Just keep pedaling

Tuesday/ teisipäev	Pudding
Wednesday/ kolmapäev	Berries and Bike Ride
Thursday/ neljapäev	Sign Sign Sign
Friday/ reede	Tarzan

Tuesday:

So today I decided to make the family some traditional South African pudding. Peppermint Crisp fridge tart. We rode to the shop nearby and I tried to find the ingredients that were closest to the ones I normally use. Which was harder than I thought it would be.  For example I ended up getting a type of caramel syrup instead of the normal caramel in a tin and there was no condense milk that I could find. The peppermint chocolate ended up being a dark chocolate with a little bit of a mint flavor. In the end it worked out fine. Didn’t taste quite as good but it was the best I could do with what I had. 

Wednesday:

I was woken by a knock on my window, I got up to have a look what was there. Opened the curtain to see a little pink note stuck on the window. “ärka üles Cianne! -Wake up Cianne!’ 

 

 

We spent some of the morning picking little red berries from the bushes in the garden which Epp has spent the day cleaning, they will be used to make jam.

The afternoon was very sunny (it’s been cloudy most of the time so it was nice to have some sun) so Mari and I went for a long bike ride through the forest. We went along a little sand track through tall pine trees which shaded us from the sun, which then opened to a larger track. We rode for a long time, I saw a sign saying 15km to the next town, then when we got there another sign saying 15km to the next town, and the 12km and so on. We did the whole track so it took a while. A tip for anyone who wants to go for a bike ride through a forest . . . keep your mouth closed. There are so many bugs, don’t know how many I swallowed and a few flew into my eyes as well. I was thinking I needed goggles, funny thing is as I thought this someone rode past us on a bike and yup they had goggles on haha.

So as we were riding we came upon a little castle tucked away in the trees. Mari gave me a little history lesson on the man who build it, Glehn.  We took a walk through the old plant house. I didn’t even notice it at first because it just looked like a pile of rocks. Turns out it was built into the ground, so when we walked around the side I was shocked to see an arched tunnel leading to a whole room made of stone. Bits of the roof had fallen away and we could see the green trees towering above. The roof itself looked somewhat like a group of spider webs linking together. I could just picture it when it was first built, teeming with all sorts of different plants and flowers. (I will put a video up next week)

Riding through the forest reminded me a lot about twilight . . . and then I had to laugh at myself because here I was riding a bike through a beautiful forest in a tiny European country and I was thinking of a teen vampire movie.

Thursday:

Well I had to go to the migration office today to get permission to stay in Estonia for a year. So at the camp we spent a long time filling out forms (those of us that weren’t from anywhere in Europe) we also had to write a letter explaining why we wanted to stay in Estonia for a year and what we would be doing here. So I wrote this lovely long letter blabbing on in my neatest handwriting and right at the very end, the last sentence on the page . . . I wrote the date wrong. So everyone had a bit of a laugh and I had to start again. Well now I had to sit and sign paper after paper after paper and then some more papers. 

On the way home we each got and ice cream, (me, Mari and Epp) The ice cream here is really good, very creamy. I have been told that Estonians like cream.

This evening I went to the Keila youth group with Epp. There were only eight people in total. But it was nice, we played a few games, did a bit of Bible study and that was it. Only problem is that Keila is a bit far to travel out every Thursday evening so I will try another youth that is closer to home next week with one of my new classmates. 

Friday:

Well today we were up nice and early, had some breakfast and then Mari and I hopped on the bikes and were off through the forest to an adventure park thing called Nomme seikluspark. So we begin the ride and I’m feeling very low on energy, probably because I was still waking up. We rode for a while and the familiar signs popped up along the way. 15km to this place then 12km to this place then 6 then 10 then another 12 and so on.

I eventually saw the blue roof of the center appear through the trees and was relieved to know we had arrived. We strapped ourselves to harnesses had a quick set of instructions and then were off. It was set up in five different tracks. Each track was a set of obstacles set between trees starting closer to the ground and gradually getting higher and higher. There were beams and wires to balance across as well as swinging ropes and nets. I felt like Tarzan jumping from one wooden platform up in the trees to the next, although Tarzan wasn’t strapped to a harness and tied onto ropes with a carabiner.

