Theater Troupe From Īslīce Play "Visi radi kopā" (All kin gathered)

Theater troupe from Īslīce were visiting Stelpe and performing in the hall of Stelpe School on February 4. They were showing comedy by Aivars Banka "Visi radi kopā" (All kin gathered), directed by Evita Vanaga.The juicy performance of the talented actors of Īslīce theater did not allow the spectators to stop laughing all through the play. There were lots of intrigues, misunderstandings, funny affairs, courting and flirting. Everything showed skillfully and feasibly.
The story of the play is about a Siberian simple folks man Hyedron (the name resembling a widespread Russian strong word) who has been staying with his relatives in Latvia for a couple of years and learned to speak a little Latvian. He is fond of fishing, drinks Vodka from big glasses in a pure Siberian manner. On the other hand, he is very clever when it comes to all kind of farm works. So he is also respected and appreciated by the family he is staying with.

But there are lots of temptations rising in his way. When a member of parliament, who too belongs to the family, arrives to a family party, Hyedron falls in love with his wife. The lady, who is obviously bored by her husband not paying attention, has mixed feelings about the Siberian man, so she even engages in some flirting. After a short while, it turns out that this is not the only couple being involved in some type of love affair, and the situation gradually gets very tense.

All of a sudden, the Consul of Japan arrives to the village in a quest for Hyedron. When he finds the man, he explains how Hyedron is the only heir of the Emperor of Japan and the crown prince. All the tangle of the relationships turns insignificant when Hyedron invites everyone to visit him in Japan.

After the performance, the Īslīce actors had some coffee together with their colleagues from the Amateur Theater of Stelpe.

Here are the names of the actors of the Amateur Theater of Īslīce:

Evita Vanaga - director
Aija Targonija, Vladimirs Manavickis, Raimonds Berķis, Agris Zentelis, Silvija Skrējāne, Arta Skrējāne, Dace Jukuma, Ligita Ūbele, Egita Dreimane, Auseklis Grauzis, Sanita Karaša, Viktors Abuhovs

Many Thought I Was An Actor

Last Saturday, we had a very special event In The Pub With Čaks (Krodziņā pie Čaka) which was again put together by my wife Sandra Neliusa.

Picture: Article by Žanna Zālīte in our local paper "Bauskas Dzīve"

Normally, I do not find it particularly difficult to recite poetry and to live the life of the characters depicted. But yesterday I faced probably the greatest challenge ever. In a party dedicated to the deeply loved Latvian urban poet Aleksandrs Čaks (Wikipedia entry about Aleksandrs Čaks), my task was to recite his poetry.

The characters of Aleksandrs Čaks poetry are mainly the streets of Riga, its nightlife, homeless people, sailors, prostitutes... The poems are simple and easily understood by anyone. Yet extremely difficult to convey.

The texts by Aleksandrs Čaks are extremely heavily charged with emotion - longing for love, meaning in life, true friendship. They show also how many people live their lives without ever finding anything that has real value.

His means of expression are interesting but challenging for the one who needs to speak of them in as natural manner as possible. Imagine a moon that looks like pickled or linden trees that are "longing for bees and lake waters, warm and tender like skin". If you try to speak about such as naturally as you can, you will understand, what I actually had to lift.

But I did it and received a lot of praise from the spectators. A few who did not know who I was, even mistook me for a professional actor.

Watch pictures on our local news portal Bauskas Dzīve

Deer Behind Our Window

Winter did come, though very late this year. The lowest temperature I saw here was - 29.

When there is frost like this, we often see forest animals graze in the fields that we see from our windows. When the evening twilight comes, it's the roe deer time.


Now the weather is a lot milder. Roe deer are now less frequent guests. But we still take care to put out some crumbs for titmice, woodpeckers and jaybirds.

Ibrahim Presents Turkey

Ibrahim is a volunteer worker staying now in Stelpe as part of the international volunteer exchange project where our non-governmental organization Stelpīte takes part.

Ibrahim agreed to come to the school and do a short presentation about his homeland Turkey.

Picture: Ibrahim talking to Stelpe schoolchildren

Probably the funniest thing everybody learned from Ibrahim's presentation was the fact that Turkish men dance separately from women when they have a dancing party. If women want to join the men in the room where they are dancing, they need to be dressed as men.

