There's a First for Everything

Tere! Welcome to my brand new, squeaky clean, fresh blog! By the end of my three months in Tallinn, Estonia I hope to have used it up, made it smell of travels and adventures, like a book almost but with a very real story - my story, at the heart of the Baltic.

This is the very first blog entry of my very first blog ever. Only fitting it should be about firsts! I've been in Tallinn, Estonia for three weeks now. Time is flying! And yet it also seems like forever ago that left my fine, fine hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Have I mentioned this is my first time in Estonia? It's also the first time I've traveled abroad alone. That was quite the experience. No one to rant to on the plane because the person beside you is being rude by taking up the whole empty row to sleep. Did I mention said person didn't even have a seat in the row to begin with? That row was supposed to be all mine! Yeah I guess I'm still a little bit bitter. But enough about that.

Sunrise over the clouds. It's the little things in life.

Let's talk about my first security clearance for my first internship in a far off land. And how the security clearance was my first look into how the U.S. government works - four long months of waiting and biting fingernails (wait, that actually didn't happen, just a figure of speech), some tears over what I should do if I don't get clearance, and so on and so forth. But I hear that top secret clearances take way longer! I guess I should count myself lucky. But I'm here! And that's what matters. And when I got here, what did I find? My first ever roommate! And my first apartment with a terrace (and a spectacular view I might add) - all courtesy of the USG (thank you, thank you).

I really wasn't kidding about the view.

But let's not forget my first Eid alone, and the adventure of finding the mosque (it's not a real mosque, more like a cultural center; but it's still cozy and functions as a mosque should), and my first lesson in Estonian pronunciation (you gotta make it sound like you're about to throw up basically) - all in one day! Did you know Estonian has 14 cases? Yeah, neither did I. I thought Russian was impossible with it's 6 cases. Sheesh. I commend anyone who can master it, hats off to them.

Last, but certainly not least my very first Holocaust site. That was certainly humbling. I never thought Estonia would be the first place I walked on the site of a former Nazi concentration camp (or forced labor camp). It came to the realization that I was standing on what used to be a forced labor camp as I was standing on a memorial where the bodies of the dead are now buried. Nothing is left of the camp, but there is a brand new permanent exhibition there that tells the story of the Klooga Camp, and is a stark reminder that one of the largest mass murders in Estonian history occurred there. 2,000+ poor souls lost their lives here when the Germans liquidated the camp as the retreated from the advancing Soviets.

I lied about the Holocaust being the last. Finally (and this truly is the last first for now), I made my way to an army base, the very first time I'd ever been on an army base. That was fantastic! I was given the opportunity to see how Estonian forces live while on base, what the battalion there does, and I even got to sit inside a military APV! How incredible!

I told you, it was pretty exciting.

Internships are meant to be for learning. I've been with the embassy just about 3 weeks now, and I've learned more than I ever could have possibly learned in a classroom or from someone regurgitating facts and stories and whatnot. This internship is incredible and I'm extremely lucky and grateful to be working with the best of people, in the best of environments, in a pretty kick ass city, in a pretty unbelievable country. I'm sitting on Russia's doorstep. I'm drinking tea in the heart of the Baltic. Estonia truly is the hidden gem of the Baltic, and I feel as if it's constantly underestimated. In a beautiful country with beautiful people teaching me hands on the life of an expat and the traditions of locals, what's not to like?