Here it is. I apologize for having to copy and paste from my own blog, but hey, I've started school and still have to do all the work for the classes that I took on this trip, so although I technically only have 16 hours this semester, in actuality I have 22. So get over it! Just kidding. :)
I'm back in the States after a month in north-eastern Europe, and I must say that if given the choice, I probably would have stayed longer. This trip is without a doubt one of the best things I could have ever done, and at this point I don't regret going into debt for the first time in my life so that I could go.
On 9 July six of us students and our two professors rode on a bus for two hours to the Memphis airport. From there we flew to Amersterdam, which was an eight hour flight. Then we took a two hour flight to Helsinki. From Helsinki we took a ferry across the Baltic Sea's Gulf of Finland to Tallinn, Estonia, where we picked up Amy, who had already been in Russia for a month. From there we rode on yet another bus for two hours in order to get to Parnu, where we eventually picked up another student who'd also been traveling around the world.
By the time we got to our hostel in Parnu, it was almost Tuesday, and we had class the next day, so everyone went to bed. Our hostel in Parnu was very nice, almost like a hotel, and they even changed our towels everyday. I was so excited the first night that it took me forever to get to sleep. That probably also had something to do with the fact that during the summer in Estonia the sun doesn't go down until about ten or eleven at night, and it comes back up again at four in the morning. The weather was so nice that all you had to do to stay cool was open a window, which let in all the exciting noises from the street below. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and Parnu is only about the same size as Conway. But of course, Parnu is Estonia's "summer capital." There were lots of people there on vacation, including people from other countries, many Finns.
Tuesday we started class with a lecturer who was quite young, yet very accomplished. He told us that in Estonia it is common for young people to become successful early on, which is a good thing, because the average Estonian dies in his sixties. The next day we had a lecture by Mart Susi, the director of the international summer school at the University of Tartu, the school that we went through for our program. His lecture was boring, and we later found out that he and his wife had stolen money from Concordia University, which they caused to go bankrupt. They were at one point apparently sentenced to at least three years of prison, but because his family is a big deal, they somehow got out of it. He caused us various problems throughout the trip, but because I had such a good time anyway I will not dwell on such things.
I believe the next day we had lectures from our two professors, which was a bit of a dissapointment, but again, there's no need to go into detail except for the fact that our professors complained about everything that wasn't like it is in America and generally made big fools out of themselves. One would expect more out of two people with Ph.D's, but once again, I was able to look past this and have fun with the people in our group who understood that Estonians do things differently than Americans. And when you really think about it, it wasn't that different at all.
While in Parnu we went on a tour of the town so that we'd know where everything was and learn some history of some of the old buildings. We became familiar with what was left of a moat around the town and a gate built by the Swedes that leads into the town. We learned a lot about the Swedish and German influences in Estonia and its neighbors, and we found out that the Estonian national anthem has the same tune as the Finnish national anthem.
For fun in Parnu we spent a lot of time hanging out at pubs with people we met while we were there. We spent a lot of time with some Estonians in particular, and one night we met a British guy, and Irish girl, and a guy from Northern Ireland, and we spent almost the whole night talking to them. We also spent a lot of time on the beach in Parnu, which was wonderful. The weather was perfect for soaking up the sun, and some people in our group took the opportunity to go swimming in the Baltic. It was a bit cold for me, like swimming in a river, but you could tell that the locals had no problems with it.
We stayed in Parnu for the entire first week and were a bit sad when we had to leave. From there we went to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and when we got to our hostel, we began to worry about whether we were going to like Tallinn. The hostel was not nearly as nice as the one in Parnu, and it was way out of town. It was even far away from the nearest grocery store, which turned out not to be so bad because we didn't have dishes there like we did in Parnu.
But when we actually got to the Old Town part of Tallinn, I think we were all glad to be there. The city is amazing! Buildings that go as far back as 1422 are still being used, and they are really a sight to see. We were kind of upset that we had to pay for our bus tickets in and out of the city when we had been told that transportation was covered, but it was worth it in the end. We went on a tour of Tallinn, and I got so many pictures, but watch out, you can't take pictures of the American Embassy!
One day we went to Parliament, and another day we went to the American Embassy. During lecture we heard from former Estonian prime minister Mart Laar as well as from a member of parliament. Our professors were once again a bit of a dissapointment, but so was Mart Laar, and anyway, I still feel like I learned a lot on the trip... But I definitley had more fun than what I learned!
