Herewith I present....(drumroll, please!)....My Winter Wish & Plan List! This is not a "to do" list, nor is it a bucket list -- it is collection of activities which I would enjoy and that I may do in the coming five months. 

My Winter Wish & Plan List 

- Visit the National Postal Museum for the first time. See the PostSecret exhibit there.

- Catch new movies, especially "Bridge of Spies," "Suffragette," and "Sisters."

- Read! Particularly looking forward to Sherry Turkle's new book, "Reclaiming Conversation" (as I loved her work "Alone Together"). Have also heard lots about Lauren Groff's novel "Fates and Furies." I recently began reading "Notorious R.B.G.: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg," which is quite good.
- Visit the National Cryptological Museum (on the grounds of the National Security Agency, sometimes referred to as "No Such Agency").

- Interview at least one person for a blog post.
- Check out Artomatic 2015, an enormous free art exhibit.

- Bake cookies with my awesome new Latvian cookie cutters.
- Visit the newly re-opened Renwick Gallery.

- Host a literary evening.

- Of course: celebrate Latvia's Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, and Christmas, as well as my birthday.

- Visit at least one Christmas-themed event, such as a light display or Christmas music concert.
- Yay, "The Americans" is due to begin its new season in January! This is THE best show on television.

High water on the Potomac at sunset, March 2015

European Month of Culture

May is the European Month of Culture in DC, when the European country embassies organize a variety of cultural events. May 9 was European Union Open House Day, during which all of the EU embassies are open to the public for six hours. I spent most of the day at the Embassy of Latvia, first singing with my folk music ensemble, then helping answer visitors' questions about the historic building and about Latvia itself. Wearing my folk costume means that I also had my photo taken many, many times.

The Embassy of Latvia also hosted two well-known writers one evening. Poet Liāna Langa and novelist Nora Ikstena read some of their work in Latvian, and translator Margita Gailītis read the same pieces in English. Between that evening, and the after-party following the open house (in which they also participated), I had the pleasure of getting to know all three women a bit. It was interesting to hear that the London Book Fair will be featuring the three Baltic countries in 2018, which means there is currently a special effort underway to translate more Latvian literature into other languages, particularly English because that is a gateway to other languages.

Liana Langa on the left, Nora Ikstena on the right

My signed copy of Ikstena's "Life Stories"

To attend this year's Eurovision-viewing party, a friend and I made our way to an embassy-lined cul de sac and the Embassy of Austria. While the party itself was not quite as comfortable (sitting on a hardwood floor!) or well-organized as last year's, we had a lot of fun enjoying the contest itself and cheering for Latvia's entry, the singer Aminata with her song "Love Injected." While Sweden won the contest, Latvia finished in a very respectable sixth place out of a total of 27 countries who made it through to the final. 

Cheering on Latvia with our mini Latvian flags

Although we were not gifted with handy Eurovision post-it notes this time around, we did each receive a nifty Vienna pen. If this type of Eurovision-viewing party continues, then next year's party would be slated to take place at the Embassy of Sweden, which is housed in a beautiful modern building on the Potomac River in Georgetown - I hope I will be able to attend!

Back to Real Life After a Two-Week Vacation

My wonderful two weeks in Europe came to an end on Sunday morning as my cousin drove us (my travel buddy and me) to the airport. After the 1.5 hour flight from Riga to Copenhagen, a ridiculously expensive and deliciously spicy chicken red curry lunch at the Copenhagen airport, and the long 8.5 trans-Atlantic flight (enough time to watch three movies and do some reading), I was back in the DC area. Today is Memorial Day, a federal holiday, so I was able to sleep in, spend some time unpacking, go grocery shopping, catch up with a few folks, and even enjoy a cookout in Rock Creek Park with friends.

Tomorrow will be my first day back to work, i.e. the real wake-up call about vacation being over. It will also be interesting to see how quickly or slowly I recover from jet lag, as it seems to be an growing problem for me. When I arrived in Latvia, it took quite a while to adjust to the seven hour time difference. The problem was certainly compounded by the early hour in which the sun rises at this time of year - currently the total hours of daylight in Latvia are 2,5 hours longer than in Washington!

The time I spent in Latvia and Lithuania was quite fantastic. I saw many beautiful and interesting places, spent time with relatives and old friends, and made some new friends. It will take a good while to write up blog posts about all of my adventures and pick out the best photographs (the good news is I found my camera shortly before beginning the trip) so I hope my regular readers (all eight of you!) will be patient. I plan to insert quite a bit of detail in order for the posts to be useful for other travelers, as there is not necessarily a huge amount of easily accessible information in English about many of the areas we visited.

In other words - stay tuned!

Latvian connections, and Digging up the Past, Part IIB

The following day was Sunday, and we did what most Europeans do on the weekends - we went to the market. How I love a European market! So many fresh delicacies to purchase, and so much people watching to do! I was particularly impressed by the enormous stand that sold nuts and dried fruit. I purchased a small bag of raw almonds; upon later tasting them I immediately realized I should have bought many more - they were by far the freshest and most delicious almonds ever eaten.

Our main goal for the day was to spend time with yet other Latvian friends, so we drove out to the suburbs, and enjoyed an afternoon cookout with them. In the evening, on the way back to the city center, we stopped at one of Brussels' most recognizable landmarks. The Atomium was constructed for the 1958 World's Fair. I had already seen it in the distance during daylights, but the scene is much more interesting and impressive at night! However, Mini Europe, which is right next to the Atomium, is sadly not open at night in the spring, so that is something I will need to see another time.

Atomium and the moon

The following day I got a kick out of Latvian signage at European Union headquarters. Although I did not make the time for a tour, there is a nice information center where one can pick up a plethora of brochures, pamphlets and maps about the EU in all of its languages.

I also visited the Musical Instrument Museum, which in and of itself is quite interesting. Additionally, it is located in a stunning old Art Nouveau building, which in a previous life had housed a department store.

 After learning about, looking at and listening to many different instruments, I made my way to the top floor cafe, from where one has a scenic hilltop view of Brussels. There I drank a leisurely cup of coffee, which led to my question of the day: why do Americans never serve coffee this elegantly?

My final stop for the day was back at Grand Place, where I toured the Museum of the City of Brussels, probably best known for its collection of outfits that have been sent for Mannequin Pis.

The Little Man himself - sans an outfit

The Latvian folk costume sent on the occasion of Riga's 800th anniversary