Mikele Marie: A Tale of Latvia: Part 1

Hello World! It is me again. I know last time I wrote I said no more excuses, but I am back... and I am full of excuses for my lack of writing. Here they are:

#1 I went to Latvia! We had a glorious time and I fell in love with the city of Riga.

#2 I am sick. This may possibly correlate with reason numero uno.When I got home I was okay for the first little bit, but then the man voice and throat pains happened. I think my body is struggling to adjust to the new environment, lack of sleep and lack of nutrients. (Borscht and potatoes just don't cut it if ya know what I mean.)

#3 I have been busy! Sometimes I feel like from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed I am always working on something. Whether it be something for the girls, Dima, or something for leisure, I feel like I have been gone a lot.

#3 Finally, for the most pathetic reason, I am addicted to Gossip Girl. I want to blame this mainly on Bec and Roma. Bec introduced me to it in the first place, and after my first case of addiction subsided, Roma reminded me that the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite are in fact extremely riveting. She admitted to her secret addiction and it sprung me back on mine. Once I watched one episode, Serena Van Der Woodsen's perfect hair and Blair and Chuck's steamy romance just pulled me back in. It was inevitable.

Anyways, judge me. We all know that journaling goes on the back burner sometimes. All we can do is just try to be better the next time. I got the willpower to write this post while I'm ill from my special someone. He told me that he checks my blog everyday. It was just the sweetest thing. I wouldn't expect anything less from him though. He's the best.

Alright, on to the juicy stuff. Now I don't know how many of you have been to Latvia, but I am assuming not many. It is an extremely underrated country. I don't really know why. It is breathtaking. You have all the cute cobblestone and beautiful architecture people love about Europe plus the charm of it being so little you can walk practically anywhere. In addition, you can stay and travel for a relativity cheap price. Once again, we picked a weekend that we completely lucked out on. All around Riga city there were music festivals, games, and tons of happy people. Just in the first few hours we were there I slacklined, sumo wrestled, took pictures in a superhero photobooth, watched a street hockey match, shot a bow and arrow, danced with a stuffed elephant, attempted stilts (attempted being the key word), watched a bride and groom dance in the streets, belted "I'm walking on sunshine" to an old guitarist, and hula hooped. Life just can't get much better than when hula hoops are involved. I think my favorite part about it was that none of it was planned. Everywhere we went, another fun thing was occurring, and we just jumped right in.

For dinner we went to this quaint outdoor seating establishment. Now I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but I was actually so hungry I wasn't hungry anymore. I doubt that is healthiest thing you could do to your body, but I am a cheapo, and all restaurants that are in Euros are far too expensive for me. Instead, I decided I was down to drink a smoothie or some sort of fruity drink. I have dabbled with fruity drinks in America like pina coladas, daiquiris and mojitos all virgin of course. I really wanted something of the sort. I figured if they gave me a little umbrella-ed drink, it would be the perfect way to begin my night. Since I didn't see any of these on the menu, I proceeded to ask the waitress for a virgin martini. Everyone thought that was pretty funny and I had no idea why. You see, innocent little Mikele didn't know that a virgin martini is essentially just olives in a glass. Way to go Mikele you are clearly no connoisseur of alcohol. I'd say it is a good thing though.

After the restaurant, we went to the opera. I have been to the opera once before. I wouldn't say I am a die hard opera fan, but I think it is a nice/funny time. Mostly I just wanted to go because I wanted to be able to say I have been to the opera in Latvia. That isn't something you hear every day. The opera was pretty intense. The plot was about this babushka who accidentally threw her baby in a fire. Then she ends up raising her rivals son because she thought he was her own child. Her rival has another son who is approximately the same age and they both fall in love with the same nun. I don't even know if that made the teeniest bit of sense, so you get how we were feeling pretty much the whole time. I am glad we went though. Seeing a love affair between two brothers and a nun makes for a good time. It may even be better than what I watch on gossip girl. Maybe.

When the opera was over, we spent the rest of the night wandering around the streets listening to all the different music. There was a different stage with another musician just about every block. It was wonderful. I think what I liked best was that even high school kids were part of it. They came out to the city with their instruments and talent and just entertained the people of their city. After wandering around for a little while, we came to a rather large group of rambunctious teens waiting by a stage. We waited with them. When the singer came on, we soon found he was actually a rapper and a poor one at that. His rap was terrible, and probably had plenty of illegal and inappropriate innuendos. We only stayed because he would steal American songs and rap to them it was a little funny. I didn't know anyone could destroy some of the classics, but he pulled it off. It was still very interesting to see the teens of Lithuania unite even if they do need a better artist uniting them.

When we got back to the hostel we were all fairly exhausted. It had been one crazy good day. The one thing I can remember most about sleeping in the hostel was the fact there was a rather large divot in my bed. It was there because so many people had slept in it and that was the exact spot everyone's big booties went night after night after night. The other thing that is vivid in my memory was my roommate Paige's hilarious snores and groans. Sorry, but I can't let you live those down Paige. You are just too funny. It was a perfect first day in Latvia.