Smilene

About two weeks later I was notified through the district town hall telephone (there were still no telephones in the country ) that I had a managerial job at Rauza, near Smilene, 15 kilometres towards Polsmane. I went straight away; first to Prauliena to get my things: bedding, work clothes, etc. I arrived at Prauliena in the evening, collected my things and went straight to Madona station. I was very angry with Marija and did not even say good-bye. Rauza was near a main highway in Vidzeme, about 2 kilometres. There to receive me was a committee member, Lacitis, who lived next to the factory. The factory was in the Rauza manor, opposite there was the district town hall, one shop, a blacksmith, and the district hall. It was a small centre. It took only one day to get to Riga. In the morning at 5 AM, a bus on the highway got you to Riga at 8 to 8:30 and in the evening it left Riga at 4 PM. The factory was quite small and was in the process of being changed from manual to steam. The steam generator was already there, but the milk was heated over water which was heated by steam, the same went for the cream in special cans. There were no collection points – all the milk used was brought in by the farmers directly. There were only two of us working; the general worker and the cleaner, a 19 or 20 year old youth, Janis Mietins, very obedient and hard-working, but not too intelligent.

Jan 31, 2010