NSLI-Y 2025 Latvia – Week 2
Привет ещё раз from Riga! This is Abby and Jonathon, the Resident Directors for the Russian NSLI-Y program in Latvia. This week was jam-packed full of activities for the students, including a tour of Old Town Riga (also known as Старая Рига, or Vecrīca in Latvian), a visit to Cēcis Castle, and peer partner activities. Today we will hear from one of the students, Sophia, about her experiences here in Riga this week.
“Привет! I am Sophia, and I will be writing about our adventures in Latvia two weeks into the program. We started to get into the groove of life in Latvia and master the public transportation system,” Sophia writes. “In class we are quickly learning new cases—such as the accusative and genitive cases—numbers, nationalities, and much more! Outside of class we also practice Russian with our host families and peer partners. We had our second peer partner activity this week, which included drawing posters of things we found different in Riga and America.”
The students’ progress in their Russian skills is not only noticeable, but quite impressive. We are so proud of how much they have learned in their short time here!
Sophia continues, writing, “After school on Wednesday we had a walking tour of Old Riga, and got to see all of the beautiful art nouveau and medieval buildings of Riga.” The tour was a two-and-a-half hour tour all around the Old Town of Riga, where the students got to see the Latvian Parliament (or Saeima), the Three Brothers’ Houses, St. Peter’s Church, the House of the Black Heads, and so much more. The art nouveau architecture here is beautiful, and the tour was a hit with all of the students! And,—thankfully—despite some cloudy weather, the rain held off for the duration of the tour!
Next, Sophia takes us to a flea market known for its Soviet–era antiques. “On Thursday, a few of us visited the Latgale flea market, which is known for its plethora of Soviet era antiques. We had fun looking at the unique items as well as practicing our Russian with the vendors. We later went back to Latgale and also to Agenskalns market on Sunday—we may have caught the antiquing bug!” Sophia and the other students found a plethora of Soviet–era antiques for souvenirs that they were super excited about, and can’t wait to show their friends and family back home!
On Friday, after the peer partner activities, the NSLI-Y students were invited to play volleyball with the Georgia Tech students and coordinator. The majority of the students joined them, and had conversations in Russian for the entire duration of their time at the beach! We were very impressed with our students’ ability to keep up with the older students’ Russian — we were so proud of how their Russian language skills have progressed in only two weeks.
“On Saturday, we had an excursion to Cēsis castle, a medieval fortress with rich history spanning hundreds of years,” Sophia writes, taking us to Medieval Latvia. “It was tiring walking up and down narrow stone staircases, illuminated only by candlelight, but it was worth it to experience the history the castle had to offer.” On this excursion, the students learned about the history of the castle and of Latvia, including all of the invasions and battles that took place in Latvia. The students also got to explore the grounds, which included a garden, an Medieval Latvian oven where bread was being baked (and the students were even able to try the bread!), and the workshops that had been on the grounds of the castle 800 years ago. To conclude the tour to Cēsis, the students got to explore the small town that has developed around the castle.
Lastly, Sophia says, “This week was jam-packed with language study and adventures around the city! We are just beginning our journey in Latvia, and cannot wait to see what more the city has in store for us.” Although the students have more than half of their program ahead of them, the first two weeks have flown by! We are all looking forward to the rest of the summer, as the students continue to encounter a wide range of new experiences that challenge them to expand their Russian language skills, develop a deeper understanding of different cultures, and grow personally and in their skills.
The students and RDs on a tour of Old Town Riga!
The students on a tour of Cēsis Castle!
These are pictures from the tour of Cēsis Castle submitted by Sophia!
Students Ella, Helena, Xavier, and Cham climb a rock wall while on our excursion to Cēsis.
Students Xavier, Cham, Malia, and Helena with ACES staff Henry on the tour of Cēsis Castle.
NSLI-Y students play volleyball on the beach with other students studying Russian in Riga.