Trudee Hill

moving on

2006-06-26T14:07:00.000+03:00

three days left. i can't believe the time has gone by so fast. half of my apartment is packed and ready to go while the other half is waiting for me to buy another suitcase. anything with a 220v cord has been donated to european friends. my plants are being inherited as well as the decorative odds and ends i picked up in order to liven up my blank apartment. the work bench is being picked up by a fellow metalsmith today. i'm glad that i found someone who can not only use it but lift it. i thought i'd be ready to go but it seems that i have way too much to tackle in the next few days. i guess that no matter when you plan to leave, you'll always be in a rush towards the end. at least, that's how it is with me.

this week has been filled with good-byes. today it was to elina, someone i met when i first arrived that has remained a constant source of laughter and friendship over these ten months. she cried and i held it in, promising to visit as soon as i can. even though i know we will now live on opposite ends of the earth, i can't help just knowing that we'll not only stay in touch but meet again.

now it's time for visits with old friends, moving to a new city, catching up with family, and the dreadful job/apartment hunt. i don't know exactly what will happen to this blog. i began writing as a way of keeping friends and family back in the states up-to-date. now that my time in estonia is over, should the blog end as well? i'd love to hear what you think.

the proof

2006-06-16T00:35:00.000+03:00

contrary to popular belief, the last four months haven't been all fun and games. after the fashion show and fallen nature exhibition i began working on a series of necklaces inspired by estonian history. the theme of each necklace ranges from estonia's occupying forces, fight for independence, and european union accession. i've just recently completed the series so now you can check out the photos at my online exhibition.

thanks to graham mitchell, the photographer who shot the work!

lit

2006-06-05T22:01:00.000+03:00

senior year of college, my bedroom was windowless. that might drive some people crazy but i was in heaven. any time, day or night, my bedroom could be pitch black like a cave. no matter when i got to bed i could get a full night's sleep without the sun waking me up. this led to an extreme light sensitivity. after moving out of that apartment it was difficult to get my usual eight hours. okay ten.

when i arrived in estonia each day was progressively shorter. the fact that i don't even have a door on my bedroom wasn't an issue. until now. the days are getting longer and the sun is creeping through my curtains earlier each day. i never anticipated that light would be an issue, especially after months of longing for it, but this has got to stop. i'm not the only one. no, there are others. those who purchased sun lamps in winter are now putting up their blackout curtains. it seems that light, or lack thereof, is a constant issue in estonia.

now, to illustrate i have some photos for you to compare. one was taken at 10pm, the other at 3am. can you tell which is which?

pretty tough to tell huh?

i love photobooths

2006-05-25T16:37:00.000+03:00

time goes by

2006-05-25T13:17:00.000+03:00

ten days. that's how long my eldest sister chrystie was here visiting me. besides the fact that we both got pretty sick while she was here, we had a great time. we explored the capital city, visited galleries and museums, ate tasty food, and went to sauna... in two countries. her visit marked my first trip to finland. since it's just a two hour ferry ride you'd think i would have found the time to go in the past nine months but i'm glad that we had the opportunity to explore a new place together. here are some of the highlights from her visit:

chrystie planning our days at hell hunt (gentle wolf) estonia's first pub

hand-made truffles, espresso, and a three piece orchestra...
my favorite old town cafe

view of old town from toompea hill

viru bog in lahemaa national park

palmse manor

installation outside the viinistu art museum which holds the best collection of 20th-century estonian art in the country

helsinki subway
on our way to what we thought was the oldest public sauna in the city... turns out there's now a "thai massaaz" parlor in its place.

suomenlinna island fortress, finland

a very brave duck at suomenlinna

on the suomenlinna-helsinki ferry

port of helsinki

interior of the orthodox uspensky cathedral, katajanokka island, finland

tuomiokirkko (lutheran cathedral) helsinki

the view of helsinki from our ferry back to tallinn

and now...five weeks. seems like a good chunk of time. this winter it seemed like an eternity. now that it's all the time i have left in estonia i know that it's going to fly. but you know what? i'm ready. i'm ready for a job and a schedule and being closer to my family and and... i'm just ready. the opportunity to collaborate with a local artist and show my work, twice, was more than i thought possible before coming here. i've met so many interesting people from all over the world. this experience has been wonderful in other ways that i can't even begin to articulate but yes, i'm ready.

