I Love the Awesome Up In Her'

Okay, so. Here we go on the catching up. But real quick, I had a really good conversation with my Hungarian flatmate, Gergo, Wednesday night that went until almost 4 AM. It was very nice, and I really understand where he's coming from on a lot of different issues, such as immigration and cultural integration. YAY!! Cultural exchange!!

Thursday

I don't have class until 6 pm. This is somewhat nice, but I really just spend the whole day waiting for class to happen. So it's kind of anti-climactic and what not.

But I got up, ran, and then met up with Genevieve and Peter for lunch at a place that supposedly was very cheap for students. We hunted in the "other" mall in town, Tasku, to try and find this place. Apparently, after looking at a map, you have to go through one of the stores to get to it, so it's very much hidden. But it's really awesomely decorated, and it was relatively cheap for students, so I may return here.

Then Genevieve made us boys help her pick out a new coat, and we actually rocked at it. I mean, I can't shop for me all too well, but telling her that coats looked ugly was easy. And we were successful. She purchased a coat that she looks wonderful in, and she looks much more European and well-dressed. Success fo' sho'.


Russian was VERY small, maybe 9 of us in class. I felt like I was back at Rhodes, and it made me quite happy, really. And it was a very pleasant class overall. Then I was walking back to Raatuse... and it finally hit me that I was home. I really do think of Tartu as home. I love it. Not just enjoy it or realize that I was in Tartu, but if you ever took me back to Tartu, I would feel like home. It's such a wonderful feeling, but I'm really excited about it. Yay!

I then went back to my old flat to have dinner with Timofey and Ada. I do love them very much, and I love talking with them. It was a wonderful dinner of soup and bread. And really good conversation about education and military service. A lot of information swapped, and it was very "cultural" in general.

Thursday was then Ibiza Night at Club Illusion. Ibiza is an island off the southern coast of Spain, and it is known as the party island for all of Europe. But they had free entrance for international students and a free drink if you showed up in shorts. So I of course went. The DJ was pretty good, but I danced with Timofey and Ada a lot and the Dutch - Niels, Auke, and Marten. It was a good night of dancing, and I actually stayed until it closed at 3 AM. This is a first, because I thought it closed so much later. I might stay til close every night now.

Friday

Slept in really late. Then I ran, and ate a pizza at Taverna. Then I did nothing except watch some clips on YouTube of people dancing. I wasted sooo much time with it. Kind of ridiculous... several hours... Wow, my life is worth emulating, yes? Ugh. But anyway.

Then we went to a bar where Jack, the Brit, was invited to DJ as a test run to see if it will become a weekly thing. I played a game of billiards... and lost twice. Ugh. Peppe (Italy) and I did the best we could, but obviously it wasn't enough. Then we danced with Jack's music, but the pub was really not well circulated with air, so I just stood outside a couple of times to keep from sweating all over the floor. A good night with good music.

Saturday (Today)

Got up late (2pm) and went for a long run. It was good, as the temperatures have really warmed up, so I wore my thinnest running pants and just my long-sleeve top. It was perfect. Absolutely wonderful. But apparently it has been snowing at night, as the trails away from town had fresh snow on them, but Tartu itself hasn't frozen over again. This is very good.

I then fashioned a lunch in my room and received a call from Rainis!! Rainis is the Estonian who introduced himself to me earlier in the week, and he was confirming my interest in going to the sauna. I said, hell yes, and left to go and get beers for the sauna. Then I met up with Mario and Marte, both of whom I had met earlier in February, but hadn't seen since. We then walked to the sauna, which was deceivingly far away... like other side of Tartu I hadn't even been yet. But the Technology Institute of Tartu (as they told me 12 times) has a small sauna in the basement, but Rainis and another runner Rahna are molecular biology students (Rainis undergrad, Rahna PhD), so we get into the building without a problem.

I was honestly very nervous about the sauna prior to it, because I didn't know how many runners would be there, and I didn't know anything about them. Running communities are very close, and it can be difficult for a newbie to establish any sort of a place to sleep. So I was nervous about sitting naked in a room full of guys I didn't know, sweating like crazy, and trying to be the American they want to know. hahaha.

Now, they teased me that I wouldn't be able to stand the heat. And in my head, I was saying, "Get out of my house. I'm from Texas. I've roofed, run, and existed in Texas in the afternoon on summer days. I may hate the heat, but I can take it."

FALSE.

When we first got in the sauna, it wasn't a problem. Yeah, it was hot, but I could take the heat, whatever. HOLY SWEET MOTHER. Once they started getting it going... 75 degrees Celsius. That's almost 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The tip of my beer bottle was slightly burning every time I put it to my lips. The very glass of my beer was hot from the temperature!! I was sweating like CRAZY. As was everyone else, and I almost made it the longest... but Mario apparently LOVES the heat, and I was not in a mood to compete as to who could survive heat strokes.

So we just sat outside on the floor and talked international politics and culture. It was kind of orgasmic for me. Talking with Estonians about being Estonian, how they see Russia, how they see themselves, how they perceive the economic crisis. Crazy awesome. But the floor was literally covered in the sweat off our bodies... Then we got into the sauna again. And it was starting at 70 degrees, so you start sweating at 158 F pretty quick. I lasted a few minutes, then got the crap out of there.

We showered and then headed for Zavood, because the international students were going to DJ there tonight. After the long walk we arrived, and there was no one there. But they were keen on drinking a little, so they stayed. Then more and more international students trickled in, and they actually met a huge number of my friends. It was really nice. I got to show of my Estonian friends. hahaha. I felt sooo cool. haha.

And I LOVE these guys. They have politically offensive senses of humor and they laugh really easily. It's a dream for me. And I'm not too much slower than them, except for the fact that they are all marathoners. Sweet mother, I would never run a marathon, but they love it. They say it's the most fun race ever. FALSE. haha.

A fantastic few days. Truly wonderful, actually. Really nice. *sigh* Yeah.