24th of July

This was my favorite type of firework at the show, but I also loved the ones that shoot up and pop into golden popcorn sparkles. I couldn't catch a good pic of those fast enough.
I'm not really one to celebrate the 24th of July because most of the time I am working during the Utah holiday. I've never found the need to take time off for it either. This year I did celebrate it though, and I had a blast! Actually, I must say that it wasn't only the 24th that was fun, it has been pretty much this entire week. I have hung out with good friends, went to my best friend/cousin's baby-shower, went to a baseball game,saw fireworks, and went to a concert at Gallivan Plaza. I feel like I am a lucky person to have the friends and family that I do surrounding me.
Out of everything, I think my favorite thing was going and seeing my childhood friends at the baby shower. It was fun, but also surreal because of how much older and different everyone seems to be. Sarah was so beautiful and big! I am amazed at pregnancy, but also scared because of all that women have to go through. As I sat listening to Sarah answer some very personal questions from Kristen and I, I became more and more terrified for Sarah. I know that is a bit overdramatic what with all of the women out there that go through giving birth, but honestly, I was pretty horrified at all of the nitty gritty details.
I should mention that events like this one definately remind one of their mortality as everyone is at such different stages of their lives when you see them. Kristen being married, Sarah pregnant, Vibi pregnant, all of my cousins have kids now...it seems like everyone has their nitsche and have settled into family life. I feel a bit opposite...I'm not sure if it is good or bad, but I'm very happy for how happy they all seem to be. Unfortunately, I didn't think to bring out my camera and take pictures of these friends of mine that I haven't seen in a while. But I got a couple with my friends from work, my roommates, and the baseball game, oh, and the one of the most beautiful sunsets that I watched with my favorite people.


Because of the inversion due to Utah's grandiose mountains, we are able to have, in my opinion, some of the most incredible sunsets in the world...and the picture still doesn't do this one justice.

Brent and I at the Bee's game. We had the best seats. My mom, Ashley and Karl were able to join us. Needless to say, we didn't actually watch much of the game. It was great family time. I don't know of very many people who can watch an entire 9 inning game. Well, maybe hardcore fans.

Clockwise: Pam, Brittany, Sofija, Me, and Jay. Simultaneously my friends and my coworkers.

More Latvia Pics

Saturday July 12, 2008 London

I’m sitting in yet another airport waiting for my flight. On a positive note, it is my flight back home! I am very happy to be going home, but at the same time feel sad to leave London. There is a nice familiarity that I felt with London that I can’t say that I had with any of the other countries. It isn’t even the prettiest of all of the countries that I’ve gone too, but I suppose I like how busy it is. I also liked how slow Latvia was. I tend to lean towards cities though, and relish the hustle and bustle associated with a large city. The industrial quality enriches my experience, which may seem like an off thing to like, but I like seeing tons of buildings, especially what people can do with those buildings. I like to see a variation of people to all of the extremes and just to watch them.
I was only in London for one day, but felt that the day was extremely productive. I wish that I could have done even more. I was thinking of going to the theatre, but didn’t want to try and find my way back to my hotel in the dark at a late time (which ended up being the case anyway). The public transport only runs certain hours, and a cab costs a bloody fortune, so I had to think practically. I went to the Tate modern and again, felt at home in London. Things have changed with this museum, as I expected they would, but I think that I liked the last time that I went a little better. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy myself this time. I enjoyed myself immensely, but I wasn’t crazy about the setup of the work. It wasn’t user friendly, and I have mixed feelings on the little wall placards that not only give the general information (e.g. artist name, name of work, etc.), but they also give a small, somewhat formal analysis and an interpretive bit. For some reason the placards with the thoughts of another person (presumably the curator’s) bothered me and limited my experience of looking at the work. It was like the placard drew me to it. I looked at the work and then always out of my periphery, I would see it, and it would say to me: “read me, don’t look at the work.”Consequentially, I always had to read the placard. All throughout the museum I watched the people and saw them not looking at art, but reading the wall. I cannot criticize this though because when you look at a work (at least when I look at a work), one may ask many of the questions that the placard might answer in some way or another. But it still isn’t quite sufficient for me because it takes any kind of mental exercise away from the viewer, unless the viewer is disciplined to ignore the placard that always appears just out of their cone of vision. In conclusion, the placards were informative but I felt that they dulled my experience…I suppose that I went on probably too long about the placards as I continue to type about talking about going on to long about the placards. I’ll stop now. Oh, and the first pic with the yellow man is a very large mural on the side of the Tate Modern museum.
I was able to eat at this wonderful truly British restaurant and found the food to be amazing! I had a traditional meat pie with potatoes and peas. It was hearty and I just had to make mention of this great, rich meal so that I might try to remember it in the future. I’m sure the tastes will fade in my memory, but at least I have an indicator in my past that it was a glorious meal and that I enjoyed every bite of it. I felt so full afterwards and complete. It was good. I felt good.