More to see...

2006-04-30T12:36:00.000+03:00

So much to tell...

2006-04-29T22:59:00.000+03:00

i just got back from my whirlwind tour of estonia. the entire country in 9 days seemed a bit overzealous when andrew and i were mapping everything out but we found that we could see what we wanted to and more in just 7. partly because this country is so small (about the size of vermont and new hampshire combined) and partly because i have a lead foot.

so that's what we did. and you know what? it was fantastic.

don't get me wrong... it wasn't all castles and sunshine. here are some low points of the trip: car won't reverse. we found this one out early. at the very first stop actually. but one quick call to roman, our rental car guy, and we were back on track. lost keys. found in a few minutes right between the slide and the swing. the obvious place for keys i know. stuck in the sand. in about two feet of sand to be precise. we weren't going anywhere until we flagged down an estonian hero who single handedly dug, jacked, propped, and pushed our car out of a sand pit. we love you tiit. sickness. our first hostel in narva was freezing. i woke up the next morning with a nasty sinus infection. a lot of medication and nose blowing kicked it by the time i got home. oh well. a dead battery. easily fixed with the purchase of some jumper cables and some helpful punks. a frightening seven point turn. when you realize that you're in the middle of the forest and the very narrow road you're on just ended for no apparent reason you only have one choice.

sounds like we had an awful time huh? well, you're wrong. it could have been bad but when something went awry we figured it out. oh yeah, and we laughed a lot. no point in freaking out right? and of course there are always the highlights of any trip: a great team. i found out after picking up the car that andrew can only drive an automatic. so andrew was the navigator extraordinaire while i was the master of the stick-shift. throw in a few impromptu driving lessons for more laughter. pop megamix. estonian radio got a bit old after the first day so we picked up a tape of the top 51 estonian pop hits from the last decade. play for good times. free fish. offered to us by a woman on kihnu island after we purchased a few handmade items she sold from her home. not just a few fish either. these were 50lb. bags of half dead herring. too bad we didn't have a cooler in the trunk. local heroes. as mentioned above, we weren't going anywhere on several occasions without some help. a push, a jack, a jump, a shove... it never took long to find someone willing to help. a cappella. when the radio and pop megamix no longer cut it. mabel. our rental car. could be a bit testy but she was a trooper and the third member of our gang. which is why i have over a dozen photos of her.

picnic lunches. in order to save money we had a pb&j picnic everyday. yum! plus all of the beautiful chapels, waterfalls, castles, bogs, manors, cities, lighthouses, towns, forests, and windmills we saw along the way.

below you'll find some highlights from the trip. remember that you have the power to enlarge! just click on the photo of your choice.

Estonia...

2006-04-29T21:24:00.000+03:00

well. me me me.

2006-04-12T20:48:00.000+03:00

for my birthday, my lovely friend margit gave me a gift certificate to the make up store for a consultation and to purchase some cosmetics. i had such a great time! since i don't wear make up during the day, i asked for a dramatic evening look and that's exactly what i got. i fell in love with their teal eye-liner, it's devine. they spent an hour with me and we talked and laughed the whole time. only one little snag... the 4pm commute was not prepared for my dramatic look... i got a few stares on the tram home.

in other news... it seems like spring may actually be coming which means that i'm much happier. i've been working for the past month on a series of necklaces. each one references an occupying force in estonia. i've completed three so far... nazi germany, soviet russia, and estonian independence. now i'm looking for images that recall danish and swedish occupation, which is proving to be quite difficult because they occurred so long ago. in the meantime i've begun a new project that i'm pretty excited about though it doesn't seem to have much, if anything, to do with estonia. oh well.

i'm also getting ready for a road trip. yay! i love driving and exploring so road trips are really my idea of a good time. estonia is such a small country that, as andrew and i have mapped out our trip, we should be able to see most of the country in only eight days. score. basically we'll be driving around the perimeter visiting waterfalls, lakes, bogs, castles, ruins, villages, and a few islands. the most important part of the trip will be setumaa in south-eastern estonia. before coming, i researched an indigenous group known as the setus and their jewelry. small communities of setus still live in setumaa and we will be visiting them! unfortunately this region was halved by the current estonia/russia border which means that some villages can only be visited with a visa. what a pain and not really an option for this trip but we'll make do.

one funny thing about our trip so far... we've managed to get a great deal on our rental car. the catch is that this agency places taxi style billboards on each rental! ha. this should make for some interesting looks from the small town folks.

