He said: A trip to the castle

As Ellie reported a few posts ago, we've gotten an opportunity to help with some kids here who need to brush up on their english. ("Brush up" is another way to say, "They ain't got no english", and yet they still have FAR more english than we have Russian/Latvian. A troubling fact, to say the least.) The British lady that works with the kids here in Latvia thought it might be nice for all of us, the 3 kids and the Neumann family to spend a day doing something fun to get acquainted. She suggested the castle at Sigulda/Turaida. It turns out she had an excellent idea.


The castle at Turaida was built in the 13th century as a forward fortress of the Crusades, bringing "Christianity" to the Livonians(the ancestors of modern Latvians). The fact that their conversion to Christendom required fortresses speaks volumes about the quality of their conversion, but no matter. The castle has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times through the centuries, but the complex is rebuilt today pretty much as it was around the time Columbus was bumbling about the West Indies. Of course, at that time the castle site was already over 200 years old...


Bob takes up his bow. The heathen tremble.


Ellie + 2 Neumann kids + 1 stoic + 1 difficult. He wouldn't show his face! LOL


We spent the day traipsing about the castle grounds and enjoying the fresh, if damp, air. The three kids are very precious souls, and you find yourself wanting desperately to do anything you can to help their situation. One is very stoic and reserved, another is zany and very outgoing, and the third expresses his state of need by just being difficult. Of course, he's 7 yrs old, and he has a "right" to be difficult just for that fact alone! :-) These three and our three all got along famously, and a fine time was had by all. Even Ellie, who's not always real "out-of-doors-y" had a blast. (Her idea of being happily out of doors is something like "going to a strip mall" instead "going to a real mall".) We got to see a blacksmith in action, how a manual weaving loom works, a traditional suana, and other facets of life back in 'the day'. I, of course got to rattle off to the kids lots of interesting facts to know and tell about what we were looking at. It was VERY satisfying. We even got to see a real millstone, and seeing it reminded me of what Ellie had mentioned to me in private earlier in the day, "Better to have a millstone tied about your neck..than to offend one of these.."

I made a quick little video of the day. It's on Google video if you care to see it. It's currently being "verified" so it'll be a little while before its available. I'll post a link as quick as I can, or you can search Google video for "castle at Sigulda" and you should come across it.

Bob

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

She said: Weight loss

They said that we would lose weight after we got here. I hoped they were right, but had my doubts. After all, I have tried several times since my last baby to shed some pounds, but my "pleasantly plump" bod stayed stubbornly at its genetically predisposed size. Guess what? They were right. I'm not sure how much I have lost since I don't have a scale, but all my clothes are hanging on me and I CAN run up the stairs to my apartment without falling out dead on the floor.

Bob does the sewing at our house so he offered to alter my favorite jean skirt. (Bob will do anything to keep me out of the "apgerbi" shops (clothing stores.))He did a great job and now I have a skirt that really fits me. Yay!

The funny thing about weight loss/gain is that it doesn't really change my self-perception. Basically in my mind, I will always be about the size/shape I was about the time I graduated high school. I have since been skinnier, and I have since been heavier, but either way I get a surprise when I look in the mirror. The difference is often in the way other folks view me. People are nicer to you, respect you more, and will even pay you more for the job you do if you are not overweight. Though my husband's and my children's affection for me remains constant, I even feel a difference from friends and extended family.

But enough of the philosophizing, I have no idea if I will continue to lose or if I have plateaued. I am not trying to drop pounds, but I just don't have the eating options here that I have back in the states. Also, never underestimate getting up four long flights of stairs to boost the ole metabolism. I also do more walking here, but not as much as when we first arrived, as we now have a car.

Next week, ladies, I've got to tell you about some European clothing fashions. Maybe I'll even have some pictures.

God bless,
Ellie



Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

He said: Fall feelings

I'm looking out my front window right now, and the view is most pleasant. We live on the fourth floor, and it's surprising what a scenic difference that makes. The world at ground level around here is pretty drab and grayish. Colors are muted, and most things are coated with a layer of dust. Things just look neglected. Even when repair work is done, it's typical not to take any care for appearance. For instance, there are innumerable buildings that have had their stucco coating patched, but not been repainted afterward. You're left with a faded paint/rust stains/concrete patch/galvanized metal collage. Our building is no exception, as you can see in the photo.




Up here, though, when you look out the window, you see mainly tree foliage. Because the foliage is renewed every season, there's not enough time for the dirt to build up. As a bonus, God seems to remake the leaves to a perfect, consistent color every time. :-) So right now I have some lovely fall colors at the edge of my peripheral vision.

