Let’s just say this week has been full of surprises.
[No pictures for 5ish paragraphs due to context of surprise] 😉
Beginning on Monday with the Border & Immigration police pointing to December 19th (my birthday) and reprimanding in broken English, “You must go back to America on this day.” My eyes widened, partially due to the dryness caused by the frigid winter temperatures. I curiously responded, “Does it have to be America?”
“UK, London, Africa, just not in Europe”.
I thought, “Okay, okay, I can work with that.” I traveled the globe in my head… for free.
I made eye contact with my supervisor who was also serving as my translator and instantly shook the romantic thoughts. Back to mirroring the police and putting my Estonian government-worker face on; AKA: Serious and stoic, yet secretly yearning for light and goofy energy.
After another day at the Department on Tuesday, my boss exclaimed, “Wouldn’t it be the best birthday present ever if Estonia lets you stay in the country?!” My eyes went to the right and my head slowly nodded, “Best birthday present everrrr”, I said in an uber-American accent, drawing out the “r” until my brain signaled for an emergency breath.
After a lot of Estonian and a little (or zero) understanding, my boss looked at me concerned, insisting, “Let’s meet tomorrow at 11am to discuss this Visa issue…”
2 words pop in my head, “Oh” and “Shit”.
OH SHIT.
With visa stress combined with annual birthday stress, I think my coworkers knew the only 2 words that had the power to fight off these demons: SUSHI and WINE.
Sushi and wine and everything’s fine. I went to bed Tuesday evening digestively and intoxicatingly coated to perfection.
I awoke to Skype and FaceTime calls, emails, and various other messages. My birthday arrived and I felt far from alone with all the non-harmonious ringtones singing. I ate breakfast and opened presents on Skype with mom, FaceTimed with my best friend in the States who has the same birthday as I do, and said goodnight to them as I got ready for my day. A little apprehensive to leave my warm apartment and not only bear the coldest day to date, but have another discussion about my visa.
I took myself, my 2 pairs of pants, stepped outside and welcomed my 90th day in Estonia. A very important number to the Border & Immigration Department. I walked to the 2nd floor of the Community and noticed the lights were MIA. I slowly rounded a corner and saw candles flickering through a glass door. I stopped. Meh, probably for a little too long. One of my supervisors motioned me forward, with her face saying, “come on Jen, you can do it, don’t be scared”.
I walk into a dark room only lit by candles and heard, “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jennifer Rachel Berman” in perfect English. Someone tells me to make a wish, demanding that it can’t be one about my current visa status. I blow, and I am stuttering in my brain which obviously means I am speaking gibberish from my mouth.
The lights turn on. All my favorite people, some holding flowers, some holding gifts, all holding smiles. I can’t find the words. Part of me wants to cry, part of me wants to jump on everyone with excitement, part of me wants to melt into a little ball and say “awww” for 10-minutes.
Touched. I am so touched. We sit, eat cake, and I stare, totally mesmerized by the people in the room and the fact that they cleared their morning schedules to celebrate someone they’ve only known for 90 days. I’ve got good eggs all around me.
I’m not even at my desk for 30-minutes and 2 teens come from school to sing me happy birthday. In perfect English again,but just freshly Googled. The rest of the day was lovely and light, drastically different from the past 2 days.
The evening brought on another surprise in that I might have had the best Chicago-style pan pizza EVER. As they “cheersed”, I watched the glasses clinking and felt a warmness come over me; partially in utter disbelief that I could be 90 days in a new country, surrounded by a solid group of good friends. Already feeling comfortable enough to yell/whine for English when my brains too tired for Russian… Now that says something.
I engaged in many fits of uncontrollable laughter – to the point of tears and significant pizza calorie burning.
As we put on our gloves and coats, I thanked them for celebrating with me and for making my day so special. The words “thank you for being born” floated through my ringing ears and settled comfortably in my brain. Thank you for being born. Jesus, guys.
What a remarkably special day it turned out to be; honestly, I was a little anxious and so not looking forward to waking up alone in a quiet apartment on my birthday. Usually, I’m cool with it and I rock some tunes to offset the silence, but this was a definite first for a birthday. With technology, thank G-d, I was far from alone. The rest of the day, I was far from it too.
The great news is I’m staying in Estonia, although I can’t travel beyond its’ borders for the next 30 days. Good thing there’s a thousand Estonian islands. I wonder how big the country would be if all the islands were pushed together and added to mainland Estonia? Think about it.
Normally this time of year I would be hopping standby flights to avoid winter in Texas and enjoy summer in South Africa; this includes spending Christmas in the Atlanta airport and not thinking twice about leaving my coat behind. This year I definitely won’t be escaping winter – in fact, I legally cannot. It’s probably not even a good idea to be near the airport, and it’s definitely not a good idea to leave my coat behind. Polar opposite, but it’s what I signed up for! Bring it on.
By the way, Dr. Oz says persimmons and pistachios are good for fighting cardiovascular disease. I thought you should know.
Merry almost-Christmas! Enjoy the spirit of the holidays and spread some joy!
Blurg,
Jenstonia – stayin’ in Estonia. No really, I can’t leave.
:: jenstonia :: 