Rarrrrrrrrgh!

2006-04-07T11:12:00.000+03:00

it's snowing.

I'm waiting...

2006-03-23T17:55:00.000+02:00

every year as my birthday approaches i get antsy. not only because i love birthdays, especially mine, but because spring is on its way! well the first day of spring has come and gone and just like every year i am disappointed. nothing has changed. it's still freezing. i know, i shouldn't be surprised but part of me always hopes that on march 20th i will wake up and magically the snow will be gone and the flowers will be blooming. the worst part is knowing that in other parts of the world it is spring. i saw the little leaves and buds in madrid and they made me so happy. and even though some people in tallinn are talking about the effects of spring, i am incapable of seeing any supporting evidence.

as you can see in this photo, that's ice and snow covering the gulf of finland. looks like winter to me. at least the days are getting longer. the sun rose at 614 today and won't set until 1842. the extra daylight is beginning to wake me from my winter lethargy. i seem to have more energy and am beginning to naturally rise before noon. with just three months left in estonia, i'm happy knowing that each day will be longer and (hopefully) warmer than the last. in fact i'll be here just long enough to experience the summer solstice. a day that will last almost nineteen hours! i can't wait.

Lanzarote de Gran Canaria

2006-03-18T15:06:00.000+02:00

estonia's frozen tundra had become too much to bare, we needed an escape plan. sunshine, beaches, and fruity drinks with umbrellas were top three on the list. then came the cost. after speaking with a few travel agents around tallinn andrew and i were on our own, determined to find cheap flights to paradise. after five hours online, lots of map checking, and a few bright ideas we had purchased a week of unlimited vitamin D consumption in the canary islands. these islands are an autonomous region of spain located off the northwestern coast of africa. weather conditions are considered perfect as are the beaches.... jackpot.

the only catch... two nights in madrid to break up the total of six flights we would be taking.

some highlights from our trip:

our flight out of tallinn was delayed by two hours due to a blizzard. the plane was de-iced twice with orange foam and they attempted to clear the runway three times before the snow let up and we could take off for amsterdam. you may now understand why we so desperately needed to leave...

here we are in madrid at 11pm. a few hours late but so happy to be
wearing t-shirts outside for the first time in almost five months.

plaza mayor by night

time for a cup of coffee at the hostel
before our morning flight to lanzarote

the walk to the subway revealed
signs of spring in madrid

we have arrived

costa teguise, lanzarote

a carnival parade on my birthday

fancy costumes

happy birthday to me!
#3 on our list... check!

teguise sunday market

cacti

a camel ride

bitsy loves andrew

and i love mittens

the view from a camel's back

a green lagoon

black sand beaches

timanfaya national park

a crater

geothermal cooking over steam vents

back in madrid:
palacio de comunicaciones

inside the museo del prado

one night in the airport and we're home

we had such a wonderful time! now back in estonia where spring is far away (it's snowing as i write this) i hope that the warm memories and golden tan will last at least until the thaw.

Vabariigi aastapaev - veebruar 24

2006-02-25T01:21:00.000+02:00

estonia's independence day - february 24

on this day in 1918, the estonian republic was proclaimed, declaring independence from soviet russia. however, august 20, 1991 is the date estonia declared its independence from the soviet union.

the pictures below are from a parade that took place this morning at vabaduse valjak - freedom square....

i love a good parade...the multi-purpose bayonet...

the crowd on toompea hill -
which overlooks vabaduse valjak...

quick fact:
8 months of military service is
compulsory for all male citizens...

there were even
amphibious trucks...

but we're ready for some hot tea... brrr!

fair warning

2006-02-23T19:15:00.000+02:00

so, as you should know.... my birthday is in two weeks! yay! yay! yay!

