Dearinger Family Adventures: Take 2 in Tartu

Our first night back in Tartu was not the greatest of days we've ever had. We got off the bus somewhere around 3:30 in the afternoon. We didn't really want to take a taxi and even though our hotel was on the other side of the city, I figured that we'd done enough walking around in Pärnu for the last few days that we could handle the walk across Tartu. What I didn't comprehend anymore was how much larger Tartu really was than Pärnu and how hard it was going to be to haul all of our baggage all the way across town. About half way there Spencer starts asking for rough estimates of how much farther we need to wak and was not so thrilled when I pointed to a far distant yellow building and told him that we would turn on that street to walk a couple more blocks to our hotel. :) Sorry Spence! We definitely should have taken a taxi! It was too late though to grab one now, so we walked ahead, a bit more grumpy and tired than when we had started.

When we finally reached the hotel, it had probably taken about 45 minutes to an hour to walk there and we were exhausted and hungry (not a good combination). We walked into our room and felt like we had walked into more of a prison cell than a place where we had paid to stay the night. The bed, which was WAY smaller than the other hotel beds we'd stayed on during the trip, took up almost the whole room. We barely had enough room to lay our suitcase down and change our clothes and on top of that, the room was swealtering hot. We felt like we'd gone back to Ghana and had all of our fans taken away. Needless to say, as much as we would have liked to lay down and rest, we opened the bedroom window and headed right out to get some food.

After dinner, we decided to catch The Last Airbender in 3D. We were so excited to see it because we'd been waiting for so long to see how the cartoon (which we LOVE) and the movie match up. We were so sad in Ghana when the movie came out in the US and we couldn't go see it with all of our nerdy Airbender friends, so when we saw that it was coming out in Estonia while we were there we made sure to catch it. Sadly enough, like the rest of our day, it didn't quite go as we would have wished. We showed up to the theater, had to leave and get cash because they wouldn't take our card, subsequently forgot the card IN the ATM and didn't realize it until after the disappointing and anti-climactic movie when we were at the cash register of the grocery store trying to get some food before we went back to our hotel cell. We then tried to go back to the ATM to find the card - of course it was no where to be seen by now - missed our bus home and then had to wait another 45 minutes for another bus to come along and get us to our resting station for the night. Needless to say, the next morning we were positively thrilled to be checking out of the so-called hotel. My friends, Swen and Ivika Hirs (who were married and baptized while I was in Tartu) had come home from Finland late the night before and rescued us! We were so excited to see them and it was so much fun to go stay at their house and spend the next day or two with them.

Our first venture with them was to stop by the outdoor market and pick up some fresh vegetables and fruits for our meals together. We then stopped at a place right in center called Creppe for lunch. Upon ordering, Swen, Spencer and I decided we wanted Lemonade. I had apparently forgotten what lemonade in Estonia was like because I forgot that it was more of a carbonated soft drink than the lemonade we were used to. When it came out we all just kind of stared because it was in huge A-le-coq glasses (beer glasses) and has the brownish-yellow look of beer too. Ivika immediately commented and made sure that the contents of the glass really were lemonade and that it was NOT alcoholic. We couldn't help but laugh and feel just a little bit awkward sitting in the middle of Tartu, on an outside table with hundreds of onlookers, drinking what looked like beer but happened to be lemonade. "Avoid the appearance of evil" just kept runnng through my head over and over again - but we laughed and joked about it and prayed no one who knew us would walk by and notice what was going on. I mean, look at this picture - what would you think we were drinking?

