Well, I had all kinds of plans for myself this weekend but most of them didn't work out. I did get to do the ghost tour of Tallinn on Friday night...they take you to all these places in Old Town and tell you the ghost legends. The picture with the guy dressed like a monk is from the tour...that was a well that they used to sacrifice cats in to protect their water supply (sorry all you cat lovers out there!); they believed the devil was poisoning the water supply. The tour was kind of cool but it was more than cool outside...our taste of Spring left on Friday mid-day. Saturday morning when I woke up, I went to the window and opened the curtains and...what the heck?...it took me a minute to register that what I was seeing on the neighboring rooftops was SNOW! Most of it melted by mid-day but it was windy and bitter outside so that kind of killed my outdoor plans for Saturday (bummer!)
I did go with Julia to the orthodox church to have the bread she made blessed for Easter--the orthodox Easter was this weekend. It was such a beautiful church, unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside. She gave me some of the bread to take home (you don't eat the bread you make you give it away) and it was really good...especially since it was her first time making it.
On the way home Saturday night, I slid on some slipperly steps and fell down a few. No one, and I mean no one, asked if I was ok or offered to help. Very weird. Fortunately I was able to catch a cab home and my ankle is only a little sprained but I still cannot fathom that no one offered any assistance...they just looked at me and kept going. (I have some additional thoughts about this that I cannot share in this public forum... LOL!)
I am meeting my friend Eiki for lunch on Monday; he is an Estonian friend I met years ago when I was in school in Norway. I am looking forward to seeing him again. He lives in Tartu which is a few hours from here but he will be in Tallinn on business.
Sorry I don't have as many pictures this week but between the weather and my accident, I haven't been out as much as I might have liked. I did include one picture of a statue that is near the edge of Old Town that I really like...it shows a couple in a passionate embrace, which I find kind of odd since PDA is extremely rare here. I really want to know the story behind this statue!
Thanks to everyone from home who have been emailing and commenting on my blog. It has been really good to hear from everyone.
Everything looks great...see you in ten days.
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Tom
so nothing on the ghost tour then? no ghosts?
ReplyDelete~jamie :)
Hey Lisa, just a few words about Estonians´ behavior in public places... I was an exchange student in the states last year. The first difference I noticed between the Americans and Estonians was how they behaved with the strangers. I was in AT&T shop standing in a line when a girl entered to the shop and started telling everyone that she had just fallen and broken her almost brand new iPhone. Everyone said how sorry they were. I told to myself that this scene would never happen in Estonia. Cause we are so (maybe too?) reserved.
ReplyDeleteWhen I came back to Estonia, I had almost forgotten how people avoid eye contact with the strangers, don´t apologize when they run into you etc. They just wanna go on with their lives, and not to deal with other people´s problems and they don´t wanna bother the others with their problems. This may be a reason why Estonian civic society is still underdeveloped (a slogan "building stronger community" sounds really weird for most of us, though we have come to realize that it is important to communicate with the others and figure out what is best for us. You may check the web page of the project My Estonia which will be held on the 1st of May - http://www.minueesti.ee/?lng=en ).
Two months ago my grandpa slipped on an icy pathway and broke his hip. There were cars passing him but no one stopped to ask if he was okay. So he had to wave people to make them understand that he really needed help.
Well, maybe some people didnt stop cause they thought he was just a drunk. But I believe most of them thought...it may sound unbelievable to you... that it would have been impolite to start talking to him. Cause people want to prove that they can take care of themselves and when you are helping them too early they may get offended. By "too early" I mean before they really say or express it some other way that they really need help.
I know it may seem crazy but that´s the weird cultural difference. I think it´s a Soviet heritage and you may see the same behavior in most of the Eastern European countries. People were really afraid of strangers back then. You could never be sure which one of them was an kgb agent. So you better avoided all of them.
From Lisa: kb, if you see this, thanks for your comment. I have wondered myself if the 'occupation times' influences this behavior at all. How is your grandfather's hip now? (I know, it is very American of me to ask! LOL)
ReplyDeleteOh ouch! How is your ankle?
ReplyDeleteDo you miss home a lot? It sounds so different... Sounds like tons of neat buildings to check out though...
Lindy came over for dinner the other night and wants all of us to go out once you get back and I GOT GOSSIP!!
lol, my DH just said that the ghosts are all the people that no one would help
ReplyDeleteHey, so what is the scoop with the statue? Did you ever get the story behind it??
ReplyDeleteThere is no story with the statue...it is called The Kissers and it was put there in 2007.
ReplyDeleteLisa
Estonians are just plain mean, especially to foreigners, especially in Tallinn. If you were in a small town people would have helped you, that is if anyone was around... even the biggest villages are nearly devoid of life. In America I have always been accustomed to giving money to beggars. Mostly this means african american crack heads in the inner-city areas of Chicago or D.C. (places I have lived, and I don't mean to sound racist but that is the reality of american socio-economic segregation) Now, in Estonia? you see little old ladies flocking to the most populated street corners to beg for money. If I graciously would give several dollars to a crack head (a perfectly capable young man) why on earth wouldn't I give a few kroons to a little old lady? In america, giving a poor person some change is looked upon as a good deed. In Estonia it is nearly a crime... I actually felt embarrassed when I gave an old lady 10 kroons, and the entire time my wife was telling me not to give her anything! My wife is Estonian by the way = ) I found your blog cuz I googled "hapu piim". Have fun in Estonia = )
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