it just so happens that some local travel agencies are offering some amazing package deals right now to very sunny places. as i haven't seen the sun in four months (that's an absurd exaggeration but that's what it feels like) i am planning a trip to las palmas de gran canaria, spain with andrew a few days before my birthday. the trip will last a week so..... if any of you have some major exciting surprise in store for me that involves showing up on my doorstep..... tell me now or forever hold your peace.

berlin = rad

2006-02-21T23:25:00.000+02:00

sunday morning i awoke an hour before my alarm went off. i was seriously in need of sleep, a friend's birthday party was the night before, but i was too excited to stay in bed any longer. john, another fulbrighter, and i caught a plane out of tallinn at 1130am and were stepping onto german tarmac just a few hours later. one great thing about living in europe... hopping flights to other countries is not only quick but cheap. one bad thing... now that i'm starting to pick up estonian and feel comfortable in everyday situations, the shock of being surrounded by a language i can't come close to understanding, again, was unnerving. but we made our way through customs with ease and found a small coffee shop where we were to meet anna.

.............................................................................................

you remember anna. she lived in tallinn last "semester," but has since moved to berlin to work with the fourth biennial for contemporary art. i'm so jealous of her right now. moving on... anna met us at the airport and helped us navigate the trains back to her apartment. so glad that she did, the 45 minute trip wasn't so complex that it would have been impossible for us... it was just so nice to see a familiar face amidst the foreign landscape. her apartment is located in the middle of this funky, artsy, hip neighborhood which is within walking distance of berlin's major attractions. after dropping off our stuff, we set off for a late lunch. (that's the view from her apartment...)

..........................................................................................

why berlin is so rad, #1 reason: we had our choice of international foods. we started off with middle eastern. a few orders of falafel, some doner, grape leaf wraps, and fennel/fig dessert later we were stuffed to the brim but rejuvenated. the next day for lunch we had thai. the rice noodle duck soup i ordered was so delicious i had to force myself to not suck it up with a straw. the jasmine tea was divine and a kiwi, orange, banana, mango smoothie was almost too wonderful. monday night it was sushi. mmmmmmmmm. some miso soup. some inside out california and tuna rolls. yum. and i hate to mention this. it makes me sound like an absurd american tourist, which i can't deny that i am.... but i'll tell you anyway. starbucks. i know, half of you can't believe i just said that. but come on, i haven't had a caramel frappuccino in SIX months. give me a break. to make up for that sin, we also hit a small funky cafe for breakfast which had the tastiest, freshly made, orange-carrot juice. yum yum.

the real reason we went to berlin however, was not for the food but for a concert. again, kind of lame. sue me. john's sister works with maxim radio and happens to be friendly with a band called the blood hound gang. so we were on a list to get into the show for free and backstage for an after party. not my first choice in music but live concerts can be so much better than the processed music you hear on the radio so i was willing to check 'em out. the concert was on sunday night so we weren't feeling especially gung ho after the flight and party the night before. but we rallied, got some caffeine in us, and went to the show.

thank you anna! that's something we must have said ten times that night. without her near fluency in german, we would have been lost. getting into the concert was alright, our names were on the list for that. the opening band wasn't so great, but when are they? the show was pretty good though. the crowd was so stoked, most people seemed to know all the words, everyone was dancing around and the band was right on. we definitely had a really fun time. after the show, we tried to find someone who could give us clearance to go back stage. we were sent from one person to another and back again, but anna was polite and persistent enough that finally they allowed her, and only her, to go backstage to talk to the bassist. that was enough, we were in. tom, our new best friend, came out with our wrist bands and we headed back stage.

meeting a "rock star" wasn't as climactic as i had anticipated. maybe it's because i'm not their number one fan. maybe i would have felt differently if i was suddenly shaking hands with, let's say... michael stipe. but who knows. "Evil" Jared Hasselhoff seems like a nice guy, definitely workin' the "rock star" shtick but nice. i'm sure there are a few people out there right now that would give something important to them in order to meet this band but oh well. we can't really choose random encounters right? the after party was pretty chill, about sixty people in a back room of the concert hall hanging out, talking, dancing, and taking advantage of the free booze.

