Day Off

This morning I tried the strawberries and condensed milk. It was great. We also brought Nutella for the crepes. That was good. Some people put tomatoes and cuecumbers inside the crepe and ate it like a breakfast burrito. Others put strawberries inside. 

Today is Inguna's name day. Many people brought her flowers. We sang happy birthday but put happy name day instead in the lyrics. 

Since all day at Sigulda Janis U. was making alien jokes Sabine helped me print out a picture of an alien and we wrote ancestor of the aliens on there. He has a picture up in the school. We placed the alien picture with his picture. 

Maija is a very nice lady I meet one of the first days here.

First, we went to see Kings Kids. Her son Matthew is in the group. They are a dance group that dances to Christian songs to share the gospel. They had it at a new store that just opened. While we were there I meet Edgars sister again and another young girl. They both do a lot with YWAM. The other girl is studying in Texas. They were very sweet. 

Then, we went to a town called Roja. There we saw a sand dune. Maija said it was very unusual for Latvia. It was neat to see. 

We stopped to see one view of the sea. 

We drove on to her in laws house in Kolkasras. We then went to the beach. It was walking distance from their house. 

We ate and chatted on the beach. 

Kolkasras is a special town because the gulf of Latvia meets the Baltic Sea. You can see the two waves going into each other. There is a light house there way far out. Boats have to go on the further side of the light house so they don't get to close to the sand. She was telling me how much ofa great industry the sea is here. Her husband is a seaman and so is her sisters husband. I meet someone from New York in Riga that came to Latvia to work on the sea. They also cut down a lot of wood and replace it by planting new trees. We saw a monument with flowers dedicated to all those who have died at sea. There were also two trees together in the middle of the beach. Maija said you're supposed to look through them to watch the sunset. There were some trees that had died left on one side of the beach. They belong to Latvia and have to stay there. She told me a lot about soviet times and how you couldn't go to the beach without a passport because they were afraid you would take a boat and head to Sweeden. 

Then, we went to Dogulda where Maija grew up. It is called Dogulda because someone mispronounced it and thought it was referring to a bell.  

There is a pretty castle there. It was under construction now. She said the castle was built by Germans. 

When I came back I asked Janis U. if he saw the picture. He said yes and thanked me for it. I was surprised he liked it so much. 

Marcia and I went to Maija and Elizabeth's for dinner tonight. Elizabeth came to the school to walk us to their flat. 

They have a very nice flat. Elizabeth and I helped Maija make whipped cream. We had the best cheese soup for dinner tonight. It was by far the best soup I have had here.  For dessert she puréed strawberries. We put the strawberries on the bottom of the bowl. Then, we put whipped cream on top. She also made another batch with whipped cream but added cottage cheese. I liked that. The cottage cheese added a good texture. She also was boiling strawberries. It foamed on top. Maija put the foam in a separate bowl. I tried some. It was very sweet. After the strawberries weren't getting any more foam she put them in a jar and then in the refrigerator.

Elizabeth wanted to go swimming. It was raining for a bit but then stopped. We went to the Villas. It was a very nice area. That is the best place to swim near Talsi. It was just outside the city. Sylvia, one of the Latvian youth workers lives there. We got to see her. She also had a trampoline we could jump on. All around it was a good day.