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Sunday, 22 July 2012

Day 52: I'm a country girl now

Today I saw and embraced the true Latvian lifestyle in none other than the countryside. My set is now complete!

Before my boss, her two small children and I departed, we popped to the local supermarket to get some food. Surprisingly, there are no supermarkets in the middle of the countryside - who would've thought? The hot weather just cried out for us to buy ice cream. My boss recommended I get a "Rujiena" ice cream (which in fact my other friend from Rujiena said was the best). We got back in the car, I unwrapped my ice cream and noticed that there were nuts sprinkled on top... I'm allergic to nuts! No way was I going to let it go to waste though! I literally sat there scraping off every single nut with a plastic fork. I could already tell that this was going to be a good day.

As we were driving away from Valmiera, the number of buildings began to decrease and clusters of trees increased. The road ahead seemed endless, the surrounding landscape almost touching the clouds. I tried to imagine what my boss's "country house" was going to look like...

All my expectations were fulfilled.

I stepped out of the car and all I could hear were birds singing and crickets cheeping. My boss gave me a tour of the house and it was like I had travelled back in time to the 1800s. I just said "oh, wow" to everything with a stunned look on my face!


Today's main activity involved going deep into forests for a session of berry picking and mushroom hunting. After I got all my gear on (Wellington boots to be specific) we hopped back into the car and drove to a nearby forest. As we followed narrow paths, I began to wonder why I needed to wear Wellies and "something to cover my head" as my boss put it, but then all was revealed. Before we got out of the car, this is what I was told:

"There will be a certain type of insect [not mosquitoes] that can stick to your skin and suck your blood. Some of them even carry a disease. Oh, and the snakes. Just make sure you don't step on one..."

My mind actually went blank for a moment. I can't even handle mosquitoes! Can you imagine how I would react to a snake at my feet? I don't think my travel insurance would have quite covered me being swallowed whole. Luckily, I didn't encounter any snakes but did have a fun time with these little blood suckers. One of them managed to bite my forehead. Sneaky...

At first we couldn't see any mushrooms, so we spent the first few hours picking blueberries. We picked and we ate. They were delicious but we needed to save some for the dessert my boss had planned for us later on. We drove to another forest further on to find some mushrooms. Believe it or not, mushrooms are very hard to find, especially if you don't know where to look. After walking through marshes, leaping over fallen tree barks and trying not to fall in any of the hidden streams, I'm sure I was having mirages of mushrooms. Eventually, we were in luck! It was time to head back to the house. All of that picking completely wiped our energy.

Dessert before dinner - our hand-picked blueberries,
Cheerios, milk and sugar.

Before we made dinner, my boss gave me another tour but of the garden this time. It was the perfect garden. A treehouse, a small river, an allotment of different vegetables - pumpkins, cucumbers, corn, peas, beans, carrots and many more. Let me tell you that peas straight from the pod are amazing.

A tyre swing!

We made dinner together, including the kids! It was adorable to see them slicing up tomatoes and cucumbers. Sausages cooked over a fire is starting to become one of my favourite things about Latvia. My boss then received a call from her mother-in-law asking for us to come to their hometown - Rujiena! Ice cream was the first thing I thought about. We had some spare time before we set off so I played badminton and another ball game with the kids. I don't know how we did it but we managed to communicate without actually talking - they only speak Latvian. Now they are my new best friends.

After getting my daily dose of exercise by running around picking up balls and shuttlecocks (pun not intended), we headed to Rujiena. Her parents-in-law's garden was amazing too! I spent the whole time picking and eating their berries. Oh, and feeding chickens. Yes, chickens

The first time I've seen chickens up close.

Today was definitely one to remember. A home-grown courgette and freshly picked red roses are the best souvenirs to keep the memories alive...

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Let me know if you have any similar experiences or any advice to assist me on my journeys.