Jaanipäev

Jaanipäev or Saint John’s Day, is one of the most important holidays for Estonia and the other Baltic states. It is usually celebrated during the night between June 23rd and 24th, during the summer solstice when the sun never sets. Jaanipäev was celebrated long before Christianity came to Estonia, but it was given its name later by the crusaders (even though the day tends to have more to do with pagan beliefs and fertility rituals than with going to church). Everyone celebrates Jannipäev, because, I’ve heard, if you sleep on Jannipäev you will be sleepy all summer. The celebration almost always consists of a bonfire, singing, dancing, drinking, and a few special rituals. The first midsummer ritual is to jump over the bonfire which guarantees good luck and prosperity. The fire also keeps away mischievous spirits. It is tradition for couples to jump over the fire together as well. On Jaanipäev children are sent to look for “fern blossoms” because ferns supposedly blossom only on this night. Girls also make crowns of wildflowers to wear.

The BALSSI program was invited to join in on the Jaanipäev festivities held at the Lithuanian house this year. We had a rather large bonfire, so jumping over it was not at all a consideration. We made and wore wildflower crowns and had lots of good food and conversation. The timing worked out well because we were able to bring some leftovers from our picnic the day before to share. Our three classes along with our teachers performed three songs for everyone; one in Estonian, one in Latvian, and one in Lithuanian. I especially enjoyed learning a Lithuanian dance and game. It was great to see people, young and old, come together to celebrate their culture.

Performing our songs for the Lithuanians

The Latvian class infront of the unlit bonfire

The lighting of the bonfire

Thank you again to Liz for the photos!

BALSSI Happy Hour

Every Friday at the Summer Language Institue we have a “happy hour” picnic (no alcohol involved) and a different group of language classes cooks and serves food from their region. My Estonian class was paired up with the rest of BALSSI to prepare Baltic food. So Friday afternoon, instead of having class as usual, we headed to the kitchen to make all sorts of wonderful things. The Latvians made potato salad with eggs, ham, peas, pickles, dill, and of course lots of potatoes. The Lithuanians made black bread that was excellent, despite their complaints of smelling like garlic for the rest of the day. I, along with my fellow Estonians, made an apple cake with a cinnamon sugar crumble. The Latvian teacher also brought candies for us to try. I don’t know what they are really called because we just referred to them as “cow candy” (the wrapper has a picture of a cow). The teachers all reminisced about having these carmel cream candies when they were kids. The cooking was lots of fun and the food was great. It definitely left me looking forward trying all sorts of new food when I am living in Estonia.

The other SLI picnics have been a lot of fun too. It is great to try food from different countries. We also usually end up playing music from the various cultures as well. I have brought my violin along and tried to learn Serbian, Bulgarian, and Turkish music. It is great to see people singing and dancing and having a good time.

Photos (the last three) by: my friend Liz (hope you don’t mind!)

Pittsburgh Pirates Game

I haven’t posted in almost a month. It turns out when they say “intensive language course” they really do mean intensive. Basically I have been studying a lot in the last few weeks, however I have made some time for fun too. Let me catch you up on a few things I have done since I’ve been in Pittsburgh.

I went to a baseball game. The Summer Language Institute bought group tickets and I was able to go for pretty cheap. Plus I got a free hat and T-shirt. Unfortunately the T-shirt never made it home with me (more on that later), but it was a nice bonus. We went to a Friday night game when the Pirates were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now I am really a Boston Red Sox fan, but I figured it was okay to route for the Pirates since they aren’t even in the American League. Overall it was a pretty good game and the Pirates won 3-0.

It had been a while since I went to a baseball game, and I was glad I decided to go. It was a little strange to be there without my brother and my dad. I think I associate baseball with them. We used to go to a Red Sox game almost every summer with some family friends. I miss that tradition.

I went to the game with a friend from BALSSI that conveniently lives across the hall from me. When the game was over she was tired and wanted to go home, but I had plans to meet up with another friend. So we parted ways and I went off to find a bus stop that would take me to the South Side. When I got there however, the bus I needed (and Google maps told me would be there) was not a bus that went to that stop. Luckily I ran into two girls who, although I had never talked to, I recognized from SLI. It turned out that one of them was also going to the South Side, so I more or less followed her. She had plans to meet up with someone, but she ended up coming with me to meet my friend while she waited for her friend (is this confusing without names?). Anyway, she ended up being really cool and we had a good time over a couple of drinks.

On our way home we realized we had missed the last buss and would have to walk. At this point I was regretting wearing flip flops (the next day my feet were cut up from them). We made it back alright though and the only casualty was my free Pirates T-shirt that I dropped somewhere on the hill up to my dorm.