Latvia's Top 10 Moments!

The time has come my friends. It has been good. I have learned some things, I have seen a few things, and I have experienced a lot of new things.

Out of all the things learned, seen, and done while in Latvia however,....(drum roll please...), HERE IS THE TOP 10 "WHO GOES TO LATVIA?" MOMENTS! (I know you're all excited beyond measure).

Number 10 - Attempting to hitchhike my way to Estonia only to get stranded in the rain for 4 hours some 50 kilometers outside of Riga!
Number 9 - Swimming in the Baltic Sea! Who does that anyways?
Number 8 - Seeing the sun out until 11:30 PM! No joke, it's bizarre.
Number 7 - Seeing the sun rise at 3:00 AM. Ever more bizarre.

Number 6 - Watching old guys play chess in the park.

Seriously, this was hilarious. The funniest part happens right after 0:12 and it was so funny!
Number 5 - Wandering around Riga aimlessly for hours on end due to lack of anything better to do! I could not tell you how many hours there were, but there were A LOT.

Number 4 - Wandering around Riga for hours on end because I was lost! Yep, more than I can count.
Number 3 - Wearing a crown made with 4 pounds of oak leaves on my head!
Number 2 - Getting punched in the face!
And the number 1 moment from my Latvian adventure is...
Walking away with the ability to say, "I'VE GONE TO LATVIA!"

So there you have it, the highlights of my 3 month duration in Latvia. It's been fun. It's been great. But frankly, I came, did what I came to do, and now it's time to go home. But before I make it back to Utah, 3 weeks tooling around Europe will be a nice treat, like the juice and cookies they give you after donating blood.

So, for the curious, here is my tentative juice and cookie itinerary:

July 9-11: Berlin
12-13: Budapest
14: somewhere in the Hungarian countryside
15- 16: Slovenia
17 - 18: Venice
19 - 21: somewhere in Northern Italy
22: Zermatt, Switzerland (yes, I will behold the Matterhorn, the mecca of mountain peaks. I may even touch it)
23 - 25: Gimmelvald, a tiny Swiss village high in the Bernese Alps
26: Bern
27: Zürich
28: fly home out of Zürich

I've got the feeling this is going to be the best juice and cookies ever.

But you know, I do kind of feel like this whole experience has been a lot like giving blood. Does anybody really like to have a piece of stainless steel stuck into their arm and watch their own blood trickle down a tube into that bag? NO. But the reasons for giving blood every once in a while overcome the reasons not to, and we are compelled to give. And although we most likely will never see or meet the recipient of our blood, we know that those 15 minutes of awkward "almost pain" from having a needle jammed into our veins and having blood drain out of our bodies, will one day be of benefit.

I just hope, for my own sake, that these awkward 3 months in Latvia will also be of future - albeit unseen - benefit.

So for the last time from the capitol of the beautiful Baltic state of Latvia, goodbye. I'm gone!

The Idea of America

Awhile back my mother asked how I felt when introducing myself to others as an American. It was a good question, one upon which I have previously reflected. She asked if I felt ashamed. I responded no, that I do not feel ashamed. However, I told her that unfortunately, the same pride felt when I'm within the States and claiming Utah as my home, is not there. This bothers me.

It does not require a degree in international relations to ascertain the reasons surrounding the world's negative perception of America at the moment. While the world rallied around the US in the wake of 9/11, America's foreign activities over the last several years have greatly tainted the image of the super power abroad. The vast majority of foreigners now have an unfavorable opinion of the United States. In a recent poll, the BBC noted that over half of Europe's population now views the United States as being a greater force for evil than for good in the world.

That right there is depressing and disturbing. It is why the words, "I'm from the US," do not carry the pride and conviction that I wish they could, and should carry.

Despite it all, it never ceases to amaze me how much European interest there is concerning the coming presidential elections. Nearly everyone I meet wants to know for which candidate I will be casting my vote. A few weeks ago, I was out and about with some friends and some random guy walked up and said, "hey, you from America?" I answered affirmatively. "I heard your accent and thought so," he said. "So who do you like: Obama or McCain?"

I realize that it is natural for my acquaintances to inquire as to my opinions (which they all do - it is rare that someone I meet does not ask me the same question), but a stranger - completely out of the blue - approached me wanting to talk American politics.

The outcome of these elections are a big deal to the world. While probably 99% of Americans couldn't tell you the name of the Canadian prime minister, the names of Obama, Hilary, McCain, Romney, and John Edwards have been circulating the globe for nearly a year now.

Thomas Friedman, an author and columnist for the New York Times recently wrote,"it [the foreign concern for the US presidential elections] reveals how much many foreigners, after all the acrimony of the Bush years, still hunger for the 'idea of America' — this open, optimistic, and, indeed, revolutionary, place so radically different from their own societies."

This "idea of America" is a very real thing.

In a conversation with my roommate Phillipp, a German law student currently working at the German embassy in Latvia, I asked concerning his opinions on the US. He expressed to me that despite the current unfavorable views, "America is still the model for freedom." He then elucidated the reasons for his thinking, all of which are as common to Americans as the English language.

