Hello friends and family or "čau" as they say here. I have been back in Riga three days at this point and I'm sorry that this is my first blog post. At first I couldn't figure out how to post on my blog without a computer but I have figured out that I can do it from my iPhone if I copy and paste. Anyway my first days back have been good. It kind of feels strange though, as if I never left. I guess this is becoming my second home. My life here is much simpler and I love it. I bring with me only what I can pack in a suitcase and it's really nice not to have so much "stuff" to look after.
I got here Friday at about 1:30. Carl Chaplin and Mark Bolyard (Mark has been here the past three summers as well) came to pick us up at the airport. After we got money out of the ATM and bought our e-Talons (this is used to pay for all public transportation: buses, trams, trolleybuses, etc.) we went over to our apartment and unloaded our bags. Then we went over to Carl and Becky's where we had spaghetti for lunch.
After lunch we went home and crashed. Brad went to sleep because of taking benadryl earlier due to an allergic reaction to some food on the plane. I stayed up awhile putting a new set of strings on the guitar for Mārtiņš and playing my guitar. Then I uploaded the video that I made and went to bed.
On Sunday I got up around 10:30 and after some cereal for breakfast I unpacked my bag and settled in my apartment. Then it was time to head to the Chaplin's apartment for the weekly teens meeting. The Bible study was good. It was so encouraging to be back with my friends here again. It's such a blessing to be with people who are so accepting and loving. They accept me as a friend even though I can't even do simple things like pronounce their names correctly.
After the teens meeting we went to church where I reconnected with more friends and spoke a few words in front of the congregation through Mārtiņš who translated.
Then we went back over to the Chaplin's where they held a party in honor of Raivis' nameday, Justas' birthday, and Brad and my coming. The party was very good. We ate pizza and played games. The teens were extremely excited to have us there. I was also able to present Mārtiņš with his new guitar that my church Summer Oaks PCA paid for. He loves it and I think he will get a lot of use out of it.
Today I was battling jet lag because I couldn't sleep last night. I got up about 6:00 this morning and took a few pictures and uploaded them to Facebook. It was 11 degrees C this morning so its a little chillier than home but it warmed up nicely later in the day. After going back to the apartment and sleeping till about 15:00 I got up and went to the grocery store. I grabbed some microwaveable stuff and some salami and eggs because these are still the only things that I know how to cook. Once I was done at the store Brad and I headed by tram to the Laima clock to meet Mārtiņš where he took us by car to his apartment. When we got there Anda had some very good food ready for us to eat. We had chicken with potatoes and salad. Then we had banana bread for dessert. It was great to spend some time with them again and I think that Brad enjoyed getting to know them a little bit. They are a great family and I feel blessed to be able to spend time around them.
I guess that's it for now. Atta!
