August 16, 2008

I can't believe that I have been away from Canada for over 3 months. Time has gone by very quickly. I have made a lot of friends and my Latvian is improving more and more everyday. However, I have been getting lots of compliments from guests at the hostel on how well I can speak English! :) In July I was able to watch many of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival events. The Song and Dance Festival takes place every 5 years. There is just no way to describe how it felt to watch such a huge group of choristers sing traditional Latvian songs. I really hope that I will be able to come back to Latvia in another 5 years! I have decided that I will not be attending the University of Latvia for the 2008-2009 year. I really do not know what I want to study and figure that it is a lot of time, energy and money for something that I feel very uncertain about. Instead I am going to travel (and work so that I can afford to travel!) I am very happy with my decision. Of course, I am going to continue my studies in the future. Being from a country as large as Canada, it amazes me that I can travel for a few hours and I am in an entirely different country with it’s own language, culture and traditions!

So tonight my blog is ready to be viewed and read. It has definitely given me something to do during my long night shifts! This week I have been working a lot and will continue to work a lot until the 22nd. From the 23-31 I am planning a trip around Latvia (although I haven't done very much planning yet). Then I will be back at work for the first week of September and then I am off to Belgium from the 10-17 :)!