Essay by Gabriela V.

1. My Experience In Estonia
Project “Europe is laughing”
When the plan for our trip to Estonia was ready and they told us when
we were going to travel, the date of the departure seemed so distant to
me. I felt like it would never come but at the same time I knew the time
would pass so fast. The conference in Bulgaria had just ended and until
the conference in Tallinn there were 4 months left. At that time, the
others from the group and I would think about the travel a lot, but then
we just forgot about it and didn’t think much about it until there was
about a week until the day of our flight to Estonia. We were so excited!
After all, that was the first travel of a Bulgarian group in the project. We
were the ones that would come back first and have what to tell.
Estonia is a country very different from Bulgaria, and we had never
gone to a country in that region before, so we were really excited and
were looking forward to visiting it. The day before the flight we all
couldn’t get a lot of sleep, mainly because of the enthusiasm and the
fact we had to arrive at the airport at about 5 a.m., but I didn’t really
feel tired. We actually had 2 flights – one to Frankfurt, where we had to
wait 4 hours to get on the one to Tallinn. When we finally arrived to
Tallinn Airport, our Estonian partners welcomed us. That’s when I first
saw the girl who was going to host me there – Helen. She had come to
pick me up with her father. They were very nice and kind. Helen and I
liked each other the moment we saw each other and the first thing we
did was to hug and greet each other. Short after that we arrived at her
home and I met the rest of her family – her mother and her brothers.
Her mother is a true sweetheart – a kind woman and a good housewife
who is dedicated to her job at the same time. I honestly loved her
family.

2. Through the next days I had the opportunity to meet great new people
from all of the foreign groups – mostly from Poland and Turkey, as well
as the Estonian hosts. Some of them I really liked, and we found a lot of
things in common. Helen even invited some of the people at her home
and we had a great time watching movies, laughing and eating pizza,
even speaking some Russian. We were all fun and spontaneous and
truly had a fun time.
The rest of the time we were involved in the program prepared by our
Estonian partners. It was very similar to the one of the conference in
Bulgaria, so we were more or less prepared. However, we still had new
unexpected things to discover. At some moments, during the activities
organized outside, we were freezing as it was so cold, but we eventually
managed to warm ourselves up!  If not the weather, the people were
very warm, contrary to what they say about Estonians – that they are
cold people. Of course they are not as warm as Spanish or Turkish
people, but our Estonian partners were truly kind and hospitable. I must
say that I even felt as if Helen’s family was my own. In the end, when I
knew I had to leave soon, I realized I would miss these people, their love
and the atmosphere they greeted me with. The night before my flight
back, I found myself sitting on the bed crying, with all the nice moments
rolling in my head. Thank you for all the times you made me feel like a
part of your family! I will surely remember you and hopefully see you
again someday, my Estonian family. <3
Gabriela Videnova