Viljandi Adventure!

Yesterday myself and a few other international students went to a nearby town in Estonia, only an hour away from Tartu. Viljandi is an old town in Southern Estonia and is known for its rich history. After enduring an hour bus ride with some drunk guys behind us (at 10 AM!!!) we finally made it to Viljandi. We started our day out by walking to a very large park that lead to the castle ruins of a Teutonic order from the 1200s. The castle was located on top of a big hill and the German Knights started construction in 1224,  and wasn't completed for over 200 years. Unfortunately as wars throughout history have always wrecked havoc on ancient structures, the castle was ruined by a series of wars; the Livonian War (1558-1583), The Polish-Swedish Wars (1600-1623), and lastly the Northern War (1700-1710). What remains of the castle today are a few high stone walls, as well as "Villus Dungeon", still very well intact. The castle overlooks a large lake and although while we were there it was frozen and covered with snow I can imagine that in the spring the whole area would be absolutely breathtaking! After our walk through the ruins, I started noticing some things. Because it was the German Teutonic Order that had control over the town of Viljandi, quite a few of the  history displays were shown in German. Now everywhere in Estonia I have been so far I have seen it is common for the languages displayed to be Estonian, Russian, or Latvian, some places don't even have English. So, when we went a cafe in Viljandi I saw the menu had a few common German dishes. We also had lunch at a pizza joint, that had menus in German. The German influence from over 800 years ago is still alive and thriving and I find that very fascinating :) The only thing that was a let down for the trip was that their history museum was closed because apparently they;re only open Monday through Fridays, a bummer to miss out on that because of all the archeological excavations they said they have performed and all of the artifacts are in that museum. My favorite part about that walk was either the giant swing thing we found or the very well preserved dungeon. Both pictured below!

                                                 Giant Swing, hard to get started, but so fun!

                                                                     The Dungeon!
         
    We went to pizza restaurant for lunch and it was quite an experience to see the creations they had come up with... crazy things! For example, there was a pizza with sausage, eggs, cucumbers, and olives... then there was another that had bacon, peppers, and peaches. It was interesting to read all the choices, some very different. Pretty much after we saw the ruins, attempted to see the museum, and then had lunch, we realized that there was nothing else to see in the town. A lot of the places were seasonal and open only during the Spring and Summer. I definitely want to go back during that time because I feel like there was so much I didn't get to see! A short day, but a great one and spent with great friends! :)

International Food Fest and Otepää

Last Wednesday all the international students participated in making their own national dish for the rest to try! It took me a while to think of what to make and originally I wanted to make BBQ pork sliders, but I went to three supermarkets and all didn't sell buns! So I resorted to chili, which turned out really well for the ingredients I was able to find. Seeing the other international dishes was interesting and tasting them was amazing! Well most of them were delicious :) I tried a rice pudding from Portugal, sushi from South Korea, potato soup from Germany, sausage soup from Hungary, apple strudel from Germany, and so much more! It was so cool to try so many different dishes and learn so much about all the different cultures! In Germany it is sometimes (depending on where you live in the country) common to eat raw pork on bread with salt, pepper, and onions! Crazy idea! I was really turned off by it, but I didn't want to be picky and not fully immerse myself in these different cultures, so i decided to try it. Turns out it wasn't that bad actually. Mother, this is for you: I realize that it was risky to eat raw meat, but my friend who prepared it was very careful and almost one week later I have no symptoms of E. coli or salmonella, no need to worry about me :) haha. But just so I can freak everyone else out, I took a picture of it to show what it looked like...

