Introduction

Hello!

My name is Olga Levin, I live in Seattle, WA and this is my very first blog entry. I've considered doing a blog for quite some time now about historical places around my city. So this is my very first blog entry. I honestly don't know how this thing works, how to even operate it fully, so really I have no clue what on earth I just got myself into. This will be a very interesting journey for me. 

I guess I should start with an introduction about myself first. As you all are able to see by my name that it's not an ordinary American type of name. This says that I was not born in this country. I am originally from a small country up in Northeastern Europe, smacked right in between Lithuania and Estonia. A small country called Latvia. I was born in the capital city of Latvia called Riga. Although my family history is quite interesting (that is, what I do know of it), it will take a whole other set of blog entries to jump upon that lovely adventure. Not to mention several thousand dollars for traveling expenses. 

So I'm going to be basic here for now. My parents are from Russia, and therefore my first language happens to be Russian, and English being my 2nd language. My dad was from Moscow and my mom is from Omsk, Siberia, Russia. Fate decided that I will not grow up in Riga, that I'll be growing up here in the U.S. So I've been here in the States since I was 3 years old. I do still speak Russian fluently, but because of the fact that my family left Riga when I was so young, I was not given the privilege to attend school in Riga and therefore I don't speak Latvian at all.  I do have a strong desire to learn it one day. If only Rosetta Stone had that language, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. 

My hobbies include photography, bike riding, and writing poetry and also general journal writing. Although I am a person who is interested in many things, I do have a strong passion for history. Especially local history. Therefore, please do not be surprised that some of the photos I'll be putting into my blogs are going to be from unusual places like cemeteries. I've often had people assume that I'm a "morbid" person or that I'm somehow "strange" in that way because I love to take strolls through cemeteries every once in a while and take pictures. I'm not that kind of person though. A cemetery, to a history lover, is a treasure trove for just that. History. 

I don't want to only read about my favorite historical events, I am the type of person who has to try to experience history as well. Anyway, I hope that you will all find this blog interesting in some way. I look forward to seeing just what all of this will bring. I am open to any suggestions or advice in the comments sections. I do want to make it known that I do not tolerate any kind of hate speech or any kind of advertisement or trolling. Such comments will be deleted. Please take note of this.