Entry 16 (Sep 1: Estonia)

 

Is there a better way to culturally immersed oneself than living at a monastery in the countryside on an island in Estonia? Probably not. And, yes, it’s as intriguing as it sounds.

 

The 12 countries we’re visiting this year are made up of some familiar and some not-so-familiar places. I actually went to the globe to look for uncommon countries that aren’t part of everyday conversation and landed near the Baltic Sea, in Estonia.

 

About the same time as journeying around the literal globe in my living room, I discovered a program called Workaway (workaway.info), where you can match yourself with a host somewhere in the world to do work for them in exchange for housing (and maybe meals). I plugged in “Estonia” and “Christian” (hoping for possible work with a church or mission), and what came up enthralled me: an Orthodox monastery with beekeeping nuns. I was hooked. We joined the Workaway family (there is a small annual fee), contacted the monastery, and they approved Woody and me to stay with them in August of 2022. 

 

What a blessing this past month has been to live at the monastery and work alongside the nuns in their gardens. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a little adventure in an out-of-the-way setting (unless you’re allergic to or scared of bees).

 

The monastery is located about a 3.5 hour easy and inexpensive bus ride from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Included is a ferry ride to the lovely island of Saaremaa. The monastery is about 6 miles outside the town of Kuressaare. 

 

I envisioned life at the monastery as peaceful and relaxing, with lots of time to pray and sit quietly contemplating life and listen to the nuns chant or sing. NOT! Yes, it’s peaceful, but not relaxing. We worked a tough (yet enjoyable) 30-hours a week. I had to pray and contemplate life while weeding the gardens or stripping dried herbs to make tea. The nuns stayed busy practically 24/7, though there is time for services, and they do chant and sing (which is absolutely beautiful).

 

Our chores included mowing, harvesting herbs and vegetables, packaging teas, cleaning wax off beehive trays, picking berries, pruning plants, and helping to train their new Polish Shepherd puppy, Nana. Lots of work, but in that location with those people, it was delightful. We’d return to do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Then there’s the food! Most everything is grown at the monastery or produced nearby. They make their own Greek yogurt and cheese with fresh milk from a farm down the road. They served a lot of their own vegetables cooked with spices and herbs grown in their gardens. We looked forward to each meal knowing it would be unique and scrumptious.

 

And food in town was also top rate. We’d venture to Kuressaare a time or two each week and eat at their outdoor cafés. One of our favorites were the sweet potato fries. Estonians know how to cook them just right…crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. One place even serves a wasabi dip. Yummy! Seafood is abundant, and as a vegetarian, I was able to find plenty to eat and not go hungry.

 

The town is charming with the cafés and cobblestone streets and quaint little shops. Kuressaare is known for its many spa hotels. A hotspot destination for Estonians. A medieval castle with a fantastic museum is centrally located. And a mall with a movie theatre and an H&M is on the outskirts of town.

 

If you ever travel overseas, you’ll notice so many similarities between most all countries, especially in the bigger cities: Starbucks, H&M, McDonalds, back-to-school sales, colorfully dyed hair, jeans with holes in the knees, earbuds, people working on laptops in the cafés, etc. But there are differences, too. Estonia is a former Eastern Bloc country, and it hasn’t been that long since they gained independence from the Soviet Union. I could sense the unsettled past in some of the buildings and glimpse the difficult memories on some of the faces. But there was also a feeling of resolve…especially sitting on the border of Russia with the war in Ukraine not that far away.

 

I truly admire the people of these countries that were forced to change so much over the years. As an American, it’s difficult to empathize, but I do try to understand.

 

A few words to sum up my feelings of Estonia:

 

The voice of the crane and the buzz of the bees

Farmlands and forests live next to the sea

All is at peace

the young look carefree…yet

the old, etched with memories…some not so fond

         also thankful for freedoms won

The Estonian air pulses with strength and resolve.

 

Now we’re off to Romania.

Hasta Luego,

Pam

 

“It is better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times” – Asian Proverb

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