All that Glitters is not gold.

Our final greetings from Latvia. 


Our last day has been, like every day, lovely.  


We began this morning at the exceptional Small Guild (http://www.gilde.lv/maza/ANGLiela.html) Which was a privilege to be invited into.  Our host, Vajerie, managed to get us access to the building for our round up meeting this morning.  We were in good company too, following in the footsteps of Prince Charles, President Bush and even Queen Elizabeth! 

The building is extraordinary, the work of crasftmen through the ages.  34 different guilds represented in the wood work of the roof makes for a rich and grand visual environment.  The wallpaper was pressed cork, made into intricate designs. 


We impressed upon Vajerie our impressions of a country steeped in tradition and proud of their origins. Patriotism permeates the very woodwork of the buildings and the souls of their inhabitants.  How do we bottle that and take it back?  Shall we start with teaching our students to have pride in themselves before they have pride in their country? A challenge indeed. 

We explored the Grand Hall where they have balls and concerts and memories of Maria standing watching the grandeur of the Ball in the Sound of Music resounded.  The floor to celling glass windows were exceptional and cast coulourful lights upon the floor.  












We gave our gifts to Vajerie which was very emotional.  She has been a suburb hosts and we genuinely feel that we have made a friend for life.  She was so grateful for our gift and we were humbled by her expressions of thanks for us coming.  She is truly an amazing soul and we are so glad to have met her. 

Finally, Vajerie led us to the traditional Latvian Markets and we were then given free time to explore the amazing city.  We all had individual experiences of the evening, let loose to pursue our passions for art, museums, history or just plain shopping.  

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to the friends that we have made here. Our chatter is very much focused on ways that we might keep this experience going for future generations of teachers, given the recent cut backs in funding for trips such as ours.  A week to truly reflect on our own practice and the practice of other exceptional teachers in invaluable and should the opportunity arise we would strongly encourage you to support any such initiative in our area. 


With sincere Love, from Latvia.