I returned a few days ago from a trip to Estonia. I'm embarrassed to admit how little I knew about this wonderful, undiscovered place. After a grueling trip to Tallinn (how can a trip by plane within Europe take 15 hours door to door?) I arrived at the wrong hotel. It's almost midnight, but the lady at the front desk picks up the phone and I'm delighted when I realize she's speaking Russian. The capital is 40 percent Russian, and Narva, where I attended the conference, is a Russian enclave (97%). So I spent the whole week rediscovering Russian, and it felt good to have it once again rattling around in my head. Here's my Russian language triumph of the week: I walked into a bank and said the following: "I'm a complete idiot. I forgot my pin number for my debit card. Could you please give me money if I show you my passport and sign my name? Please?" The banker understood me and gave me money!

The Russian/Estonia situation seems calm, and it heartened me to realize that there are places where minorities get along. From my vantage point, it seems like the best of both worlds. Narva IS Russia. It was alll so familiar: the shops and architecture, and the elderly round people sitting outside of their apartment buildings. And yet this piece of cultural Russia rests in the midst of Estonian prosperity and insane cleanliness.