The Finish

The high note on which I had hoped to finish my stay in Latvia did come through:

Last weekend, I went to Stockholm to participate in the 30th edition of the Stockholm Marathon - in my 30th year - and I did it.
Okay, it did take me very nearly five hours to finish, but I was able to run the whole time, without any cramps or any such problems, even though it was pretty hot. In fact, I still had the stamina to increase my pace on the last kilometers.

Beautiful. Finishing successfully, seeing the city while running, being able to get through it so nicely... the way things are looking, I'll be out for a slow, light run again today.

Next up: the Bergmarathon (mountain marathon) around the Traunsee. Quite something else, actually (a lot of climbing, a certain need for water and energy to be carried along, and definitely no other intent than to see how far I really get on that course).

Last Days

Yesterday, I came back from Stockholm, and my roommate was packing - he left this morning.

Today, I've just cleaned up, started to pack - checking what should come with me, what might not fit, and trying not to think too much about the excess weight it might entail. Also went and closed my local bank account.

Tomorrow, off to get the confirmation of my stay (necessary for the ERASMUS scholarship) and having Spanish (oral) test. (I wonder how I did on the written one - Russian was hardly glorious, but quite all right, especially considering how intensely I had been studying, not! Spanish should be better, but I don't really know.)

Thursday, a last visit to Agenskalna gimnazija for work feedback and confirmation, and early on Friday, I'm on the flight back home.

Now, I'm wondering if I should go to the beach once more; probably going to try and take some more pictures here and there, but otherwise, I'm trying just to relax. I'm almost at the point of wanting to get into a work routine for the summer, anyways. So much I wanted to get on with didn't really progress a lot...

The e-mail server on which my main mail accounts run is down, just now that a fellow ecology student had written and suggested meeting... (dr.gerald.schmidt[at]gmail.com would also work, if you happened to read this - though it's probably too late for a meeting by now) . Computers...