Aug 15
AleksUncategorized
TALLINN – Thank God the pride parade in Estonia went peacefully last weekend.
I wrote this in Tallinn to a friend, but I think I’ll share it with all now that all Latvians have six toes.
I’m sitting in what could definitely be described as a bomb shelter. It’s an Internet cafe inside the Viru shopping center, in the basement inside the bus station, which occupies most of the basement. It’s always dark outside here.
There is a surprising lack of pretty girls in the capital of Estonia, at least, by Latvian standards. Maybe they all left to work in bordellos of Finland, bearing bastard-children. Or maybe a gay pride parade is not a kind of place one expects to see pretty girls. I don’t know. With just six hours spent in the capital, I really didn’t have time to look closer.
Last time I was here was when the country stood on the ruins of the Soviet Union and it still felt like we were together in the same post-Soviet crapper in some way. Now, it feels like a completely foreign country. In a word: civilization.
The country is filled with another language I don’t understand and has the money I’m not used to. 1 US dollar is worth about 12 kroner, so all prices seemed astronomical. This hour on the Internet, for example, costs 25.-.
But really, Tallinn has grown and improved greatly following my last visit in 1994. The only thing I remember from that visit was the Viru Hotel in the center and lots of small shops. Now, the Hotel transformed into a shopping center. And small shops were replaced by larger stores, including a McDonalds on Viru.
I had no problems speaking English. Unless it’s the older people I talked to.
One older woman who befriended me as we walked along the gay pride processional called Latvians “brothers”, complained about local Russians and Russia as a whole. I tried to speak English, at first. She didn’t understand. So we switched to Russian. She came to the parade out of curiosity to see whether any of her friends, relatives, strangers that she knows, are gays. And sure enough, she saw a woman who works in the health ministry marching in the parade.
“She always dressed in shirts and slacks,” the woman told me.
The other old guy who was watching “his friends” march asked me if I was living alone. I think it was a subtle hit on me.
“With wife and children,” I told him. “Many, many children.”
Well, if anything good came out of the parade, it’s fresh gossip information for the old lady, parades for those for and against sexual minorities. But it did seem like there were more people watching than participating. Like in Riga, the first time several years ago.
Aug 10
AleksUncategorized
RIGA – An excellent information service is advertised in every phone booth of a Latvian phone giant Latelekom. The information service is supposed to answer any question you may have. You can dial 1188 on your phone and for 0.25 lats a pleasant voice will answer any questions you can come up with.
Don’t know the shortest route to an Internet cafe? They will.
Argue with your friend about the age of Latvia’s new president? They will help you.
Now the service is expanding. A service in Latvia will be able to answer questions about our other two Baltic neighbors. Lithuania and Estonia. In ads, it’s impossible to avoid stereotypes when talking about our neighbors. For Lithuania, a creative advertising agent invented a basketball, featured under the words “You want to know what knows a Lithuanian?”
Estonia’s case is a bit different. Sorry Justin.
Under the words, “You want to know what knows an Estonian?’, there’s a picture of snail, clearly imply the slow nature of Estonians in general. In the Latvian language, the word “igaunis” or Estonian, can also describe someone who’s slow.
Tomorrow, I’m leaving on a slow bus for Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, to speak to some slow folks over there and to watch what will happen with the gay pride parade this year.
Have a great weekend.
Aug 07
AleksUncategorized
LEMBERGSVILLE – I arrived just in time for the city’s 717th birthday. In the post-Soviet years, the city celebrated it by hosting city days. National flags adorned buildings. Many visitors were visiting the town, which is probably why there was no place to sit on the bus here.
This year, the mayor of the city Aivars Lembergs, who is under house arrest during an investigation into bribery, and abuse of public office, received the Citizen of the Year award, the highest prize the City can bestow upon its citizen. Lembergs’ attorneys and Lembergs himself asked a permission to have his his daily walk at the time of the festival. A headline in one publication said, “Lembergs Asked to Walk and to Address the Public.”
His request was denied and he had to pen a letter to the citizens, instead. The letter is very much resembled Vladimir Lenin’s letters from his Siberian or Western exile at the dawn of the last century, where the great leader speaks of his struggle for the people, his own martyrdom for the good of the people. Ironically, the letter was signed “Ventspils City mayor Aivars Lembergs, political prisoner,” which caused just a rocket of laughter from a single man in the crowd. The rest of the present public applauded and cheered.
And there’s a lot to cheer about. Lembergs has been the city mayor for the last 19 years. He began his tenure as the city’s head honcho in the dying days of the Soviet Union and developed this town into probably the wealthiest provincial town in Latvia. Wherever you look, you see the Lembergs’ hand. Out of some 50 tourist attractions in the Ventspils travel guide, perhaps, more than 75 percent have been either reconstructed or built from scratch with the help of the mayor. In 1997, for example, the city opened Ventspils University, a completely independent educational facility. A 2.8 meter-tall fountain “Ship Watcher” was constructed in 2002 from slub brought in from Sweden. Lembersville is still decorated with seven cows, which originally were created during an international art project Ventspils Cow Parade 2002. Ventspils Library has received a total overhaul in 2004-2005 and has been recognized as the best constructed building in Latvia in 2004. A bus terminal has been updated and modernized in 2001. And the list goes on.
It’s a neat place, streets laden with stones, beautiful churches, small buildings in the Old Town. Lembergsville, pop. 44,000, has cleaned up its face thanks in large to the contributions of its mayor and the money it receives from pumping the Russian oil from Russia to the rest of Europe.
In the end, the figure of Lembergs in people’s eyes resembles that of last pre-war president Karlis Ulmanis, who suspended the democracy in this country in 1934. Ulmanis served as a benevolent dictator and he is still loved by many older people of that era, especially among those who had to leave Latvia for Western countries following World War II. Much like Ulmanis, who could do no wrong in their eyes, some folks in Latvia focus on Lembergs’ contributions to the town’s development.
