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| Chris Estonia June 25, 2007 Tere Hommikust- Sometimes it is hard to believe that this is doing work for our father… really. We recently got internet at our apartment. We have eaten several Estonian dishes but have begun to frequent ‘Grande Pizza’. Grande Pizza is a favorite of many youths. And it is cheap; dinner and two drinks for less than $5 a piece. It’s almost like the value menu back home. A Wendy’s Classic Double (maybe even the triple) with Cheese, fries, and a Dr. Pepper would be fantastic. Yesterday was Johannepaev. The day before that was Johannepaev Eve (there’s another name for it but I can’t remember it at the moment). Anyway, it is St. John’s day. Subsequently, it was also the summer solstice. I mentioned in the last update about how there’s never ‘night’ here. Well, the sun dipped below the horizon for about an hour. That’s a little different for a Kansas man.
We’ve spent the last 4 days at a camp in southern Estonia. The name of city/location of the camp was Nuutsaku. Kris and I were surrounded by hyper, loud, aggressive 7-12 year olds who spoke no English. It was a stretch on our language skills but ended up being incredible. Also, going to summer camps is a HUGE Estonian tradition, kids do it every summer. Highlights of the camp: the sauna. Our last night at camp Kris, Maret, Tiit, and I snuck down to the lake to go swimming when our kids were in bed. It had been raining off and on, and Estonia isn’t the warmest place as it is, so the water was freezing. We endured about 15 minutes of it when Johannes came and asked us if we wanted to go to the sauna (except Maret, guys and girls go to the sauna at different times). We walk in to the building with the sauna and all the dudes strip down naked. Haha…. That’s not how we do things in America. But we’re Estonians now… anyways, the sauna was at 95 Celsius. I know that may seem unfathomable, but trust me, it was. We stayed in the sauna for about 15 minutes then everyone runs down to the lake, dives in a couple of times then runs back to the sauna. We did this three or four times. The sauna at its hottest reached 100 (which is boiling). When you would blow on the back of your hand, it almost burned the skin. Amazing. There’s more to be said about the sauna but enough for now. Every camp has a hike through the woods. The hike always consists of a series of checkpoints where the kids have certain tasks to do. I volunteered Kris and me to help with this. We were placed at the last available station. It was the furthest away from camp (about ¾ of a mile). It was also situated at the heart of Mosquito Country, which is why it was still available. Unfortunately, I don’t speak Estonian the best so I was unaware of what we got ourselves into. We killed 50 mosquitoes in less than 20 minutes. We had a pile of mosquitoes after 3 hours our there… it was one of the most miserable times of my life. At camp I was asked to share my testimony. I did. Maret has asked me questions about it since we’ve been back in Lagedi. Ardo (a kid in our cabin), got bit in the face by a dog during the hike through the woods. I schooled some kids in basketball (and volleyball). I kayaked for the first time and found ruins of an old wall on our hike to our checkpoint. And!!! A Russian guy came up on a bike while we were waiting on kids to show up on our checkpoint. He hopped off and began to speak to us in Russian. That didn’t work. We told him (in Estonian!) that we were with the camp down the road. (I was a little timid because the majority of Russians we’ve met have been drunk and I thought perhaps we were trespassing.) He told us through sign language that he was Russian, but that now he was Estonian. We told him we were believers. He showed us that he believed god was in the trees, the earth, that nature was his god. As he told us about this he was crying. Soon thereafter kids showed up, the Russian man spoke with a group leader very briefly then he rode off into the sunset on a rickety old bike. It was an intense 10 minutes. Personally how am I doing? I’m alright. To be honest, a lot of my heart is still at home. I struggle with this almost daily (camp was a brief respite from it). I’ve questioned my faith and my purpose here. What am I doing? My life here is so… easy? How is this ‘work’? I remember one of my first classes at college, a professor asked, “What does your faith do for you?” I’m still figuring that out. Being here has intensified the question, sometimes that question isn’t the most pleasant. Sometimes I simply want to be home with the familiar, to not feel this being torn in two: my love at home and learning to love folks here. If you have time feel free to yarp for me. And for Kris as well- he has been fighting a sinus infection for over a month now; it’s just getting old. Also: Our language study (this is the last week!) The discussion groups we will soon be starting Our faith and purpose here (maybe confidence is tied into this?) The kids from camp, several come from very rough homes, and we made several really good friends. My heart- missing Traci- for comfort. Communication from everyone back home is always welcomed (and hoped for). Email me and let me know what’s up or even questions you have about Estonia. I love you- In the name of the Son- Chris Dubya
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Well, today marks 4 weeks since we left the States. So far it has gone pretty quick. Life here has fit like a glove since we arrived. Our home here with Heli and Maret, the daily train rides to school, the m’s we’re working with, everything has gone incredibly smooth. Something that hasn’t been as smooth is picking up the language. Tell ya what, it simply isn’t the easiest thing in the world. I’m trying though and making progress. Just now Kris and I got back to our apartment from a barbeque at a friend’s house. We met new people today, were able to sit around and listen. At the barbeque I wasn’t able to follow conversations but I did hear several words and through context understood several sentences. That was encouraging.