Ivika was just glad she has stuck with the overly-priced water :)
After lunch we headed back to Swen and Ivika's place, which is also quite nicely situated in the center of town and relaxed for a little bit before deciding to go see an early movie. Spencer and I needed a better movie to remove the sour taste the Last Airbender left for us, so we were all for another movie. We decided (or really Ivika and I decided) to go see Letters to Juliet. We ended up labeling it as the cheesy tear-jerker because Spencer almost laughed at all the cheesiness through the whole movie, while Ivika was tearing up. Having Ivika on one side and Spencer on the other made it hard for me to decide which emotion I was feeling. I actually kind of liked it that way because I hate crying and laughing at the cheese kind of ruins the movie - so I was at a great happy-medium in my spot and thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

We then headed out to Lõuna Keskus to make sure Spencer and I had done all of our last-minute shopping before leaving Estonia. It was Saturday now and our ferry was leaving Tallinn Sunday night - so we weren't going to have another chance to buy something if we wanted it from Estonia. This little shopping trip made me very happy. I basically splurged on every piece of chocolate I had ever craved since leaving Estonia 20 months before. When we walked out of the grocery store, this is what we had finally ended up with. Our chocolate goes from the yellow bag up to the green divider thing. Ivika thought it was quite an amusing sight, and thus insisted on getting a picture of it.

Spencer really didn't have much say in what we chocolates were going to buy - but in this linen store, he was very adament about NOT getting any of the over-priced things. Even if I HAD wanted something, I don't think it would have gone over too well. We did have fun trying on the sauna hats though, although I still can't figure out why you'd want to wear a hat, especially a linen hat, in the saune.
After playing around in the linen shop for a while we headed back to the apartment for more food and games. We had the most delicious stew from all sorts of fresh ingredients and played Ticket to Ride Europe - which Swen and Ivika had just bought. We were so excited to see a game other than cards that we could barely handle it. After all summer with only facecards, Skipbo, Monopoly Deal and Phase Ten, we were definitly ready to play something else.

That night I slept better than I had in a long time. It was so nice in their apartment and I think I was just grateful to be with some familiar people again and have fun like we would with our friends back home.

The next morning we headed off to church and had a great time meeting new people and seeing the old again. I tried translating for Spencer - but most of the time he just got to sit and listen to the Estonian while I tried my hardest to comprehend what was being said on my own. I'm not sure why it seemed so much easier in Pärnu to understand and translate everything, but my brain must have been completely fried or something because I was completely lost. I really enjoyed being with the Tartu branch again though. They are now in a completely different building than when I was there, but it's so much nicer and it was so fun to see everyone and talk to them about how much they like the new building better than the old one.

Anyway, once church had finished and we had gone home to eat some more of that delicious stew we thought we'd spend our last hour or two going on a nice walk around town and enjoying our last little bits of Estonia.

This fountain is right in the center of Tartu's Raekoja Plats. As missionaries we used to meet people in front of this kissing fountain all the time to teach lessons. I had always wanted to bring whoever my sweet future husband would be back to this very place and get a picture like this. So now that I had my sweet husband right here I couldn't miss this opportunity :) The only thing we're missing is the umbrella and rain. We continued to walk around and Ivika made sure that we didn't miss a single picture moment. This is the Tartu town hall - notice the fountain in the background.
This is some monument to the Wilde men, Oscar and Eduard
These are their statues with Spencer and Swen admiring their beauty :)
You think Spencer's jealous ?
Not going to lie - after being in Ghana where husbands/wives, fiances, boyfriends and girlfriends never even touch eachother in public - it was really nice to see some public affection again.
Mine? Oma, in Estonia is basically the all-around word to make somehing possessive. So this is MY mural on the side of the building.
Cute Swen and Ivika! I'm SO glad they were game for so much fun!
Tartu University main building. I love it here!
We didn't do it! I promise!
Swen, Ivika and Spencer just walking down the street. Yay for candid moments!
We had to check out the botanical gardens. They have so many beautiful flowers and plants. This picture makes it look like Spencer's allergies are going crazy - but deep down, I know he really does appreciate the beauty of plant life.
Swen and Ivika in front of their apartment building where we stayed.
Our train left that night at 5:30 from Tartu so we could catch our ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki at 9. Here we all are at the train station. After a long summer away from home we were ready to get going, but it was so bitter sweet to leave such a wonderful people behind and not know when we'll be able to come back and see this beautiful place again. Hopefully someday!