After seeing the crowded Lithuanian bars, Latvians can’t believe: no one is afraid of you?

At the end of August, Alexander, the driver of the Bolt transport app, came to pick me up at Riga airport. I left my suitcase in the trunk of the car, sat in the back seat, and moved to Jūrmala, a popular tourist center near Riga. After a few minutes, the driver turns to me and gestures to show me my mask. I take my hand, tell him to let it be, after all, protection against COVID-19.

My answer does not sit well with Alexander, he begins to explain that no one in the country needs those masks and that if I take them off no one will punish me. I thank the driver for explaining the Latvian rules to me, but I did not change anything, we continued. And in my mind I feel smarter than him at the time, because I behave as our Minister of Health advised my team: I use the mask as a shield against disease. “You see you are Lithuanian, all of you with those masks”, the driver Aleksandrs drops the answer.

I was in a similar situation in the center of Liepaja near our Palanga, in mid-June. A man who worked in a tourist area was attacked and explained that, in his opinion, masks do not help, they only hurt. Empathetically, he demanded a discussion about why he was wearing that cloth mask. I didn’t want to upset the Latvian, so I came out of there a loser.

I have traveled to Latvia more often than ever this summer. I visited our closest neighbor up to six times, I was in every possible region, I toured cities, towns, villages and resorts. Some areas are very close to Lithuania, but the differences between them and here are obvious. For example, a mask is required at a gas station on the territory of Lithuania, at a gas station twenty kilometers away, on the territory of Latvia, a mask is not required.

Since the beginning of June, when we began to move more freely, the Latvian brothers despised Lithuanians intimidated by the coronavirus with face masks. We were with them and they were without them. The people of the neighboring country were surprised to hear how strictly we guard our houses. Meanwhile, the Lithuanians, by contrast, feared that the Latvians were too relaxed. Some compatriots even taught their neighbors how to behave, urging them to take the situation more seriously.

And now look at how things turned out, I would say, in a very unexpected direction. Those who were without masks, announce that they will be silent about us, the masked ones. Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Military announced on Wednesday that the Baltic travel bubble will burst immediately. Because in Lithuania and Estonia, as in many European countries, the number of COVID-19 infections has increased significantly since the beginning of August. And here in Latvia, the situation is stable and much better.

Interestingly, since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, it has been decided to live a little more freely in our neighboring country than with us and to impose fewer restrictions, fewer prohibitions on people. For example, at a time when Lithuania was closed for quarantine and cafes and restaurants were no longer working in our country, Latvians could still go wherever they wanted to eat. There were far fewer diners, but some people did not change their habits, eating at their favorite places as usual.

Another example: remember March and April, when hairdressers, nail salons and all other institutions that performed beauty procedures did not operate in Lithuania? Our beauties and beauties were crying that they couldn’t paint the regrown roots, fix the crumbling nails, and wax the intimate places. There were those who could not wait and several procedures were carried out illegally, going to the classrooms through the back door. They were captured by various services and the media, exposed the faces of the wicked and forged in the column of shame.

Meanwhile, in nearby Latvia, during the same period, people continued to successfully cut themselves and come back in a different way. Lithuanian Ieva, who has been living in Riga for the past few years, said that many Latvians did.

“My friend and I took the quarantine with a lot of responsibility, we didn’t go anywhere in the house unless we only bought food. So when the first releases appeared and I finally went to the manicurist, she wondered where it was missing, she hurried to scolding me that I had left my nails, because I was in quarantine for so long, he asked me why I had not come before, ”says Ieva.

When we met and went to one of the popular Jūrmala bun bakeries, Ieva and I were the only shoppers covered in masks. “Notice that we look at each other strangely, as if we were sick and putting others in danger,” laughed my friend. According to her, masked Latvians can only be seen in public transport and airports. No one uses these safeguards in public establishments, shops or markets. Also in cafes, as long as you sit down and don’t eat anything, your mouth can be exposed, no one will be caught.

Lithuanians who went to Riga or other cities in Latvia this year noticed that they had no nightlife there due to the coronavirus. At the beginning of July, he was convinced of the same thing: after the twelfth night, there was no institution open, it was not possible to eat or drink. For fear of outbreaks, the opening hours of bars and clubs are limited to midnight. Night Jurmala looked very sad, like out of season. Meanwhile, in Palanga, the roof of Vila Gražina on Basanavičiaus street moved at night throughout the month of July. Every night – another famous musician and dance.

In Latvia, a rule has also been introduced that no more than 8 people can sit at a table, in other words, there are no larger seats or celebrations. The event market has also been affected, with restrictions imposed: an event can host a maximum of 1,000 people indoors and 3,000 outdoors.

It is true that it should be noted that Latvians themselves want to be less clustered, and even in catering establishments they were seen much less this year than last year. When I showed Latvians photos of what was happening in Vilnius Old Town this summer, how the terrace was broken by the number of people, they couldn’t believe it. “Is no one afraid?” They asked me.