Latvia, Moose Hunting, and One Year Older!

These past two weeks have been very eventful for me. I have done so many things that I never would have imagined doing. I think it will be both easier for me, and possibly more exciting for you, if I use pictures with captions to describe my last few weeks instead of writing a really long essay-like description.

Two weeks ago, I went to Rīga, Latvia with 13 other Rotarians from either my club or clubs that are in neighboring towns. That was a very fun trip.

The purpose of our trip to Latvia was to go to an elderly care center and give away numerous lifts to help the staff that work there. This elderly care center has had some very tough times since it is located in a small town in the country, and cannot be properly funded. Thankfully, over the years, Rotary has stepped in and helped them get back on their feet. This was the final project that Rotary has done at this particular location. For me, going to the elderly care center let me see firsthand how Rotary has helped the people who live in tough conditions like this. Rotary really is an amazing organization.

This was only half of the reason that we went to Latvia. The other reason was that we were giving away two Paul Harris Fellowship Awards. These honorees are individuals who meet high professional and personal standards set forth by Paul Harris. These are very important honors, so it was very exciting to witness this award being given away.

We stayed in a hotel while we were in Latvia, and this was the view from my hotel room window. (That is an opera house to the right.)

The town of Rīga looked very different in many places. Some parts were more modern European looking....

Others had more modern architecture.

Other parts were very old. These particular buildings were built in the 1500's or 1600's.

 Others had more of a Russian influence.

Lastly, some parts were old and run down.

This was the freedom statue. To Latvians, this is a very important monument. It represents that Latvia is a free, independent country. It wasn't until 1991 that Latvia officially freed themselves of Soviet Control. Everyday, there are guards surrounding the statue, due to its importance. There are also red and white flowers resting at the base of the statue. (Another symbol of Latvian pride since the Latvian flag is dark red and white.)

While we were in Rīga, we also went to a huge market where you can shop....

A very wide variety of fresh fish. You could also choose to buy a live fish, which they would take from a small tank, then put in a bag for you to take.

Just about every type of vegetable you can think of...

Nuts. Literally, thousands of nuts.

Many different types of fruit too.

There were many more types of food that you could shop, but I didn't take pictures of everything. Any type of food you can think of, they probably had there. Including chicken hearts or bones. Literally, you could buy everything there.

Another interesting thing I did was go moose hunting. This was the first hunting experience, and it was very interesting to be a part of. Basically, this is what happened:

There were eight shooters (located at the numbers on the map), and eight other people that were driven to the other side of the woods, about 2-3 km away. We were given a compass, map, and were told, “Walk to your shooter”. We had to walk through all different types of terrain by ourselves, hoping that we would find our shooter. I walked througt a very wide variety of terrain, as seen in the pictures below.

This is what I walked through, beginning to end. It was very beautiful scenery throughout, especially at the end.

Thankfully, I was only about 30 meters off, so I found my hunter without going too far!  After lunch, we went to a different part of the forest, and went on a different path. This time, while walking, I heard two shots, and then got a phone call to meet up with the other walkers. The hunt was over now because a moose had been shot. We then ran, literally, to where we thought the shots had come from. We quickly found the moose, and it was a very big one.

They guessed it was between 170 and 180 kilograms.

I pet a moose!

They then tied ropes around the moose and we all dragged the moose about half of a kilometer out of the woods to where someone parked a truck.

It was very exciting, and definitely a new experience for me. Now each hunter will receive about 30 kg of moose meet, which is plenty!

Another interesting thing that I have begun, is playing tennis on Tuesday nights!

I never figured that I would do this in Sweden, but I taught my host mom how to solve a Rubik's cube. I taught her in Swedish too :)

It was also my birthday yesterday, so my host family made me a beautiful, and delicious cake. In the morning, my family also came into by room singing happy birthday in Swedish, waking me up. Apparently it is tradition that they wake you up singing on your birthday. They also had candles in the cake, which I blew out after they finished singing. Then I opened the gifts that they had for me, and following that, we had "breakfast" in my bed. The "breakfast" being cake! It was very exciting and awesome!

As you see in this picure, the cake was amazing. The first (bottom) layer was cake. On top of that, was strawberry jam. After that, was another layer of cake. After that layer, was a layer of smashed bananas mixed with vanilla sauce. Then another cake. On top of that, is whipped cream mixed with small pieces of chocolate. Over the entire thing, was pink marzipan. On top of that was a rose and petals that my host dad made. It was finished off with a little bit of powered sugar and my host sister wanted to add the little animals on it too! It was very delicious and I'm actually sitting here eating a piece as I'm typing this. YUM!

Anyway, I'm having a FANTASTIC time in Sweden!

Kristi