Being in Stelpe, though, Ibrahim agreed to show some moves from a Turkish traditional dance to a mixed group of male and female schoolchildren.

Picture: Ibrahim showing moves of Turkish dance to Stelpe schoolchidren

Barricades Remembrance Day

Picture: History teacher Mrs. Aloida Baķe speaks about the importance and the chronology of the Barricades Time, the time before it and after.

A few days before and after January 19, Latvia remembers the Barricades Time.

In 1991, Latvia was on its way to independence from Russia, the then USSR. Russian troops were ready to oppress the freedom quest. The people of Latvia were afraid that the occupation power might restore its power by a cowardly attack under the cover of the night.

To exclude the possibility of secret restoration of the oppressive government, people from all over the country moved to Riga to protect it. Farmers went on their heavy agricultural machines which look impressive though are of little battle value against Russian tanks. But not an actual fighting was the main point.

It was important not to allow the occupants overthrow the government of Latvia whose aim was full independence of our country. Little we could do against Russian military power. We were there to let the world know the truth about whatever would happen.

Under the pressure of the international society, Russia withdrew its troops then, and the final result was independence of Latvia restored de facto and de jure in August 1991.

The barricades were build around the Parliament, the government house, TV studio and tower, radio house. Us, Stelpians, were appointed to guard the TV tower area. We were standing there not knowing what would happen next. But we were determined to stay there, come what may.

My generation will never forget the Barricades Time. But for today's schoolchildren, it's history.

But the young people need to understand fully that now live in a free country because their fathers were standing on the barricades, bare handed against Russian tanks.

They need to understand that all the more because Latvia still borders on one of the most aggressive, treacherous and unpredictable country of the world and cannot move away from there.

Picture: Stelpe schoolchildren helping their teacher by showing visual aids

Picture: The school hall was decorated for the Barricades day event with figures made by the schoolchildren

Artificial Snowmen in Dobele Town

In order to soften the people's disappointment about not having snow and any white Christmas last December, Dobele Town Council had decided to place artificial snowmen all around the place.
We were visiting Dobele on the Christmas Day, and saw the snowmen there. We were surprised and amused.

Picture: (From left) Tereze, Dag and Sandra having a talk to one of the Dobele snowmen

Picture: Snowmen in front of Dobele Church
Picture: Terēze Neliusa in the center of Dobele Town
Picture: Snowmen sledging

Vecumnieki Music School: 'Draugi' - The Only Jazz-Symphony Orchestra in Latvia

All the photographs in this post are by Žanna Zālīte, editor in chief, publisher and reporter of "Vecumnieku Ziņas" (Vecumnieki News) - the paper of District Vecumnieki. Our family is grateful to Žanna for giving us these pictures.

Christmas time full of surprises. The string/woodwind orchestra Draugi of Vecumnieki Music And Art School (Vecumnieku Mūzikas un mākslas skola) were inviting the people of District Vecumnieki to a concert. What we saw there was far beyond our expectations.

We are happy and proud that our daughter Terēze Neliusa has been given the possibility to play shoulder to shoulder with these high level string virtuosos.

The dynamic string rendering of pieces from world's classic reinforced with the woodwinds and drums heated up the audience, and we got the feeling that they can carry away even those least inclined to listening in. The colorful rhythmical patterns were backing up the melody in a very skillful manner, and the musicians played their soul out.

The orchestra is led by two teachers - music fanatics - Solvita Loka and Aigars Dziļums.

Celebrated opera soloists and popular music stars were taking part in the concert making it unforgettable for the audience.

Advent 2011 In Stelpe School

The story about the Prodigal Son told in a contemporary manner stirred the spectators' emotions to a huge degree. It was performed by Misa Secondary School choir under the leadership of Zaiga Jēgere. The young people showed in a very convincing manner how living far away from God develops in humans vicious qualities like hate, greed, arrogance and haughtiness that finally destroy the personality.

They also showed the dramatic importance of getting rid of the evil in order to live a happy life.

Poetess Sarma Upesleja cited her own poems where the beauty of God's nature is celebrated. There were also some sketch pieces about the current situation in Latvia and the choices made by those in power. Together with Anita Stikāne, who has composed music to Sarma Upesleja's poems, they sang for Stelpians.

