A visit to Latvia!

Can a country be united through music? According to many Latvians the nations strong choir movement has been a factor in consolidating the nation. I have spent the last three days visiting Latvia and the Dobele district as Ulricehamn has a town twinning agreement with Dobele. It was an interesting visit, which made me think of the importance of culture and music for a nation and its people. Latvia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but the last three days they have been celebrating the 90th anniversary of their prior independence

On the second day of our visit we took part in a music event with participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland. All the performances were really good but what made the strongest impression was the last song. When the small choir started singing everyone in the hall joined in and all in different tunes. It was beautiful! My counterpart in Dobele told me that Latvians consider it an honour to sing in a choir. The foundation is laid at school, since music is on the curriculum from the first year and every village and larger enterprise has a choir of their own. She felt that choir singing has had (and still has) an important unifying element in a country with a complex history.

I went to Dobele with two colleagues, and we were all well looked after by our Latvian hosts. The only downside (except that we missed the flight back and that I lost my luggage) was the amount of vodka drunk by other guests the first night. I have been to parties in Eastern Europe before but this was really extreme and made it obvious why the life expectancy within Europe is very different. I don’t mind if people want to enjoy a glass of wine or a glass of vodka but when one guest alone drinks a bottle of vodka on his own during a 4 hour dinner and then loses all sense of dignity it is not only sad. It is embarrassing, annoying and being one of very few women in the group made the situation quite uncomfortable. Luckily the other two days were more or less alcohol free and the program and the discussions with our twinning partners well worth the trip!

I got stranded at Copenhagen airport and lost my luggage but got to spend two hours shopping and now have a new lingerie wardrobe and a very nice expensive dress so please invite me for a big party!!! Tomorrow I am off to the Netherlands!!! It will be great and I am really looking forward to see many of you! Five days is obviously not long enough but I will be back for a short weekend just before Christmas! We still have no snow in Ulricehamn but I have my fingers crossed for December!

Big hugs to all of you!