Finally here!

I'm exhausted, hungry, excited, and did I mention exhausted? I started my trek from Chicago on Friday night. My mom and aunt dropped me off and I began to miss my mom once I walked through the doors of the airport. I'm not sure I would really call it homesickness yet. I'm used to being very far from home and not being able to see my parents for months at a time, but this is a little different of course.

The flight to Copenhangen was nothing too exciting, which I guess is a good thing. They served us dinner almost immediately so people could get some sleep. I wasn't too tired after dinner so I watched The Little Mermaid. I was getting sleepy after that but I have trouble falling asleep on planes even when I am tired. I've found that listening to a podcast I've heard a million times helps me drift off better than listening to music, so I started listening to a Nerdist Podcast and quickly fell asleep. Once I woke up I was happy to see that we only had an hour and a half left! That was pretty surprising to me. When Rachel and I flew to Amsterdam, it felt like time was just crawling by and I almost had a panic attack. But this time the flight was over in a second.  

Once we landed, I found my gate for my Tallinn flight. It boarded an hour later and after a quick one hour flight I was in Estonia! Getting my bag did not take long and all I had to do was wait for my bus to Tartu. There was a indoor spot where you could wait for the busses but even inside it was cold! I also realized that the buses do not wait around or give people inside any time to get on. You have to be outside when the bus pulls up to the curb or you are not getting on! The bus came at five minutes after seven, so I left the warmth and stood on the curb at seven. A younger couple was standing next to me and when the bus came the very nice man helped me put my bag in the storage area on the side of the bus. The bus ride was about two hours but it seemed like a lot longer.

Once I got off is when things got just a little difficult. There were no signs for Taxis or anything like that when I got off. There were a few taxis in a parking lot across the street, but I wasn't sure if they were available or if they were waiting for someone. It was already dark so I couldn't see their lights well. So I asked a man who was picking his girlfriend up about the taxis since they were speaking English to each other. He said I didn't need one. He pointed towards another building and said my dorm was very close to that one. He helped with my bag and once we got to the corner he said he and his girlfriend couldn't walk with me anymore. His girlfriend did not look too pleased about this and said they should walk with me. I didn't want to bother him anymore, so I said I was fine and walked myself. It wasn't really that far, but the streets weren't shoveled, so it was hard to roll my bag and the cold air was making it hard for me to breath. Another college student walking down the street asked if I needed help (first in Estonian and then in English) and she helped me find the dorm. She agreed the dorm was relatively close but because of the weather the man shouldn't have told me to walk. She helped me to the door and then she left. But once I got up to the counter I realized I didn't have enough Euros to pay the deposit so I had to run outside again to an ATM. Once I got my keys and got to my room, I realized that some of the other girls were already moved in, but none of them were in the room. Then I had to make up my bed. I decided to just buy the sheet, pillow and comforter set offered at the front desk so I would be able to sleep well my first night. I was kind of irritated to find it didn't come with a fitted sheet, so I'm just tucking in a regular sheet for now. I decided to write this now so I could charge my phone a bit. My mom bought me a convertor but I can't figure it out and I don't want to burn the place down or ruin my phone or computer, so I'll wait until someone can help me.

(I tried to go to bed at around midnight when I wrote this first part but I woke up at about three thirty in the morning. I listened to four Nerdist podcast trying to fall asleep but no luck).

It occurred to me when I woke up this morning I ate nothing yesterday. This is out of the norm for me since I am always hungry and can rarely go an hour without needing to eat at least a little something. They served us a small breakfast on the plane to Copenhagen (some yogurt, orange juice, granola and a sandwich) but I was nauseous when I woke up as usual. I drank the orange juice and some tea to calm my stomach, but now I really want some food. However, as hungry as I am, nothing sounds good to eat. I got fries from the cafe I am in and I bought some yogurt, bread and cheese from the store next to my dorm. I admit I was a little scared to leave the dorm but I knew I needed to find wifi so I could tell my parents I was safe. Everyone is Estonia is very nice and very understanding of my lack of Estonian. I'll probably go back to my room and rest for a bit. Talk you all later!