Day Two: Whirlwind

I slept SO well last night... After sharing some drinks with Lloyd and Irina, which is totally customary and I wanted to try real Estonian drinks so we did, I was falling asleep on my feet.  That's when I wrote the last post, so let me supplement the things I missed from last night.

I MADE MY FIRST ESTONIAN PURCHASE (of this trip).  A CELL PHONE!  It's tiny, smaller than any phone I've ever owned before, it has a flashlight on the top and is so European, I love it.  We went to the Selver which is like Estonian WalMart, and got it there along with some groceries.  I have a tasty pastry waiting for me downstairs in fact, because I wanted to try it.  It's so fun being here.  It's hot though, and humid... about 85 degrees yesterday, and today's looking similar.  

For dinner last night, we sort of just grazed through everything that was there... I had a few tomatoes fresh from Karl's mother's garden (Karl is my host father, and he's not here right now because he's out in the "country" but his brother and some friends stopped by yesterday, and I met them, and they brought us some goodies) and a cucumber, and some freshly made pickles from Karl's mom, and some cheese called Hollandi (ESTONIAN CHEEEEEESE!  So good...a combo of the tastes of Provolone and Mozzarella) and some salami and "viener" which are small sausages :)  I'm learning Estonian!  I can say "My name is" (Minu nimi on...) and where I live and goodbye (nagamiste) and lots of little things I can't remember right now so I guess I don't really know that much yet but I'm learning!

Interesting: My computer, whose homepage is usually Google, took me to Google Eesti today, so my Google is now in Estonian, and my Facebook yesterday made me jump through massive (creepy, almost) hoops to sign in, because it said I was signing in from an unknown location... it pulled up pictures of my friends and made me name them with 100% accuracy... if I got any wrong, I'd be blocked out of it!  CRAZY.  To my friends: you can thank me later for knowing you :) :)

Anyway, I'm off to Estonian breakfast now, and then to go meet Don and Karolina!!  More later :)

Maintain,

Virginia

Day One: I'm TIRED.

So here we are in Tallinn. First of all may I just say that I’m so glad that Lloyd came with me and didn’t make me do this all on my own, because some of the airports are terrifying, and the many things are just very different. If I were navigating this on my own, I’d be absolutely lost and scared in a strange eastern European country.

Irina met us at the airport, and brought me a beautiful rose. We got a taxi and drove to her house, and then spent some time outside talking and eating. Lloyd wasn’t kidding when he said she liked to cook and likes for us to eat. She made the most wonderful soup that was tomato based, I think, with rice, beef, potatoes and dill and it was so good. We ate outside, and enjoyed the garden, and I nearly got stung by Estonian bees like 12 times, but either way it was nice to be outside… except for the heat… it was probably 85 degrees here today with the humidity and Irina keeps calling it “Florida” when we walk outside. She’s wonderful. I’m learning Estonian already from her (I live at Sihi Kookskomet Neeli, minus the spelling) and working on phrases.  I learned how to take the bus today, how to translate the bus schedule and how to read the days on the schedule. Irina is gentle with me but firm… she’ll make me read her what is written somewhere and then tell me what it means. I am going to like it very much here.

I met Tiina today too, and she is WONDERFUL. She’s about my age, and gives Lloyd as much hell as I do. I know we’re going to be friends. She’s great, and funny, and she gets to come to America in January!! She’s going to help translate when the other Estonian musicians come to Ada.

My feet are tired, and I am stuffed, but it was a great first (half) day in Tallinn. Tomorrow, we’re meeting with Don and Karolina from the school, shopping in the afternoon if I can drag Lloyd to do that, and then meeting up with Virgo and some of his friends to have dinner so Lloyd can talk business with them. (Virgo is a saxophonist from Tallinn who is coming to play with the orchestra in the winter.)


Maintain,
Virginia

Traveling

What. A. Day.

After having problems at the Dulles Airport with the weight limit on my main bag, I ended up checking two bags and getting that taken care of.  Luckily, I made it through security and got to my gate just about on time to board the plane.  I rode next to a snarky Asian lady who wouldn’t move for these old Indian people, but it was only a 45 minute flight so it wasn’t bad.  I waited in JFK for Lloyd to meet me, browsing shops and looking for something to eat.  My gate wasn’t posted until about an hour after I got there, and by the time I went to go find my gate, I had to run around once again to pay for the extra baggage and deal with a lady who was clearly Polish and spoke very thickly Polishly accented English.  After having finally figured that out, I was quite hungry and went to my gate to get something to eat.  There was a Buffalo Wild Wings at the gate, so I went and ate there, still looking out for Lloyd.  We finally met up and had a drink and some food, and went to board our plane.