On the left are some of the many incredible street performers that I saw along the Thames river on my way to the Tate Modern. On the right is an architecture student installation art project. Behind each zig-zag is a person and they were walking all over in a line along the Thames.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Well Vanessa and I are waiting here in the Gatwick airport and it is a little past midnight. I’m kicking myself (as I’m sure Vanessa is as well) for not having been smarter about planning with our trip. We have arrived at the airport and because it is so late, we are unable to get transportation to our hostel. The only mode of transport that we have is either the coach or a taxi. A cab is about $162, so that is a definite no. Our coach leaves around 2am. We are sitting here, both of us, and I can’t help but complain, even though I am in Europe, and even though I am so lucky to be here. It just seems that this trip in particular has been a bunch of failed attempts to get things correct when we travel. Everything has been comparatively much more difficult than my last couple of trips out here. I wonder if it is because I went with the school or if I just suck completely at planning/traveling. Either way, I think the both of us are a bit discouraged at the moment. Did I mention that London is ridiculously expensive? Well, actually, everywhere is expensive with the dollar in decline…
Regardless of our current situation, I can sit and reminisce about the things that I did today and say once again that I am a very big fan of Prague. I think that if I could have left from there I could have left Europe with a good deal more than the airlines allow to fit in my luggage. I think I was able to sneak enough in though, making my luggage exactly 20.999 Kilo’s and because that dreaded weight reader did not say 21 Kilo’s, I won! Yes, I beat the airline!

Today I went to the Museum Kampa which is a museum of modern art. I am in love with this museum. It is not nearly the size of the Tate, but much easier to navigate. I felt like the general setup of everything just naturally led from one place to another without me having to think much about the course I was steering. I like this in museums, but also don’t mind if there isn’t easy route…I suppose regardless, I like museums. I didn’t think that Prague had a modern museum, but was quickly corrected with a stream of large lit yellow penguins that I saw on our riverboat tour. I knew exactly what it was when I saw the line of minimalist penguins leading the way. This was a place I had to go to, and was the only thing on my agenda for the next day. The building was covered with many like-minded things including a very large pink poodle and a red bulldog. I have pictures. I loved it though. It added an element of light-heartedness to my day. I think I even giggled a little when I viewed a painting with two of the yellow penguin sculptures. I have a picture of this as well…as if they were my equals… I felt that this method was brilliant because it made me question my place as a viewer as my space was invaded by these penguins. They were actually standing exactly where I would have stood to view the work; yet, they are also considered the work. It also made me think about how awkward it is for me to stand looking at a work of art with someone standing next to me. It feels invasive in the sense that I care about my position in comparison to them. I don’t want to get in anyone’s way, and because of this I feel my viewing experience invaded because I cannot fully concentrate the way I’d like to on the work. It also is funny how many times there is such a separation between what is sometimes considered “high” art and sometimes the “high society” viewer. Either way, my reality and the reality of all of the works in the museum were questioned as I anthropomorphized these plastic penguins. It was great.
Another thing of note concerning the museum was the abundance of artwork by Czech and Polish artists relating to communism and socialism. I find it all very interesting, the responses to this moment in history. Much of the artwork is violent and I can see why many of the artists wanted to use the genre of minimalism to express their views as a society of trying to be completely communal, in effect, losing identities. I don’t know much about this part of history, so I must disclaim that the past couple of statements are completely speculative and in no way completely correct, but because of the repetition and the lack (in several cases) of variation, I came to this conclusion. It is an area of great interest for me, and I’d really love to see what I can do to delve a little more into eastern European culture pertaining to the Soviet influence.
I’d like to type more because we still have an hour before the bus comes, but I find that my rambling is starting to be reduced to merely that, so I think I’ll start uploading pictures and start trying to organize all of this so that I can quickly get all of these posts on my blog when I get an opportunity. I have found that I have had little opportunity though because everywhere I go there is a fee for internet which is unfortunate, but something that still hasn’t changed from the last time that I visited Europe.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

