Pieces of me

To my knowledge, I didn't forget any of my belongings in Estonia this time. I did, however, leave pieces of my heart in Estonia when I left. The tail end of my trip was filled with tons of laughter, lots of love, meat and potatoes, and more alcohol than I've consumed in a while (actually, this sums up my whole holiday). I could talk write you into boredom over how great of a time I had and how hard it was for me to leave, but I won't. In my last few days, I spent a lot of time with two of my favorite new people while Jane got some work done; my cousin Mait and his girlfriend Merli. We're already planning what we'll do during my next trip in April and Mait brought up the idea of visiting me in Seattle! I wish I had more time to spend with them but have a lot to look forward to!  

Mait and I  - I swear he looks just like my brother! 

Mait made us his favorite food for dinner my last night - schnitzel! Delicious! (And of course there were potatoes, too!)

Merli is a sweetheart; nice choice, Mait!

I miss Jane so much already. I feel like I've known her for years and we can't help but laugh the whole time we're together! I owe her big time for hosting me for two trips - I'll pay you back in Seattle! 

Three Musketeers? Jane, Signe, and I have a great chemistry together. 

The men in this family are the strong, silent type - just like Sven.  

Sven, Jane, Signe, Aunt Aino, and I enjoyed a huge lunch on my last afternoon in Tallinn. 

I may not be able to communicate with her on my own, but I LOVE Aunt Aino. You would too, if you met her!

My trip may be over but my memories will last a lifetime. I feel so at home with these guys and somehow it feels like they've known me for years (and much better than some people I have known for years). Jane and I actually finished some of each others' sentences. Mait is pulling for me to marry an Estonian and suggested his good friend, as is Aunt Aino who is pressuring me to have babies and raise them in Estonia... If I keep going, I may never stop... Needless to say, it was hard to leave. At least my flights were on time, my suitcase within the allotted limit, and my jars of pumpkin and pickles didn't break. I may have left a piece (okay, several) of me in Estonia but I brought just as many back to France with me!

Bisous,
-kelse

Merry Christmas! Go get naked... Christmas in Kooraste!

Some people talk about surviving Christmas with their family; this isn't usually the case for me. However, this year, I can say that I survived Christmas in Kooraste! With the crazy levels of snow, getting to Sirje and Lembit's was questionable... We decided not to take Jane's car and instead have Lembit come pick us up (after our ride, Liivi and the other Lembit, decided it was best not to risk the roads). At times during the drive, I imagined I was either in a video game or on an amusement park ride; we were slippin' and slidin' and there were some spinning tires... We also had to pull over once or twice to scrape the ice off the windshield. The hail/snow mixture was freezing as it hit the windshield. I joked that they could blame me for the snow, since Estonia was making up for all the White Christmases I haven't had.

Eventually, we made it there and were welcomed into the warmth of their home before we were promptly shown the door... Presents? Dinner? After the sauna. It literally was like, "Merry Christmas! Go get naked. And you must jump in the snow. We'll feed you and you can give us our presents later. Go on now, get in the sauna." (Maybe that's not quite verbatim but that's what happened.) So Jane and I put our ski coats and snow boots back on, were each handed a drink, and we tromped through the snow to the suitsu sauna. Once we were thoroughly baked and drenched in sweat, we ran out into the snow, tossing armloads of snow onto ourselves and into the air - we were crazy enough to do it three times! It was actually a rush and not as painful as I anticipated. (Margo had said "It was terrible" and he only had the guts to jump in the snow once... Take that!)

The suitsu suana... I dare you! 

Inside the suitsu sauna. The buckets of water are used to through water onto the coals and for washing as much of the baked ham smell off as you can when you're done.

This was my third jump into the snow... Did you really think I'd take a picture without the towel? Each time, we threw handfuls of snow onto ourselves or at each other - your toes quickly get really cold!!  

Sirje and Lembit singing "Oh Christmas Tree" in Estonian for their present

Margo's girlfriend, Anneka, had tons of questions to ask about Americans, life in the States, and why my family hasn't moved back to Estonia. It was fun to talk about the differences between both countries and opened my eyes, once more to things I wish were different in the US. Finally it was time for dinner... more blood sausage, potatoes, vodka, sauerkraut, pickled pumpkin, and pickles... delicious. Sirje noticed how much of the pumpkin I was eating and sent me home with two jars of pickled pumpkin and a jar of her pickles (all homemade); plus lihapirukad and gingerbread cookies. When we woke up this morning, she served me a plate of blood sausage, stuffed beef round, potatoes, sauerkraut, and lihapirukad with coffee. Lesson learned? If you come to Estonia, come hungry! 

Anneka and Margo 

Bisous,
-kelse

Christmas Eve in Tabivere

Yesterday afternoon, we trekked over by foot to Liivi and Lembit's apartment for a Christmas Eve feast! We spent the afternoon chatting and watching movies before our delicious meal was served. Instead of my usual Thanksgiving dinner repeat, I enjoyed a plate of blood sausage, goose, a lihapirukad, pumpkin, sauerkraut, and potatoes. I also had Liivi's homemade pork paté and raisin-nut bread. I was stuffed by the end of it all and so much of the food on the table went untouched, too. 

