NSLI-Y 2025 Latvia – Week 4
Всем Привет! Как дела? Hello we are Xavier and Silvano will be writing this week’s blog! We are so excited to share our experiences with you all!
In class this week we greatly leveled up our Russian skills with our amazing teachers Людмила and Ирина. We learned house vocabulary and furniture. We also dabbled in the Instrumental case which has nothing to do with musical instruments. Later we learned about food vocabulary and adjectives. Adjectives were probably one of the hardest subjects we have learned so far as there are many rules and different endings. But as always as a cohort we studied hard to understand and got over this hurdle with many people scoring over 85% on the adjective mini quiz! It is really amazing seeing our progress. Now many of us can have simple conversations in Russian with our host families! Hard work does indeed pay off.
This week was our busiest week yet. On Monday we had a fun RD meeting. On Tuesday we had an interesting class where we made our own Матрёшка (Russian nesting dolls). Some of our cohort members are very creative! On Wednesday we went to the KGB museum in Latvia. Then on Thursday we went to see the wonderful and beautiful Saeima, the Latvian Parliament building. Friday was a blast with our peer partners as always. Saturday we went undercover in a secret Soviet bunker.
To begin, on Monday, Dr. Dreeze lectured us more on Latvian history which was really enriching. We learned how the Soviets lost power to the Germans then regained it again. Also an interesting fact that surprised us was the fact that the USSR wanted to promote nationalism in the LSSR ( Latvian socialist republic) like promoting Latvian language and also promoting typical traditions but obviously only to an extent as they didn’t want independence movements to rise.
But Tuesday was also really fun as we made матрёшки in all sorts of patterns, from the traditional style to Russian historical figures. We really saw how creative we all are. Although we do not paint like professionals, it was a really enriching experience and everyone made an amazing effort and created beautiful pieces. Furthermore, while at this meeting, we learned about the culture and history behind these toys. We learned about how they are really from Japan and how they came to Russia pretty recently (only in the nineteenth century).
Later on, on Wednesday we had a very intense excursion to the KGB Museum (The KGB was the secret police and intelligence agency for the Soviets at this time). While at this Museum we learned about the tragic cruelties of the KGB. Learning about their violent and manipulative interrogation methods as our guide “demonstrated” how they would shove metal nails under prisoners’ fingernails or how they would make prisoners sign documents saying that they were German spies just to arrest them. We also got a taste of what it was like when viewing a very tiny jail cell. Overall, it was a very informative tour and we learned the cruelties of the Soviet Union and what the Latvian population had to endure during Soviet occupation.
After that, on Thursday, we had an interesting visit to the Saeima (the Latvian Parliament) where we toured the lovely building and even got to see the Legislative chamber and look at the gifts that other nations have given to Latvia. Inside there was some beautifully detailed architecture with some amazing colors with these being designed by Jānis Baumanis. Fun fact he was also the first foreign educated Latvian architect.
On Saturday we did a tour of Soviet Latvia and learned about the secret Soviet symbols and places. We also discussed the deportations of Latvian citizens to the eastern regions of the Soviet Union. After that, we drove deep into the countryside, where we got to see scenic clay cliffs by Gauja National Park. The cliffs were dotted with tunnels which people used for everything from hospitals to refrigerators to morgues. While by the cliffs, we enjoyed some traditional Latvian food. After that, we drove to a Soviet bunker which was hidden under a recreational center. The bunker was built for the leaders of Soviet Latvia and was intended to hold them for three months in case of a nuclear war. Thankfully, the bunker was never used for its intended purpose and was only used for a simulation in 1984. While at the bunker, we got to look at all of the technology there and we even got to try on original gas masks from the time period.
Many students also did things outside of class, from heading to the Radisson Hotel to look at the skyline of Riga, to heading to Jūrmala with their host families. Some students have even explored the forests of Latvia, which takes up a large portion of country. Amayah, Michael, Daxton and Veronica even did some archery! Pertaining to Russian, many students go to cafés after school with friends and do homework and study. This week I cooked борщ with my host family. Casey has been watching TV shows in Russian with her host sister. Sophia has even been communicating with her host grandma who only speaks Russian. Additionally, many students have been enjoying Riga’s vibrant flea market scene which sells everything from Soviet pins to photos to fresh produce and even foods from around the former Soviet Union like Georgian and Uzbek foods.
Until next week!
До следующего раза!
A Latvian tour guide gives the NSLI-Y students a tour of “Soviet Riga”
Amayah, Silvano, Astrid, Xavier, Marc, and Michael exploring the trails and caves of Ligatne.
Cham and Malia pose for a photo in an old Soviet bunker in Ligatne, Latvia with original gas masks from the time period.
Cham, Xavier, and Casey exploring a cave in Ligatne.
A photo taken by one of the students of a cave in Ligatne!
Amayah reads a pamphlet in the secret Soviet bunker that was built in the 1980s
Sophia and Xavier pose with a bust of Lenin in the secret Soviet bunker in Ligatne.
Group photo of students and RDs in the conference room of the Soviet bunker in Ligatne, with the gold bust of Lenin.
Ella pets a cat on a walk around Ligatne after lunch.
Xavier pets a cat on a walk around Ligatne after lunch.
Astrid, Helena, and Xavier pose for a photo during a tour of the Saeima, the Latvian parliament!