Looks gross right? Wrong, actually pretty tasty, but you only spread a little on bread, not a huge lump, so it's hardly noticeable!
      So, moving on to the ski trip I went on this past weekend, one word to sum it up would be unforgettable. It was so much fun, starting with the bus ride to get to Otepää, around fifty international students all gathered on the bus and we rode into the country towards the highest hill in Estonia. The drive was beautiful, looking out at miles and miles of white snow covering the ground, it was amazing. Especially because at home snow comes and stays for one day and then it is all dirty and soon after melts. We arrived at the ski hill, rented our equipment and started to ski! It was amazing to me how many people had come on the trip and were either skiing or snowboarding for the first time! After three hours of skiing the 4 hills this "mountain" had, we headed for the bus to go to dinner. At a tavern looking restaurant we were served meatballs and potatoes with a cabbage salad. I don;t know if it was because I was starving or what, but it was so tasty! Very flavorful! For dessert we were served a strawberry strudel type thing and ice cream. Stuffed full we got back on the bus and went to Andu, out accommodation for the evening. There were 2 main houses with saunas, but the smaller house had a jacuzzi tub as well! The perfect way to end the day! After a few hours of warming up we headed to the dining room for some a pong tournament. I would say I did a fine job representing America, because me and another German played 5 games and won the championship! The night was full of dancing, snacking, and drinking and we lasted until 6 am, when we finally crawled into bed, only to get 4 hours of sleep and were awakened for breakfast. Exhausted we packed up our stuff and headed for Tartu. But not before I could snap a photo of the place we had the most fun at!

It was a great weekend spent with great friends and I have many more pictures where these came from! The experience was a great one and couldn't have been done without the organizational skills of ESN, who planned the whole thing! It was a great trip and so many memories were made. Until next time! Terveseks!

Lake Peipsi

    Sunday a group of international students, including myself went on a little day trip to Lake Peipsi, a lake that sits right between Russia and Estonia. we took about an hour bus ride to a small village on the Lake and walked around for an hour or so. The lake was completely frozen, at least a foot thick! Because it was a Sunday, there were no shops or restaurants open, and surprisingly three churches we tried to get into were closed for the day! On a Sunday! The Village houses were very old and antique looking, but beautiful nonetheless. People were driving on the ice with snowmobiles and even cars, it was crazy! I took this picture because I saw it and thought it was neat....

       When we walked out on the lake, in a distance, we saw many people ice fishing. So we walked up to a couple of young kids who were fishing and carving holes in the ice. The fish were small, about only three or four inches long! But they had a whole bucket full, I can't even imagine them getting enough meat off of the tiny things! It was really cool to see how ice fishing works. Then we walked out further into the lake to what looked like an island, but I believe it was just frozen ice that had built up and was covered with feet of snow. I took a picture of the view from the top....

    After walking the lake for a while, we decided to walk to another "nearby" village to find a cafe or somewhere to warm up. What I thought was going to be a short walk, turned into something like a 5km walk that took us around 2 hours, in the FREEZING cold! It was really cool to see all the different houses, but the walk and the cold were almost unbearable. The bus stop we were trying to find was in the next village but the walk in between the two villages took so long! Finally and with twenty minutes to spare we made it to the bus stop. The freaky thing was that if we would have missed that bus we would have no way of getting back to Tartu because that bus was on its last run! I was so relieved when we made it to the bus stop and even more when the bus came, warmth!! I would say, however, despite the unbearable weather Lake Peipsi was gorgeous and it was totally worth the cold walk to have been able to see the frozen lake.
     To end the day we went to a Russian restaurant where I had the most delicious meal I have had thus far. It was a breaded and fried chicken with a chanterelle mushroom and bacon cream sauce and potatoes of course. It was magnificent, so rich with flavor! It really reminded me of something that we would make at the Chateau for a dinner, something delicious and fancy :) On Wednesday this week we are having an international food night, where everyone who wants to can make a dish that is popular in their country. I will report back what stood out the most and tasted the best!

First Week of Classes

Tere! Well I made it through my first week of classes! Not exactly the hardest thing considering the different school system over here. A couple of my classes only meet a total of 6 or so times during the whole semester, but of course when we do meet it is for four hours. I have signed up for five classes; Estonian Language, Baltic Political History, Cross Cultural Psychology, A Seminar in the Politics of History and Memory, and then I am still deciding between two courses ( Baltic Sea States and International Relations OR Nature and Environment in the Baltic Area). So far the most enjoyable class has been Cross Cultural Psy, the professor is very cool and the topic is very interesting. Of course it is a little weird when she starts talking about the US, because I am the only one in the class who can explain the differences between the Estonian and American cultures. For example I have noticed and learned while being here that when asked "how are you" Estonians are known for answering truthfully, no matter what the answer is. In America it is so common for the response to be "I'm fine", when really you want to say terrible or wonderful! So strange, how this small observation can say so much about a culture!
      In this class, there was one specific historical event that my professor pointed out which I found so funny and very interesting! To emphasize the differences in cultures, the professor showed a map of the world and only a small amount of countries were highlighted blue. What could characteristic could these countries represent? The UK, Australia, South Africa, etc. These are all examples of countries that drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. She went on to explain that on September 3rd of 1967, Sweden officailly changed their road system from left to right. No longer could you drive on the left side of the street and this day became known as Dagen H (or H Day). She showed us this picture and it just made me laugh, so I hope that it will make you laugh too!

