What do you like about Latvia that you didn’t have in the USA?

Anna Kate: I like living in an apartment complex where friends come and knock on our door every day. And I like having a new baby brother!

Caroline: A neighborhood where we can go outside with friends every day.

Eleanor: I like to dance at school because I am in concerts.

What is your favorite memory of our first two years in Latvia?

Anna Kate: I have three favorite memories! My favorite memory was going camping twice with our family. We slept in a tent and cooked hot dogs over the fire and made s’mores and had a fun time. We also got to go to an indoor water park in January this year. There were lots of water slides and water playgrounds. My third favorite memory was at Christmas we also got to go to the National Opera and see The Nutcracker ballet.

Caroline: I like to go to castles because they are fun! It is fun to go up the creepy stairs, but you need to be careful because you might burn yourself on the lantern.

Eleanor: I went on an ekskursija (field trip) with my class to a park. I ate marshmallows and played on the playground.

What is something you miss from the USA?

Anna Kate: I miss my family, all my friends, Chick-fil-a, and Rice Krispie treats. Sometimes I also miss homeschooling with mom, but I also like going to school and seeing my friends.

Caroline: I miss Chick-fil-a and everything! I really miss my church family.           

Eleanor: I miss that we had a play kitchen set at our old house.

What is your favorite Latvian food?

Anna Kate: Soļanka (a soup with salami, tomatoes, potatoes, and pickles), pīrādziņi (bacon- and onion-filled yeast rolls), and all the salads they make here.

Caroline: Pīrādziņi (see Anna Kate’s answer) and medus kūka (traditional Latvian honey cake)

Eleanor: Griķi (buckwheat) and sauce 

What is one way that you have seen God work since we moved to Latvia?

Anna Kate: My friends at school have asked me to tell stories about Jesus and a lot of kids come to Bible club.

Caroline: He gave me new friends when I prayed and asked God for them. He has been answering my prayers.

Eleanor: He has given us Christopher!

What do you do for fun in your free time?

Anna Kate: I play outside with friends, play legos with Caroline, and read. In summertime we play tag hide-and-go-seek and sometimes we play outside until 10PM and in winter we sled and make snowmen.

Caroline: I really like playing legos with Anna Kate. I like going outside and spending time with friends. We play games like tag and hide-and-go-seek.

Eleanor: I play with dolls and Christopher.

If one of your friends from the States came to visit, what would you want to show them?

Anna Kate: I would show them the Freedom Monument and a sunset at the sea.

Caroline: I would like to show them our apartment complex because it is very different from Camden. I would also like to show them Latvian foods and Latvian culture.

Eleanor: I would take them to the castles.

What is the hardest thing about being a TCK?

Note: Third culture kid (TCK) is a term that is used now instead of MK (Missionary Kid). TCK is used to describe someone who is raised in a culture that is different from their “passport country.” They are raised in a “third culture” that come from combining their “passport country’s” culture and their host country (where they live) into a distinct “third culture”

Anna Kate: That I can’t be with all my friends and family in America. I also miss Sunday school and our church family. It is hard that I don’t have many Christian friends and sometimes my friends do things that I wouldn’t do.

Caroline: It is hard sometimes to know all of the words to say. Sometimes it is hard to tell my friends about God because I am still learning new words. I know the words in English but I don’t know them in Latvian.

Eleanor: I don’t know really. I miss my friends.

What is the best thing about being a TCK?

Anna Kate: I like being able to have friends all over the world.

Caroline: I really like learning new languages and making new friends. Some of my friends speak Russian and I am trying to learn some Russian words and phrases.

Eleanor: My kindergarten because they have legos and I like to draw there.

How can others be praying for you?

Anna Kate: I have been struggling with homesickness, so you can pray for that. Pray for me to be loving towards everyone at my school and to help me with partiality with my friends.

Caroline: Pray that I would more relationships to tell more people about Jesus and that God would give me the right words to tell everybody.

Eleanor: Pray that I would make more friends in my new kindergarten class.