Have you been to Latvia?

Sveiks! Pedejo reizi biju Latvijaa 1992 jeb 1993 gadaa. Iespeejams ka mans draugs "cicerone impostor" varbuut ir ciemojies Lavijaa nesenaak. Vins ir liels pasaules apbrauceejs, celojis visur kur tu vien vari iedomaaties, ieskaitot pat Antartikaa, t.i. Dienvidpolaa. Vins ir Japanu izcelsmes Amerikaanis, dzimis sheit Amerikaa. Vari atbildeet man vienaa vai otraa valodaa, angliski jeb latviski. Es sveicinaats A2k!
Andris

For those of you, dear readers, who're wondering whether I've suddenly been reduced to typing gibberish, please be advised that the above post merely informs the OP that I last visited the land of my birth in 1992 0r 1993 and suggested that c.i. may have (or not) been there more recently as he is a seasoned world traveler. Now waiting to see in which language I might get a reply.

For all your sakes, I hope it's in English. My use of the Latvian was merely to establish bona fides.

I could almost read some of it. Not really, but I didn't think it gibberish. Besides, I knew where you were born.

Hello Friends,

In practice, Latvia is a kind of bilingual society, with some awkward asymmetries. Almost all ethnic Latvians (around two-thirds of the population) know at least some Russian, though they may resent speaking it. Some Russians have Latvian citizenship anyway, if they or their ancestors were citizens of the pre-war republic. Others have adopted Latvian citizenship enthusiastically (as of April last year the number of naturalisations was 135,840). Others are bilingual but refuse to consider applying for citizenship; others defiantly refuse to speak Latvian at all, even after 22 years of independence. There are other quirks too: the language people speak at home is not necessarily the same as their declared ethnicity; Latvia has plenty of mixed marriages (unlike neighbouring Estonia). Some people who are nominally part of the Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian minorities may be Russophone in practice.

Thanks and Regards,
Jeff Lee