May 5th, 2015: Returned from my final adventure abroad. I met the most fantastic people. All of us were in the stages of returning to our own countries, and agreed "So much to do, so little time."
May 11th, 2015: Alena's headed to a conference in Poland tomorrow, and won't be back until after I leave. So, she took a break from packing and we had tea and cake together.
May 15th, 2015: On my way back from Yulia's, I looked at my watch as I passed the bus station. 2:50am. In exactly 6 days my bus departs and I'll be leaving Tartu for the forseeable future.
May 16th, 2015: The suitcase has been dusted off and is (more or less) ready to start receiving contents. Two-thirds of the boxes have been packed. Ugh. Just no.
May 21st, 2015: So much to do today!!! The house lady was schedule to come at 3p, but she came at 2:30p, so I had half an hour less time to clean the room. I ended up shrinking the mattress cover (When it says "follow instructions", they should really include instructions), and packaging up boxes to send home. With the help of Agnese and Eesti Post, my suitcase is still overweight. I have accepted the inevitability of overweight baggage fees. I don't like it, but that's the way it is.
Fancy dress going away party for myself and Michal; fancy dress for Agnese and I, that is. Food, games, friends, kohuke: I can't imagine a much better night. When we left early in the morning of the 22nd....
May 22nd, 2015: We headed for the Arch Bridge. Philip and Agnese have crossed it, but the rest of us haven't. Since it's my last night in town, I had to do it. Michal decided to take the reverse-plunge with me and we successfully whooped and hollered upon arriving not-dead on the other side. A couple of girls passing handed us flowers and celebrated with us. Then I had to take a Tide-to-go pen to my new skirt. It should survive as well.
I repacked my bag and we headed to the bus station. Yes, I cried once in the comfort of the teeny-tiny bus. I'd been gone only 6 minutes and already missed everyone. And this was just the first leg of a 33 hour journey that would take place in the span of 15 hours (wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey). I did manage to communicate with the bus driver only in Estonian when he asked if I was going to the airport (short version, I wasn't), though my suitcase ended up with a gash in it. Battle wounds.
Once in Tallinn I took a cab to the harbour, and then the ferry to Helsinki. Another proud traveler moment: I was able to figure out the tram/bus system to get me to the airport (where I am now writing this!). Only two more legs to go until I see Marteam, but one of those will be the longest flight of my life. Huzzah!
---So, turns out the flight from Reykjavik to Seattle is only 7 hours. Which is awesome, because I thought it was around 15. Not the longest of my life, but still not the teleportation we'd all like it to have been.
I cried more than expected at leaving Tallinn behind. Tallinn wasn't home, but still. But the homework I needed to get done helped focus me to finding an outlet and doing more than staring at the receding skyline of spires.
IN SUMMARY: I've been home for... far longer than it should have taken to get around to write this. And I'm really finishing this so I don't have to write a paper. Such is life. I made it home, attended my brother's graduation. Oddly, it feels like I never left. There are things that are different, but it's still strangely familiar. I find myself staring at the postcard Tobi sent me of Tartu (I realized it's an old photo, before Club Atlantis had a dock) and walk through my walk to lectures or piljardiklubi in my head. I miss all my friends more than the city, though I am already getting a bit of cabin fever having been in one place for the last month and a half. I've looked at plane ticket prices, so Europe can prepare itself for my return. In short, while I'm glad to be back home, back to my "real" life, I miss Europe, Estonia, and that little bit of dream life I lived abroad. <3 <3
P.S. Chances are I'll edit this and add things later, but I still have 2 more blog posts that have been in "draft" mode far too long, and the geezer on the other couch seems to be out of reading material, so here it is.
"I saw the light fade from the sky
On the wind I heard a sigh
As the snowflakes cover
My fallen brothers
I will say this last goodbye
Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the sea
Under cloud, beneath the stars
Over snow and winter's morn
I turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me,
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell
Many places I have been
Many sorrows I have seen
But I don't regret
Nor will I forget
All who took that road with me
Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill, and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the sea
To these memories I will hold
With your blessing I will go
To turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me,
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell
I bid you all a very fond farewell"
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