Photo: Dainis Matisons/ www.flickr.com

A meeting point for dates

When I return home from university, I switch on my computer and go on draugiem.lv (a Latvian equivalent of Facebook). A friend of mine has sent me an invitation to the theatre for Friday evening. It is not an ordinary theatre, but a small, modern space where actors can express themselves freely as individuals, called Theatre Observatory. I'm so happy about this unexpected invitation. It means he really likes me, because guys in Latvia are usually, but not always (!) very shy and rarely take the initiative. They are friendly and talkative, but when it comes to flirting... it just doesn't happen. Probably you'll never see them flirting!

Theatre is only one of the possibilities that Riga offers you on a Friday evening. This evening you might also be going to the Forum Cinemas, concert, skating or bowling. Usually, in Riga it's more common to do something specific rather than just hang out for a drink. You can go for a drink with friends, of course, but when you're dating, then it's more of a "smart" style to start the evening with some activity.

In the afternoon I already start to prepare for the evening because I have nothing else to do – or in fact because I can't do anything else. Taking a shower, choosing what to wear, putting on make-up, it takes time! In Latvia it is very important how you look - although it may not the most important thing, you should keep it in mind. Women spend much time and energy thinking about their appearance, maybe because in Latvia there are more women than men, so there's competition!

Bear in mind: there are traffic jams in the evening. So, I leave home with time to spare and arrive at the theatre exactly on time. At this very moment I receive a text to say that he'll be late, and I'm a bit disappointed because it's almost never the woman who arrives earlier than the man – Latvia is still a very traditional country in that sense. Usually, both arrive just in time, or she arrives 5-10 min later, because conventionally women need more time to get ready for the evening.

In the first date, tradition still dominates and so it's usually the man who pays for everything. For the following dates it depends, and you can agree on who will pay and when. Luckily he arrives before the play has started. We can go and take our seats. The play is modern; it's an interpretation of Fellini's 'Nights of Cabiria', but luckily without scenes with naked actors, so I don't have to blush – a young woman sitting beside a young man! Latvians are rather prudish, although it is possible for girls and boys to be just friends without everybody gossipping.