Estonians speak Estonian, just as Latvians speak Latvian and Lithuanians speak Lithuanian. Estonia is a rare language from an uncommon language group that includes Hungarian and Finnish. One thing that makes the study of the Estonian language very different from the study of English is that Estonian does not use prepositions and there are no words for gender. For example, tema in Estonian means both "he" and "she." Many people in Tartu also speak English, so I can get around just fine!
Estonians use the euro, the currency of the European Union. Estonia joined the European Union in 2004, so it started using the euro instead of the kroon (its first independent currency). One euro is equivalent to 1.15 American dollars right now, but that rate can fluctuate.
A bottle of water is very affordable, ranging between 75 cents and one euro. Most people drink tap water, though.
My favorite meal this week was one I tried in a new restaurant in Tallinn: meat dumplings in a potato stew. The meals in the winter are very hearty and filling, often relying on large portions of dairy and meat. The dumplings immediately warmed me up after a cold week.
