Day 34: Not your everyday superhero

Today was pretty much a free day for me (bar a few admin things) so I decided to hang around in the library for a while, hoping to catch the black man, who reportedly hangs around in there quite often. That sounds like a really bad name for a cartoon character or comic superhero, but until I know his name that is what he shall be known as. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen! So I left the library, planning to come back a bit later on in the day.

Perfect picture...

After yesterday's horrid incident, my mum advised that I find a hardware store in Valmiera and buy a moskītu fumigators. Yep, that's right, a mosquito fumigator. Walking through the city centre, I saw a shop with brooms and paint cans in the shop window and hoped that this was right shop for what I needed. I walked in and wandered around, looking at every single item they were selling until I could spot an object with a mosquito picture on it. I reached the aisle with insect-related things but had no clue of their functions. I had to go through another awkward moment of asking shop assistants if they speak English. I asked one girl who shook her head and asked her colleague who vaguely did. I ended up saying the sentences I wanted her to say and she just nodded if they sounded about right. So this is what I bought in the end:

This should last me until I leave Latvia.

I wasn't sure where to plug it in. It probably says where to on the instructions but they are all in Latvian, so I put it near the window. That way it will stop the little buggers from coming in my room. Otherwise they will end up like their friend did yesterday. Legless.

I ended up going back to the library after my quick shopping trip. There was no sign of him. As I walked around the book shelves I realised how long it has been since I've read an academic book. I went to my degree subject's section and picked out a few. The English ones, obviously. I might as well make the most of working in a university and wake up my brain in time for studying in France.

I'm just glad I still know how to read!

The next few days are going to be quite busy for me. I've been asked to go to the capital Riga with some other filming buddies to film the annual international jazz festival and conduct short interviews with the artists after their performances. I can't wait! I'll be staying in the home of one Latvian girl filming so I don't have to camp in the woods or sleep on a bench. My laptop will be packed so I don't miss out on writing my blog. Wherever I go, my blog follows.

My daily dose of blogging.

I've just come across a brilliant article that basically sums up the Latvian midsummer traditions (St. John's Day) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18614119. Sadly, I didn't do the running around naked bit. Maybe next year...

"Knowledge of the persistence of life throughout the three existences of past, present, and future enables us to establish true values, a sound view of life, and genuine ethics" - Daisaku Ikeda