CAMARILLO : Unrest in Homeland Worries Latvian

To preserve the memory of Latvians who were exiled to Siberia and to celebrate the unfurling of a once outlawed national flag, Monika Zacmane took to the streets for Latvian independence rallies before coming to the United States in July.

The 18-year-old exchange student at Camarillo High School suspected things were amiss in her Baltic homeland when letters stopped coming from her family two weeks ago. But she never expected a Soviet crackdown.

“It seemed like everything was going so smoothly. I never thought they would bring in the military,” said Zacmane, who lives with a host family in Somis. “Maybe Gorbachev is using this time period when the world’s attention is on the gulf.”

On Tuesday night, Zacmane received a call from her mother, who assured her that the family was safe. Her father, an estimator for the Lada state car company, and her mother, headmistress at a music school, are both apolitical and know to stay out of harm’s way, Zacmane said.

Zacmane earned the chance to study in the United States under American Field Service sponsorship by winning an academic competition last year. She was educated at an English-language school in her hometown of Riga, the republic’s capital. A folk dancer since age 3, she first visited the United States in 1989 as part of a touring company that also performed in Finland and Holland.

While welcoming the chance to study abroad, she said she is unsettled by the materialism in America. Many people “treat their cars like pets” and gain status with their tennis shoes, she said. As wealthy as America is, she said, it has an underclass that does not exist in Latvia.

“In the stores here, there are so many different brands to choose from, but at home, you buy a piece of soap and maybe there are three brands,” said Zacmane. “You pay as much as it is, and you’re happy you’re getting it.”

She earned straight A’s in her first marking period, which she credits to the education system in her native land. The Latvian school week is six days long, and children begin history and geography lessons in second grade.

Zacmane’s original goal after graduation from Camarillo High was to enroll in an American university to study languages to become a translator. She since has decided to study business, though she fears she will be unable to raise enough for tuition working as a baby-sitter and housekeeper and cannot turn to her parents because “Soviet rubles are inconvertible currency.”

“I think my country will be one of the fastest growing economies in the Soviet Union,” Zacmane said. “I’m thinking now how I can help change my country.”