OK guys, here is some help:
"Latvian" from the "teach yourself" series: This is a good comprehenive book from a native speaker. It has a good introduction with lot's of simple words to learn, and a complete grammar collection, with quick notes at the back for things liek conjugation. You can buy the book on it's own, or with the accompanying audio discs.
The real problem is that learning a new langage is a personal thing, and is different for everybody. I have two other books that you might find interesting. It is also relatively easy to find a personal tutor here in Rīga.
There use to be a good on-line government related site, that had a few pages of LV language instructions. I can't find it now, but I will take a look later when I can.
If you guys like, we can meet up, and you can take a look at the books. We can even try to make it a periodic event, and try to make it around in public.
Another thing you can do is to try to watch the local news, which offers subtitles (LV) for hearing impaired.
An interesting challenge would be to search for the short poems that are a cultural heritage of the country. I've forgotten what they are called, but I can get my hands on a book of them. They are a short formula poem, similar to a haiku, but not necessarily with the emphasis on metaphysics.
