We just had a long weekend in Latvia due to the national holiday on 4 May, marking 20 since Latvia proclaimed the renewal of its independence. I would be lying if I said I knew what went on during the holidays (except for the clusters of national flags propped up in strategic places around Old Town), as I was under the weather for all of it. Friday to Tuesday, I stayed at home, venturing outside only a few times and no further than the closest Narvesen a block away. Tonsillitis, nasal polyps, fever, headache. Best four-day weekend I've had in a LONG time.
Now I'm on my last day of antibiotics and am getting ready for a final few hours of mad dashing around to collect the last few items I need before heading off for a two week mother-daughter vacation. The last time we did this was in Germany in 2005, when my mother came to visit me while I was studying abroad. This year is a slight upgrade for her, as we'll be in a country where she fluently speaks the language.
I'm glad I got the worst part of the sickness out of the way before vacation, but will be wary the entire time of the cold and rainy UK weather. Forecasts say it will be around 10 degrees colder than it will be in Latvia. But I'll be armed with several scarves, plan on drinking more than my fair share of tea and am just excited for another chance to be away from the computer for two weeks. That said, I've got a few notebook pages scribbled full of geocaching locations, a handful of New Yorker fiction reading podcasts on my iPod and half a season of Corner Gas loaded onto my mobile phone. I think I'm more than prepared for the temporary separation.
There may or may not be updates posted during the actual trip. This depends on how frequently we have to visit internet cafes to find information on things to do or see. As if we're going to run out :) England, here we come!!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Weather by Sybil
The weather summary for Riga today is as follows: rain, snow, rain, snow, sun, rain. Repeat ad nauseam.
We're nearing the end of April, and though Spring had seemed to more or less figure itself out, it's suddenly freaking out and throwing us all for a loop.
In other news, flights have resumed for the most part, which means our friend Emma will be able to return to Belgium a week after her initial flight date. I think at least one of my co-workers is still stranded somewhere, most likely in England or Ireland, judging by how long she's wherever she is now. Since family has asked previously, there are still no signs of volcanic ash in Latvia and I kind of doubt there will be. Unless that snow was really ash. In which case, jokes on us.
After this weekend I'll have finished my two-week stint of dripping a combination of liquids and gels into my eyes. I'd say I'll be glad to be done with it, but oddly enough I think I'll almost miss it. It quickly became a part of my morning and evening routines, and with the exception of the evening/morning of the work party out in Sigulda, I didn't miss a single dosage, which is strange, even for me. Usually I'm horrible at remembering to take care of things related to my health (re: that cough I had in high school and let go untreated for two months before learning it was a form of walking pneumonia, or those kind of painful months leading up to finally booking what was my first ever colonoscopy). Part of me thinks that I value my eyes a bit more than I may let on. I don't think I'd mind eventually going blind, but not at 24. Not on my watch.
Pun not intended.
We're nearing the end of April, and though Spring had seemed to more or less figure itself out, it's suddenly freaking out and throwing us all for a loop.
In other news, flights have resumed for the most part, which means our friend Emma will be able to return to Belgium a week after her initial flight date. I think at least one of my co-workers is still stranded somewhere, most likely in England or Ireland, judging by how long she's wherever she is now. Since family has asked previously, there are still no signs of volcanic ash in Latvia and I kind of doubt there will be. Unless that snow was really ash. In which case, jokes on us.
After this weekend I'll have finished my two-week stint of dripping a combination of liquids and gels into my eyes. I'd say I'll be glad to be done with it, but oddly enough I think I'll almost miss it. It quickly became a part of my morning and evening routines, and with the exception of the evening/morning of the work party out in Sigulda, I didn't miss a single dosage, which is strange, even for me. Usually I'm horrible at remembering to take care of things related to my health (re: that cough I had in high school and let go untreated for two months before learning it was a form of walking pneumonia, or those kind of painful months leading up to finally booking what was my first ever colonoscopy). Part of me thinks that I value my eyes a bit more than I may let on. I don't think I'd mind eventually going blind, but not at 24. Not on my watch.
Pun not intended.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
About Geocaching
Saturday I went on a work outing that involved a day full of running and driving around the city trying to find as many geocache points as possible before lunch.
