Who here lives in Europe?

Moskvi, I know what you mean, there were those families that came over. Oh, yea, Laila is a typical Latvian name. I'm happy that you don't hold a grudge against us, like many Russian ppl do.
And concerning local Russians speaking Latvian, it's changing for the best. A lot of 20year old Russians speak perfect Latvian, I'm always so amazed when I meet and talk to them. Our integration policy isn't perfect, but it's moving on slowly.

So you got a black American boyfriend?

 

I had a husband from Africa. We were together for five years total, a plus a year of separation. We just got divorced this year. I haven't dated any black Americans, but I have black American friends. In fact my prom date was a black American friend of mine from my class... he was very popular, and some other white girls were pissed that I was his date. It's been 11 years now, and we're still in touch.

 

Hmm, then I guess you must be a "stunna". Interesting... why do you think he picked you? (Or was it vice versa?)

 

He did me a favor because I didn't have a date. I was one of those girls in high school who still didn't have a boyfriend, didn't wear makeup, didn't go to parties, all I did was go to the library and learn English. But he and I, we just had that friend chemistry. And he dated all kinds of girls - black, white, Spanish. He ended up in a long-term relationship with a white girl and they just recently broke up. I don't know what he'll do next.

 

Interesting.. do you now wanna date a black guy or do not care?

p.s. btw, I was one of those same type of girls always at home after school studying English.. but this was prior to going to the US.

 

I honestly don't think I can answer your question accurately right now, becuase I'm head over heels in love with someone (who happens to be white, Polish) so I don't see myself dating ANYONE EVER but him, be it black, white or whatever. If things don't work out with him, well... then I'd have to see, I don't even know. It's hard to think in terms of categories, it's easier to think in terms of individuals. If Pettyofficerj from this site asked me out, it would be a HELL YEAH! If Keegan Michael Key from MadTV asked me out, it would be a HELL YEAH. Because I look at them in terms of the entire person, not just race, and I like them.

By the way where in the U.S. are you? New York or New Jersey by any chance?

 

I was only there for a year.. in Midwest (but I travelled to many states). I haven't been back for a long time... isn't it interesting how you used to live in Saulkrasti and I was just there around the corner and then we meet here on this site which is dedicated to bm/ww relationships?

 

Yeah it's crazy... so did you become interested in black guys here or in Latvia? do you have a boyfriend? how old are you?

 

Well, you know that we don't have any black guys here, maybe just a few. No, I guess I wasn't specifically interested in black guys while I was there.. actually, I had a contract that forbid me to date. It's really weird because I've always been into the Nordic/Baltic type of men, I was never even fascinated by southern Europeans and such. Maybe it's cuz I started listening to rnb. Silly, isn't it? I travel a lot in Western Europe (both for my job and just on holiday) and there were always black men looking and stuff.. and then recently I started checking them out too. I had an encounter with a black guy in Dublin, Ireland, which really shook me up. After I came home, I didn't really think much about it but after a while I kept thinking back and I keep reminiscing over and over again, even down to the smallest details of how it was.

 

Best for????

I assume you mean dating....

Sweden

 

Maroon what are some of the cities that your job takes you to in Western Europe?

 

Brussels, Belgium
I've been to most capitals. But I really love Scandinavia, so I just go there on my own a lot of times whenever I have a free moment.

I see you're in the military. You don't happen to be stationed at the JHQ Lisbon, do you?

And yea, Sweden is really good for IR dating, the second best is London, I think.

 

How do you see that? There are quite a few US civ and govt agencies here in Lisbon.

Feel free to send me an email if you want to know more about JHQ Lisbon, I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss it in this forum.

jamaal_luso@yahoo.com

 

Ok

 

Cool. I will look for your email. :smile:

 

Baltic Nation

Maroon what's it like to live in a Baltic nation like Latvia? I only been to Estonia.

 

Estonia is the most sophisticated Baltic country. It is tiny but very nice.
Latvia is more cosmopolitan but at the same time a bit more harsh.

Did you mean life in general or for a black guy?

 

I live in germany,non military-non DoD civilian.Work for the Deutsches Rote Kreuz (Red Cross) as a paramedic.

 

Life in Europe for Brothers

Yes,whats it like for brothers in Estonia? There is this thread in YouTube of brothers inside Estonian clubs. Had you seen it? I find it a bit fake since most of the Estonian women are mostly flaxen blonde. How is things for brothers in Germany?

 

Some of those videos circulating on Youtube are fake.

Having lived in Latvia almost all my life and visited a lot in Estonia and Lithuania, I still haven't figured out what the "racial" temperature is like. Generally, the ppl here aren't racist, but most of them are racialist, meaning they don't consider themselves superior to blacks, but they still believe mixing with blacks is not a good idea. One of the reasons is because the countries are tiny and there was an ethnic cleansing in the 1940s against the Baltic ppl, so there is still tension and that ghost from the past. The demographic situation is very bleak too, so ppl still feel threatened deep inside even if they don’t show it off.

If you make a comparison within the region, I’d say it’s in the middle. It’s not Sweden or Norway and never will be (even though there is racism even in those countries, as subtle as it is). But it’ll never be like Russia either. The Baltic mentality is not nearly as xenophobic as the Russian or Serbian one. Besides, we have rather strict anti-discrimination laws that are in line with the EU standard. There has been a lot of effort implementing those laws over the past 10 years and this is something that the countries to the east haven’t really done. In Russia, you can be openly racist in public and get away with it, in the Baltic countries you can’t. You’ll be automatically marginalised. There was recently a skinhead who openly said that „Jews and gypsies are not human” who was sentenced to almost 2 years. He’s still in jail just for saying that (he didn’t attack anybody physically or injure life, just said that).

They’ve also done a lot of work with educating the police but there is still racial profiling (I’ve seen it myself). We have watchdogs and the Black history month, and most of the time it’s peaceful but it’s nowhere near the Scandinavian level. Also, you have to differentiate between the locals and the Russian immigrants (we have a lot of ethnic Russians living in our countries) – the Russian boys can be really mean and nasty sometimes. Most of the racial incidents that we’ve had were caused by ethnic Russians. Most Latvians, if they see a BM with a local woman, even if they feel apprehensive about it deep inside, will never dare say or do anything, but the Russians might not care and show aggression.

You can’t really compare it to Germany, because we have very, very few brothers here. We love basketball here and we have some athletes here that everyone appreciates. We have a couple of other folks but very few.

Oh, and speaking of the Estonian women – there are racial differences amongst the Baltic people too. The Latvians and Lithuanians are ethnically Baltic and they’re IndoEuropeans and they’re mostly dark blonde but Estonians are a FinnoUgric tribe and a lot of them are naturally light blonde. So Estonians (along with the Finns) are actually a tad bit lighter than Latvians and Lithuanians.