In the end of the celebration, all the guests were invited to the dining hall where brown peas, generously donated by Valle farmer Arvīds Zvirbulis, were prepared. The kitchen ladies of Stelpe School Rita Macpāne, Anda Blaškauska and Dzintra Polika had decorated the tables with candles, small paper Christmas trees and made the overall look of the hall beautiful and festive.

Watch a short video 'Debesis ir tuvu klāt' (When Heaven Is Closer) sung by Misa Secondary School (Misas vidusskola) choir under the leadership of Zaiga Jēgere.

Small Children's Christmas In Stelpe School

Last Friday, the young children of Stelpe celebrated Christmas together with Santa Claus and dwarfs.
Clown Aleksandrs from Riga together with his clever dog Maria showed a lot of funny tricks.


This girl was invited by Aleksandrs the Clown to be his assistant. She did really well balancing the rotating plate on the rod while dressed up as a clown herself.


Aleksandrs the Clown made funny sketch drawings while some children were posing dressed up as animals, dwarfs or dandies.

My daughter Terēze Neliusa impersonated a violin playing grasshopper. In the picture - before the performance, together with her mother Sandra Neliusa, the mastermind of the festival.

The visit of Aleksandrs the Clown and his assistants was possible only due to the support from our friends in Kjeldås School, Norway

Stelpes Pagasts - The Most Active Community In District Vecumnieki

On September 25, the owners of the most well cared for farms were honored in the renovated clubhouse of Bārbele (Bārbeles Tautas nams). Many individuals having added to the overall beauty of District Vecumnieki by keeping their farms tidy and beautiful were honored and awarded on this event. Believe me or not, Stelpe won the most prestigious nomination - the Most Active Community.Picture: The respected flower selectionists of Stelpe Visvaldis Viņķelis (gladioli) and his wife Ilga Viņķele (irises) being awarded prizes. The girls' vocal group singing for them.

Picture: The head of Stelpe Pagasts Elmārs Jukonis expressing his gratitude for the recognition of Stelpe as the most active community of District Vecumnieki.

Picture: A humorous sketch by "two chickens" from Kurmene.

Picture: Our most respected biological farmer Andris Kalniņš receiving the well deserved award not only for the well looking vicinity of his farm but also for his active participation in legislation initiatives against genetically modified agriculture and for his encyclopedic knowledge about farming, which he readily shares with everyone.

Picture: A funny sketch set up by Stelpe Theater. (From left) Gypsy man - Jānis Klāviņš, baron - Valdis Rusiņš, baroness - Agita Šķiliņa.

Picture: My wife Sandra (with microphone) leading the program.

Picture: Stelpe dancers are welcome to the neighboring communities. Now there is seldom an activity without them being invited. The vigorous and spicy performance sets them apart from other groups.

A few pictures about Barbele:

Center of Barbele. The Barbele Lutheran Church.

Memory stone for those exiled to Siberia. From this spot next to the club house, the road of suffering began for many people of Bārbele who where exiled to Siberia by the communist regime in 1941 and 1949.

The renovated club house (Bārbeles tautas nams)

Notice board in the Barbele clubhouse.


Sign post in the center of Barbele

Earlier - Latvia Made Of Apples

In the middle of September, days of Poetry are marked in Latvia. As a special decoration, there was a map of Latvia laid out of apples in which this fall was especially rich.

Picture: Poetess Maija Laukmane, our special Poetry Days guest, together with some of the students having worked on the "apple map".

Earlier - The First School Day 2011

Picture: Head teacher Dagmāra Venclova holding speech on September 1, the first school day in Latvia. Seated in front - this year's 1st graders and those who begin school in the 5 year olds' group together with their teachers. 1st grade teacher is Lāsma Skābuliņa (leftmost), and Iveta Grantiņa will be teaching 5 and 6 year olds.

In her speech, the head teacher Dagmāra Venclova expressed hope that the school will survive despite the threat still looming over the small countryside schools.

Despite the statistics that the quality of education obtained in the schools like ours is much superior to that from the large city schools, the number of children keeps reducing every year or even half year. I remember in 1989 when Sandra and me came to live and work to Stelpe, there were 170 schoolchildren here. By now that number has dropped to 76.

Picture: Sandra Neliusa (2nd from right, white jacket) with her class 8.

Picture: Our sons Dāgs Neliuss and Kārlis Elmers Apsītis. Dag is starting class 1, Elmer - 3.