Second impressions

The sky in Riga seems different than in Boston - higher and lighter, more wistful, and the noontime light is not heavy and blinding. The afternoon light is more golden, and the clouds are more wispy and timeless! And it feels like the sky in Moscow, so perhaps it is real and a matter of geography, not just of my fantasizing. But the fourth-floor apartment I am staying in is full of light and overlooks tall elegant birches, and Riga seems roomy with such a tall beautiful sky.

In general, today I am feeling completely content with being in Riga, acclimated. Probably this is only the second phase of culture shock, and I am yet to shift several times before really feeling stably at home. In Moscow, last summer, it took a month to start feeling comfortable, and then two more months to fall in love with it. But that is Moscow! The main aspect that stabilized last summer and because of which I started to feel comfortable, easy was that my sense of self changed. It is different in Russia and in the US, and I can feel it changing now, shifting towards how I feel in Russia, not least because I am again living with an elderly gentleman and feeling like a dutiful granddaughter and young lady.

Yesterday was the start of my research work in Latvia: I had a short meeting with the director of the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) research and training center at the Latvian State Agency of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases and her assistant. It was in Russian and went very well, comfortably and seriously. I felt that they took me and my project seriously, because they were not rushed and asked difficult questions. But again more later - I am getting kicked out of my morroccan tea house for staying too long! Til next time.