Devil Computers

Well last night we watched our first movie in a theatre on the trip. Watched "1408" which was a scary movie about a haunted hotel room. We are begining to think that every computer in Latvia is also possessed. Having a hard time with pictures so we won't post any.

Other than stupid computers, life is good. We had a great time exploring Estonia while visiting Tallin and Parnu. Really can't wait to show off pics of the hostel we stayed at while in Parnu. Might be the scariest hostel in all of Europe. We have spent the last three days in the capital of Latvia. We have been trying to think of how to discribe Estonia and Latvia and it is really hard. The best we can come up with is really old and really new. All three of the balkan countries were occupied from 1939-1991. One German occupation sandwiched in between two Soviet occupations. When the Germans invaded Latvia and kicked out the Soviets who where just finishing up what is refered to as the "Year of Terror", Latvians viewed them as liberators and celebrated their arrival. Little did they know that the next few years of German occupation would not be much better. After WWII ended here came the soviets again. What a terrible time it must have been while the rest of the world was celebrating the end of WWII, many countries in the east were simply trading one terrible occupation for another. It is mind boggling that this continued until 1991. Today we learned of many "settlement camps" as the soviets called them. This is the Soviet version of a concentration camp only not so discriminating. Most were located in Siberia where winter temps were commonly dipping below -40 celsius. I think you get the idea. These countries have gone through some terrible times but they are doing much better now. Democracy and capitalism are flourishing. Giant shopping malls dot the edges of "old" town and are constantly bustling. Two days ago in Riga we visited the largest market in Europe. Very crowded place where little old ladies will run you down if you get between them and the bakery booth. Hazen had another attempted pickpocket on his day pack. Still haven't got anything from us. Probably just a matter of time.

Aubree has had a relapse on her cough and we were able to get some cough syrup today. After we finally found a pharmacy and bought the bottle we couldn't figure out how to get the remarkably simple looking cap off the gd bottle. Back to the pharmacy; some old lady was able to get it off with the help of Hazen's pocketknife. Aubree cried like a little two year old when she had to chug the "30 weight motor oil". Quite entertaning for Hazen though. The real kicker is now we have a full bottle of syrup and the cap won't go back on. The little moments of travel are sometimes the hardest.

A couple nights ago Hazen made an attempt at partying like a European. The night started by watching a group of four of the craziest british guys ever. In their very hard British accent they yelled and competed by trying to find out who could punch the other in the shoulder the hardest. Obviously they were way too drunk for 6pm but quite entertaining. Spent dinner time chatting with two Germans, a turkish woman, and a guy from India (haven't seen an American for quite a while). Quite the good mix. Hazen accompanied the Turkish woman and the now three germans to a pub with live music. If you can picture a basement with live music in Latvia this is where Hazen was at. The first band was from Latvia and put on quite a show. Bands from luxemburg and france also played. Hazen hit the street around 2:30 to cool off a bit as it was about 80 celsius in the basement. Met some latvians and sat down for a cup of tea, chatting on until 4:00. Took a couple days to recover from attempting to party like a European but he is glad he got it out of his system.

Well we are heading to Klaipeda, Lithuania tomorrow by bus (trains aren't good). Very excited to continue heading south toward some serious sunshine.