Aug 06
AleksUncategorized
LEMBERGSVILLE – Usually any horror story of traveling in a foreign country involves traveling by bus in some shape or form. Mine happened in my old country.
I wanted to spend a weekend in Ventspils, Lembergsville, to learn about the glorious city that arose from ashes of the Soviet Empire to become a wonderful mini-town in Western Latvia. I wanted to see the glory left behind by the mayor, who had worked hard for the last 19 years he’s been entrusted his job.
Well, more on that later.
Unfortunately, Lembergsville is not connected by a direct functioning railroad route from the capital city, Riga. To get here, one has to board a bus from the main bus station. And although buses leave almost every hour, they’re often full. They were especially full on Friday afternoon, which for some reason I decided to make that point in the week to travel to Lembergsville.
Somewhat foolishly I made several assumptions about the bus system in Latvia. First of all, I presumed offices sold no more tickets than there are places. Second of all, I suspected seats will be available on the first come, first served basis.
I was wrong on both counts.
As long as I can remember the bus stop (pictured above) along with the abutting open air market have been the trashy parts of the town center in Riga. Dirty people who might pick-pocket you at any moment roaming the dirty streets of the bus station which lays on the paved bank of the dirty city canal. That was the bus station that I remembered and it really hasn’t changed much. The bus station now only offer more destinations to exotic places, like London, for example. People still roam around; there are still not enough places to sit. It’s still dirty.
It takes about three hours by bus to travel 190 km from Riga to Ventspils. About two and a half hours, myself, a Portuguese poet, and a couple of Russians spent alert, on our feet, hoping our destination to arrive soon. Passengers were placed inside the bus like sardines. Because of the heat, and lack of air conditioning, most men began to sweat, and women to glisten. Allowing air flow through two ceiling openings didn’t do much good. Only when the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the temperature subsided, the bus became less of a sweat fest.
At one of the stops, an old Russian woman whom I suspected to be out of her mind, was offering a young Latvian girl to sprinkle her with some liquid she had in her bottle.
“You don’t need to be afraid,” the woman said. “It’s good. You will feel refreshed.”
The girl, obviously, reluctantly agreed. After the procedure, the girl exclaimed in a voice that reflected both amusement and fear, “Super.”
I may sound like an ugly American, who’s used to comfort and excellent customer service. It’s not true. These experiences are what makes coming home somewhat special. Rude, smile-less people, awful, in some places, customer service, standing on a three-hour bus ride ridden with sweat — all those are my experiences of my country.
Aug 02
AleksUncategorized
RIGA – To maintain the law and order, our political leaders and their minions will not stop at anything. This is probably why Latvian PM Aigars Kalvitis decided today to create a pornography evaluation commission. The commission will evaluate film, picture, video and computer production for its legality. The commission will publish its opinions whether materials contain child pornography or violate the new anti-pornography law, adopted last March.
According to a press release from the Interior Ministry, the commission will consist of representatives of several ministries and experts. The Ministry of Culture representatives will be on hand to answer a question whether one’s work is art or that other thing.
Aug 01
AleksUncategorized
RIGA – Those who follow Latvian politics closely no doubt are familiar with the name of Aivars Lembergs.
The surprisingly popular and allegedly corrupt mayor of the sea port of Ventspils serves a poster child for post-Soviet Latvia’s attitude toward politicians. He could be described as a benevolent businessman and politician, who while gains power and wealth by corrupt means tries to return the favor to the community.
Ventspils, which I endearingly call Lembergsville, has become the wealthiest city in Latvia under his rule. Lembergsville’s port facilities, used for exporting Russian oil contributed to the city’s wealth.
Lembergs is among the wealthiest people in Latvia. The true extent of his wealth is unknown to public. Local media estimate his wealth anywhere between 85 million to 230 million euro. Before his arrest, Lembergs maintained a strong influence in Latvian politics. He was a candidate for the post of Prime Minister from one of the parties, even though he didn’t run on any ballot.
In March, Lembergs was detained on money laundry, abuse of public office, and bribery charges. After spending several months in jail, so not to impede the investigation, a local judge moved him under a house arrest in his apartment in a multi-apartment building in Lembergsville. Loud cheers of a gathered crowd greeted the decision.
Lembergs is popular, you see, in spite of his corruption. One taxi driver summed up pretty well what most of the public feels about Lembergs. “Yes, he steals, everyone steals, but he helps a lot, too.”
To majority Latvians, it seems, what distinguishes him from the ruling clique in the likes of the PM Aivars Kalvitis and transportation minister Ainars Slesers is that Lembergs gives back a portion of his wealth. It’s no wonder Lembergs became the subject of a series of cynical posters with slogans like “Lembergs is not a Thief!”, “Lembergs cares for Our Children!”
Lembergs has also received more than 1,000 votes from the town’s residents to be nominated for the Big Prize, the equivalent of the Citizen of the Year award during the city’s 717th anniversary celebration. Apparently, he’s been nominated for the award every year for the last several years, but he declined each time. This year, because of the house arrest, Lembergs couldn’t decline the offer. And undoubtedly he will be awarded the prize Friday night.
The City Council members petitioned the prosecuting attorney’s office to allow Lembergs to attend the festivities and to receive this award. The office denied the request and the council members are now turning to the courts for an answer. Lembergs himself asked for his daily walk to be scheduled at the same time as the Friday night’s event. He also asked to speak to the public during that time.
Even the petition was written in a very Lemberg-esque way: “On my walk and being on the Center Square, of course, I won’t hamper the investigation in any way, and won’t affect witnesses and their testimonies.”
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