I think I've been cured of my melancholy. Well, for now, that is.

A day off contributed to it a lot. I called a friend on Wednesday morning to ask for advice about open air markets here in Tallinn as I had never been to one. She said she needed to visit one anyway and offered to take me with her. So we went to a big market which was a scary and wonderful place - it smelt awkwardly and there were the strangest people and so many things you would never find in a grocery store. And it sure wasn't a place which would meet the EU's health and safety standards. Most certainly not. Anyway, I returned from our adventure with a bag full of fresh veggies and fruits. Wonderful. And then I went on to make some jam - it was probably the first time I had ever made any jam myself. It was apricot jam and I put it into cute little jars so that I could give them to my friends as Christmas presents. A day well spent, I'd say.

When I was done with jamming, I didn't have anything better to do than to go downstairs and bug my colleagues (it's a dangerous thing to live in the same house with your office - you might end up in there even on your day off). I. hasn't been to the office for ages so I'm hanging out with my Russian brothers now. R. (the Russian pastor) and A. (well, technically he works for the Estonian church but he's a Russian by nationality) were cleaning Russian church's office and I just sat there, commenting on everything and anything that appeared from their bottomless closet which hadn't been cleaned for at least ten years. I must have been very annoying. And then at one point one of them dragged a ragged box out of the closet and there was a wondrous old typing machine in there. I was thrilled! Then I sat rather quietly for a good half an hour and annoyed them only with typing noises. Now I have a plan - I totally need to write some old school letters on this beast of a machine. I know U. would appreciate one. If anyone else would like to receive a typed letter, let me know! The machine is safely in my office now.

What a beauty!

Giving it a try.

And then three of us ended the day eating my apricot jam. I was cured. Because I thought - I've lost so bloody much but I've still got awesome people right here. And awesome typing machines. Yes.