     My classes are not all as enjoyable as this one, in fact I feel like a couple of them might be a little challenging, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. My seminar class consists of watching movies from different countries and discussing their relationship with history and memory, I think this class will be very interesting!
     Now onto food!! So far I have not really had any traditional Estonian food dishes, but I have been to a few cafes that serve this kind of food, but sometimes it is difficult to read what exactly is in the dish, since I do not speak Estonian. I have enjoyed an Italian restaurant that serves really good pizza, specifically an artichoke pesto one :) Also there is a sort of Subway/ Sandwich cafe, called Metro that I have been to a few times. They have delicious wraps and sandwiches which they grill like paninis, so yummy! But other than the few times that I have eaten out I have mainly been cooking indoors or a few of my friends have made delicious meals for some of us international students. The other night I had a Russian dish, which can only be described as a tortellini filled with beef and pork, and then covered in sour cream and salt and pepper. It was really good! Next Wednesday there is an event with the international students where everyone cooks their national dish or some kind of dish from their country and we all get together and try each others foods! I am excited for this, but it got me thinking what kind of dish could I make...? I mean America really has a lot of foods which they took from other nations, like pizza or fried rice. I guess I can always make hamburgers! :)
     Well thats all I can think of for this week, so until next time! Head aega!!

My Arrival!

       Well! I made it! After 20 hours of no sleep and 2 layovers, I finally made it to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and spent the night at Hotel Metropol. The next morning I traveled by bus to Tartu and settled into my room and unpacked everything, which didn't take me long at all, considering the fact that I brought only one luggage with me :) I have spent the last few days going through orientation and checking out the city, which is absolutely wonderful!!! The Estonians are a little stand-off-ish, but once you introduce yourself they are very nice people! I have been to one restaurant, a little Italian one, very good pizza! Although because of the 10 hour time difference I have been ordering or making loads of food and then after a few bites realize I am not very hungry haha.
       On Thursday I got a tour of the University's Main Building and got an insight into the history of the University, a very historical and interesting tour, right down my alley :) Our tour guide ( who is getting a phd in Art History) told us about life of the students in the early years of the school's existence. She told us the men, because women were not allowed to attend the University, were punished harshly for simple things like missing curfew, teasing women, starting or encouraging fights, and other really silly things. For encouraging a fight a student would receive a sentence of 2 weeks in a "lock-up" room! Where they would not be able to leave, they would get food, and sometimes if they had good friends they would throw a rope out the window and have their friend tie a wine bottle to the end and pull it up to drink. A pretty smart idea if you ask me!! We visited the only lock up room left after a fire in the 60's destroyed 6 of them. The students would get bored and draw all over the walls and these drawings were still intact! Here is a little picture of one of the walls....

I am pretty sure that this inscription over the door translated means something like "Long live the next" As in long live the next troublemaker, so to say...  It was very interesting!!
     I have also been out to a few pubs, which are very neat! They serve two main kinds of beer on tap here, Al e Coq (like a light beer) and a hard apple cider called Fizz. The cider is delicious!! Also this is for Kyle and Andrew....  they have a zero tolerance for driving while drinking so at the pubs and clubs there are machines that dispense disposable breathalizers!! So crazy and actually a really good idea!
    Anyways I have been having a blast so far, meeting lots of people from all over Europe, on Monday we start classes so I will be talking soon about those! Until next time! Terviseks!! (Cheers) :) Love you all, and  miss you!!