At the end of each track to get down we had to go down a Foefie Slide/ Flying fox (yes I had to Google how to spell foefie slide) which flew above some trees and across some water to finally land in a green net which you have to grab onto otherwise you just go flying backwards.

The ride back seemed to go on forever but surprisingly I had a lot more energy so it was fine. The signs came by, 15km, 12km, 6km, 15km and each time I saw one I could’t help thinking of Dory from ‘finding nemo’ and how she sang that really annoying song, ‘Just keep swimming. . .’ so that tune was stuck in my head. ‘just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling, pedaling, pedaling’

When we arrived home we realized we had five minutes to get to a little restaurant which we were invited to for my host sisters grandmothers birthday. So I quickly put on some jeans, sprayed some perfume, slapped on my worn in shoes and hoped on the bike again and we were off down the road to meet with my host sisters grandmother and cousins. When we got there and were seated I looked at the big tv hanging on the wall and what did I see . . . a little blue fish, Dory. Finding nemo was playing on the TV.
I was very proud of myself because I ordered my dessert (chocolate cake) in Estonian :) 

                                                                                

First Week

Monday/esmaspaev	Arrival
Tuesday/teisipaev	Vanalinn
Wednesday/kolmapaev	Injection/bike ride
Thursday/neljapaev	Home
Friday/reede	School/zoo
Saturday/ laupaev	Castle/Family
Sunday/ puhapaev	Church/lake
Monday/esmapaev	Shops

Monday/esmapaev:

So on Monday my host family came to fetch me from the camp. Kuliki and Jaak, my host mother and father. Piret (19), Epp (16) and Mari (13).

Got home and wow . . . big house! My room is amazing and yes also big. They have a sauna downstairs. A beautiful garden with apple trees and some other berry bushes.

The food has been amazing! On the first night we had a blue berry cake which is Epps own recipe and wow it was good! I’ve tried some strange stuff like this meat spread and cottage cheese. A whole lot of different berries.

The family is great, all really nice. Ask lots of questions and answer all of mine. They have a little dictionary lying around which they sometimes use in case they don’t know a word in English. Oh and of course let me not forget the cats Juus and Sonja who come and go as they please.  

Tuesday/teisipaev:

So on Tuesday my host sisters took me around Vanalinn. We went up an old Church right to the top. Climbed up a small, stone, spiraling staircase with 258 stairs to get to the top, but the view was completely worth it. We could clearly see the line between the new part of Tallinn and the old part. The buildings are strange but beautiful. Very old. Little flower stalls around every corner on the cobbles stone roads. A lot of tourist groups buzzing up and down, we tried to push our way though many large groups speaking different languages. I got some good pictures and had a good walk around. 

Mari also tried to teach me how to ride her unicycle . . . 

Wednesday/kolmapaev:

So on Wednesday I had to go for a tick injection . . . fun. But it was fine didn’t feel a thing. After that Mari and Piret took me for a bike ride through the forest near the back of the house. It’s like a loop road which goes for 8km through thick green forest. It was really cool, very  flat with only a few little up hills. We stopped a few times and Mari picked some different berries for me to try. It was good to get some exercise because the jet lag was still hitting me and I was feeling very tired so it was nice  to get outside and do something. 

This is Mari giving me a random berry to eat :) 

Thursday/nelipaev:

It was raining on Thursday so we stayed at home and played some board games and Mari taught me (well tried to teach me, I was hopeless) how to do a French braid. I learnt some new words in Estonian. Whenever we go out I take a little note book with me and then on the bus or in the car the family teaches me some new words and I write them down. Then when we get home I write them on sticky notes and put them all over my room. So my walls are yellow with sticky notes.

Friday/reede:

Friday morning I went with my host mother and Epp to my school so I could meet some teachers and get a bit of a tour. It was strange sitting in the little room while everyone spoke a different language. They talked for a long time, I’m assuming about the school and the different classes and whats involved in the film program as well as what I’ll need to do. It seemed the only person who was supposed to be getting all this information didn’t understand the language but afterwards Epp went through some of the stuff with me.

