What's a Latvian????

I'm sure some of you who don't know me all that well and have read my About Me have wondered what the heck a Latvian-American is. I'm am a Latvian by blood, an American by birth.

Latvia is a small country about the size of West Virginia in the Northeast part of Europe. Up until August 1991 when the Iron Curtain fell it was a part of the Soviet Union. Before WW II it was a sovereign nation. All 4 of my grandparents fled Russian Communism and moved to Germany where they lived in Displaced Persons (aka DP) Camps until they could be sponsored by families or organizations throughout the world to live where they could be free. They had to flee because they were all educated, upper-middle class families. Most of these families were captured and sent to Concentration Camps in Siberia where they were either worked to death or outrightly killed. My paternal grandfather's parents were victims of this.

Both my mother and father were born in these DP camps in the late 40's and moved to the US in 1951 & 1952. So my parents are German born Latvians. My mom's family landed in Iowa and my dad's family landed in West Virginia. Their families after paying back their debts to be sponsored then moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.

Growing up, I hated being Latvian because Latvia was under Russian control and so everyone assumed if they had heard of Latvia that I was Russian. I have nothing against Russians - just the Communists but nonetheless it still infuriated me.

I grew up going to Latvian school on Saturday mornings - another aspect of my life that as a child I hated because all my friends would be allowed to stay home and watch cartoons! But now I look back and am so thankful that I was forced to go. I grew up very active in the Latvian community in Indianapolis. Since marrying my husband and becoming an AF wife, I've been out of the loop and it has really saddened me.

Can I speak Latvian? Can I read Latvian? And can I write Latvian? The answer to all of these is yes. Not as well as I used to but teaching our 3 year old the language since he was born has helped. And Lane is learning and has been learning for the past 11 years how to speak, read and write the language. I can uphold a decent conversation with him, but he still has work to do. Latvians even have camps in the US! The one that my parents have a 5th wheel permanently at is in Michigan. They have fabulous summer camp programs for Latvian kids and Eriks will attend one week of day camp there this summer.

Latvia's capital of Riga was recently named as Eastern Europe's version of New York. Many British & American companies are setting up shop in this thriving metropolis. So what is Latvia known for?? Beer & Chocolates to name a few. The best beer that I have ever tasted was in Latvia and I've been all over Europe and have consumed my fair share of beer. In 2001 I made a trip to Latvia with my parents & my sister and nothing is better than a fresh off the tap Aldaris beer. Although I must admit that the bottled variety isn't bad either. And thankfully there are a few places here in the US you can buy it. Also, Latvia has a brand of chocolates called Laima. Just like Hershey's is the chocolate king here in the US, Latvia has Laima - but I personally think Laima is better!

And Latvia has beautiful national folk costumes. I have 1 right now and plan on buying another soon. And they are not cheap either. When my mom bought the one I currently own she paid about $600 for it nearly 15 years ago. I received it as a high school graduation gift. Two of the ones posted below easily retail now for $1500 or more. Why do they cost so much? The fabric is usually handwoven and the folk costumes have so many intricate details that cannot be sewn by a machine but need to be done by hand. I know the headpieces for both the Barta's & Nica's folk costumes can cost $750 or more because they are painstakingly made by hand.

Barta's folk costume:


Nica's folk costume:


And the one I currently own, Alsunga:


I hope you've enjoyed a little bit of a history lesson today. And the next time you see me you can say, "Sveiki" which means hello!