I was irritated, and yet not surprised that my budget phone network "3 mobile" haven't managed to connect me over here. After trying to write a predictive text (something I have never managed to learn) from a friendly spanish guy's phone, I ended up zipping back a few years and hunted down a local phone-card because the pay phone kept spitting out my Lats.
I contacted Agnese, who had kindly offered to host someone arriving for the workshop from overseas. The email from the lady informing me of this opportunity wrote "I'm afraid it isn't in Riga, she lives in the seaside town of Jurmala" - what a pity, I thought, I will have to stay near the beach! So far Latvia had struck me as a very organised and straightforward place. People were helpful when I asked them for assistance, the sun was the perfect temperature and there was a nice ambience. The local train cost me £1.23 for the same distance as the £10 rip-off Stanstead express, was cleaner and a nice sunny yellow colour. I had a very pleasant sunset train ride, watching people on bicycles going parallel to the train with the forest as a backdrop. I knew that the Baltic sea was just behind those trees.
Agnese met me from the station and I liked her instantly. We walked five minutes and were at her parents wooden house with a big garden full of flowers. She made me a cup of homegrown melissa tea and we had "getting to know you" hour. She is doing an MA in environmental science and likes photography as a hobby. She lives with her mum, dad and little brother and is going to live in Iceland for 3 months at the end of August. She fanced showing me the "Russian festival" up the beach so after a tasty omelette we went for a stroll.
In 10 minutes we were on the white sandy beach, the sun had just set, yet it was after 10pm and there were amazing patterns in the sky. We walked in the sea for about a km towards a collection of lights with very large cheezy house beats coming out of them. As we approached we could see some sort of private sectioned-off area with a stage. It must be part of the festival Agnese thought... A bit further up and we cut into the road behind the beach. Suddenly we were surrounded by pimped up cars and women balancing on needle-thin heels. Bring on the oligarchs! now I understood what Agnese meant.
At this point I began to understand the bizarre divisions that occur in Latvian society. 40 % of the population here are "Latvian Russians" people who's families came over during the russian occupation and settled here. Agnese told me they don't mix socially but she has colleagues and classmates who are Russian and they get on. She also told me that there are people who have lived in Latvia for 50 years who speak no Latvian and the language nearly died out as it was forbidden during communism. Latvians very nearly became a minority in their own country, but when communism collapsed the tables turned. ( I will write about this at some point when I know a bit more)
We watched people waiting for the Russian pop stars to come out and then we walked back down the main street, stopping off for a cuppa halfway. The TV was playing the whole gig, which turned out to be a euro-vision-esque pop tournament for members of the former USSR. There was a Russian Jamiroquai, a Kazakh r&b singer, a Georgian balladess, a Ukrainian duo doing a rendition of "your own personal jesus" and a big fat russian lady - Anna something - who warbled away behind her plastic face. Then, for the finale, a group chorus of "you are not alone" which included a solo by a Russian man who looked like he had had plastic surgery to look like Michael Jackson. The irony.
Me and Agnese giggled and gasped our way through the terrifyingly bad songs and mangled plastic faces of the performers and then carried on walking. I was extremely relieved I was staying with a like-minded person, and not someone who would actually want to take me to a show like that. Apparently the tickets were ridiculous prices and only the super rich could go anyway.
So now I am in my bright green bedroom for the next few nights on a very comfortable scandinavian-esque wooden fold out bed. There are thousands of stars in the sky and crickets outside and a warm sea to swim in tomorrow. So far, I like Latvia very much.