monday morning we weren't in top form, but we got out of bed anyway in order to explore the city. anna had work so john and i were on our own with a map. after a very tasty breakfast we headed into the heart of the city without any real intentions. when we wound up near the tv tower it seemed like a good idea to go up, so we did. certainly the best way to get a feel for any city is an amazing view from high above. so hard to believe that each neighborhood, street, house, and window meant enough people to fill it. whoa. we decided to get our $10 worth by having some tea in the revolving cafe. by the time we were ready to meet anna for lunch, we had seen the entire city.

after lunch, mmm thai, we had a few hours to see all that we could of berlin before anna got off of work. the first stop was the museumsinsel (museum island) where we took in some amazing architecture. the berlin cathedral blew me away and the altes museum is simply massive. i'll definitely have to actually enter all of these buildings when i return (hopefully) in the spring. our next stop was the brandenburg gate. on the way we encountered one amazing landmark after the other. almost too much to absorb at once but we took our time and a lot of photographs.

the gate itself is quite impressive. in the center of the square a photo shoot was taking place. the model was sporting an american flag turned shirt. i was interested to know what their intentions were... negative or positive political commentary... but that's not as important as the fact that they have the freedom to make a statement, any statement they so choose. alright, enough of that.

.....................................................................................

just around the corner was the reichstag . this building is incredibly imposing. again, when i return i have to see the inside of that building! that sentiment was definitely the theme of the trip. a little frustrating but so much better than not finding anything to be excited about. from there we headed straight for a remaining section of the berlin wall. daylight was fading fast and we were meeting anna for dinner in two hours so we had no time to spare.

map in hand, i knew we were close... but looking up to suddenly see a section of the wall intact stopped me instantly. berlin is a city that i have always been aware of. through history books. to see such an important landmark in person for the first time... i was in awe. and again just half a block away when we came upon checkpoint charlie. there are no words to describe it.

that evening we met anna for sushi and went back to the middle eastern restaurant for dessert. i'm definitely missing several different types of international cuisine that for whatever reason are either not available or ridiculously expensive in tallinn. after we'd stuffed ourselves we headed back to anna's apartment to just chill out. john and i were catching an 8am flight the next morning and we were all completely exhausted.

seeing anna was definitely a major highlight of the trip. leaving college, philly, and many great friends behind to come to estonia was really difficult. i was so fortunate to find anna and elina shortly after arriving. their friendship means a lot to me and unfortunately they both left estonia a few months ago... elina to return to her studies in finland and anna to take an awesome job in berlin. though i have andrew and john as two great friends as well as a handful of wonderful acquaintances.... you just can't substitute great girlfriends.

knowing that we needed to get up at 5am the next morning, we got ready for bed a bit early. but just like any good slumber party, anna and i were up for hours talking and laughing, whispering and planning. such a great time.

who knew so much could be accomplished in 48 hours?

Valentines

2006-02-15T16:55:00.000+02:00

being single and dating in a foreign country is difficult. though many of the people i meet speak english quite well, i have often found that my humor does not translate. when i make sarcastic comments with a laugh or smile and still receive blank stares i know that the relationship has ended. beyond that, the fact that i am in estonia for a limited amount of time seems to deter those interested in the long term. with valentines day approaching, i felt a bit sad knowing that the romantic holiday i've known in the past was not to be in my immediate future. i got over it and decided to be proactive. when out at a concert with my friend andrew last week, i turned to him during intermission and proposed, "will you be my valentine?" he said that he would and we immediately began planning "our" holiday. you see, andrew and i talk about dating all the time. my bad dates and his bad dates. as two american fulbrighters living in estonia with many common interests we've become good friends these past few months. spending the holiday together, getting dressed up and going to a nice restaurant so that we could talk some more about bad dates was the best way to spend valentines. wonderful food, lovely wine, two red roses, and a lot of laughter made my night.

Ei Jaatis!

