Many Latvians are genuinely curious to learn more about Thanksgiving and American national holidays, so the Fulbrighters in Latvia all gathered in Riga to celebrate with some of our Latvian friends. As a humorous side story, I was talking with a class of high school seniors in Riga about life in America, and they asked me if it was true that we recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school! It was fascinating to hear that they had heard somehow about this custom and then wanted me to say it for them.
Shocks and Adjustments
Day Length: I’m writing this on November 27, which is still about four weeks away from the winter solstice. The sun only rises at 8:30 a.m. and already sets at 3:50 p.m.! I think the short day length has been the biggest factor I’ve had to adapt to while in Latvia. I truly enjoy the cold and the snow, so it’s been easy for me to carry on in that respect. But having the sun set at 4:00 p.m. and still having six hours of day left is wild to me! It is so cool to think about, though, because major cities such as Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and St. Petersburg are all at higher latitudes than Riga, so their days are even shorter. No matter the day length, we still go out and study our birds though. And we have some interesting fruit fly research updates coming soon!