I love Prague! This city is one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever seen and is now on my top 10 most amazing cities. We were able to get out into the city yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, even though there were thousands of tourists. Yesterday and the day before that have been interesting days. We traveled from Budapest to Prague by train. I have decided that I like the train better than an airport… Altogether, the rules are much more laid back. You don’t have to have a weight limit on your luggage, you don’t have to check your bags, be searched, etc. The countryside on the train was perfect; Vanessa and I opened the window and just took in the landscape and scenery. We met some very nice people who helped us with our luggage in two instances. The first shared a compartment with us and they didn’t speak any kind of English really, but they immediately wanted to help us and were genuinely kind. We shared our food with them, and they were happy. The second was a group of guys from the Czech Republic who were going back home to Prague. They were on their way back from a camping trip in Romania. These guys were so wonderful! I don’t think that Vanessa and I would have ended up in Prague without them.
There was a transfer to a different train that we didn’t know about until about one stop before we got off. We were still unsure if this was correct information that we were given because every time that we asked an employee, they just nodded and walked off. They didn’t care whether we made it to our destination or not. It was so frustrating because of the language barrier. Some of the workers spoke a little bit of German, so I proceeded to try talking to them in German, but because that was many of their second language (as well as mine), we had a very difficult time communicating. Vanessa started asking people around the train and we were lucky to run into this group of guys. They went above and beyond in ensuring that we made it to our destination to the extent of helping us carry our luggage and buying us a meal. I was very reluctant to let them do those things for me because usually there is expected reciprocity for favors. Eventually, it became obvious that with these guys this was not the case and we promptly became friends. We sat next to them on the second leg of the train ride into Prague and learned about their stories and camping adventures in Dracula’s forests. They were intense. When we had to part our separate ways, they offered their services as tour guides of their city which helped us feel a bit more secure to actually know someone of a kindly nature in such a foreign city.
Our train got in at 5:30 am and we still had to find our way back to our hostel. We were set on taking a Taxi and Vanessa discovered that the metro was open and wanted to take that. I wasn’t too into the idea because there was the ever-present problem of no elevators and escalators to help us get our luggage up and down. We are finding that consistently we have to lug our luggage up and down stairs. It is miserable. I really don’t mind it if I don’t have a 40 Kilo bag to haul around. That being said, I felt that it was worth it to pay a little extra to take the cab at 5:30 in the morning. I ended up taking the metro with Vanessa; we ended up getting lost, and we had to take a cab. But of us were at our wits end by the time that we arrived at our hostel and I just went to bed. When I woke up, I felt much better and embarked on what was to be my exploration of the city. I headed into Astronomy Square and found such an incredible area. I feel cheesy trying to describe it, so please refer to the inserted pictures for my description of Prague.
One more thing of note is the food. It is hearty, it is delicious, and I can’t stop eating it!

