Thursday, 30 September 1999

September 30, 1999

AOL Lat Chat Contest!
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Lat chat,contest & more!! for Sunday October 4th, 1999 Date: 9/30/99
From: Silvija

File: D:\_WWWLA~1.COM\NOV92\PICTS\MORDAN~1.JPG (104055 bytes)
DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute

First of all, I hope that most of you are finding our increasingly longer mailer interesting and informative, maybe even entertaining at times, rather than tedious! We know that many people can't make it to the AOL Lat Chat on Sunday nights, so we've been trying to put more info into the mailer.
Speaking of the chat, don't forget to sign in if you can on Sunday, October 3 from approximately 9pm EST until....???? You can access the chat by using the following link: Town Square - Latvian chat [AOL Only]
Now on to fun ( hopefully! ) stuff!!

Ar visu labu,

The Somewhat Less Frequent Than Annual But Not Bi-Annual AOL Lat Chat Contest

As promised, it's time for the second (un)official AOL Lat Chat contest!!! We had a lot of great entries with the first contest, which made judging challenging, but fun; in fact, we ended up with a tie for first place between Pienene and Zulis. This time, there are twenty questions pertaining to Latvia, worth 2 points each (40 points total). The "quiz" is certainly open book.....the point here is to get everyone opening up those books and reading about our wonderful country. I certainly learned a lot just putting the test together; I will readily admit that although a few easy questions are thrown in, I probably would have scored less than 50% on the quiz without a book open. However, having the books open the last 3 days putting the quiz together was very rewarding, and I hope the same will happen for you.

If you've been one of those receiving the mailer, even if you've been unable to attend the chat Sunday nights, your entries are all welcome!!

The essay portion of the contest is worth the remaining 60 points, and I'll explain the topic for that first, then on to the quiz questions!

The subject for the essay is one that every Latvian can relate to, and we tried to make it pretty general. Basically, pick one well known Latvian stereotype and write about either how it affects you and/or your life, you and a family member, possibly you and a spouse or child (grown or otherwise!).

For example, if I qualified to participate in the contest, the trait I would write about is the Latvian propensity toward being pack rats, and how it relates to Peters (my hubby) and I. I have many of the stereotypical Latvian traits (for example, my screen name!), however, I was definitely born WITHOUT the pack rat gene. I don't know where it went, because my mom definitely has it... maybe it skips a generation occasionally? Peters and I joke that our first fight (nope, we haven't had one yet!) will probably be over some useless (in my humble opinion) space-wasting thing that I insist on throwing out, and he insists on keeping. Does this sound familiar? His first electric shaver is still alive and well and living at his mother's house. I asked why? "It still works." Will you ever use it again? "No, but you never know." Then THROW IT OUT! "Nope." We already have a DVD player, single CD player, 200 CD changer, and a VCR. So why is a broken VCR still here? "It just needs a 10 cent plastic part so it can rewind tapes again." THROW IT OUT! "Nope." I live by the 30 day rule: if you haven't touched it, used it, smelled it, or seen it in 30 days... you don't need it! THROW IT OUT. My dear husband, on the other hand, lives by the apparent 30 YEAR rule: it may have some remote possibility of functionality within the next 30 years, so you can't possibly dispose of it. Sigh. You get the point :-)

Essays will be judged by us (as the prize-providers, we're ineligible to compete, so we'll judge instead!) and will be looked at for originality, creativity, engaging style, and of course, pertinence to the essay topic! Following are the quiz questions....please copy and paste them into a new Email, fill out the answers, type your essay at the bottom, and then send to me by October 31st. Depending on how many entries there are will dictate when we'll have a winner(s), but we'll publish the winning essays on a subsequent mailer in November (with the winners' approvals, of course), and have the prizes, that we'll pick up next week in Riga, delivered ASAP.

Now for the questions. Remember, each correct answer is worth two points.

1. Livonia (Terra Mariana) was recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, with Riga as its capital, in what year?
   a. 1207
   b. 1226
   c. 1282
2. St. Peter's Steeple of Riga, the tallest in the world, was completed in what year?
   a. 1753
   b. 1694
   c. 1658
3. Rundale Palace was completed in what year?
   a. 1755
   b. 1768
   c. 1793
4. The first Latvian National Song Festival was held in what year?
   a. 1822
   b. 1851
   c. 1873
5. The main highway of the Baltics has been the 640 mile river ________________.
6. Rundale Palace, considered the most spectacular piece of civic architecture in the Baltics, was built by ______________, architect of the Winter Palace.
7. The National Independence Movement of Latvia was founded in June of ______
   and led the push for current Latvian independence which was finally reached in 1991.
8. _________________, the first and last prime minister under Latvia's first independence, created the cathedral square in Vecriga in 1936.
9. St Mary's Cathedral, better known as the Dom Baznica, was begun by __________________ in 1211.
10. The most impressive part of the Dom cathedral is the pipe organ, which has how many pipes?
    a. 3,898
    b. 5,688
    c. 6,768
11. The figure atop Latvia's Freedom Statue ( Brivibas Piemineklis ) is fondly known as ________ by Latvians.
12. The Freedom Statue was put up in _____ (what year?) and managed to survive the occupation of the Soviets.
13. One of this town's main claims to fame is that its pastor, Ernst Gluck, adopted the daughter of a Lithuanian grave digger, Martha Skavronska, who later married Peter the Great & became Catherine I of Russia. __________
    
