NSLI-Y 2023 Latvia – Week 6
And so, dear readers, the time has finally arrived. Six weeks have come and gone here in Riga, Latvia, and now our NSLI-Y group must say goodbye to the city we have called home this summer and to the many friends we have made. Without question, each of us will return home with so much: not only souvenirs for friends and loved ones, but also experiences, growth, priceless memories, stories of adventure, and skill sets that we didn’t possess back in June. We have conquered a foreign transportation system! We have braved the indecisive and punishing elements swept in from the Baltic Sea! We have haggled and bartered our way through exotic flea markets! And, of course, the once indecipherable Cyrillic alphabet is now quite easily understood, as our students have all made great strides in taming the Russian language. We are so very proud of our students! They have impressed us with their hard work, perseverance, intelligence and kindness, and they will soon return home proudly bearing the fruits of their labors. Well done!
Congratulations to this group of wonderful students! Here they are on the final day of classes, standing in front of the school with their teachers, Ludmila and Ekaterina.
This final week of the program began with Culminating Project presentations. Each student over the course of the past several weeks has conducted interviews in Russian with local Latvians on topics of their choice. These research projects culminated in presentations—entirely in Russian—of the information students had gathered, each followed by a Q&A session. The presentations were a resounding success!
Meera presents on Literature and Latvia.
Caleb presents on pop culture in Latvia.
Destiney presents on Latvian stereotypes about America.
Sam presents on education in Latvia.
Once all presentations were over, and Friday came, it was time for students to wrap up their Russian language classes. After taking their last exams, students prepared to perform at our farewell gathering on Saturday, and then enjoyed a game of Russian language charades. It was a bittersweet final day of classes.
Kaitlyn explains her strategy for achieving victory to Meera and Sam.
Caleb, Jonathan, Fletcher and Izzie listen to the game plan to counter their opponents.
Kira, Madison and Rose hatch their plan.
Eva, Meera, Kim, Kaitlyn, Nyrah, Sam and Destiney attempt to spell out a Russian word using their bodies, to the laughter of all.
For their final meeting with peer partners, students enjoyed a momentary break in the rainy weather and played a game outside. After this, it was time for our film festival! The week before, students had scripted and recorded short films entirely in Russian. After some editing tweaks over the course of the week, it was finally time to view the results. There was much laughter and applause throughout the film screenings. Students finished the session with interviews by the Russian language partners in preparation for the Oral Proficiency Interview. This interview, which will be conducted after students’ return to the United States, will officially gauge their Russian language proficiency.
Students playing a warm-up language game. They were grouped into two teams and played ‘Knights, Dragons and Damsels in Distress.
Here we can see actors Kaitlyn and Fletcher performing in their film about our group’s mishaps in Frankfurt at the beginning of the summer.
The short films presented at the film festival were greatly enjoyed by all. Perhaps a future in film awaits some of our students…
Another popular short was made by Sam and Nyrah’s group. The film was a reimagining of Barbie.
And here is our final photo of students with their peer partners. One of the peer partners brought an American flag with them, so we could not pass up the photo opportunity!
Now, with classes and work behind us, Saturday was an opportunity to relax and have some fun together as a group. Our excursion took us to Lāči, a factory for baked goods that is very popular in Latvia. There, we took a master class in baking, where we dressed as chefs, rolled our own dough, and tried the various baked goods that Lāči has to offer. After our class, we had free time to explore and play on the beautiful, lush grounds of the factory complex. Our lovely day ended with skits, songs, and poetry recitation, all, of course, in Russian. We really lucked out and had beautiful weather. Take a look for yourselves!
We began the tour with an informational presentation by one of the staff members of the bakery. We learned about its history and watched a short video.
Here, students don aprons and chef hats. Izzie, Sam, Fletcher, and Jonathan sure look the part!
This is what one of their ovens looks like. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the oven extends another 20 feet or so!
All good chefs must first wash their hands!
As requested, here is a shot of chef Peter with apprentices Nyrah, Eva, Destiney and Meera.
We began with a simple item: a small nut cream pastry.
We then moved on to more advanced pastries. Students were allowed to mold their dough into whichever shape they desired.
Chef Tatyana with apprentices Nyrah, Destiney, and Eva.
A final look at all the students’ masterpieces. Now time to bake them!
After baking, students had time to hang out on the grounds outside of the bakery. No matter the age, swing sets are always a hit, as you can see with Rose, Kaitlyn, Izzie, and Madison.
It certainly was a beautiful day! Fletcher and Kaitlyn couldn’t help but get a workout in.
As we said, age doesn’t matter when it comes to enjoying a swing. Here’s Dr. Chilstrom enjoying one herself.
Then it was time for some final words and the students’ performances. They acted, sang, and recited their poems, all in Russian!
Fletcher played the role of a turnip while Kaitlyn, Destiney, Rose, Meera and Nyrah did their best to harvest him.
Our teacher Ekaterina’s group performed a song entitled ‘Our Summer’. Kira, Jonathan, Fletcher, Sam, Caleb, Madison, Izzie, and Kim all sang beautifully.
When the performances were finished, gifts were handed out. Each student was given a piece of amber, as well as a photograph of the group with a Russian proverb written on the back. According to local superstition, if a piece of amber is carried in your wallet, it will bring you great wealth!
Soon, it was time to leave. Jonathan, Sam, and Caleb couldn’t help but crowd together one last time on the playground nearby.
Time to head home and get ready to pack. Our flight back to the United States is soon!
What an amazing summer with this group. Lasting memories were certainly made, and we hope everyone stays in touch.
До свидания!