Yum yum yum. 

Jane, Tessu, and I had fun chatting and watching movies. 

Lembit poured tons of vodka shots (chased with homemade cranberry juice) and then Jane tried to get me drunk off the Vana Tallinn and yogurt drink so she could make me eat a cinnamon-flavored mushroom that scared me. I decided to offer up as much of this stiff drink as I could... 

And then this happened... Santa Claus came! (Do I sound like I'm slurring to you? Is that really my voice? ) We had to either sing or recite a poem to get our gifts from him. First, I sang "Jingle Bells" and then I tried to recite "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" but got stuck after a few lines... Then Jane and I just gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was a very friendly Santa! He found me, but the gifts sent to me from the US got left out of his bag somehow... Hopefully they arrive sometime soon... damned post office... Jane knit me a pair of mittens with a matching beanie, from Tiina I got some some Estonian dark chocolate and socks she had knit with my name and a flower on them, from Liivi and Lembit, I got I cute little cactus decorated like Santa, and from Tessu and Roodi, I got a ton of kisses. 

Here's Liivi, Tiina, and Lembit singing for Santa in Estonian. 

I must have made it on both the Naughty and Nice lists this year!

I made sure to tell him I'd be in America next year! 

Estonia and the rest of Europe is being hit by a storm called Scarlet... Our trek back to Tiina's apartment was through a ton of snow! Half of the trail we'd walked through in the afternoon was gone on our walk back. It takes a lot of more effort to walk in the snow than regular walking... In all, it was a great Christmas Eve! We should be leaving for Kooraste in a little while... wish us luck driving through the storm! They've already shoveled out the driveway... 

I hope that where ever you are and whoever you're with, that you're having a very Merry Christmas! I know that I am! 

Bisous, 

-kelse

Walking in a winter wonderland... aka Tartu

Here's a photo montage of what I've been up to the past few days in Tartu. 

Kalevipoeg statue 

Mayor's office and Kissing Students Statue - The windows are meant to be like an Advent calendar

Jõululodi (Christmas barge) 

I wonder if they're embarrassed by the cold...?

Baked Apple yogurt + Milk + Vana Tallinn = A cocktail way better than egg nog (to be honest, I don't like egg nog) 

Truffle making party with Jane's co-workers! Four flavors and 258 pieces later... It was a good night! 

Papa's brother Osvald and sister-in-law Lehte's gravesite. Jane got a workout shoveling away the snow!

Jane made her favorite food - cabbage rolls. They were delicious! 

Meat market where my Aunt Sirje works. 

I'm having a great time here and haven't even gotten sad about the fact that it's the night before Christmas Eve and I'm half a world away from home. We've been busy with activities and baking...

• Jane's friends/co-workers came over Tuesday night and we made truffles to give away as Christmas gifts. We had four flavors going in our little operation... Domino (like Oreo's) crumbs with cream cheese, and dark chocolate; white chocolate with vanilla wafers, coconut, almond flakes, and brandy; dark chocolate with chili powder, and dark chocolate with condensed milk, brandy, and chocolate milk powder. In total, we make and individually wrapped 258 pieces. I got a sugar rush just from inhaling it all! 
• We had Vana Tallinn cocktails at our truffle party... Baked Apple yogurt thinned with milk and some Vana Tallinn. I loved the warmth of the cinnamon... It reminded me of egg nog only way better - I don't actually like egg nog. 
• Jane had to work Wednesday morning, so I took to the town by myself! I must have done something right when I got dress - I survived the cold! Of course, I had two layers of everything on... But you have to when it's this cold and you're a whiny American. 
• Last night, Jane made me her favorite food for dinner... cabbage rolls! They were delicious! While she was making them, we snacked on left over pieces of the plain boiled cabbage - I may be addicted. She also made Kissell, a fruit soup. It was so good! We had it last night with vanilla kohupi (translates as "curd" but it's more like ricotta or something...) and this morning, I had it with manna (semolina pudding), which was delicious! Basically, the soup was made of raisins, apples, potato starch, cinnamon, and water... It can easily be adapted to other berries and I might be addicted to it. 

I'm picking up a lot of random words in Estonian but only know a few sentences... I will save them for a separate post, as they're very entertaining for English speakers! It's technically Christmas Eve for me! We'll be spending it in Tabivere with more family and tons of food. Santa Claus comes tonight and we get to see him! I can't wait! I'll fill you in later but I'm going to head to bed!

Häid pühi! Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! 
Bisous,
-kelse

Häid pühi! - Merry Christmas! (Estonian)
Joyeux Noël!  - Merry Christmas! (French)

Welcome to land of snow

Frankfurt, Germany - I'm lucky to have made it in and out nearly on schedule!

Warm dinner waiting for us! Yummy pork, potatoes, and homemade sauerkraut, brownies and homemade gingerbread cookies for dessert with clear wine and tea to warm us up!

Siiri and Toñu (Siiri is Uncle Toñu's daughter, this Toñu is her husband - he's hilarious)

The big Russian church in Tallinn

Hilarious guy outside of the Old Hansa restaurant in Old Tallinn. He was talking a mile a minute about what life was like in the old days. 

