When it rained cakes...

So happy after the results of the crash course in theatre! The performance was a great success and everyone acted very well! Here there is the hat I wore and the flowers I received after the show.

Finally I managed to say my difficult sentence, which actually meant "When it rained cakes…", a delicious way for saying "Once upon a time…”

Good feelings!

Two days ago finished the youth exchange in Kūrava, the house that was being restored by Italians, Estonians and Latvians. Saying good-bye to all the volunteers was a very sad moment because I had had a great time spending almost the hole week with their company! Now I will miss them so much!

We were very glad because the results of the project were incredibly good. We managed to bring water into the house and build the toilet and also to restore the window of what will be the bathroom. And the secret of these results is that everybody worked very hard and that we all got on very well.

But, of course, we didn't spend the whole day working. Everyday, after dinner time, we had some activities prepared: a night-walk in Kuldīga, a concert, a story evening, a photo session in traditional clothes, a wine tasting and some people even watched a movie. Finally, on Saturday, after Friday's cleaning party, we had a huge birth celebration for Kurts, Undīne's and Raivo's son. We were so lucky to see a completely traditional baptism, with all the ceremonies, costumes, food, songs and dances. It was so nice and I think all of us enjoyed it very much.

But last week I also did some other things apart from Kūrava. On Monday I started a crash course in theater in the Youth Center and tomorrow we will put on the play we have been rehearsing. And yes, I have a role in the play and I say one (extremely complicated) sentence in Latvian: “Kad vēl klinģerlietiņs lija”. Every time I have to say it I get so nervous because I always forget it! But I have a lot of fun there because there are from little kids to adults and when we play games it is hilarious.

Luckily, I also started Latvian lessons and now I can read, greet and address people, count to 20, say the colors and name some objects. But Latvian is a bit difficult and I will have to study a lot!

This week we will know something about Zura's arrival, the Georgian volunteer who will work with me in the project. I really hope he can come soon!

Projects everywhere!

Last week was very busy! I was taking part in two projects at the same time, one in the Youth Centre and the other one in Kūrava.

In the Youth Centre we organized a week called 'Young and Active', in which we carried out different kind of activities for all the youngsters of Kuldīga. Any day was the same: on Moday we had sports day, on Tuesday we painted a beautiful drawing on a wall, on Wednesday we had a meeting with various organizations, on Thursday we had an orientation race and on Friday we had games day. It was a very complete week and we enjoyed it very much.

At the same time I was in the other project: the restoration of Kūrava, an old and big house near the river Venta. This project lasts two weeks and its final aim is to make a bathroom in the house with the help of 5 volunteers from Italy, 4 from Estonia and 5 from Latvia. The project also gives a lot of importance to culture and the participants are taking part in many Latvian traditions. Although I didn't have much time for this project, I have to say that it is very interesting, with great people and till now it has had very good results!

I'm having a very good time in Latvia and I am really looking forward next September, when I will start all the activities in the Youth Centre!

First week

It's been one whole week living in Kuldīga, getting to know the streets, the people, the language... a week full of new things.

Everything started on Monday 5^th of August, with my first day at work. The advantages of working in the Youth Center is that I can meet many young people, the disadvantage of arriving on August is that there isn't many people. Nevertheless, I think I've found great people here with whom I did really enjoyable activities last week. Now I'll just talk about some of them.

These past days have been extremely hot in Latvia, even reaching 34ºC in Kuldīga, which is not normal at all. But in this city we are very lucky because we have one fantastic river: Venta. Last Thursday was one of the hottest days in the past three years so we went with some friends to swim in the river. The water temperature was perfect and we had so much fun jumping from the waterfalls.

But this awesome weather couldn't last for long and the following day the rain started and the temperatures decreased. Even though we couldn't go swimming, there were many other things to do. Some of the youngsters who come to the Youth Center also dance theater jazz in the Culture Center and on Friday they had a performance in city called Ventspils, which means Castle on the Venta. I was invited to go with them and see the show and I have to say that I had a really good time with them and I enjoyed their dances very much!

Finally, last Saturday there was a marathon in Kuldīga. I went to see it because some of my friends were working there but I ended up working too! We had to fill glasses of water and hold them next to the path were the athletes were running, so that if they were thirsty they could take them without stopping. Suddenly, from the loud-speakers it started to sound some swing and we spent all the morning dancing while giving the water to the runners, it was hilarious!

Today started the week 'Youth and Active' in Kuldīga. Let's hope we'll be able to tell great things about it!

The arrival

Before leaving to Latvia I knew it was a lovely country, but when I arrived I realised it was wonderful.

At Barcelona's airport I came across Guna, a latvian girl who lives in Barcelona and whom I had met some weeks before, so I didn't have to travel alone. When we arrived in Riga it was almost 11pm, we couldn't do much. Agata, the coordinator of the project, was waiting for us. Agata is a really lovely and friendly woman, she also did an EVS in Catalonia and she speaks Spanish very well. She took me to her grandmother's house in Sabile, where we slept.

The following morning we took some food from Agata's grandmother's garden and we went to Kuldīga. We met Ina and her daughters, who had the keys of my new flat and went there to leave all my things. The flat is very colourful and full of light, I really like it! After that, we went to the supermarket and bought some basic things for the flat and some food. Later, we had a super tasty lunch in a restaurant located in the main street of Kuldīga.

Once our belly was full, we walked to the Youth Centre, the place where I will work. They made me a really warm welcome, with flowers and traditional latvian food. After everybody introduced theirselves, the youngsters of the centre took me with them to play volleyball (although I'm really bad at it was great!). They were incredibly nice and tried to make me fit in. When we got tired, they took me to Ventas rumba, the widest waterfalls of Europe, and crossed it. The view was amazing and the water wasn't cold at all, I really want to come back there soon! Afterwards we walked around Kuldīga. The city is very beautiful, the houses are small and charming and the streets are ancient and narrow.

The following day some people of the Youth Centre took me for a guided walk around Kuldīga. We went to the most important buildings of the city such as the library, some churches, the townhall, etc. As I have already said, the city is very very beautiful and although now I need a map to go everywhere, I think soon I will know every steet of the city.

I have to say that my first days in Kuldīga have been fantastic and all the people is very nice. I have the feeling this year will be great!