One night in Tallinn we went to Club Hollywood, which was my first taste of dancing like a European, and they didn't even have as much techno there as what we later became familiar with. I had a really good time, and we saw people we knew there because there was another group going through a study abroad program with the University of Tartu. They were from San Diego State, and most of them were International Security and Conflict Resolution majors. They were a pretty wild bunch, and a few times we got upset because they were a bit rude in lecture. Plus they had a professor that just would not stop asking stupid questions. But there were some people in their group who were really nice.
After Tallinn we spent a weekend in Riga, Latvia. When we first got there our transportation was unclear, and Dr. Khiterer blew up at the girl that was there to take us to the university. This was when our dislike for Dr. Khiterer really began because this girl was one of the most helpful people we met during the entire trip. The day we got to Riga we had a lecture and then went on a tour of the city. It didn't have quite as much old stuff as Tallinn, but it was still a very nice place. The next day we went to an open-air museum, which was bascially a bunch of old buildings moved out to the country so that they would all be in one place. We had a lot of fun there and got to eat some berries in the woods!
After Riga we went back to Estonia to spend a week in Tartu. By this point the San Diego kids were gone, and we met another group. Unlike us, they were getting their credits directly from the University of Tartu, so they weren't actually together except for the fact that a few of them were from the same school and they were rooming together in the same hostel we were in. One of them was from Germany, and another was from Denmark, but I think most of them were from West Virginia. They were a bit less loud than the other group.
At Tartu we actually got to hear from some professors instead of politicians, and they were probably the best lecturers we had. We got to go to the Estonian Supreme Court as well as the University of Tartu's history museum. Amy, Lindsey, and I also went to an art museum. Almost every night we went to this pub that has the highest ceiling of any pub in the world and was once used to store gunpowder and other such things. The first night they had karaoke... I never thought I would hear Estonian karaoke!
After Tartu we spent a weekend in Helsinki, Finland. It was very expensive there, but just like everywhere else we went, there was great food. I seriously think that we ate more than we did anything else on this trip. I didn't have a single thing I didn't like. In fact, I'm pretty sure I loved everything we had, especially the cheese, coffee, pastries, Latvian food, french fries with sauces... I could go on and on... But seriously, I came home with almost no souvenirs because I spent all my money on food!
After Helsinki we went back to Parnu, which we were very excited about. I really liked Parnu. We got the same hostel that we had before, although this time I shared a room with Amy instead of Lindsey. Those were the two girls I spent the most time with, and boy did we have some good times.
One night in Parnu we went to a dance club called Mirage, which is in a building that was once a school set up by the Swedes. It was a lot of fun and actually played a lot of techo. I do have to say that American music is also popular over there, and almost every single day we heard the song "Umbrella" by Rihanna. Apparently it is very popular there, and every time it came on at a club, we would all get excited. That includes us as well as the Estonians! Another night we went to a club called Bravo, and it was free that night! Once again we heard "Umbrella" and other American music, as well as some great techno that we all want now!
We also went back to the beach that last week. We went to the ladies' nude beach, but none of us got nude, thank goodness! It was so relaxing there. I know that when it came time to leave Parnu for good I was very sad, but after that we went back to Tallinn, which I wanted to see more of.
In Tallinn us girls were left by ourselves because Mouaz, the guy who's been all over the world, convinced the guys to spend the weekend with him in Amsterdam. We went to a really cool art museum and walked around town some more. We also went back to Hollywood again, but we were dissapointed because there was a rap band there instead of the highly anticipated techno we were hoping for. It was still really fun though, especially since we got to harass some British guys who were trying to break in line and be Euro-cutters. Amy kept saying, "Boys from the island, go home!" It was hilarious listening to them talk to each other about how to get in. They called us "saucy Americans." Just imagine them asking "Where's Bob?" in a British accent...
After Tallinn we went back to Helsinki so that we could fly home. On the way home we had an extra flight, and I was so sad to be leaving Estonia that I really don't want to write about it. Needless to say I love and miss Estonia. I love the people, the food, the old buildings, the weather, the beach, the music... everything. I'm so glad that I went, and I can't wait to travel again. I'm just sad that I'll proably never get to go away for a month again...
I'm sure I left a lot out, but there's no possible way that I could say everything I want to about this trip. I'm extremely poor now and don't know how I'm going to make it to Septmember, but I don't care. That's Chelsea's Trip to the Baltic in a nutshell!
Oh, and eventually I'll be sure to write about "the man with the past." That deserves it's own story, and I'm not quite sure that I can tell it yet.
