Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the Easter holidays and indulging in a bit of chocolate. A new month begins tomorrow so it's time to start making new plans. A summer holiday in Estonia always sounds good to me. It's a destination that never disappoints!
Today, twenty years ago on the 29th of March 2004 Estonia officially joined NATO. This historic milestone transformed Estonia's security architecture and ensured the county would never be alone again. Estonia has always taken its NATO responsibility very seriously, consistently contributing at least 2% of its GDP to defence spending. Now that Finland and Sweden have joined NATO Estonia's security has been strengthened like never before.
Historically Estonia was a Lutheran Christian nation but after World War Two that all changed. Today many Estonians identify as being spiritual, rather than religious and have a healthy respect for old ancient Pagan traditions. In the Estonian folk calendar Easter is a spring holiday, a time for cleaning and preparing for summer. Good Friday is a day of rest and Easter Sunday is a day of celebration that includes a large meal, painting eggs and the traditional Easter egg hunt.
Estonians prefer to paint their eggs with natural dyes. The chart below shows you how to achieve some great colours.
A tradtional game Estonians play on Easter Sunday is 'egg knocking'. The rule to the game is easy, simply tap the end of your egg against your opponent's and the shell that doesn't crack is the winner!
Easter is known by many different names in Estonia: Ületõusmispüha (Resurrection), Lihavõtted (literally means meat-taking holiday, marking the end of Lent) and Munadepüha (egg holiday).
The Tartu 24 short film starring Ott Sepa and Märt Avandi reminded me of a few Estonian expressions regarding neighbours. Estonians typically like their space and don't mind isolation, therefore generally preferring a bit of distance between themselves and their neighbours. In fact, during the coronavirus pandemic there was a meme circulating poking fun at Estonians natural habit of keeping a safe distance from each other. The joke was 'finally the terrible two metre distance rule is over, we can now go back to our usual five metre distance.' All Estonians chuckled at that meme because it rang true!
There have been times when my neighbours have irked me making me wish
they lived a little bit further away. The Estonian phrase 'hea kui
naaber oleks selline, et mu aknast oleks vaevu näha nende korstna
suitsu' has often come to mind. It's one of my favourite Estonian expressions.
Today marks 75 years since the March deportations by the occupying Soviet regime. In March 1949, thousands of Estonians were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to uninhabitable parts of Siberia. The Soviets targeted whole families during the deportations. Many people perished during the journey and from the harsh new environment, never to see home again. In total, 20,702 people were deported from Estonia, of whom about 50% were women, 30% children and 20% men. All three Baltic countries were affected by the deportations, over 90,000 people in total. This horrendous crime against humanity will never be forgetton. It affected every family in Estonia.Today we light candles in memory of the victims.
The World Air Quality Report was released this week by IQAir and names Estonia, Finland and Iceland as the cleanest countries in Europe for fresh air and swimming. These three nations all take pride in their superior air quality and have great respect for nature. In Estonia there are several factors that naturally support clean air - half of the land area is covered by forest, the low population density and it's long coastline means seas breezes push pollutants away.
To learn more, please click here.
It's the weekend and a good time to browse through some old photographs. I enjoy looking at these old photos knowing my grandparents walked along these streets many years ago.
March 14 is Mother Tongue Day in Estonia. It is celebrated on this day to mark the birthday of poet Kristjan Jaak Peterson who was one of the first writers to write in the Estonian language. Peterson gathered his Estonian poems into two small books but never saw them published during his lifetime. In 1822 Kristjan Jaak Peterson died from tuberculosis at the tender age of 21.
Cannot the tongue of this land,
In the wind of incantation,
Rising up to the heavens,
Seek eternity?
- Kristian Jaak Peterson
Could Toompea have looked something like this during the 17th century, before it was burned down? The cathedral was said to have been one of the few buildings that remained. On social media there has been some scepticism regarding the accuracy of this depiction of Toompea, but I have to admit I rather like this image.
On this day 80 years ago, the Soviet air force launched its large scale attack on Tallinn. In the March 9th bombings, Soviet saboteurs disabled Tallinn's water supply and over a thousand incendiary bombs were dropped on the city during the night. 1549 buildings were destroyed and 3350 were seriously damaged. According to official reports, 757 people died as a result of the bombings, 213 were severely injured, 446 people were lightly wounded and about 20,000 people were left homeless.
Today we commemorate the victims of this horrendous attack.
March 8 is International Women's Day. Today we acknowledge and give thanks to all the amazing women out there who've had a positive influence on our lives. Women contribute a lot to society, and sometimes their work within the home can be taken for granted and not always fully appreciated. Today, women around the world should take pride in themselves and indulge in a few treats. I will buy some colourful flowers, eat my favourite chocolates/dessert and light some candles in the evening. Feel-good stuff! (But I actaully do this most days!) Head Naistepäeva!
Dr Priit Tammjarv from Tartu University Hospital and Peep Sooman have recently published a new health book that discusses the importance of good mental health, and how the lack of it, attracts illnesses and disease. “The Secrets of Longevity” concentrates on an extensive list of serious lifestyle diseases and the awareness to avoid them. The key to the secret of a healthier and a longer life is in creating a comprehensive mindset that includes a thought-through lifestyle, reducing risk behaviour and seeking a mental balance. The book is fluent, medically correct and gives the reader a great overview of every danger we may encounter in our lives, and how to skillfully avoid them.
The Secrets of Longevity is now available for purchase on Amazon
A newly completed map of Estonia shows there are 95 more islands than previously thought, but the country is now four square kilometers smaller. The Land Board maps Estonia's coastline every eight years and the latest aerial images taken in 2020 revealed that the number of islands in territorial waters has risen from 2,222 islands to 2,317.
The Estonian Land Board has stated that the shoreline of the Baltic Sea is constantly changing. The shoreline is affected by post-ice age land uplift, continuous coastal erosion and accretion processes, which are particularly intense with storms. The new official figure of Estonia's landmass is 45,335 square kilometres instead of the previously calculated figure of 45,227.
The new islands have yet to be named.