Estonia 1998: Glorious Recovery Week in Tartu

From the archives: It turns out that I was blogging long before anyone had ever heard the term “blog.” Twenty years ago I was an exchange student in Estonia. While studying at the University of Tartu, I created an online travelogue to keep my family and friends apprised of my experiences. Both my life and the nation of Estonia have changed a lot the two decades since. This reprise is providing me with a glimpse at who I was back then and the excuse to learn more about more recent developments in my temporary home, even if some of the opinions that I expressed back then may make me a little bit uncomfortable today. It is interesting to see how people grow and change.

12-19 January 1998

This was a simply wonderful week. It kind of started off on a low point as I went through a bit of post travel depression, but ended on a higher plane than I have been for a long time. The events of the week, on the outside, do not appear all that momentous, but the emotional goings on were simply incredible. Needless to say, you will not read all of it here. As much as I enjoy sharing my feelings and sensations with you about this journey, some things are not meant to be shared with the world, rather they must be savored, enjoyed and hidden away in one’s deepest heart of hearts.

This was a wonderful week, I know that I enjoyed it. I just hope that a little of it was able to come through in this writing. May all of your lives be as happy as mine is right as this very moment.

12 January 1998
Monday

It feels so good to be home. I have been gone from Tartu now for two weeks. It has been an incredible two weeks and I have seen and done more in that time than I thought was physically possible. This is not a complaint, more of a statement of exhaustion. It is now time to take some time off and just relax for a couple of days. I know that I need it. My brain and my body cannot handle a continuation of the hectic pace that I have been living for the past couple of weeks.

13 January 1998
Tuesday

A most incredible day. I finally broke down and replaced the old stinky parka that I have been wearing for the past year. It was well worth the $15 I paid for it, but it has served it’s time and deserves to die. The stains simply became too much and the fact that it could never come clean completely made it too much to continue wearing. A special at Rüütli Keskus made it affordable.

I spent most of the afternoon with Nuri. We had lunch and some good talks. It was good to see him again after the holidays. Tomorrow we are going to see The Fifth Element, a movie that I well expect to be a horrible experience.

14 January 1998
Wednesday

This evening our international student Wednesday night ritual resumed. We went to see The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis. It was a surprisingly good movie. I had not expected much but once I saw it I must admit that I really liked it. I think what made it work was the fact that the movie did not take itself too seriously. The premise, plot and scenery was such that had they attempted to play it straight it would have failed. But since it was basically designed as a spoof of itself it did manage to come together really well.

After the movie we went to Illegaard and had a great time catching up with everyone that we had not seen since before Christmas.

15 January 1998
Thursday

I am slowly digging myself out of my do nothing rut. I went to the travel agent today to look into tickets for going to Helsinki and home in July. I made the mistake of buying the Helsinki tickets already. Mistake because I have confirmed everything with the people that I am planning to go visit. I need to call tomorrow and see if all of the dates work out and make sure that I have a place to sleep once I arrive. I know that this is not the ideal way to plan things, but maybe someday I will learn to figure this all out.

Tomorrow I have to get on the phone and get everything figured out for next week. I really hope that it all works out. We’ll see how it will, but the Lord has always brought everything together in the past, there is no reason to doubt that it will yet again. Faith is an incredible thing, the power of the God in which one has faith is even better. What a sensation.

16 January 1998
Friday

This afternoon I went to the computer center and played around for a while where I met Silke. We went for a late afternoon lunch and had a great time together. After that I went to visit Arno. I just wanted to kill some time and I helped to distract him from his reading for just a little bit. It seemed to work well and I am really happy that I went there.

We finished off the night at Krooks. It was a good time and I got to see Matti again for the first time since he left for the United States. I think that he is really looking forward to his life beginning anew in Tallinn with new job for Hansabank.

17-18 January 1998
Saturday-Sunday

Last night I went to Atlantis with a group of the international students…Rest of this entry edited out, suffice it say that I had a very good time.

Unfortunately it was a much too late night and I was not able to make it to morning church, instead I went afternoon services at the Baptist church. The service was an hour and a half of complete and utter tedium but I did get a chance to meet a very nice teacher at the theological academy who is working on the new translation of the Bible into Estonian language. The most interesting part is that it is being translated from German, not from the original Hebrew and Greek. Sounds like a very interesting person. A good restful weekend.

19 January 1998
Monday

Today I got everything set for my stay in Helsinki this weekend. My ticket is set and I have a place to stay, both there and on my way up while I am in Tallinn. I am really looking forward to this weekend.

After a couple days of really hard post travel depression and minor (or not so minor, in a few cases) bouts of homesickness, I was really starting to feel better about myself and the lifestyle that I am living. The exact causes shall remain confidential, but it is enough to say that life is definitely turning around.

It’s amazing how the fortunes of life turn at moment’s notice. An incredible sensation. Whoever said that the life of normal people is not interesting?

This evening Nuri came over and we had dinner and watched X-Files and Goodfellas. It was an interesting look into the world of the mafia. What started out as a glamorous and joyous life ended in tragedy. I think that the film did a good job of showing the true side of the mafia. It is not the expensive suits and fancy cars that it is the reality, it is the drugs, the death, the fear, and the blood that truly make those operations run and it should serve as a good lesson to everyone about how it can truly turn out. Only the lucky ones survive, and even their lives are ruined by the trauma. A lesson all too often lost in today’s headlines.