Estonia is an interesting mix of Communist history and Western capitalism, with stories of imprisonment and excecution alongside stores like H&M or McDonalds that we might see in the U.S. I have turned into a closet anthropologist since arriving here, and I find myself observing the habits and behaviors of locals. For instance, Estonians are very shy and have very small social circles. At the same time, they can be very lively and welcoming when they get involved in popular traditions, like going to the sauna!
On Wednesday of this week, I went snowshoeing in the Estonian countryside with my co-workers, the perfect Estonian activity to cap off my six winter weeks here. Snowshoeing allows Estonians to cross vast expanses of snowy landscape quickly without sinking into snow piles. We traveled to Otepää, the winter capital of Estonia, to snowshoe across a farm called Metsatu, which is famous for its beavers, bears and foxes. Otepää is also the historic resting place of the original flag of the first Republic of Estonia. Bundled up in lots of gear, hiking across hills and through forests as the sun set around 4:30 PM, we felt very peaceful. I understand now why Estonians consider themselves "forest people."
Other highlights of the past six weeks in Estonia included cross-country skiing, eating lots of chocolate truffles (Estonia has a booming truffle industry) and visiting well-designed Estonian museums like the National Museum and the KGB Cells. In general, I have seen how Estonia is a country that is proud of its ties with nature and how far it has come since the end of Soviet occupation in 1991. As I write, the second semester at the University of Tartu is about to start and the city is coming out of hibernation.