As we were walking down the walkway (which literally was a walk way…we felt like we were walking halfway to Warsaw as it was) we saw the plane… and noticed it was really small.  The plane ended up not having personal screens for each person, but only having one screen in the front for everyone… Mishap number one.  Mishap number two, I show up to my seat and someone is in it.  They actually ended up moving me and Lloyd to a different row where it was 3 seats but just us which was great considering the circumstances.  Lloyd passed out before we even took off, due to a nice Benadryl cocktail, and I was left to my own devices.  I figured I’d watch the shows/movies that were coming on, because when I’d read online, it said that the movie on the flight was supposed to be Sherlock Holmes, which I was excited for.  Turns out they actually were showing Nanny McPhee, and turns out our whole seating section’s headsets weren’t working… awesome again.  It was fine, though, in the long run.  I stayed up past dinner, and then took some Benadryl myself and went to sleep on and off for a couple hours.  After breakfast (a very strange meal: ham, tomatoes, cucumber piece, a tiny dollop of cottage cheese, and two kinds of bread) I did fall asleep quite heavily until the plane touched down here in Warsaw which is where we are waiting now for the next couple hours.  It’s currently 9:22 here, and our flight (another LOT Airlines flight…. We’re thrilled about that part) isn’t till 11:10. 

Also, as a side note, for those of you that I lied to about Tallinn being 6 hours ahead, it is actually 7 hours ahead… sorry about that.  I’m slow.

Anyway, that’s all for now.  More on this later.  Ta ta from Fredrick Chopin Airport!

Maintain,
Virginia

Finally here!!

Well folks, this is it!  In less than 12 hours, I will be on the plane and headed out to the motherland.  (To be honest, I'll be on a plane to JFK where I'll sit and wait for me real plane to Poland until 6:40 pm.  Whatever.)  

But I'm all packed and ready to go, and excited to embark on this big adventure!  I'm nervous, and sad to be leaving my friends, but I'm more excited than anything and can't wait to get there!  Lloyd and I already have lots of plans to meet people and hang out and get settled, so that'll be wonderful.

Speaking of getting settled, as it turns out, I'll be staying with Irina the whole time and not moving in the middle of my trip, because my other host family ended up not being able to have me, so that'll be nice to not have to move AND I'll have consistent access to the internet that way so MANY UPDATES!!

Can't wait to get started, but for now, I'm wearing out, so I'll say goodnight (will say it in Estonian later), and talk to you all soon!

Maintain,

Virginia

The Final Countdown...

So, here it is... the final countdown before I leave for Estonia... in exactly one week, I will be in the air, on my way to the big Eesti to start my adventure...  Since coming home to Virginia, I have: opened a bank account for my travels, gone downtown with my sister, worked at a camp for kids whose parents are incarcerated, gone to the spa, hung out with some friends, and tomorrow, we're leaving to go away till Tuesday to go on a quick family vacation, since we haven't been able to do much as a family this whole summer since I chose to stay in Ohio.  The final week countdown has vacation, packing, dr's appointments, and more packing in it, and hopefully making some time to see a few friends before I leave.

I've started laying out things to go with me too, including my converter, clothes, some school supplies, and some other things... I'm getting excited, but nervous.

Can't wait to get there, but I wish my bags would pack themselves, that's for sure!

More soon.

Maintain,

Virginia

So close...

We're within a month now... it's crazy.  Lloyd and I leave August 14th, and we'll arrive in Tallinn the 15th.  I've been talking with my teacher, Ms. Karolina, and I'm getting very excited to get to teach with her.  She seems fantastic.  It's going to be a wonderful experience. 

I'm hoping to get to Russia while I'm over there, but with the recent discoveries of spies etc., I'm not sure if they'll let me in.  So, tentatively on my travel list is: Belgium (to visit the Dunlaps!), France (to visit Laura :) ), hopefully Poland and Germany, and I'll end up in London, because I fly out of there on November 19th. 

It's just coming up so soon...I can't believe it.  I'm thrilled and nervous, excited but sad to say goodbye to my friends, especially my man friend. 

I'll keep you posted as things develop!

Maintain,
Virginia

Updates!

New developments since the last time we chatted:
1. I have a family!  I'll be spending my first and last two weeks with Irina, Nils' relative, but for the bulk of my time in Eesti, I'll be with the school counselor from the International School, so that's fantastic! 

2. I have a set time to start and end teaching:  I will be in Estonia from August 15th to November 12th (as that is the last day I can be in the country given the whole no-visa thing ...eek!)

I'm so excited, and I can't wait to get there!

I need a cool sign off...any ideas??

Insert cool sign off here,
VA