Monday, July 7, 2008

I must say that I have been a bit homesick lately. It has been less the case in Latvia because I was with friends and the time passed by so fast, but I miss my family and friends. I suppose I really can’t complain because I am in Europe and it has honestly been an amazing experience. I met some more friends at Bryan’s wedding and am pleased to say that I now have more contacts from more places in the world. I really enjoy the sensation of having someone that I know in many of the countries that I am traveling to. It adds a level of security and takes the edge off of the sometimes present lonely.
We are in Budapest right now. We arrived yesterday and have found the rumors to be true about the city, it is absolutely beautiful. We are staying in Le Meridien, and it is an amazing hotel. I was lucky and was able to get the employee rate, but our room is very luxurious! We have an incredible view. The service has been top notch as well compared to what we have gotten so far in our experience of traveling.
When we arrived, I only wanted to relax, and we have the privilege of having the seemingly rare commodity of a bathtub in our room. We only had one day in Budapest, and while it probably would have been productive to go out and see the sights, I felt that it would be healthier for me to stay in and relax. We have been going non-stop since our arrival to Europe, and to actually have our own room where I have privacy and luxury, I couldn’t help but take advantage. I am really glad that I did do that because I feel so relaxed right now and much better. My plan of action was to get a massage while out here, but that unfortunately didn’t pan out because everyone was closed when we arrived.
We had a rough circumstance for getting here. Vanessa and I missed the flight that left on the 5th because the airlines said that we needed to have paper tickets and we had nothing of the sort. It was very upsetting because we had to go from one department to the next trying to sort out the situation. Luckily, we had our confirmation and were able to finally get someone who would help us. She was very empathetic to our situation only after she learned that I was a student and she saw me beg almost for a waiver of the penalty fee for transferring flights. I haven’t ever gone on a trip where I’ve had so many institutional issues concerning airlines. Maybe it is the gas prices, maybe customer service is rapidly becoming extinct, I only know that I do not want to get on an airplane in a while and want even less to talk to an airline representative. We had to stay in Riga one more night, which was welcome, we were able to stay with our friends longer and enjoy the beautiful city of Riga, but it did cut our trip in Budapest to one day. I tried to discuss the option of staying an extra night in Budapest with Vanessa, but to my dismay that was not a possibility. We could have evened out the days, for example, 2 days in Budapest, 2 days in Prague, but no such luck…
We are taking the train to Prague today, I really enjoy taking the train, and Prague is one of our last stops before we head back home.

Saturday July 5, 2008

The past couple of days have kind of been a blur with the exception of several really good moments! I have enjoyed my time in Latvia, it has been a blast and I have met so many new people that are incredible people. The days have consisted of Bryan and Gundega’s wedding. I have never been to a wedding that was so much fun and full of light. It was a two day event starting at noon for us yesterday. We went to the church and saw the formal affair done in the church, then came the traditions. These included Bryan carrying Gundy over bridges, lighting a fire and putting several ingredients into it, and tying promises onto bridges. The first was the traditional folk song and dance put on by performers. They serenaded us with song and had the bride and groom complete certain tasks to finalize and bless their marriage. The had them light a fire together and then sang to us. One of their songs was a mockery of wedding guest’s (esp. girls) who made fun of eachother. The performers went around and sang about random people. I just happened to be one of the people that they sang about. It was all in Latvian, so I had no idea what was specifically said, but she pointed towards my earrings while singing and then tried to lift my skirt and look under it! I later found out that of course she was making fun of my earrings and reasoning that since I had such big earrings up top, that we had to explore what was down below. I was mortified and turned bright red! We later had a toast to the couple and proceeded towards the reception center. This wasn’t a very easy task because along the way the couple had to complete several tasks. The first was that they had to write their bad habits on a bridge then fold the paper and drop it into the river below the bridge so that they could send away their bad habits. Second they had to tie their promises on another bridge that they would make to eachother. They had to plant a tree representing their love, they had to prepare for their life together by chopping wood and changing a baby’s diaper. There were so many things that they had to do, but it was so interesting what each thing meant. Everything had a meaning. Many things were closely related to paganism, other things to Christianity, and still, other things to Latvian folklore.