First off, as usual, HAPPY JULY, EVERYONE!
Today is another beautiful day in Riga, though the past few have been a bit melancholy mood wise. I’ve been having some issues with a sort of half-assed stomach virus that I finally decided to beat up with some over-the-counter medicine. I got tired of waiting for my body+all those bananas+peppermint tea to do their stuff. Also, my flatmate, Julija, tore several ligaments under and around her left kneecap, rendering her handicap-gimpy for the next month. On the plus side I’m feeling better since medicine and Julija’s knee seems to be beginning the normal healing process. As her knee is now undergoing the rainbow-effect (she is on R of the ROYG BIV spectrum).
Also sad is that our friend and temporary third flatmate, Imanta, is heading back to the States today. The apartment will be quieter and less cluttered with her gone and it will be missed. She, however, gets to go to the Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Hamilton. So the sad feeling is accompanied by a little jealousy. Also the cat will miss her.
I have also hopped on the www.twitter.com bandwagon and can have my tweets viewed online here. I don’t know why I did this, but I’ve done it anyway.
At the end of this week I’m planning on dropping off three to four bags of clothes at either the Latvian branch of the Salvation Army or a recently opened place called Otra elpa (Second Breath or Second Wind). Otra elpa provides the advantages of being closer in distance to my apartment and being open on Saturdays, which means that I don’t have to drag bags of used clothing and shoes to work and THEN off to somewhere else.
A good motivator for cleaning out my closet was to a) get rid of clothes that are now too big for me, b) take inventory so I know what I need to buy (if anything) and what I should be kept far away from and c) if I need to buy something, to know what will be bought when I’m back in the States for two weeks at the end of July.
Oh yes, that’s right. In two weeks I’ll be back in the states, strolling through target with a Caribou Coffee to-go cup in hand, wondering why everyone around me isn’t dressed like Euro-trash.
I’ve already got a list of items I definitely want to bring back to Latvia — or ship if my suitcases will be too full — as well as a list of things I really want to do or see when I’ve got time off from work (yep, these two weeks will not be vacation weeks, which means I get to practise nutso sleeping regimes and keep tabs on the European part of my life):
-eat at China Tiger, probably the best Chinese restaurant I have ever, ever been to. If I ever go to China, I don’t know if this would change.
-eat at Chipotle. I miss “Mexican” food. The most “Mexican” we get here are the nachos at Tequila Boom.
-drink Caribou Coffee beverages+soy milk until I piss myself (pissing optional).
-eat a Wendy’s Frosty with Wendy’s french fries.
-eat a salad at any of the following: Appleby’s, Chilli’s, Olive Garden, etc. Repeat.
-two words: Outlet mall.
-maybe make it up to Duluth/Two Harbours. Sit for a few hours collecting pebbles and glass.
-go to book stores and have heated arguments with myself about why I should/shouldn’t buy 20lbs of reading material.
-eat a Texas doughnut from Cub Foods or Rainbow.
-drink a Vanilla Coke.
-drink anything Canada Dry.
-tip over racks of merchandise at Target, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy. Roll around said merchandise in rapture until I am pulled out of the store in a euphoric state of dead-weight.
-one word: Uptown.
-one word: Dinkytown.
-etc., etc., etc.
I haven’t mentioned all of the family-related things because, duh, those are at the top of my list. Even before China Tiger. I don’t care if you believe me or not. I honestly can’t WAIT to stack firewood for my grandparents. Sweet, sweet, physical labour!