Newly painted Pestisanas Armija building in Riga
(RHQ, Riga 1 corps and my flat housed here)


Beautiful Art Nouveau faces taken by Ieva


The last couple of days my heart and thoughts have been in Latvia. I guess I've been home long enough that it's hit me, I'm not going back. Monday evening was a fun get-together at Dani and Jeremy R.'s house, with Brad and Heidi, Lindsay, Steve and Ketsia and the Jordans. I brought pictures (actually, my laptop because I haven't gotten around to printing any yet.) It struck me while Lindsay and I were talking about her summer in Chile and how she felt going 'home' and then leaving again. Later, I was showing her some of my Latvia pics and while our experiences are so different, I felt like she got what I'm feeling. Torn between here and there (thus my blog title remains.) Last night I had dinner at Bob and Maribeth S.'s house. They are so great and show real interest in my life in Latvia. They sat through my picture presentation and I think that 2 nights in a row were too much for me. On the way home, I was overwhelmed with my emotions. Then today I was on Messenger with Dace. I don't think she could tell (then again, maybe she could) but it was another emotional moment. Of course, this is normal. And when I go to Colorado next week for a 'reentry' conference, I'm sure I'll experience more emotions.

One of the things I haven't done is mention some wonderful gifts I received when I left Latvia:

• A CD rom with lots of pictures, music and a very special farewell video from my friends in Latvia. If you want to see it, I'd love to show you! Thanks to Ieva for putting it all together.
• A music CD from Edgars of Shawn McDonald (http://www.shawnmcdonaldmusic.com) which I love listening to. Thanks, Edgars!
• A collage of pictures from the girls to hang in a special place in my new home. Thanks, girls!
• 3 beautiful photographs of Latvia, taken by Aivis, also to be hung in a special "Latvia corner" in my new home. Thanks to Sarah, Aivis and the Riga 1 corps.
• A mug with two important faces smiling at me - Sian and Abigail Evie. Thanks, Zoe and Graeme!

Back to Monday evening...it was great to spend time with Brad and Heidi. Good timing to have them home from Spain while I'm here. I love being with all of the people who were there. It felt like a noisy family reunion. We ended with a very big game of Boggle and I have to confess I'm the Boggle Queen! (comes from having a boring life, so I do a lot of crossword puzzles!) Tuesday started with a root canal! Yuk! And the most unpleasant of experiences. 1. I was having a bad allergy day - that's bad when your head is tilted back and down for over an hour. 2. When the dentist covered my mouth with a piece of rubber material it also covered my nose for an instant. I had a little claustrophobic response, also called inability to breath through my mouth or nose. 3. After working for over an hour the dentist said 'you'll have to come back in a week, so I can finish.' Problem - I'll be in Colorado, then on to St. Louis. So, I'll be finishing on Friday. Sounds like fun - what a way to spend vacation. Today Steve, Ketsia and I went to see "Bourne Ultimatum" - I loved it but was a bit confused at the end. I have a couple more relatively lazy days and then on to Colorado. If you think about me, pray for those days. My desire is to figure out how to apply all that I experienced and learned in Latvia here, especially as I move to new and very different opportunities in St. Louis.