2006-02-09T14:19:00.000+02:00

i stopped by a corner store the other day for a few quick grocery items. on my way out i noticed this series of signs posted on the door...

suitsetamine keelatud! (no smoking!) no dogs, no roller skates, no cameras... but wait.

is there really an Ei Jaatis! (No Ice Cream!) sign?

i don't get it. if they sell ice cream in the store... besides, it's freezing outside. lately it's averaging about 10F! you would think that no one in their right mind would be out walking the streets with an ice cream cone...

oddly enough, people do. granted i'm new here and it's taking a while to get used to the freezing rain, negative wind chills, and ice coated everything... i don't think i'll ever be able to walk around in this weather without a hat (and ear muffs, and long johns, and on and on and on) but to eat ice cream when the snot in your nose is frozen and it's becoming difficult to open your eyes... it just seems crazy.

or maybe it's genius... reducing core temperature in order to bridge the gap between body and environment could make you much more comfortable. i don't think i'll be testing that theory though... i can just imagine trying to explain how a spoon got frozen to my tongue in estonian.

2006-02-01T15:36:00.000+02:00

the lake

2006-02-01T15:34:00.000+02:00

benjamin instigating a snowball fight

2006-02-01T15:31:00.000+02:00

a hole in the lake for a quick dip between sauna sessions

Nelijarve

2006-02-01T14:36:00.000+02:00

every year kunstiakadeemia (the estonian academy of art) hosts a winter days weekend for the students and faculty. this year over 200 participated. we were bussed out to nelijarve (four lakes) an hour south-east of tallinn for a day and a half of winter sports including cross country skiing, ice skating and hockey, sledding, and snowball fights. for only 100 eek (about $8) we had transportation, all of our meals included, accommodations in the nelijarve hostel, a party saturday night, and a lecture on the history of pornography on sunday morning. in all of the four years i attended university in the states, not once was there a large-scale, university supported and planned activity for the students. the weekend turned out to be a great way to meet people, especially the new group of international students that will be studying here during the spring semester.

otherwise.... the exhibition ended on the 29th and the gallery was completely cleared out by the next evening. i'm excited to have my days back and have begun researching estonian history and collecting materials for a series of necklaces i plan to make. i've also begun private tutoring with a fellow fulbright grantee named andrew. i was participating in a language course offered by the academy last semester, but with a new group of international students the curriculum will be repeated. being tutored an hour and a half a day, four times a week has begun to make a huge difference in my comprehension of the estonian language. i still have a long, long way to go but it seems a bit more attainable now.

2006-01-18T20:05:00.000+02:00

tallinn at 10 am, the snow reflects the minimal light making it almost bright out! almost.

Bbbbrrrrrrrr!

2006-01-18T18:30:00.000+02:00

the most commonly asked question of foreigners in estonia has to be "are you cold?" until today i thought it was funny. after living in philly for four years and surviving a few major snow storms i was pretty sure that i could handle it. so confident in fact that i vowed to put off wearing long underwear until late january or even february if possible. my reasoning being that if it did become as cold as everyone warned me it soon would, i would be prepared. nothing could have prepared me for today. the temperature gauge in my window informed me that it was a mere -15 degrees C (4 degrees F) at 11 am. i immediately realized that it was currently the coldest day i had yet to personally experience. this information, combined with the fact that my curtains were frozen to my double-paned windows, led to no amount of hesitation when breaking my vow and reaching for the long underwear. plus a few more layers and ear-muffs under my hat while i was at it. i'm glad that i did. even taking a train as close to the gallery as i possibly could, i still had an excruciating ten minute walk. when i left the gallery and returned home i found that the temperature was -18 degrees C (0 degrees F) and dropping! i'm told that it may even reach -26 degrees C (-12 degrees F) tonight. what? what did you ask? am i cold? yes. yes i am.

ps - don't worry! even though my curtains were literally frozen to my bedroom window, my apartment is not cold. it's actually quite toasty. you just can't touch the windows for an extended period of time.....

Online Exhibition

2006-01-12T23:39:00.000+02:00

i've finally gotten around to posting my jewelry, past and present, online in a new blog.

that address is www.trudeehilljewelry.blogspot.com

(i know, what a creative title) it will only be updated when i have new work but be sure to check in from time to time. thanks!

2006-01-12T18:58:00.000+02:00

i got fun new glasses. yay!