by KYYX4ever » Sat Oct 02, 2004 5:15 am
ExRat,
I lived in Latvia for 2 & 1/2 years in the Peace Corps from 1992-94. We were the first group of volunteers to go over there following their independence. In fact, Peace Corps got the keys to the office (no small feat, trying to wrest such an item from the newly forming local mafia!) the DAY our plane landed.
At first we were called "Peace Corps Baltics", as opposed to what later became PC Estonia, PC Latvia, and PC Lithuania. As a result, during those 2 years, they brought all three of us groups together for conferences and such. We taught English in high schools & colleges. The conferences would be in places like Riga (Latvia), Kaunas & Vilnius (Lithuania), and Parnu and Tallinn. There were 43 of us volunteers, and getting together was ALWAYS a highlight of our time over there.
ANYWAY, I liked Estonia, even though it was always (in the winters) cold and dark. In some ways, so were the Estonians. There was this saying amongst the Baltic peoples: In Lithuania, when it came to say goodbye, it took forever, and you'd have a hard time getting that person out the door. But in Estonia, your guest would leave in no time flat, often before saying goodbye. This was referring to how Estonians didn't mince words and mess around, and how Lithuanians loved to chat and sit and chat. Estonians seemed more resolute, more cut-to-the chase type of people, no messing around. They took the hardest stance against the Russians living there--they had the most difficult residency requirements for the Russians living there ( as compared to the Latvians and Liths), and it made news constantly. Tensions ran high in places like Narva, in particular, because there were so many Russians. ( Latvians tried enacting tough citizenship requirements, but Russians complained their way around that; human rights groups got all up in it, and the Lats eased it up.) Liths simply let them all be citizens and had very few problems with their smaller Russian minority. That's what I predominantly remember about Estonia, that they were so tough. They'd have to be...living up in the cold like that !
However, in the summers, it was always sunny ( i LOVED that!!), and they had the BIGGEST Jani parties( the summer solstice celebration--I forget the Estonian word for it). These people went all out, staying in the forest for 2 or 3 days jumping over bonfires, and all sorts of other pagan rituals. (Latvians went nuts, too--but I spent my last Jani, in '94, with some friends in Haapsalu, and it was even more wild than Latvia). I liked Parnu quite a bit---the feel of the town was cute--and of course Tallinn rocked a hard jam. What a gorgeous city ! I loved all the cobblestoned streets, the architecture, the colors of the buildings, and the windy-ness of the narrow streets. I spent a memorable evening at a popular bar called "Estli Tall" (or something like that...it meant "donkey stall", I think) seeing a Latvian band. Estonians didn't dance, but they sure could drink and sing and shout. And smoke cigarettes like chimneys.
Overall, Estonia transitioned the most quickly into a free-market economy. They had the best official-looking money--I remember "EestiPank" printed on them...heh, "Pank" heh!--as opposed to the transitional currencies of the other 2 Baltic countries, which got turned into toilet paper after 2 years! Estonia was very much like Finland ( for natural reasons, such as the propinquity of their culture and language.) Finally, Estonian is one of THE MOST diificult languages EVER, with something like 16 cases, no future tense, and no genders ( I think) which made it insane. I learned some basic Estonian to get around--numbers, directions, stuff like that.
My fave word was still "Pood".
A little wordy, but maybe that helps answer your questions ? Let me know; I'll share more [:)]