Forth Day - eesti keel & Käsmu

Waking up in the calm of the Estonian countryside, to church bells and bird song so contrasted the last few days in tourist filled Tallinn. The little peninsular of Käsmu in Lahemaa national park had been disturbed by our arrival the night before with our huge coach feeling so out of place on the dirt roads of the quaint village.

Celebrating Suvi’s birthday with our first traditional Sauna and some of us even braving the Baltic Sea at 1am.

We needed waking up in the morning with energetic games in the garden (with a local dog joining in). Not only did the games woke us up but they began our morning of learning the Estonian language.

We heard the Estonian version of Little Red Riding Hood (Väike Punamütsike), and played a game with the same name to teach us new Estonian words.

The group was split into two; those who were more advanced in Estonian and those with less advanced skills in the language.

The less advanced group started from basics; learning the alphabet and the numbers. From this we moved on to practical phrases, such as how to tell the time and how to ask for something in a shop. The lesson ended with a test taken in the second grade by Estonian children. We came out all feeling far more confident with the language.

The more advanced group learned the points of the compass, before moving onto grammar and tenses, finishing off finding out completely new and obscure Estonian words.

Our lunch of Seljanka tasted as if it had come straight from your Vanaema, and was hugely welcomed after all our lessons.

The first free time in a while and many people were exhausted from the last few days immersing ourselves as much as possible in Estonian culture, and spent the time enjoying the Estonian countryside, resting, or watching Game of Thrones.

Javier and Calvin got acquainted with the locals, making friends with an old lady living in the village, visiting her house and testing out their newly learned Estonian.

In the afternoon the group came together to walk to Kuradisaar, Devil’s Island in English. The island lived up to its name; the long walk out through the shallow sea over so many pebbles was made worthwhile with the beautiful views and clear water. Storm clouds approached on the way back, but we all arrived before the storm arrived. With the day ending as calmly as it started.

Calvin, Suvi, & Eva