Slovenia

Memories from a study visit to Estonia

As usual, I'm rushing to write an article. I'm always late. Many impressions, weighing up the most important. This time, I'm also reading about what my fellow travellers thought was most important, beautiful and interesting from our trip to Estonia. One by one they 'stole' the moments that captured me, gave them form and seized the intellectual rights to the experiences.

Without consideration, deepening ties and meeting new people is the greatest thing you can gain from travel. My personal best experience from Estonia was the Estonian radio television children's choir. On the Saturday afternoon, tired of the three-day journey I wanted to use the free time between lunch and the awards ceremony for contributions to lifelong learning for a nap. Ciril, with whom I was sharing a room, was visited by Kristel, who brought him a bundle of Estonian comics; they agreed to go for a walk around Tallin. I joined the group, which also included Ibrahim, and we set out for the highest point in Tallin with the best views of the city. The black clouds suggested an impending downpour, but the sense of foreboding was dispelled by our 'local', Kristel. I trusted her, but within fifteen minutes we were soaked, with rainwater streams flowing over the pavements of the old town centre. Wet and cold, and unusually irritated, I reached the town hall, venue for the awards ceremony. Familiar with similar ceremonies, and limited by not understanding Estonian, my expectations were not great. And then they arrived: around twenty girls and boys up to fifteen years old. The performance began even before they arrived on stage. They imitated the wind, shouted in a controlled manner ... all the hairs on my body stood on end. While making the unusual sounds they took up positions for the appearance, sang two songs, and then began again to 'sing' utterances. The energetic director, like a puppeteer with invisible strings, enticed voices from the 'puppets'. The children sang and danced. I was wet, cold and happy. Yes, Estonia sings.

By the way, the singers even beat the medieval dinner in Olde Hansa and the visit to the market in Rapla.

Darijan Novak, Slovenian Institute for Adult Education