Adventurers in Estonia
dets. 7, 2018
Estonian Life No. 49 2018
Hello, we are Natalie Vompa from Toronto and Livia Kelle from Burlington. This past October of 2018, 20 young Estonians from all over the world, including the two of us from Canada, were brought to Eesti to connect back to their roots. This trip was organized by an Estonian organization called Seiklejate Vennaskond. They aim to “connect active and adventurous young people together,” and in this case, young Estonians connecting in Eesti. They organize many youth trips, but this trip in October was called “Back to our Roots” and was specifically for people of Estonian heritage who have lived outside of Estonia for at least 10 years. There were 20 people from outside of Eesti and 10 people within Eesti. There were people from USA, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Russia, Belarus, Sweden, Finland, Scotland, and England. All participants were between the ages of 18 and 26. The point of this “Back to our Roots” trip was to introduce Estonian history and cultural heritage to young Estonians living abroad, and introduce them to success stories of people who have moved to Estonia for school or work.
Going in, we did not have many expectations, mostly because we weren’t given much information prior to the start of the trip. We were given a short packing list and were told that we would be spending time in Tallinn, Viljandi, and Tartu. This was slightly nerve-wracking at the time, but as soon as we all arrived in Estonia together everything fell into place. Our first impression of the group was that it was a very diverse group of people – all from different backgrounds, different countries, and different experiences as Estonians. But we were all Estonian and had very similar traditions, so it was incredibly easy to warm up to one another, and before we knew it were all very good friends.
(Continue reading: Estonian Life No. 49 2018)
Natalie Vompa and Livia Kelle
Read more: Adventurers in Estonia by Natalie Vompa and Livia Kelle – Full article