The view of Tallinn is a bit different from the last time, huh? Gorgeous! 

Round one of dinner at Aunt Aino's: Black bread with either cheese, anchovies and eggs or with cheese and dill, potato salad with tomatoes. I didn't take a picture of the sült, but I ate that, too. (I passed on the bread with anchovies...)

Round 2 of dinner at Aunt Aino's: Blood sausage, pickled pumpkin, and a berry relish/sauce that I need to find the translation for... I had two servings of this plate. Yum. 

The fabulous Aunt Aino. I hardly understand a word she says but I know without a doubt that she has such a wonderful personality! She's beautiful and I love her. 

I had a wonderful day, can't you tell?
Bisous,
-kelse

I made up my mind (with help from my mom)

I'm really indecisive. My indecision is at it's worst when whatever I'm trying to figure out only affects me. Co-workers used to tease me for calling my mom to ask her what I wanted for lunch (only to say 'no' to her first few suggestions). Another (fairly well-known) fact about me is that I'm stubborn. Again, I try not to allow my stubbornness to affect others negatively. Usually my stubbornness means I won't allow myself to do something because I'd already declared that I wouldn't. So you see the problem is... I realized that Christmas is in just over a month and I had absolutely no plans other than to get out of Lille. 

I very quickly (and with a heavy heart) declined my mom's offer of a ticket home. I don't want to come home for Christmas because it wouldn't be the same without my dad and because I honestly don't have it in me to say goodbye to everyone all over again. Not to mention that I very openly told everyone that I will not be coming home until July and I'm too damn stubborn to change my mind on this. And most importantly, I want to travel more while I have the vacation time. 

Now that I had it down to where I'm not going... I needed to narrow it down to where I am going. Anyone that I would have traveled with is actually going home for Christmas or is going somewhere warm. In my opinion, warm and Christmas shouldn't be in the same sentence unless to describe that you were cuddled up next to "a warm fire opening Christmas presents." So, my plan was to travel by myself! There are so many great places to go for the Christmas markets, a white Christmas, and regular old sightseeing. Figuring out which option best suited me was stressing me out. Prague? Krakow? Germany? Vienna? And then I got an invitation that I'm not stupid enough to pass up. After a tearful Skype session with my mom, I finally made up my mind and have  tickets booked! 

Christmas is no time to experiment with taking an entire trip on your own; especially  your first Christmas away from home. I have the rest of my life to see the rest of Europe, so I am overjoyed to say that I am going back to Estonia for Christmas! Talk about a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, right? (I guess both my trips to Estonia can be described this way, as will my third, later this spring.) I'll get to spend the holidays with family after all! And I can't even describe how excited I am to experience their Christmas traditions and share them with my family back home. They may be Pagan but they love Christmas! 

Just a few days ago I was dreading the holidays... now the next month couldn't go by any faster! What could be more Christmas-like than this? 

Bisous, 

-kelse

Salu family history

The Salu family is huge - even bigger than the Bergman family. If you're a Bergman, you understand the audacity it takes to say that. Today, we were taken to the sites of a few important pieces of family history - that even some of the family here hadn't seen! I definitely think our visit is bringing the family together! :D

Every Estonian has access to a sauna... Here's the one at Papa's family homestead in Veia ; it's smaller than the smoke sauna we experienced. This one isn't a smoke sauna, so the smoke from the fire and the steam from the coals escaped from the chimney.

 

The Sauna at Papa's Homestead 

I remember that Nanna and papa visited this stone but didn't know the importance of it. Etched in stone, it says that Kubja Hans Senior (1684-1751),  Kubja Hans Junior (1727 -1800) and their wives had this land and that their relatives took on the name Salum (which later became our family name Salu). At the bottom, it says that our family has 1600 members, which was the count from 1990 when the rock was installed. It's not common for Estonians (or maybe for most people), to be able to trace their families back that far.

Papa's House

We didn't get to see as much of the house as we'd have liked but I'm kind of glad that we didn't, because I think we may have been disappointed at the way it's being lived in. The family living there things that other members in the family want to take the house from them. However, we did get to spend time in the kitchen and look through old family photos. No mom, I didn't see a fireplace. I didn't expect to see that even pictures in the 1970's and 1980's would be in black and white! Knowing the word kiisu actually came in handy, as there was a really cute, very tiny kitten in the kitchen. The family living there didn't seem to have a lot, but served us coffee, cookies, bread, vodka, and coffee liquor.They were kind and I do think they appreciated that family from America was there to visit. When we left, I said goodbye to Eino in Russian and he said something  back to me about there not going to be a war. Scott said "I'll see you again soon" in Russian but it sounded to them like he said "I'm drunk", even though he said it correctly.

Arno's Tree

There's a tree planted for every one of my papa's siblings. This is his tree! It stands next to Osvald's tree and is the biggest of all of the trees. Close by to the house, there was also a small forest of trees that Papa and his brothers planted.

To be continued when I have the patience!

Bisous, 

-kelse