Wednesday May 2nd Update.

Today we arrived in Liepaja welcomed by our mate Verners who was on the D2410 team recently in Melbourne. We were shown around the city, which is a bit bigger than Kuldiga, and we climbed the bell tower at one of the cities churches. We were also went on a bus tour of the town, taken to the beach and then given a beautiful meal before settling in at our accommodation (girls all together in lovely apartments, Tim with a host).

A dinner followed which included fruit fondue, there was some discussion about going to Lithuania tomorrow for a coffee (truly) but we were a bit iffy about the visa issue and didn't want to be the 1st GSE team blogging from prison!

Childs Play!

Today we had one of the most awesome days of the trip. Armed with soccer balls, chocolate and pencils and paper we visited a orphanage which has 27 kids aged 2-22.

The kids were fantastic! We played a few ball games with them, drew some pictures etc and generally had a great time, complete with hugs when we were leaving. This was a very special experience for all of us and one we won't forget.

It was also fantastic to see more Rotary funds in action as the laundry, kitchen and other renovations had been partly funded by the Rotary Foundation.

After the orphanage we went to some sand caves, there was 2km of man made winding caves, at one time the sand was used for making glass. Only Lesley, Tim and Christie went in, Jackie and Brooke stayed outside to coordinate any search and rescue mission required! We carried our candles into the cave, it was very narrow at points and we also had to crawl a bit! We were also made to blow the candles out when we were 12 metres underground, it was a bit unnerving but fun!

Lunch followed the cave adventure (pictured) which was a massive BBQ, they sure do a good BBQ here. This was at about 3-4pm. We then went to the Rotary club meeting and had dinner, food glorious food! We gave a presentation complete with interpreter who lived in Adelaide for 5 years which was great as the communication is a little harder in the rural areas (we are playing a bit of charades!) but everyone is trying very hard to communicate. The Rotarian's have made us very welcome in Kuldiga and we are sad to be moving on! Tomorrow we head to the coastal town of Liepaja for more adventures.

P.S Jackie and Christie had a sauna at their hosts house tonight - it was Jackie's first sauna, in the winter here is gets to -30 degrees and they jump€ from the sauna into the lake outside, of course only after breaking through the ice first (crazy!).

Vocational Visits & Rotary in Action

We all went our separate ways to vocational visits today. Christie met with a Judge and a probation worker, Jackie met with health promotion professional and crisis care centre
(pictured) Tim went into the woods today... And Brooke spent time with a local events manager.

After our visits we then went to lunch at a local school and then headed off to meet some great women at a school for disabled children. Here we saw first hand what Rotary has provided to this community, the school was equipped with special beds and other equipment for the children and the women were very grateful to Rotary for the funding. Later on Christie, Jackie and Lesley went to the Beach for some sunbaking, not. It was pretty damn cold!

Our days are very full but we are aware that this last week will be over before we know it, every experience we are having is a privilege.

Arrival in provincial Latvia

We all had a sleep in this morning and after lunch were picked up and taken to Kuldiga which is a little town of about 15,000 west of Riga.

We met with our hosts and then took a walking tour of the town. There is a massive river running through it which has the longest waterfall in Europe, 240 metres across and about 2 metres high. There were heaps of fish leaping out of the water trying to get over the falls which was very entertaining.

We (Jacksie and Christie) are in one house together, it is a farm with a lovely family. We have included some pictures, we have enjoyed exploring our wing of the farmhouse, including the very big bath and picking up some home decoration tips! Tim and Brooke are also in a house together and Lesley is in a house with a Rotarian who has spent 5 years in Adelaide so will feel very much at home.

The town of Kuldiga is an interesting contrast to Riga and we are looking forward to learning more about the situation of the residents of the town.