The freedom to drive myself around Latvia has also brought with it an unintended consequence: isolated from the outside for hours and hours at a time, I was cutting myself out of opportunities to interact with people from this country. The bus ride from Tallinn to Riga at least provided neighbors and a chance for conversation. So would the ride to Vilnius, when the time came to move on to Lithuania, I was sure. It’s the days in between that I was wondering about.
It is funny how life works sometimes, and I find great personal satisfaction in observing each instance of what is called (rather incorrectly, I believe) “coincidence”. No sooner than the thought formed that I was missing out on what should be a part of this whole experience of traveling, when a young hitchhiking couple came into view on the right shoulder. I pulled right over.
Of the two, she was the English speaker. His linguistic prowess was limited to Latvian, with vague signs of a recent swipe at German. Both were friendly, but once we established his limitations in German, the guy switched to full-time listening. She was very amicable and explained that they are both students in Riga, traveling to visit with her parents out west. I asked her to show me on the map where it was they were headed, and we figured out a likely spot for them to get out on their continued journey home. During the hour and a half we all spent together in the small grey hatchback, she talked about how excited she was for the post-college future, and about how important the United States is for her country. Regarding the latter point, we couldn’t really get to the bottom of her version of “why”, as her English and my Russian just didn’t take us that far. Regarding the first, it was nice to see the optimism of someone whose parents must have had a very different outlook on things at that age.
The couple got out at a bus-stop about 45 minutes from Liepaja. I spent the remainder of the trip replaying the conversation in the car, and marveled at the power radiating out of these two – from her in a vocal, positive manner, and from him the way quiet, self-assured people come across to others around them. Euripides, Greek playwright from around 500 B.C., admonishes us to “leave no stone unturned”. People should be so lucky to have the luxury of time necessary to comply with such great advice. Desperate people probably already do so. I had no real conscious plan to overturn any stones during my trip, yet was rewarded by the company for a short while of these two all the same.
I’ve got some stories from Liepaja, and – for that half of you that are following along solely for the pictures – I’ll make sure there are a few of those as well in the next post. Take care!
kyiv2khabarovsk 
Your header is beautiful.
Thank you! Your pictures are very nice and creative, and I am enjoying looking at them as well.
Thanks for looking in at my shots from the other side of the globe!
You may already have stumbled across another “Gunta” or two in your travels. I was born in Latvia and a WordPress search brought me here. I am pleased to read of your travels in the Baltics (and elsewhere), but Latvia is especially close to my heart. Your header picture seemed to embody my vision of Latvia from my mother’s descriptions of the place. But I hear you’ve encountered one of the worst winters to be there.
Stay warm and travel safe!
PS… Thanks to your comment, I’ve added Latvia to my country stats! I love that new feature. It makes this blogging so much more fun! 🙂
My pleasure, Gunta. I must say, you were born in one of the most beautiful, most moving places I have ever been. Experiencing that kindness and love of life that the Latvians I have encountered are so full of is something I wish for so many more of this world’s inhabitants. I very much look forward to my repeat-visit there in the early summer.