I recently went on a trip to northeast Estonia, to the city of Narva. It is on the Russian border and only 150 km away from St. Petersburg. The city itself was a step back into Soviet days (though the rest of Estonia has progressed extensively). The fascinating part is that the city itself is split into two: half in Estonia, and the other half in Russia seperated by a river. In the center of the city there are two large castles facing each other, one on either side of the river. One castle being Russian, and the castle in Estonia being Swedish (dating centuries back when Sweden controlled the land). It is the only place in the world where there are two opposing castles so close together. It was quite impressive. It was also interesting to visit the Baltic Sea on the north side of the Baltics, and so close to St. Petersburg. There was an entirely different feeling to the Sea. It was more remote with a sense of hidden history. The city itself was 96 % Russian, even though it is in Estonia (Estonia and Russia do not get along, but Estonia also has a large Russian minority which creates interesting dynamics). I traveled again with a colleague of mine, Viktorija. We visited a couple of schools in Narva (and a couple of students are coming to our Summer Language Institute this summer, they will be our first Estonian students). We also visited a Christian Youth Conference nearby. The church we spoke in has a strong outreach program in the area of the city we were at, where over 80% of the population is living on social welfare. I honestly thought we had accidently driven into a deserted city. It was wonderful to attend the youth conference as it is an encouragement to the youth, parents, and church.

Now I'm back in the office, trying not to go insane as the weather is becoming quite nice and the beaches and sea are glittering and the forest is buzzing with life. I just want to get outside!