|
June 11, 2000
We crossed the border into Latvia today and we are staying in Liepaja.
Liepaja is a costal town with many factories, which is where much of the
town finds employment. It isn't as much of an urban city as Vilnius was, it
's more of a rural coastal town. When we first arrived to the town we
attended the rock opera "Kaupens, My Dear." This was a big deal in Latvia,
everybody turned out to see it. The University of Washington first year
Latvian language class had translated the opera into English for us as a
class project, but it was still pretty difficult to follow along.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to experience that part of
their culture. After the performance we headed to the old Jewish part of
town from back before the war where the Latvian "Atbalss" choir hosted a
welcoming party for us. It was hard to look at the huge, extravagant
mansions that once used to be in the wealthy part of town. Now, the
abandoned houses were dilapidated and vacant, with burned out windows,
crumbling wooden shutters, cracked plaster, and bowed roofs. Many looked
like haunted houses from old cheesy Hollywood movies. All that was left
were the remnants of a once thriving and magnificently beautiful and
luxurious part of town. I think this was the first time that it hit me what
the war and the oppression had done to these people, it was like a ghost
town, but it was so beautiful.
|
|
|
Our bus pulled up to one of the houses and we got out and inside was the
Latvian Choir that had hosted a welcoming party for us, it was very similar
to the Lithuanian choir get- together, with song, dance, food, drink and
games (except no kissing this time). It was a lot of fun, these people
really know how to party!
After a while we all decided to walk to the beach to actually see the
Baltic Sea! It was only a few blocks away and we all needed the fresh air
after all that dancing in the house. It was nighttime by now and the only
lights were from the moon and stars, I could hardly see where I was going
until we made it to the beach. The sand was white and you could see
practically all the way across the water to Sweden! The moon illuminated
the white sand and water and everything appeared to glow. We played around
in the sand and took pictures that probably won't develop due to the
blackness. We all joined hands, both choirs, and got in a big circle and
sang songs to each other for hours.
|
|
|
June 12, 2000
Today we did a lot of sight seeing here in Liepaja. We visited the naval
base and went on a tour of the mansion that used to house the Czar. It was
huge and has been turned into a museum of sorts. We also saw what was left
of the barracks, most of them were destroyed in the war, same deal as the
houses, impressive abandoned buildings. In the middle of the base was this
huge Russian Orthodox Temple. It was vibrantly colored and ornamented with
gold and purple, reds, yellows, and blues. We went inside for a look but
this priest came out and got very angry with us and made us leave. Some of
us were wearing shorts and I guess that isn't allowed. So we left and when
we apologized he replied in Russian, "God can only forgive you, I cannot!"
Back to the Top
|
|