The nights have been cool here, but not cold enough to have to turn the heat on. We've been told to get ready for a genuine winter, not one of those chilly-rainy seasons that pass for winter in the South. I think I'm ready for it, having grown up in the Chicago area, but I've lived in said South for the last 14 years, and I may have gone soft. We'll have to see.

Reflecting on the fall season, though, as well as the impending winter, puts me in a unique mood; not exactly melancholy, but not jubilant either. I miss home, and I miss carefree youth, playing football in the fall evenings after school.

Mostly, though, I have a sense mourning in my spirit for the wintery-cold, sterile state of these people's souls. I yearn for a spring of the heart for the Latvian people. I yearn for the care-freedom of heart that repentance and remission bring to a born again soul. I long for them to experience the hope of a bright earthly and Heavenly future. I pray that as surely as He will restore the foliage in spring, so surely will he touch and regenerate the lives of all here who need Him.


Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

She said: About Ice

I would like to talk about ice. As in ice in your glass, for your drink, to make it cold, ICE cold. For those of you who know me, one of life's little pleasures that I enjoy most is a great big glass filled with ice and then Caffeine-free Diet Pepsi (or Diet Coke-whichever one is on sale.) I have been known in times past to wait in the long drive-thru line at Chick-Fil-A just to order my favorite beverage.

The deal is that Europeans don't really do ice. If you order a Cola-light (their version of diet coke) , you are brought a coke-shaped glass with cool, not cold, cola-light. . . only. No ice. If you ask for ice ( ladus in Latvian), you are brought a smaller glass with small tongs and three or four pieces of ice. Many restaurants do not even have an ice machine.

Well, I foolishly thought, I will still enjoy a my ice cold repast at home. What I did not know was that refrigerators here do not have ice makers, so you do it the old fashioned way, you know, with ice cube trays (remember them?) Each fridge you buy comes with one, that's right, one ice cube tray, and I kid you not, the tray makes tiny cubes. A whole tray will not fill a glass. I WILL BUY MORE TRAYS, TRAYS WITH LARGE CUBE SIZES! was my next brilliant idea. You can't find'em. Nowhere. Europeans just don't do ice.

We had cause for serious rejoicing and leapage when my husband reported that he had found 2KG bags of ice at our local market. Here in 'civilized' Eastern Europe, that is a serious amount of ice. We buy two bags at a time, and couldn't be happier.

As I bid you do svidanya, I am happily sipping my super cold Cola light and thanking God for his many blessings. (-:

Ellie

He said: Keeping current with the Currency

I have 2 pieces of exciting news! The first is that we just finished up a big weekend with our bosses and mentors, the Shutes. We had some great times in teaching and fellowship, and we've now have our evangelistic vision in better focus than ever. We're gonna have church around here before you know it!

The Second big news is that Gerhard Schroeder has conceded the German Chacellorship to Angela Merkel. Isn't that fantastic? Do you know what that means!? Well, I'll tell you. The "uncertain sound" played by the too-close-to-call election, and the odd bedfellows coalition that was cobbled together in its aftermath have lead the economic pundits, the financial movers and shakers of the world, to have a dimmer view of Germany's economic outlook. "So what?" you say.
"The "what:"", I reply, "is that the Deutchmark has fallen strongly against the leading world currencies, as currency traders head for stable ground. With the Deutchmark's fall the Euro goes down with it."
"ok..." you say, with a look that indicates that you're desperately trying to follow my pretzelesque logic.
"Ok, since the Latvian Lat is tied directly to the Euro, if the Euro goes down, then all other currencies rise against the Lat. So my Dollars in my Stateside bank account are instantly worth more; I get a RAISE!

Now, in the past, I didn't pay much attention to the Dollar being up or down, certainly not in the short term. I knew that a strong Dollar represents cheaper imported goods, so I can catch a bargain or two at Wal-Mart, but for the most part I didn't know or care about the fluctuations in the Dollar. Today, I care. In fact, I care a lot, because, for instance, Germany's election results have increased my spending power by about 2% in the last 2 weeks, back to where it was before I lost all that money due to a bunch of scattered news events around the globe. Imagine, if you will, that what you read in the news every day has a direct result on your bottom line. You are the yo-yo on somebody else's string.
Personally, I find it hard to get used to: Hurricane Rita damage potentially severe: I get a pay cut. Hurricane Rita downgraded to Category 3: I get a raise. Japanese stock market down: I get a pay cut. Landslide election results in Japan: I get a raise. Election results uncertain in Germany: I get a raise.

So if you find me cheering (OR bawling) over the dramatic success (OR profound failure) of the opposition (OR ruling) party of, say, Australia (OR Iceland OR China OR Venezuela Et Cetera), you'll know why.

Bob

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!