A day in the life...

Today's blog takes you step by step through... I was going to say "an average day" but on GOLD, there is no such thing!  But here's today anyway...

8.18am - wake up in the hostel, it's not quite time to get up yet so most of us are still dozing. I'm trying to work out whether it's raining outside for the first time this trip...

8.39am - alarm clocks have gone off and people are starting to move, after a couple of compulsory snoozes obviously! Oh and good news - it's not raining!! 

9.11am - we're all up, dressed and sorting bags/breakfast, whilst dancing to cheesy tunes! C'est la vie!

9.43am - an intense game of Finland versus Sweden broke out on the ice hockey table - Finland came out on top with a 3-0 victory. 

10.01am - breakfast has arrived!! Tuck in :-D

10.46am - we're off to see some sea scouts this evening, and we thought as we'd be by the sea, it would be worth a visit. Because of this, we did all our planning and resource buying yesterday (organised!). After much debate, and a look on Google maps, we decided we could leave around 3 and still have fun at the beach. We are in the Baltics after all. 

11am - Leaving later means we have plenty of time to do the boring chores like... sorting out washing! Whoop!

11.27am - the team have split into a wandering through the market team, a shopping for dinner team and a getting extra sleep team - we'll leave you to guess who's in which team!!

1.26pm - the sleeping team have finally woken up (I admit, I was team leader!) to find a couple of people cooking and everyone else doing journal-y stuff. It's good to have these relaxing times in amongst the planning, running sessions and doing stuff!

2pm - lunch time. Today we have a spread of ham, salami, cheese (variety), lettuce, rolls, bread, mayo, crisps, yoghurt, fruit and cakey biscuit things, with iced tea and squash to drink. 

3.02pm - we've just left the hostel, and heading to the train station... Some people are in swimming costumes ready for a quick dip, some of us are more sensible!

3.22pm - on the train. The best thing about Latvian trains is that we can sit in a little booth together, all six of us! The bad news is there's no room for our feet!!

3.47pm - we're in Lielupe! After a brief glance at the map, we head towards the sea down a leafy road - very pretty!

3.58pm - stop for bon bon.

4.08pm - BEACH!!!! 

5.08pm - one hour on the beach, including swimming in the Baltic Sea, paddling, posing for photos, drawing in the sand, and then wrapping up warm again!! Almost sea scout time...

6.21pm - we've found the school we're meant to be running the meeting in, but not the cubs. We're currently wandering around the school attempting to find them but instead we've found some random Latvian boys fighting with sticks in the woodwork classroom! Potential cub scouts! 

6.50pm - the cubs have prepared a track through the woods - we're following the tracks... Easier to do when they've pointed them in the right direction in the first place!! 

7.10pm - we've found the chocolate at the end of the trail and we're started on our international activities - one from Mexico (hello our cabana!) and one from Japan (hello scout jamboree!)!

7.30pm - we're heading back to the train station now, following Philips, a cub scout who was asked to show us the way!

8.53pm - we're back in the hostel, some of us in PJs, waiting for food to be ready! Toni (our unofficial group cook) has made chilli tonight :D Tonight the plan is to sort out photos, back them up, and have a discussion about tomorrow... we're meeting a couple of the board members to talk about programme ideas for the Guides and Scouts tomorrow evening! Exciting. 

That's all for now - we'll update again soon!

Riddles, hikes and counting in Latvian...

Yesterday saw us out hiking with the brownies and guides. We met at central station, jumped on a train, and travelled to Smãrde. Along the way, we were given some riddles to figure out. We've listed them at the bottom - if you can get all five, we'll send you a postcard! When we got off the train, we played a couple of get-to-know-you games, and then set off on our adventure.

After about 10 minutes, the brownies were already asking how far we'd walked, and how long was left! It's good to know it's not just British brownies and guides who are like that!! The walk gave us a great chance to find out more from the leaders about Latvian Scouts and Guides, their international experiences, and what they wanted to do in the future. It was also a brilliant chance for the brownies to attempt to teach us Latvian - we're not so good at the minute! Maybe we'll get to 20 by the end of the trip!

After a while, we ended up at a random 'castle', where the brownies, guides, leaders and GOLDies took part in traditional castle games, including archery, dominoes, hoopla, and skittles. After that, we cooked hot dogs on a bbq, as well as bananas and chocolates, before heading to a different train station at Milzkalne.

We had a fabulous day, and we learnt lots and the brownies certainly enjoyed the novelty of us being there!! Before we disappear for the night, don't forget the riddles...

Riddles:
1) two heads, six legs
2) you can see a pile but you can't see the thrower
3) landlord sings without a book
4) beautiful flower in the lake, in the day it blooms white in the morning and evening red
5) red man in a sauna, green beard outside

Comment your answers!!
GOLD Love,
Team Latvia!

The Great Egg Drop...

Today was our first day with Brownies and Guides, and, as it's a joint organisation, Cubs and Scouts! We travelled to Ogre, a city about 45 minutes from Riga, to meet up with Liga and her unit. We were met at the station by a lovely scout called Mareks, who showed us the way to the Scout and Guide Museum where they hold their meetings. After a short introduction from Liga, we got on with our activities... 

Starting with some name games in the two ages groups...

Then joining together for getting into alphabetical order, in limited space!

Then into smaller teams. Each team was given an egg...