14. On August 22, 1991, __________ became the first foreign country to recognize the independence of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
15. The Riga Latvian Association [Rigas Latviesu biedriba], the first truly Latvian cultural society, was formed in what year?
    a. 1824
    b. 1868
    c. 1893
16. The Riga Latvian Association came into being as part of, and became the nucleus of, the national movement that became known as the ____________________________ (English or Latvian)
17. Petera Baznica used to be the tallest structure in Riga, until Intourist built the monstrosity (excuse the editorializing!) Hotel Latvia. The hotel is how much taller than Petera Baznica? ____________
18. Some of the ingredients in this well known Latvian product are: 16 grasses, ginger, oak bark, bitter orange peels, linden blossoms, iris roots, nutmeg, peppermint, valerian, cognac, and sugar. _________________ is said to calm the nerves and to be great for an upset stomach (I'll take their word for it!)
19. One of Europe's widest waterfalls (110 meters) is found in Latvia, in this city __________. Its existance frustrated Swedish and Danish Vikings as it effectively blocked their progress along the Venta River.
20. __________ is Latvia's third largest city (after Riga and Daugavpils); it has Latvia's only metallury plant and combined with other industrial complexes make this city Latvia's third largest manufacturing center.

Good luck to all! Entries due by October 31st. We will be in Latvia from October 6th to 17th, so don't be alarmed if we don't acknowledge your entry right away!

This Week's Link

THE SOUNDS OF LATVIAN

I found it! The site I promised you two weeks ago is here now after I misplaced it in some sub-directory somewhere.

This site is amazing—even for those who spoke Latvian as their first language, I am confident they will find something on this site that is completely new to them. But the finest thing on this site can be found under the heading "The Sounds of the Latvian Language". Uldis Balodis, from Arizona, the author of this site, has listed all of the sounds used in the Latvian language and illustrated them with examples in English where we use the same (or a very similar) sound! For some of the sounds, particularly the "softened" g, l, n and k, I didn't think this was possible. I was very impressed, and I am sure you will be too. —Gunars Zulis

Link: The Latvian Language - II

URL: http://www.goodnet.com/~vanags/valoda.html

In the News

Now for the news... two stories about more Russian whining: another report on their dim view of NATO membership for the Baltics as well as their complaints about ethnic rights in Estonia (restricting citizenship availability to ex-Soviet military).

By Anastasia Styopina
RIGA, September 29 (Reuters) — A NATO membership drive by Baltic nations will continue to blow a cold wind on their already chilly relations with Moscow, a top Russian think-tank said Wednesday.
"We can't predict a drastic improvement of our relations (as a result of the drive)," Igor Yurgen, a presidium member of the Council of Foreign and Defense Policy, told journalists as he presented a report on Russian-Baltic ties.
The council advises Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
Since Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regained independence in 1991 following 50 years of Soviet occupation, relations with Russia have been cold at best, and downright frozen at times.
All three countries—which see NATO membership as vital to ensure independence—emerged from the Soviet Union with large Russian-speaking minorities that had migrated there with Moscow's encouragement.
The minorities have been the source of bitter rows with Russia, which criticized Baltic governments' decisions not to grant blanket citizenship after the demise of the Soviet Union and sees many laws as discriminating against Russians.
But the Baltics are also a major outlet for Russia's natural resources, with nearly 15 percent of Russia's oil and oil products exports going through Latvia alone.
Russia's need for cash that its resources can bring has made it keen to keep relations from collapsing completely.
"The transition to cooperation with the Baltics on a large scale is still impossible, but there is a prospect for active cooperation and it can be formulated as realistic cooperation on the basis of economic interests," Yurgen said.
NATO expansion has been a touchy issue throughout post-Communist Europe, and especially in the case of the Baltics.
In 1998 the Baltics signed a partnership pact with the United States as a step toward joining NATO but the Western military alliance has stopped short of offering full membership.
Yurgen noted that Moscow had no objections to the Baltics joining the European Union, "but the position regarding NATO has not changed. It's considered unacceptable for Russia for a number of reasons," he said.
If the Baltics are integrated into NATO structures, Russia fears its Kaliningrad enclave may be cut off in case of a conflict.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.

MOSCOW, September 30 (Itar-Tass) — Estonia's politics towards ethnic minorities does not conform to civilized European standards, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin declared on Thursday, commenting on discriminatory amendments to the Law on foreigners adopted by the Estonian parliament. The amended law imposes restrictions on issuing residence permits to Russian retired servicemen because they formerly belonged to former Soviet power structures.
Rakhmanin underlined that "at issue is another attempt to squeeze representatives of ethnic minorities from Estonia and deteriorate the already unfavorable humanitarian situation" in Estonia. "The activities of the Estonian authorities detrimental to vitally important interests of our fellow citizens and compatriots cannot but tell on the atmosphere of Russo-Estonian relations," Rakhmanin said.
In the opinion of the Russian Foreign Ministry, a special concern arises in connection with the fact that the above-mentioned amendments offer the possibility to revise earlier made decisions as regards people who have been living in Estonia for over five years on absolutely legitimate grounds and who have not been involved in any activities which might have been qualified as posing a threat to Estonia's security, Rakhmanin said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is hoping that a decision made by the Estonian parliament will not be left unnoticed by the world community. A principle assessment of the amended law given by the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the European Union and other international organizations is very important because similar plans have been cherished in neighboring Latvia," Rakhmanin underlined.
ere/Copyright 1999

This Week's Picture

This picture is from Mordanga, in November 1992, from Peters' first trip to Latvia (and very first visit to his grandfather's mill).

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