As I look beyond my living room window to the once totally barren trees, I see a different space than what I’ve grown used to; I see a forest of green and a bright blue sky that stays lit for all but four hours. A new season, a new chapter from the universe to differentiate spring from winter, spring from fall.
It is stunning here. I am constantly taken back to September, when I first arrived in Estonia, when the trees were flavored with a plethora of reds, yellows, and oranges; when it was all new and I was creating the first steps in the first chapter of my Estonia. I rewind a little further, all the time, of the days back in Dallas when I spent hours upon hours on Google maps (street view) – literally walking through the streets of Tallinn with my index finger on touch-screen glass for days on end.
I had a massive map of Northern Europe sprawled out on my mother’s dining room table for months – she was thrilled! I studied the map, picturing my frizzy-haired self at a miniscule coordinate, wracking my brain to comprehend I was only kilometers away from mammoth Russia and genital-shaped Finland.
I now do the same in the real life – imagine myself as a tiny blue dot on a map, surrounded in people, places, cities, countries I never thought I would be so lucky to be so close to; the vision of my frizzy-haired self as a tiny speck on a map keeps me humbled, keeps me permanently pinched to remember where I am and how special it is that I’m here.
<– my frizzy and friends in Latvia
And that’s how I feel almost daily. The longer days and greener trees help, for sure. The last few weeks of winter I might not have felt so humbled to be in the presence of 6-month old ice and grey skies, but hey – new season, new chapter right?
In the past month I’ve traveled to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Berlin. I spent a week total traveling from East to West, fascinated with everything these unique cities had to offer. I saw some incredible sights, met some interesting new people, reunited with old friends, and experienced what I could without a plan or expectation in sight. Due to the nature and focus of my year, I chose to focus on Jewish life in these cities; history, movements, growth, revival and renewal.
It was hard, really hard, to go to cities where Jewish life was vibrant before the war, walk through countless cemeteries, unused Synagogues, museums, and preserved artifacts. Berlin became my opportunity to catch a breath of Jewish renewal, ironically in a city that has some of the best displays of experiential and interpretive memorials I’ve ever witnessed.
The JSC Fellow in Berlin was my key to understanding current Jewish life; after pointing out Hitler’s underground barracks, which is adjacent to one of the Holocaust memorials, she took me to the Jewish Quarter. We roamed through streets displaying commemorative lines where the Berlin wall stood, into an area buzzing with life. Hebrew permeated the air, schwarma and falafel restaurants stood in plain sight – I felt like I was in a city that left zero remnants of its’ infamous division. This is exactly what I subconsciously hoped to see and feel in an area that was as close to the West as it was to the East. At least on the surface.
I felt proud to fly home, eastward to Estonia, to a space that has also jumped leaps and bounds from its’ previous Soviet domination. I was also surprised to finally walk on a ground completely free of ice and negative temperatures. Ayyyy-men.
The past few weeks have been a total thrill; work has been most productive and gratifying, the long days demand a boost in social life, and as each day quickly passes I find myself falling deeper in love with Tallinn. It’s a problem. I’m addicted.
I’ve befriended my neighbor who is a pianist, Jazz lover, and king of cultural activities in Estonia. He’s shown me more Tallinn the past 3 weeks than I’ve seen the past 8 months. I’ve seen live Jazz, been to an abundance of underground bars, seen the best of Estonian design in ex Soviet factories, jumped on rooftops I never knew existed, and was this (___) close to hopping on a midnight train to Russia. And somehow, unexpectedly, the first few pages of my spring chapter have been off to an exciting start!
But that’s not all: On late Thursday night, another American volunteer landed in Tallinn. He will be here for the next 40 days – working on projects with me, seeing the Baltics I’ve grown to love, and creating his own personal journey in this beautiful region of the world. I know for sure my life here will spice up exponentially having another volunteer by my side – and I’m so pumped to see how my days continue to twist and turn in this new season, new chapter.
On Friday, the teen leaders and I had our last Teen’s Program; the program was about Shavuot – so we decided to take a modern interpretation of the 10 commandments and create commandment-oriented scenes throughout the city. The teens got a map of Tallinn with X’s on them and had to perform challenges like “Chubby bunny (stuff your face) with marshmallows by the harbor” (from the commandment: Do not covet); or “Sneak a shopping cart out of the supermarket” (from the commandment: Do not steal); the program was a hit and we had more attendees than we’ve had the majority of the year – we got some great photos of the program, so enjoy them below!
Wishing you all a happy start to the summer season!
Over and out,
Jenstonia – addicted to Estonia
Links to my travels:
Berlin, Germany: https://plus.google.com/photos/108399238466982579218/albums/5871669855200234561?authkey=CIKqm47r6YKDowE
Prague, CZ: https://plus.google.com/photos/108399238466982579218/albums/5871655133395175377?authkey=CKv2qKb138umTw
Vienna, Austria: https://plus.google.com/photos/108399238466982579218/albums/5871649900204317425?authkey=CMaa9IP2wrKEJg
Budapest, Hungary: https://plus.google.com/photos/108399238466982579218/albums/5871645307644315921?authkey=CMCPpYeH1dvNFg
:: jenstonia :: 