To decorate and name, and cherish forever...

Then we had small activities, including moving a ball from one tree to another, down paper tubes...

And standing on a very small bit of paper singing a song...

To earn resources to create something to protect their egg...

As the egg was dropped from the window...

They all survived!

At the end of the meeting, we did an evaluation - pretty successful! And then went into Ogre with Liga, Davis (one of the Rovers), Anate (one of the older guides who is hoping to make her Ranger promise this weekend), and two of the younger scouts. We had some fabulous Latvian food (chicken and pork, and mushroom sauce, or cheese...), and then headed back to the station, with the two younger Scouts leading the way (and occasionally shouting "come on, only 9 minutes!"). We made it back to Riga, and Lizzie, Toni, Alice and Laura headed out to get ice cream, whilst Net and Sarah collapsed in the hostel!

We're off for a hike tomorrow, with a Guide unit, and potentially some Brownies, as they are hoping to start up a new Brownie unit there -it'll be great to talk tactics with the leaders whilst we're walking!

Early night tonight though!
GOLD love,
Team Latvia

5 things we've learnt in Latvia

We've been in Latvia for over 24 hours now, and we've learnt some important things already!

1. Groceries are cheap here in Latvia!
We bought a LOT of food, and it came to a surprisingly cheap amount of €27!

2. St Peter's church was rebuilt after the second world war to include a baroque style tower.
We have been cultured, you see! We had a small wander through Old Town, Riga and saw a few of the buildings. We're going on a walking tour tomorrow to visit more places :-)

3. Riga has lots of Japanese restaurants!
We're not sure why either!

4. Latvian scouts and guides run meetings all over the world!
During the second world war when Latvians got displaced to Germany, they carried on running Latvian Scout meetings in the displaced person camps. Then when the war ended and they moved to USA, Canada and various other locations, they carried on still and now they meet up every four years. At the latest meet up, 30 Scouts and Guides from Latvia made it to New York, which in an organisation of only 500 is quite impressive!!

5. You spend more time waiting at traffic lights than you'd think!
Latvia has pedestrian crossings that count down how many seconds you have left until you can cross. We have spent approximately 8 minutes 20 seconds waiting at traffic lights today!

So there you go! Also, important things to note that didn't quite make the cut of the top 5 are that you can cook pasta in a microwave and that greeny bananas can taste yellowy!

More tomorrow!
GOLD love,
Team Latvia x

The adventure begins...

Today, we woke up raring to go! The taxi arrived at 8am, with a really helpful driver. After much debate, the bags were loaded, along with Net and Sarah, and the rest of the team walked to the station! After a short train journey, we arrived at Gatwick, checked our bags in, and after minor watch related disaster, we found breakfast and eventually our plane! The flight was uneventful, and we slept and read. At the other end, we were met by Liene, who got us on a bus and took us to our hostel. Then we decided to have a wander around Riga - we'd been walking for about two minutes before Martins, one of the Latvian board, caught up with us!

At 6pm, we met Liga, Martins and Eduards for a meeting about our project. It was really interesting to get to know more details of what we'll be getting up to and also to find out more about the background of the organisation, and to be able to see how the work that GOLD is doing is impacting the association. The 3 Latvians, particularly Liga, were really enthusiastic about Guiding and Scouting and were really passionate about growing the movement in Latvia!

After our meeting, we had a fabulous meal out, and wandered back to our hostel. We're now curled up on a sofa in the hostel discussing all that we've found out and the differences between LSGCO and Girlguding in the UK. It'll be bed time soon!!

Tomorrow will be a chilled day, planning, exploring and buying new watches, and generally getting ready for the adventure ahead!

More updates soon...

GOLD love,
Team Latvia x

Tomorrow we fly!

The first night of our GOLD project finds us at Radcliffe guide centre in East Croydon (a lovely guide hut if anyone is wanting to stay in the area - lots of toilets!)! 5 of us are here, waiting for Lizzie to arrive. We have been entertaining ourselves with the indoor croquet kit, frisbee, and general balls and games. We've also had a look through the fabulous old guide annuals and log books (one guide company in 1983 were disgusted at having to eat off dog bowls... We're just as confused as you!)

We're all ready and raring to get going, and excited with our team uniform! Keep posted for more excitement over the next couple of days!

GOLD love,
Team Latvia 2014

4 weeks to go!

Today is exactly four weeks before we fly to Latvia! We're having a teleconference as I type this blog, and we're all very excited (with a few nerves mixed in) about the trip! 

We are steadily getting there with planning and session plans - ideas, resources and games are being thrown backwards and forwards via phone calls, facebook, e-mail, dropbox, text, carrier pigeon, and semaphore. Medical forms are being filled in, and emergency contacts decided. Alice has finally had her EHIC card sent to her, and we've all (I hope) got our passports at the ready. 

As usual with Team Latvia 2014, we're not getting any less busy - Toni is working every day up until we fly, Lizzie is planning her next international trip for next year as well as Latvia, Laura has night shifts coming up soon, Net has 3 different guiding events slotted in between her 6 day working weeks, and we've all been talking too much for Sarah and Alice to get a word in edgeways, but I'm sure they're pretty jam-packed too! I'm amazed we're finding time to fit everything in, but you know what they always say - if you want something done, ask someone busy! 

More updates soon!

GOLD Love,

Team Latvia 2014