As far as I have been able to tell, for the most part anti-Americanism does not exist (When it does in fact exist, it is usually only an outward expression of the anger and frustration caused by other repressive forces far beyond that of America's). What does exist, however, is "anti-current administration's horrible foreign policy that has had such a huge negative impact on the world-ism" that is commonly expressed. It should be noted that the United States is not insular - nearly EVERYTHING America does carries huge implications with it worldwide. But like any child who's heart aches for a loving father-figure, democracies around the world yearn for the America that once was.

That is why the coming elections matter so much to foreigners.

It is hard for anyone, American and European alike, not to simultaneously conjure up images of the stars and stripes while watching the famous clip of an East German man - completely absorbed by his emotions - hacking away at the Berlin Wall. The many positive repercussions of America's impact on the world are still very alive. That is why the Idea of America is still so prevalent. On a number of occasions, this Idea, this longing for the freedom and good that America stands for, has knotted my throat and teared my eyes. It has done the same for countless others scattered across the globe.

A large fire can be produced by simply blowing on a single coal - even if the coal appears cold and dark. In the eyes of the world, the Idea of America is still a glowing ember. All it needs is a little breath.

Tomorrow, as we celebrate our independence, let us not only remember what great things America has done, but let us aspire and re-commit ourselves to ensuring that America never be looked upon through the "golden age" lens that is now used to reminisce over ancient Greece and what was the British Empire. The Idea of America has the potential to burn strong in the hearts of freedom-loving people worldwide for many, many years to come. It is for us then, only to decide how hot, and for how long, that fire will last.

Food, Glorious Food

The following is a typical bundle of goods, with their respective Latvian prices, consumed by me.

• 1 large pickle: $0.34
• 1 pound of potatoes: $0.68
• 1 large packet of soup seasoning: $0.72
• 1 bar of not-so-expensive but still really good chocolate: $0.88
• 1 trip on the bus: $0.90
• 1 pound of carrots: $1.00
• 1 liter of gross Kvass: $1.00
• 12 oz can of pop: $1.09
• 1 loaf of bread: $1.10
• 1 box of generic corn flakes: $1.86
• 10 medium-sized eggs: $2.02
• 1 gas station hot dog: $2.85
• 1 pound of bananas: $3.40
• 1 gallon of milk: $4.12
• 1 pound of oranges: $5.40
• 20 oz jar of raspberry jam: a whopping $5.86

And for everything else, there's...no money.

Just feeding myself the basics has taken its fiscal toll. As you can see, some things - like riding the bus or a pound of potatoes - may actually be cheaper here in Latvia than back home. But others - 4 bucks for a gallon of milk!?, 2 dollars for medium eggs!? - are way more expensive. I seriously don't know how these people are staying alive with these prices.

My only hope is that back home in the States, food prices have not risen to these types of outrageous levels. In one more month I will be home. I want to be able to eat again.

Apples to Oranges

If there is one tidbit of knowledge I have gained from my studies and experiences in international relations, it is that you can't compare apples to oranges.

Huh?, you're thinking? You've spent almost 4 years and thousands of dollars only to learn an epithet that everyone already knows? Well, in all fairness it's not exactly about fruit. It's about countries and policies: what works for one state simply may not work for another. There is no way to correctly compare states and their policies with other states and policies.

Take for instance the Scandinavian welfare model. While this model produces excellent, and I mean excellent results for Scandinavia (seriously, those people have got it together), the rest of Europe - notably France - just can't quite churn out the same phenomenal results (hence the seemingly annual Parisian riots).

Now, I am not attempting to elucidate on the pros of Scandinavian welfare states; there is no doubt that those models work, and work very well for those countries. But what I am trying to do is simply paint a picture that says, "what works for Sweden may not work for France or the United States or any other country." And vice-versa.

It is not functional to take a state with 9 million inhabitants (Scandinavia's most populous nation, Sweden) and compare it to a state of 60 million inhabitants (France). That is an apple to an orange comparison. It would be very erroneous therefore, to conclude that since Sweden's system works for Swedes so well, it must work equally well for the French and everybody else for that matter.

Not only does this type of comparison (which occurs both in theory and in practice all too often) become fallacious due to demographic differences, but in that governmental policies must transpose cultural and ideological differences. Policies and procedures are usually built upon values and beliefs. What some cultures value deeply, others often brush off as unimportant.

A third factor is economics. With policy, just like with nearly everything else, money is what makes the world go round. Economies, just like demographics and cultures, differ across the globe. Good, effective policies need the financial means of ensuring a job well-done. Oftentimes, there simply isn't enough of the green for one state to successfully pull off what another state can.

A banana grower wouldn't expect the same results from planting banana trees in Phoenix to banana trees growing in Ecuador. Neither should governments and people expect policies that work in one state to automatically work in another.

The next time you hear the words, "well in Denmark...," realize that many policies simply cannot successfully transfer from one country to another. Also, the next time you hear someone mention "nation building," realize that well, you can't transplant a banana tree to the desert.

So I guess in a way, it is all about fruit.