I woke up this morning at 7 am, the earliest yet (not counting my first few nights of waking at 3 and 4 am). I am relieved that I might be, finally, adjusting to the local time. Because Estonia is on the Baltic and so far north, most days and nights are multiple nuances of grey. Yesterday - 'clear' according to the weather forecast- meant we had a blue grey sky in the morning followed by an afternoon of delicate and light snow. I walked around in the afternoon feeling like I had entered a lovely snow globe. I woke this morning to find that the tree branches across the street were etched in white. I made tea, lit a candle and watched the sky turn light grey as the sun arose (it was about 8 am).
Walking in Old Town or down by the harbor, it feels as if I have entered a different time and universe that is both old and modern (as I walked yesterday, inside the pastel colored medieval walls of Old Town buildings were coffee and chocolate cafes filled with young people attending to their glowing computers on wifi. An incredible mix.
The past few days I have been settling in e.g. finding out where to buy food and toilet paper, exploring the town and meeting some of my colleagues Here are some first impressions:
1) Similar to the time I spent in Vilnius, Lithuania, Estonians fit what I think of as 'typical ballet body people'. The young men and women are tall with (as they say) 'legs up to their armpits'. They are delicate boned and light skin with either dark or white blonde hair. People are friendly but private. I suspect the people I meet who initiate conversations with me in shops and on the street are probably Russian rather than native Estonian.
2) This country is super high tech...at least in the city. Everything is done by credit card connected to a local bank account...so I will pay all my bills by transferring money from my account to the account I owe money to, and people are fine with my charging even small amount of Euros (this is actually useful, since Estonia has only recently changed from Estonian Kroner to the Euro and there are apparently alot of fraudulent bills floating around. Some of the more upscale stores have scanners for all Euro bills I use).
3) The mix of old and new is apparent when I think about where to shop for food, In the City Center there are several large up-scale grocery stores with prepared food, alcohol and fresh produce for sale. Close to me (and further away from the Old Town) there is a cheaper local market that seems to sell bulk items but also has less consistent products availability. What they have is cheaper and in quantity. They also have a fresh bakery selling the typical Estonian dark rye bread next to fancy creamy sweet pasteries and a fresh/smoked fish market all housed in a Russian-type concrete bunker building. I also went to the Central Market yesterday (about a 15 minute walk...I think...if I don't get lost on the way.) which resembles the markets I remember from Lithuania and Latvia the last time we were here. This market is a group of separate shops, mainly run by older Russian men and women. Outside the main and only building are stalls selling clothing, socks, shoes and other cheaper items. Inside different stalls sell eggs, fish, meat, fruit and veggies- mainly cabbage, potatoes and onions, (it seems that kale is a gourmet food item here). I bought some honey from an older babushka-headed Russian women who mimed to me that 'this honey' (from apple blossoms I think) is for stomach and digestive problems while this other honey (not sure what flowers they were from) was for colds and chest ailments. We smiled alot and I got a container of honey.
4) The town seems easily walkable. In my exploring it seems to take less time than I expect to get to places. In walking the old and new is also quite apparent. In the city center there are sleek and tall glass and steel buildings next to old style wooden houses painted a pastel green or blue. It is easy crossing the street (not like the Middle East or Vietnam), people follow the street lights and there are pedestrian crosswalks and cars actually STOP, when someone is crossing. I see lots of moms with baby carriages navigating the snowy streets. Lots of older people too, using canes to keep their balance. If someone slips on the ice no-one reacts or turns to help them. The person who has fallen usually kneels or stays fallen for a moment, probably to make sure they are OK, and then they just stand up and continue on their way. When I asked a colleague about this (no one seemed to look at fallen people or ask if they need help or are OK) she said ' well what can you do, it happens and you just get up and continue on...'
5) Asian restaurants seem to have cooks from India BUT the menus are mainly Chinese with a few Thai specialities and also a few Indian dishes (mainly curries and rice dishes). I have eaten out twice and also actually found two Turkish kebab places in town, so I can get my Mediterranean food fix as needed.
6) I am just beginning to get a sense of ethnic diversity and prejudice here. I walked to the only Jewish synagogue yesterday. It is a beautiful modern set of buildings with a synagogue, school and community center with Jewish museum, I met the rabbi (Lubovitcher from Israel). The congregation is mainly expatriated Russian, including the shul secretary, who didn't wear traditional orthodox covering (her head was bare and didn't look like a wig) but also made a slight face when I described my home synagogue with its female rabbi. (I hope to attend more and learn about the Jewish community here) To get into the synagogue there was a guard and metal detector but minimal actual enforcement. People have said that they have very little anti-Semitism here- and in someways there feels like there is a minimal Jewish presence in general.
Interestingly, while there is a larger Muslim population (mainly from Kazakstan and other Soviet areas) there is apparently only a small masjid (not a mosque..more like a community center) I was told that while Estonia is supportive of this community building a mosque, they have not yet actually approved any of the proposed locations.
OK, this is getting long, and its probably time to close. I meet folks from the school next week and will start focusing on academics more intensely, so for the moment I am enjoying time to think and explore my new surroundings.
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