Latvia 3 - Jāņi
As I have been so busy with the new school year and everything associated with it, I have had little time to update the information about my summer. I have been wanting to write about and share pictures surrounding Jani.
For those of you who do not know what Jani is, it is the Latvian version of the summer solstice. Latvians plan for Jani celebrations early on, and work very hard to make their homes welcoming and ready for the celebration in which, as always with Latvians, has a lot of good food, singing, and dancing. This time though the party goes throughout the night until the sun rises the next morning - a short wait after the sunset as it is the shortest night of the year. For me it is always the beginning of the countdown towards the end of the summer as the days get shorter...
This year I had arranged with Todd that although he would only see the kids for a few days upon return, that I would have them with me for Jani, and the few days before, so that we could go out to my Mother's old home that my sister and her family have taken on the responsibility for renovating and improving. My sister had decided to organize a special Jani this year that would not only recognize the first time that we celebrated Jani,but would would also be the first time that my mother would celebrate her birthday and names day in the home where she was born since the time she had left Latvia.
Before leaving I went to the Midsummer market in the dome square and bought a great loaf of rye bread, and some Jani type items to bring with us.
The boys and I traveled to Korva on the 20th (right before the town of Aluksne), with lots of food and the goal of helping my sister and her husband set things up and finish the final tasks necessary. The name of the house is Pamati.
We spent a wonderful time putting up fence posts, carrying wood, cleaning things, and in general just getting the sense of the home and the land that my family had farmed for generations. The kids had a terrific time building their own little forts, making up games and helping when asked to. The land is so very beautiful.
We also visited the neighbors who are cousins, and celebrated a names day there. While there the kids had the chance to see the wild pigs that they breed for dog training competitions:
They got to go fishing together with the dogs and with one of the tame wild boars tagging along to watch...
They got to milk a goat:
And just have fun.
The time preparing for Jani turned out to be extremely wet and not very enjoyable. I wove the oak garlands for decorations under the sun umbrella. I went into the fields to gather flowers and found myself soaked from my feet to waist! I had to go back again later to get more flowers. I took off my shoes and ended up walking in flip flops for the remainder of the evening. During the afternoon my mother and her friend Ivars arrived the day of, and brought along two family friends visiting from the Carribbean. Then Aija and her husband and a few friends arrived. Later the relatives from next door came driving up in their horse and cart. It was a small group, but really a nice group to celebrate the first Jani at Pamati. I didn't make it through the night, and Namejs and I went to sleep around the same time. We were still feeling that we were 2 hours ahead of everyone else. Later Didzis joined us when his cousins went to sleep.
Here are some general pictures of the day.
For those of you who do not know what Jani is, it is the Latvian version of the summer solstice. Latvians plan for Jani celebrations early on, and work very hard to make their homes welcoming and ready for the celebration in which, as always with Latvians, has a lot of good food, singing, and dancing. This time though the party goes throughout the night until the sun rises the next morning - a short wait after the sunset as it is the shortest night of the year. For me it is always the beginning of the countdown towards the end of the summer as the days get shorter...
This year I had arranged with Todd that although he would only see the kids for a few days upon return, that I would have them with me for Jani, and the few days before, so that we could go out to my Mother's old home that my sister and her family have taken on the responsibility for renovating and improving. My sister had decided to organize a special Jani this year that would not only recognize the first time that we celebrated Jani,but would would also be the first time that my mother would celebrate her birthday and names day in the home where she was born since the time she had left Latvia.
Before leaving I went to the Midsummer market in the dome square and bought a great loaf of rye bread, and some Jani type items to bring with us.
The boys and I traveled to Korva on the 20th (right before the town of Aluksne), with lots of food and the goal of helping my sister and her husband set things up and finish the final tasks necessary. The name of the house is Pamati.
We spent a wonderful time putting up fence posts, carrying wood, cleaning things, and in general just getting the sense of the home and the land that my family had farmed for generations. The kids had a terrific time building their own little forts, making up games and helping when asked to. The land is so very beautiful.
We also visited the neighbors who are cousins, and celebrated a names day there. While there the kids had the chance to see the wild pigs that they breed for dog training competitions:
They got to go fishing together with the dogs and with one of the tame wild boars tagging along to watch...
They got to milk a goat:
And just have fun.
The time preparing for Jani turned out to be extremely wet and not very enjoyable. I wove the oak garlands for decorations under the sun umbrella. I went into the fields to gather flowers and found myself soaked from my feet to waist! I had to go back again later to get more flowers. I took off my shoes and ended up walking in flip flops for the remainder of the evening. During the afternoon my mother and her friend Ivars arrived the day of, and brought along two family friends visiting from the Carribbean. Then Aija and her husband and a few friends arrived. Later the relatives from next door came driving up in their horse and cart. It was a small group, but really a nice group to celebrate the first Jani at Pamati. I didn't make it through the night, and Namejs and I went to sleep around the same time. We were still feeling that we were 2 hours ahead of everyone else. Later Didzis joined us when his cousins went to sleep.
Here are some general pictures of the day.
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