American in Latvia

Yesterday I went to the countryside with Gatis and my host-great-aunt Baiba and host-great-uncle Andris. We left at 11 and didn't return until 9. The "country", as everyone calls it, is 25 minutes from Valmiera.  I think it's sort of like a time share... there was another older couple and their giant black lab, and a young couple with their baby. It was really like a picture book... chickens were just wandering across the road. (Dirt roads full of potholes, fyi.) I made quite a few "Why did the chicken cross the road?"jokes, but apparently Latvians are unfamiliar with such riddles and my puns were met with stares. Most of the day at the country was spent walking around outside, eating vegetables straight from the garden, climbing the "mountain" (hill) and walking on the ruins of an ancient castle, and more eating. We had amazing crepes that Gatis insisted were pancakes (just because in Latvian they're called pankūkas does not mean they are pancakes!)... They were fantastic, of course, especially with biezpiens and jam, but they were definitely crepes. I think I'll have to make American style pancakes to prove him wrong.