Fairytale Towns and EU Projects: My Summer in Estonia

When most people think of Europe, they think of France with the Eiffel Tower and croissants;
Spain with the vibrant architecture and beaches of Barcelona; Greece with whitewashed
buildings in Santorini and ancient ruins in Athens; or Denmark with its colorful Nyhavn harbor
and hygge lifestyle. Not many people think of Estonia. But what they don’t know is that they end
up missing out on a true hidden gem!

Estonia is a small country nestled between Russia, Latvia, and the Baltic Sea. A part of the Baltic
States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), a European Union member state, and a NATO country,
Estonia really should be on your list of places to visit. Estonia is a place of beautiful forests,
quiet coastlines, and charming medieval towns that make you feel like you’re living in a
fairytale. It’s also one of the most digitally advanced countries in the world (yes, really—they
invented e-residency and digital voting!), so culturally it feels like a crossroads of Nordic
efficiency, post-Soviet history, and cutting-edge innovation. So, it may not be the first place you
think of when you imagine Europe, but its beauty and unique cultural identity make it difficult
not to fall for its quiet magic.

As someone who loves to travel, I always thought I’d visit Estonia, but I never planned on living
here for eight weeks. But on my search for summer internships I found that CIEE had some
really interesting opportunities available. And after some research, I was completely sold on
spending my summer here.

With the current war in Ukraine it did limit my options on what internships were available—I
study international relations and am very passionate about security studies, so finding a summer
internship in defense was going to be tricky. But, CIEE was incredible by helping me secure a
spot at Civitta.

I wasn’t sure what to expect on my first day, but I was pleasantly surprised. Civitta is a
consulting firm, so initially I was skeptical about what a consulting firm had to do with my
professional interests, but as they say, sometimes you just have to trust the process. Civitta has a
wonderful office in Tallinn and when I arrived everyone there was super welcoming and took the
time to introduce themselves to me. I had my company onboarding and was then introduced to
two projects I’d be helping with.

Now, here is where trusting the process really paid off. For eight weeks I was able to assist
Civitta on two EU Horizon funded projects. I helped with the PESCO-UP project by conducting
research and gathering data for my team at Civitta to use, and I helped on the ANGeLiC project
by drafting the project manual. With both of these projects I got to improve my professional
research and writing skills which are going to be super useful for my intended career path. 
It wasn’t necessarily the internship I expected to have, but it was one that gave me invaluable 
experience and an opportunity to meet some really incredible people.

Civitta also has an office in Tartu, Estonia. I had the opportunity to visit this office as well, and
meet even more people working on the projects I was assisting with. It was yet another
incredible experience. Civitta also does weekly staff lunches, where one person in the office
orders food or brings something from home and everyone who wants to, eats together. This was
a nice chance for me to get to know other people in the office who I wasn't working with. Civitta
is also an international company with locations in over 20 countries. The Estonia side (both in
Tallinn and Tartu) work closely with the offices in Latvia, so several of my team members were
actually located in Riga.

Interning at Civitta was such a unique experience that allowed me to expand my international
network and do meaningful work. Most of the time people associate internships with getting
coffee or doing busy work. But this could not be farther from the truth at Civitta. I was doing
meaningful work that my team members were using in their projects. And these projects are EU
wide and are aimed at improving sustainable practices across all member states.

While I was working pretty much nine to five each day, I still had plenty of free time. CIEE has
many extracurricular events and activities you can sign up for. We had a tour at the E-Estonia
center where we got to learn about the advanced digital systems in Estonia; we got to volunteer
at the Ukrainian culture center where we wove camouflage nets that were then sent to the front
lines in Ukraine; we spent a day at Rummu Quarry learning about the old prison; and we had a
day trip to Pärnu, the Estonian summer capitol, where we got to try skimboarding at the beach!
 

Another amazing part of my study abroad experience was my ability to do some independent
travel. I spent a day in Helsinki, Finland which is only a two hour ferry ride away. Often people
associate Estonia with Eastern Europe, but in reality, Estonia is much more similar to Finland
and the Nordic Countries. Both the Finnish and Estonian languages are similar to one another
and differ to every other European language, except Hungarian. The Finnish and Estonian people
often refer to their countries having a big brother-little brother relationship, though who is the big
brother depends on who you ask!

I also did a trip to the other Baltic States. I took an eight hour overnight bus from Tallinn to
Vilnius, Lithuania and spent a day enjoying the old town and strolling through the park. There is
actually a self-declared “independent republic” in the old town called Užupis. It even has its own
constitution, and is definitely worth the visit! After a day in Vilnius, I took the train to Riga,
Latvia. I think this was one of my favorite destinations that I explored while studying abroad this
summer. I once again walked around the beautiful old town, went inside many churches, and did
a walking tour about the soviet occupation in Riga. The next day I got a bus back to Tallinn.

While exploring all these new places was amazing, Tallinn has so much to offer. The old town
really does look like it’s straight out of a fairytale, there are so many museums, and even more
unique districts (like the Telliskivi Creative City) to explore.

Studying abroad is such an incredible experience and I think that everyone should have the
opportunity to live and experience different cultures. Three years ago I did my first study abroad
with CIEE in Copenhagen, Denmark, last year I went again and stayed in Prague, Czech
Republic, and this year I did an internship abroad in Tallinn, Estonia. I am also attending
university abroad and studying in London, England. One could say, I got the travel bug and keep
coming back for more.

While it has been such a positive experience for me, and I have lots of practice being far from
home, working in another country does have its challenges. It can be isolating at times. Even
though there are other CIEE interns, everyone has such different schedules and because you’re
working almost all day it’s hard to meet people outside of your work. Working what is
essentially a full time job, is also so different from my typical university routine, and it was
definitely an adjustment I had to make. But, these challenges are all part of the process and you
learn to adapt and make the most out of such an incredible experience.

So, Tallinn, Estonia may not be the most well known European nation, but it is definitely one of
the most magical. The culture, the history, and the people are simply amazing. The CIEE staff
are also so incredible and I could not recommend getting an internship or study abroad 
experience with them enough. My experiences at Civitta have been invaluable and have helped
shape my professional development in so many ways. I will definitely be coming back to
Tallinn, and I am so grateful that I spent my time exploring this beautiful culture and country!

Mackenzie Green, Summer, 2025
Northeastern University (London)
Mackenzie is sharing her CIEE referral code! Use it when you apply and get $200 off your study
abroad program. Plus, a $200 donation will be made to the Global Navigator scholarship fund to
help more students study abroad.

Here's the link: https://my.ciee.org/?rc=mackenzie