For those who don't know what it is or do and want to know more: http://www.geocaching.com. There's probably a point near your house. I know there's one near mine :)
Though there are many disappointments in geocaching and the joy of finding a hidden cache is brief, however intense, it's also a great way to see more of the city or region in which you live. For example, I would have never gone to the former USSR Military Academy grounds (a now abandoned, bum-ridden and spray-painted complex), or picked my way through mounds of broken glass and shattered cement blocks to the top of one of the abandoned buildings in the VEF area of Riga. In addition to being a great team-building activity, it was also a great time and reason to explore.
The hardest cache to find was the one located by the Fire-fighting Museum in Riga. We spent an hour at the site looking into every possible nook and cranny, overturning every stone in the tiny flowerbed out front -- all while a group of fire-fighters looked on in amusement during their smoke break. Eventually we gave up, but after realising later that there were encrypted hints for most of the points, figured out the clue and drove back to the museum to triumphantly jump up and down when we finally had the cache in hand. Mid-day traffic was sparse, but cars did slow down as drivers tried to understand what why this group of four adults was prancing about a street corner in glee.
My team found 4-5 out of the 10-12 points we visited. Sunday afternoon after I got back from Sigulda, where we had our "8th Grade Reunion" themed party and feast, I did some work from home then headed out to find a few more caches. That night I told my mom about all of it and in 15 minutes had her writing down coordinates to find a cache near her house back in the States. It really is a global phenomenon and an addicting one at that.
I haven't really heard that much from other grad. schools yet. There seem to be a lot of technical issues going on: one school's system had my application fee marked as "not paid", but when I wrote to ask "WTF" and by the time I got a reply saying that's not what they saw, it was back to "paid". Other school systems seem to be missing or temporarily misplacing recommendation forms from my people, but if my in-box has three confirmations from three different reviewers, why should I think differently? I'm hoping these issues will be resolved, as I would be somewhat uncomfortable writing my former professors to say "So you know that thing you filled out five months ago? D'ya think you could do it again?"
I'm also hoping that the delay in hearing back from schools has a lot to do with the fact that I'm in Latvia, not that the schools are trying to decide on the best way to crush my confidence. At the same time it's frustrating, but what are you gonna do?
Spring in Latvia is in semi-swing. We've had sun and brisk weather, but today is a bit overcast. I wonder if that volcanic ash is finally making its way to our little country...
For those who don't know what it is or do and want to know more: http://www.geocaching.com. There's probably a point near your house. I know there's one near mine :)
Though there are many disappointments in geocaching and the joy of finding a hidden cache is brief, however intense, it's also a great way to see more of the city or region in which you live. For example, I would have never gone to the former USSR Military Academy grounds (a now abandoned, bum-ridden and spray-painted complex), or picked my way through mounds of broken glass and shattered cement blocks to the top of one of the abandoned buildings in the VEF area of Riga. In addition to being a great team-building activity, it was also a great time and reason to explore.
The hardest cache to find was the one located by the Fire-fighting Museum in Riga. We spent an hour at the site looking into every possible nook and cranny, overturning every stone in the tiny flowerbed out front -- all while a group of fire-fighters looked on in amusement during their smoke break. Eventually we gave up, but after realising later that there were encrypted hints for most of the points, figured out the clue and drove back to the museum to triumphantly jump up and down when we finally had the cache in hand. Mid-day traffic was sparse, but cars did slow down as drivers tried to understand what why this group of four adults was prancing about a street corner in glee.
My team found 4-5 out of the 10-12 points we visited. Sunday afternoon after I got back from Sigulda, where we had our "8th Grade Reunion" themed party and feast, I did some work from home then headed out to find a few more caches. That night I told my mom about all of it and in 15 minutes had her writing down coordinates to find a cache near her house back in the States. It really is a global phenomenon and an addicting one at that.
I haven't really heard that much from other grad. schools yet. There seem to be a lot of technical issues going on: one school's system had my application fee marked as "not paid", but when I wrote to ask "WTF" and by the time I got a reply saying that's not what they saw, it was back to "paid". Other school systems seem to be missing or temporarily misplacing recommendation forms from my people, but if my in-box has three confirmations from three different reviewers, why should I think differently? I'm hoping these issues will be resolved, as I would be somewhat uncomfortable writing my former professors to say "So you know that thing you filled out five months ago? D'ya think you could do it again?"
I'm also hoping that the delay in hearing back from schools has a lot to do with the fact that I'm in Latvia, not that the schools are trying to decide on the best way to crush my confidence. At the same time it's frustrating, but what are you gonna do?
Spring in Latvia is in semi-swing. We've had sun and brisk weather, but today is a bit overcast. I wonder if that volcanic ash is finally making its way to our little country...
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