Estonian Wedding

I have no excuse for this post taking so long other than me being lazy.

The trip started off in a very interesting way. We were scheduled to leave at 6:30 am, so I set my alarm for 5:30 am. When I woke up however and looked at my clock, I saw it was already about 6:50. I figured there was absolutely no way the bus was still there and didn't bother getting out of bed. I did write a Facebook status about losing 90 euros. After messaging with my mom for a few minutes, I got a message from my friend Valeria the bus was still waiting for me and I had to be down in five minutes. I threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth and hair and grabbed my already packed bag. Once I got on the bus, it was already about 7:15. I felt really bad they had waited for me so long, but we were meeting a bus with students from Tallinn at a certain time, so it just mattered we got to the ferry station on time.

We drove to the Virtsu harbor and took some pictures by the water before we got on the ferry. It was a short ferry trip, about half an hour, before we got to the island of Saaremaa. We then drove to Karja church, where we had a picnic of sandwiches and apples. The weather was really nice, so it was very comfortable to eat sitting on the grass.

We then drove to Angla windmills and took some pictures before driving to Panga cliffs. The cliffs are just gorgeous and the view of the water was beautiful. It was there Federico (a Tartu student who was playing the role of the groom) “proposed” to Valeria. Of course she said yes. We then all selected roles for the wedding that were written on name tags. There were roles from everything from local party girl to long lost relative of the bride. I had the role of local town joker along with another girl. We walked down the cliffs to go to the water when an actual wedding party was trying to drive down the rode and we had to find the bus driver so the bus could be moved! After wading in the water for a bit, we spent about a half hour at Odalätsi springs.

We then drove to our first accommodation, Loode Farmhouse. If you saw the pictures, it was a very beautiful, large area of land with several different cabins for us to stay in. After being assigned cabins and unpacking, we enjoyed a nice dinner in a large tent while the owner played some violin and taught a few dances.

Then the bachelor and bachelorette (or hen’s night) parties began. Once we were separated from the guys, we started our first activity. The ESN girl from Tallinn was playing Valeria’s mother. We had to tell her about Valeria’s past boyfriends and what was wrong with them and she wrote them down. Valeria then had to burn the paper and a symbol of her letting go of her past. We then made wedding dresses out of paper towels and toilet paper. A boy was brought over to pick a winner and our group won!

We then went over to where the guys were and watched them complete some of their games. After they finished, we could use the saunas or just relax in our rooms.

The next morning after breakfast, we headed to the wedding. First though, we stopped at Viidumäe nature preserve where their is a viewing platform. It looked really sketchy though, so I just watched people climb up until a bee stung me and I went back to the bus.

We then drove to the town Kuressaare, where we had lunch and could explore the castle grounds a little before the wedding started. Before the wedding started, we were organized on bride and groom’s side (people with local roles were just mixed in) and then the wedding started. Valeria, Federico, the groom’s mother and father, the bride’s father and mother, the bride’s brother and the priest were all dressed in traditional wedding clothes. The two were “married” and we sang a song before we went back to the bus. It started raining immediately once we got to the bus.

While we were driving to the next accommodation, where we would be spending the night and having the wedding party, we were stopped by two men in traditional estonian clothing. It's a tradition to be stopped on the way from the wedding to the party. We got off the bus and we were told the bride and groom have to complete a task each time they are stopped. This first stop required Valeria to clean three fish and Federico had to nail some nails into a block of wood. It was starting to rain again, so they had to rush so we wouldn’t get soaked.

We got back on the bus but didn’t drive far before we were stopped by the two men again. This time Valeria had to change a diaper on a doll and Federico had to peel a potato. It started really pouring then! I managed to get under someone's umbrella and others ran back onto the bus. After the couple finished their tasks, a gift was given to the two men.

We then drove to Tehumardi Recreation Centre where we were again assigned cabins. Once we freshened up, we walked over to the firehouse which is a large dining hall with a very pretty fireplace in the middle. Once we had finished eating, some more roles were given out to different guests. One guy had to yell out “cuckoo” like a clock every half hour, a girl had to kiss as many people on the cheek as she could with her red lipstick and someone had to give a toast every time it got quiet. The role of bodyguard was also given out to protect the bride from being kidnapped during the night! We learned some traditional dances, played some games, and sang some songs.

At one point, the bride was kidnapped! One of the men who had stopped us while driving earlier helped the groom arrange for his bride’s ransom. It was really funny to hear him on the speakerphone trying to make a deal, especially since the kidnapper was the bride’s “brother”. Eventually they made a deal of ten euros of vodka. The groom couldn’t get ten euros out of the guests, mostly because none of us had our wallets on us, but the kidnapper was satisfied with about five euros and vodka. However, Federico decided to play a joke on the kidnapper and filled an empty bottle with water. We watched from the window of the hall while the exchange took place and we got our bride back!

After a little dancing, I headed back to the cabin and fell asleep immediately. The next morning, Elisabeth, Laura and I walked over to the beach. We may or may not have walked on private property to get there, it was really hard to tell and we only realized we may be doing it on the way back.

After breakfast, we saw the Kaali Meteorite Crater and then an outdoor museum of a traditional Estonian fishing village. After a lunch and more singing, we drove to a place that had some very beautiful Estonian horses. Valeria and Federico completed some last wedding traditions, such as carrying her from the horse drawn carriage to the house. We all got a turn riding in a carriage before we had to drive back to the ferry station.

If you have seen the pictures, you can see it was a very fun and beautiful trip.

Now all I have left for my studies here is one oral exam tomorrow. Then I leave to visit Lia in New Jersey next Thursday. We are both really excited to see each other and get to see the Lion King and If/Then. I’ve loved it here, but I miss my home, Charleston and my friends so much!