After that me, Epp, Mari and Piret went to Tallinn Zoo (loomaaed). It was really big and we did a lot of walking. Piret worked at the zoo in the holidays so when we went to the barn yard kinda thing she let us hold the small animals like the guinea pig, rabbit and chicken. We also got to feed the goats. It started raining again so we went to the indoor areas with snakes, crocodiles and gorillas. We saw a POLAR BEAR!!!!!!!! I was super excited about that haha because I’ve never seen a polar bear before and yeah I’ve now seen one. We have agreed that we’ll go to the zoo again in the winter because I’m curious what the animals (like camels and elephants) do in the snow.

Again at the end of the day I got my little book out and we wrote down some animals in Estonian, the first one I always seem to think of is ‘amblik’ spider.

Saturday/laupaev:

It was my host dads uncles birthday so we drove for a while out to the forest somewhere and spent the afternoon with the family.

On the way out there we stopped at Rakvere castle or rather the remains of the castle. Tall stone walls fixed into the mountain side with arched windows carved into the stone.

We went into this dark room lit by some red lights, it was the torture chamber which was kind of unsettling.  Plus it smelt funny in there. They spoke for a while about the different machines used for torturing people . . . lovely. The room was enough to creep me out, I’m so glad I didn’t understand what they were saying! 

At lunch with all the family Mari laughed and said to me “they’re talking about you” and I just nodded and said I know. There was a lot of food and I had the best custard slice ever, soooo good!!

There was a little girl there who tested her English skills on me. Constantly saying different colours and objects like spoon and plate. Then she tried to teach me some words in Estonian, it’s true what the YFU people have been saying all along, little children don’t care that you don’t understand them haha she just kept talking and saying words for me to copy even though I didn’t know what anything meant.

Sunday/puhapaev:

So on Sunday I went to church with my host dad, Epp and Mari. It’s a really small church compared to my one back in NZ. They have a youth group with about 8 people which is going to be different from the 60 I’m used to. The minister and his family are from America so they can speak English which I’m pleased about. During the service the ministers daughter, Greta (15) sat by me and translated. I’m really glad I found a church. I think in the future I’m going to be catching a train to get there and back in the mornings. And to the youth group on Thursday evenings.

Later Sunday evening  my host mom, Epp and Mari went to this quiet lake in the middle of a forest. It was way too cold for me but the three of them swam. The water was really dark, it looked just like coke a cola. It was very beautiful out there, this lake hidden in the tall pine trees.  The drive there took about an hour and a half.

Today, Monday 27^th

Well today we went shopping for school supplies. I had to get new shoes because in the schools here they change shoes when they get to school. We also had to get all the school books and pens. I woke up feeling a bit sick with a headache but the day at the shops was fun. Who thought shopping could be so relaxing?!?!? The shops here are really big compared to NZ. A lot of clothes shops (I was tempted to buy a whole lot of clothes but restrained myself to just one top) We got some ice cream, biscuits and chocolate (the chocolate here is soooooo good!!) then we caught a few buses and trolley buses home. From the last bus stop we had to walk the rest of the way home and it started pouring with rain. It was so good to hear thunder again but when we got home we were soaked to the bone. Dripping wet except for a little spot on my head which had been protected by the small umbrella. 

So my only pair of shoes that I have with me (apart from hiking boots and sports shoes) are now so worn in from all the walking during this week. I may need to get a new pair of shoes soon!!

Camp

The camp was really cool, we were there for four nights.

Everyone really gets to know everyone, names are a bit hard for me though because they are all unusual and hard to say but I am getting it. We play games and have language lessons in little groups, today we has a test, nothing serious just to see what we have learnt. I did pretty well. The basics of Estonian are easy but learning the cases is like what.the.cheese. so confusing, I seriously don’t understand but the leaders keep saying its fine because most Estonians don’t understand it all themselves haha. So here is my introduction in Estonian:

Tere,

Minu nimi on Cianne, Ma olen kuusteist. Minu Sunnipaev on neliteist August. Ma tulen uus-meremarrt. Ma olen vahetusopilane. Ma raagin Inglisekeelt.

On the bus ride here A taught me how to count to 20, I picked it up so i can now count to 20.

