Simple Pleasures of Riga

Today my beach trip was delayed yet again, thanks to poor weather this time. I decided to take part in some simple pleasures at Riga Old Town. Having earlier seen children feeding bread to ducks on the small river, I decided I wanted to try it! I headed to the grocery store inside of Old Town, and picked up the cheapest loaf of bread I could find. That ended up being around 25 santims (~45 cents), and the loaf was maybe 2/3 the size of a typical loaf back in the United States. I attempted to ask a local about whether the marked down price required a "special card" (similar to the ones grocery stores in America LOVE to use). She actually gave me a shy smile but said, "I don't know". Ah yes, the typical local response for everything.

I then headed to the small river near the Freedom Monument, and looked for all the ducks. They weren't hard to find! Of course the trick is to feed the ducks while avoiding the pigeons that inevitably show up! I started throwing small pieces of bread to the ducks, and when the pigeon "gang" showed up, I would just walk away until they lost interest and left. Eventually the pigeons went away for good! Feeding the ducks was really satisfying and mindless, especially trying to throw pieces of bread to one particular duck. For example, one duck had a broken foot. Poor guy. I made sure he got extra. Some of the ducks were actually fast enough to catch the bread in their mouth before it hit the ground! My point in all of this is that we're always looking for something complicated in life, but the simple pleasures can make us perhaps even happier.

While feeding the ducks, it turned into an interesting social experiment. I was standing on a frequented walking path, and every minute or two people would walk by. Sometimes they showed interest in the ducks. Along came a trio of teenage girls, who wanted to take pictures of the ducks with their camera. I saw that one girl was trying to get attention from the ducks, but she had no way to do this. I offered her a piece of bread (in english of course). She looked at me as if I was about to walk over and stab her with a knife! I found this very interesting. A random act of kindness was seen as practically hostile. I threw a piece of bread to her and she picked it up, without saying a word or making eye contact. The girls then quickly returned to their fun.

Now you probably can't picture me, but I'm a very easygoing and approachable guy. I do not at all look or act threatening. I'm the kind of guy that most people approach to ask for help with directions. Yet here were these three girls who seemed almost frightened to make eye contact or say a word.

My experiment wasn't over yet. Along came a Russian family, and their little boy sat on his father's shoulders. I offered them a piece of bread. At first they looked at me like I was crazy. The man gave me a strange look, then looked away without saying anything. I offered a second time, and he hesitated before finally taking it and giving the bread to the boy. They both then said "thank you" in Russian. Of course my Russian is terrible so I simply said "no problem" in english. The boy then happily fed the ducks.

These experiences were probably the most revealing yet about the people here. A completely harmless and random act of kindness was met with fear, uncertainty, and near hostility. It was as if I was baiting them into a scam! People certainly are not trusting here. They are also not social with outsiders. That was my observation today. Along with all my other experiences here, it adds up to the same conclusion. The funny part is, in my own country I'm not considered the most friendly person. I'm probably somewhere in the middle between friendly and indifferent.

After feeding the ducks I walked back to Old Town, and watched a few songs by the band who dresses up in old lady clothes. They are quite talented, and today expanded their song list! It's about time! I'm still not quite understanding the theme behind this band, but they are popular among both tourists and locals. Around this time it suddenly started pouring, and the rain drove everyone to cover. Luckily I actually had both my jacket and umbrella for once! Fate finally smiled on me! I headed for the tram and went back to the hotel. No ticket control inspectors were out today on my route. In fact half the tram wasn't paying! The locals definitely know something about these inspectors that I don't. They always seem to know when they will get away with not paying.