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Hello from Tallinn
Greetings from Tallinn, Estonia!
The sun's just rising now and the sky is all pink and purple and blue (like my eye!). It's finally stopped snowing (it's been snowing constantly since I got hree on the 30th) and there's even blue sky (and the accompanying drop in temperature to -17). I'm in an Internet Cafe at the Tallinn central post office, which is kind of like a shopping mall except there are postal boutiques everywhere.
Anyway, to the point: Shortly after the beginning of the New Year, I was abducted, beaten, and robbed by a group of (presumably) Russians. (an old fashioned "Euro Changeover" ?) Some people found me amidst this sort of archipelligo of idential-looking Soviet-era apartment complexes in the snow fields, took me into their apartment, and treated me for shock/hypothermia (they gave me hot tea, stuck a hairdryer down my shirt, and offered me vodka ["you're so cold.. drink vodka!" it seems to be a sort of universal remedy in these parts] and called an ambulance. I woke up around 6 am in the neurological ward (suspected head injury?) of a hospital near here. Luckily I had the phone number of some nice people I'd met on the boat written on a scrap of paper in my pocket, so the doctors called them, who sent a taxi to collect me. These people -- an American expatriate living in Estonia and working in Finland, and his Estonian filmmaker wife -- have taken care of me for the last few days, for which I am quite grateful. Yesterday the Consulate here granted me a temporary passport despite me not having any form of ID whatsoever, and if all goes well I'll set sail for Stockholm tonight on the ship Regina Baltica. Anyway, it's been interesting. Excepting material losses and a tremendous black eye, I'm fine. (And save for a few hostile kids, everyone here has been very helpful and friendly and my impression of Estonia is still generally positive.)
So, well.. happy new year everyone! I hope yours was a little less exciting than mine.
The sun's just rising now and the sky is all pink and purple and blue (like my eye!). It's finally stopped snowing (it's been snowing constantly since I got hree on the 30th) and there's even blue sky (and the accompanying drop in temperature to -17). I'm in an Internet Cafe at the Tallinn central post office, which is kind of like a shopping mall except there are postal boutiques everywhere.
Anyway, to the point: Shortly after the beginning of the New Year, I was abducted, beaten, and robbed by a group of (presumably) Russians. (an old fashioned "Euro Changeover" ?) Some people found me amidst this sort of archipelligo of idential-looking Soviet-era apartment complexes in the snow fields, took me into their apartment, and treated me for shock/hypothermia (they gave me hot tea, stuck a hairdryer down my shirt, and offered me vodka ["you're so cold.. drink vodka!" it seems to be a sort of universal remedy in these parts] and called an ambulance. I woke up around 6 am in the neurological ward (suspected head injury?) of a hospital near here. Luckily I had the phone number of some nice people I'd met on the boat written on a scrap of paper in my pocket, so the doctors called them, who sent a taxi to collect me. These people -- an American expatriate living in Estonia and working in Finland, and his Estonian filmmaker wife -- have taken care of me for the last few days, for which I am quite grateful. Yesterday the Consulate here granted me a temporary passport despite me not having any form of ID whatsoever, and if all goes well I'll set sail for Stockholm tonight on the ship Regina Baltica. Anyway, it's been interesting. Excepting material losses and a tremendous black eye, I'm fine. (And save for a few hostile kids, everyone here has been very helpful and friendly and my impression of Estonia is still generally positive.)
So, well.. happy new year everyone! I hope yours was a little less exciting than mine.