Well the food is so great like seriously seriously good. We have porridge and sandwhiches for breakfast evey morning with some red drink or lemon water. So good. Lunch time we have cooked meals, like pasta, rice and chicken. I have to say though, the desserts are yuk!! Haha not so great but the porridge like WOW. I think the one was called manu or something like that. 

Ok so I guess some of the people I have met, well there is Iris who is from Belgian. Alex who is from Mexico. My two room mates are Theresa and Karolin, both German. So there is this rock here and the rule is that everyone can only talk either English or Estonian and if you speak another language you have to carry around this rock. It mainly gets passed through the Germans but it’s very funny.

   

Well tonight was my first time in a Sauna, it was hot haha 80 degrees, then some people come in and they're like its so cold make it hotter and I'm just thinking to myself what you crazy people haha so you literally sit in a little room with a whole lot of people and sweat, like drip in sweat then you jump into a small cold pool. It wasn’t bad actually haha but I have to get used to it because that is what Estonians love, the sauna. So I think I will be in there a lot.

So tomorrow we meet our families which I am really excited about, cant wait to get there and unpack. Right now because its hard to reach clothes a lot of our stuff is just lying around on the beds or floor.

The languages here are crazy and when they speak English some are good, some not so great but you get used to it. There are only three of us who are actually English, me, Aiden and the Canadian girl.  So sometimes Aiden comes up to me and says 'I need some English!' haha its so true, so we eat together and can talk normally without picking simple words and speaking slowly. We can joke and actually understand the jokes.

So the other night the leaders called me and one other girl  up and they sang happy birthday and gave us each a chocolate. Then in Estonian tradition the lift the chair we are sitting on 16 times. Haha it was fun.

There are a lot of bugs here, mosquitoes especially and dragon flies and frogs. I held a little frog, it was the size of a jelly bean, maybe a little bit bigger.

Flights

Ok so through customs I was feeling excited and confused, yes very confused, trying to figure out where to go and so on. Got through to the other side and there I saw my family and friends standing in the fish bowel waving to me, it was strange because I could imagine what I looked like. 

Arrived in Australia and was met by a YFU person. I spent pretty much the whole day in Australia. Aiden arrived in the afternoon, I met him and his mother. We flew from Australia to Singapore and getting to our gate was rather tiring, let me tell you Singapore airport is big like seriously big. We’re walking down to our gate and see signs saying another 15min walk and so on. Indoor gardens, funny looking carpets and a lot of shops.

So on the flight we had a long talk about different things, laughed  and joked. Aiden mocked the way I said milk but really he said it weirdly because of that Aussie accent (which by the way, everyone here loves) I slept a lot again, put a movie on then just slept. I think it was because I had so many different things on my mind that sleeping was the only thing that I could do. It was uncomfortable though.

Anyways this was the longest flight. We got off at Helsinki, had to go through security, long queues. When we finally got through to the other side our names were being called so we ran. When we got there it said gate closed . . luckly the bus was still there, the lady gave us a stern look, fired some questions and then let us through. The bus took us to a little plane where we walked up steps to get in. The flight was so short literally just felt like up and down haha really short. The people now were speaking different languages. I’m guessing Estonian and Finnish but I couldn’t tell the difference.

When we arrived in Tallinn we were greeted by a very bubbly Tina and Silver. Both very nice, asked questions gave some info on the drive to the office. We were the first to arrive, about 8am Estonian time. At the YFU office we met more of the volunteers, they were all younger than I expected and there were a lot of them, and more kept arriving. So we were shown around the old town (vanalinn) This is the old part of Tallinn, which is the capitol of Estonia. The city has two sides the old and the new. The new is the modern sleek buildings and the old is the traditional old original buildings. It was strange because some of the buildings are colourful, pink, green, yellow. The roads are stone which is pretty cool but there is no foot path so we walk on the cobblestone roads and everyone just moves out of the way of the cars. There are a lot of tourists in Vanalinn. So we had a walk around and both me and Aiden were so exhausted, had a 35 hour flight and he got pretty much no sleep.  So in the afternoon 22 Germans came . . . wow is all I can say haha. Two Belgium’s  (the one had lived in NZ for a few years and wore one of the bone carving necklaces), two Austrians, three Mexicans, two from Thailand, a Canadian, an Australian and a New Zealander hoped on a bus and drove for about 40minutes to the camp.