“I have been to many countries: Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Honestly, this is a common list of countries for a Latvian…starting with northeastern Europe and working our way out from there.”
Through a European travel law, something called the Schengen Zone was created. Once a country has applied for and been approved as Schengen, border patrol becomes heavily relaxed. For instance, I could drive from Latvia all the way to Portugal, crossing numerous countries, and I would not go through a single customs/border check. Also, if you fly within the Schengen Zone, your passport (or equivalent) does not get checked. These flights are viewed as domestic. So cool!
“Right now I am mostly a student. I do work some weeknights and weekends as a bartender in downtown Riga. A lot of students do have jobs, but most prioritize school above all else. Right now, I am on the medical path to study epidemiology, basically the spread of diseases.”
Unlike universities in the U.S., the University of Latvia is not a centralized campus. For example, the science buildings are in one area of Riga, the business school in another, the art building in another, and so on. So, most of the students I interact with at L.U. are STEM students.
“My biggest question for the high school students is if prom and homecoming are really like they are on T.V. and in the movies.”
I cannot stress to you enough how much I am asked this question.
