As the title suggest, I get to sleep in a lot here. My schedule worked out so I usually only have class once a day. On Monday and Tuesday, I have the same class that starts at four fifteen. The rest of the week I have classes that start at twelve fifteen, except on Wednesday where my class starts at noon and I have another class at four fifteen. When I get back to CofC, having three or four classes a day again is going to be quite an adjustment. So far, I like all of my classes. I really can't think of one I dread going to, but my classes on Thursday and Friday do seem to drag on a little because they are at the end of the week. I do need to study more since most of my class grades are made up of one test and a paper, maybe a presentation. It's really hard to not see this whole thing as a vacation though.
Last Wednesday I went to the Estonian National Museum with my Estonian culture class. Our guide was very nice and spoke great English, so the museum trip was very enjoyable. It was very interesting to see how Estonians see their culture and what they see as particularly important to stress in a museum. The museum stressed the fact Estonians have always been farmers and fisherman who rely heavily on nature. Estonians seem very connected to nature and see it is a large part of their culture. They also seem to think of themselves as very hard working people. It was also interesting for me when our guide spoke of the time of Soviet Occupation. Even though she was talking about the time like it was a sadder time in the countries history, there wasn't a lot of resentment in her voice or words about the Soviets. She seemed to see it as a time in their history they could move on from. As someone who is interested in the impact of the Soviet Union on countries like Estonia, this was pretty interesting to me.
While it's on my mind, I do want to assure everyone I am safe in regards to what is happening in Ukraine (I have learned in class discussions it is incorrect to use the phrase "the Ukraine" because this is the was the way the part of the country was referred to by the Soviets). As far as my Russia trip is concerned, I will go as long as I feel safe and there are no travel warnings. I've received a few emails from the American embassy to avoid even peaceful protest, as many of them are in front of Russian consulates.
On a lighter note, last night Ariail and I went over to have a game night with her friend Chris and his friends. Ariail made brownies, of course. I realized after I had posted about her making brownies in Lithuania why this might not seem like a big deal but is to us. We have no ovens in our kitchens here in the dorm, only a stove, so we are taking advantage anytime we can use an oven. We played a really fun games, Dixit and Family Business. I won one round of each game so of course I thought they were fun. I think I liked Dixit the best. There are a bunch of cards (like 200) with really pretty art on them (not famous art pieces) with all sort of themes and genres. My cards had pictures such as a rabbit in a space uniform and a bunch of colored gears, weird but pretty images like that. Each player has six of these cards in their hand at a time. A player picks a card from their hand and tries to give a clue about it, not too specific but not too obvious. I had a card with a white rabbit going down a dark hole so I said "it reminds me of a disney movie". That player puts the card face down and the other players try to find a card in their hand that matches that clue and they put their card down too. All of the cards get shuffled and the players vote on which card they think belongs to the player who gave the clue. I hope that makes sense.
My roommate, Ana, also moved in yesterday. She’s from Spain and very nice. I do feel bad for her since she had to start classes immediately today and she traveled all day yesterday. It took me a good week before I started feeling up to actually do anything. My room looks a lot less sad and empty now someone else has moved in.
It is a little weird I’m already planning coming back to the US, even though I know I still have a lot of time left here. I decided I didn’t want to fly all the way to California to Tartu, so I’m going to stay with my friend Lia in New Jersey and we are going to spend a little time in New York. Depending on what happens with work, Tori might me able to join us. I’ll be pretty happy if my two wonderful friends get to meet each other. Idina Menzel is in a new musical, If/Then, that is moving to Broadway after being in DC for about a year, so maybe we will be able to go see that. Audra McDonald is also in a musical about Billie Holiday’s last performance, so that would be incredible to see too!
I also just Skyped with my mom and learned I received another study abroad scholarship, this one for $1,600. I’m very thankful to receive this scholarship on top of my other one and the stipend I’m receiving from Tartu. Every little bit helps! 
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