The Soviet Union consisted of 15 republics, one of those being my home country Latvia. A country so irrelevant to our society every time I meet somebody new it’s the same, “oh is that in Russia?” or “Where even is that?” This summer I was able to visit my home country for the first time in seven years. Even after all those years, nothing has changed, at least in my opinion. The same old city, filled with bright hues of maroon which teal roofs were once a prominent copper maybe a few hundred years ago. The rich architecture lasted only a glance, and the rest of the view consisted of the remaining Soviet ruins.
Many are familiar with the brutalist architecture I suppose, the tall and block structured flats. I’m guessing maybe a few of you have stumbled across a video with the “Eastern European aesthetic” or maybe some of you love shooter games and have played Call of Duty which features many Eastern European cities. The photos, videos, and depictions of countries like these are accurate from my experience. Of course you have a few exceptions, mainly major cities that have more modern architecture and old historical architecture. Riga for example, has maintained its history quite well, and architecture dating back to the 12th century and prior remains. But the moment you leave the capital and enter a regular so-called “suburban” neighborhood, you will find that the majority of people live a life different than ours.
I asked my dad to take me to my old neighborhood, Purvciems, which is actually said to be one of the nicer neighborhoods in Latvia. That day I took a bus to my neighborhood with my father and walked the rest of the way (public transport is actually a thing here). I took a step across the uneven concrete and then noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was the playground I used to play on back when I lived here. If you’re imagining a playground with a big swing set and multiple plastic slides and a sandbox, you’re mistaken. My playground was a few monkey bars and a wooden swing set that has been rotting for years. Despite the looks of the playground, I still loved it and it was my favorite place to pass time after school. I continued to reminisce about the past as I walked through the old uneven pathways to find out my school was actually closed down. On the steps of the abandoned school was a group of boys no older than 12, and to no surprise they were smoking cigarettes with bottles of beer alongside them. They called out to me a few times but I ignored them and continued on my way.
Finally I made it to my old flat and entered the code on the door to enter. The exterior was run-down and old, nobody really made an effort to make them look nice, because they weren’t. The inside is no better than the outside, perhaps even worse. The moment you enter you’re greeted with the smell of cigarettes and old paint, yet for some reason it was comforting for me (I think this is something many immigrants experience too). The flats came in traditionally two designs, five story flats and nine story flats. I lived in a 5 story flat and only had to climb up 3 flights of stairs.
There was an elevator, but it’s so old the doors barely work and it jumps as you go up. Since I didn’t live there anymore, I spent a few moments inside and momentarily left.
Weeks later I visited my great grandma who happened to live in a not-so-nice neighborhood called Bolderaja. It was a densely Russian populated area and she has been living there ever since the Soviet Union built it. My babulya (grandma) is 91 years old with Parkinson’s disease, but she still exercises as much as she can everyday and makes the most beautiful artwork. The moment I entered I was overcome with nostalgia and, for some reason, a sense of comfort although the old and depressing flats were unescapable. The interior was not very spacious, the bathroom was connected to the kitchen and the shower was next to the stove. She had one living room which was also her bedroom filled with her artwork and family photos. Retirement homes don’t really exist there, and many elderly rely on their families to take care of them or they have to take care of themselves.
I came back to the states with a sense of relief, and with a new perspective of our modern American society. The lifestyle we have, especially as residents in Rocklin, is extremely different from the living conditions back in Latvia. The food, water, money, and things that we have in a regular house in America is something the average person in Latvia could only dream of. Many other developing countries share those same characteristics, and imagine life in America as fruitful and dreamy. It surprises me that so many people in America complain about how terrible their lives are and how they don’t have a certain materialistic thing, even though the majority of Latvian citizens, “In accordance with current legislation, have a monthly salary of EUR 620 for a standard working time of 40 hours per week” (LiveRiga). This is about 655 Dollars a month, which as you can guess is probably not enough to live a comfortable life. Many citizens live paycheck to paycheck, and that is true to many other countries such as Lithuania, Moldova, and Belarus just to name a few. A noticeable trend is that most of the poor countries in Europe are in the Eastern part of Europe, or were previously under Soviet rule. Many of these countries were left in a terrible social and economic state after the fall of the USSR and are still recovering over 30 years later.
