My way to Tartu
I have always wanted to travel abroad for postgraduate studies to see the world and meet new people. I did not just want to study, I wanted it to be in a calm, scenic and affordable place. It was therefore love at first sight when I came across the University of Tartu on
studyportals.com
late December 2019. By January 2020 I had put together my application and applied for the MA programme in International Law and Human Rights. My joy knew no bounds when on the 7thof May 2020, right amidst the gloomy lockdown and the Covid-19 global pandemic, I received a conditional offer from the University of Tartu. I proceeded immediately to fulfil the conditions of my offer and mailed the relevant documents to the admissions department for consideration. On the 30thof June 2020, I received an email confirming my enrolment and my arduous but rather exciting journey to Tartu began. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and most countries under lockdown, it was not clear how I was going to make it to Estonia. To compound my worries, there is no Estonian embassy in Nigeria my home country and the closest Estonian representation is in Egypt. I got really agitated when other institutions in Estonia began to cancel or postpone admission offers of third country students but my worries were laid to rest when I received an email notifying me that studies would be held online until most students are able to make it to Estonia. I paid my tuition even when it wasn’t yet clear that I would make it to Estonia. The closest Estonian embassy to Nigeria is in Egypt and so I wrote to the Consulate to book a date. I got a prompt response and was scheduled for the 3rdof November 2020. To travel to Egypt however, I needed an Egyptian visa and also had to apply to the Egyptian embassy in Nigeria. On my visit to the Egyptian embassy I was informed that visit and tourist visas were as then suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I met similar disappointment at the Turkish, Israeli and Belarusian embassies. I was considering differing my studies to the next academic session when I got the good news that a new Estonian embassy will be opening in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I quickly wrote to the Embassy and secured the 12th of November 2020 for an appointment and cancelled my appointment with the Estonian embassy in Egypt. I had no problem securing a tourist visa to the UAE however, the Estonian Embassy following the regulations in place in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, required that all visitors to the embassy must have stayed within the UAE for at least 14 days before their appointments. So on the 26th of October 2020 I left Nigeria for the first time in my life after taking the Covid-19 test and getting a negative result. I was excited about what lies ahead but I was also sad about leaving my family and friends. I boarded Rwandair with two stopovers in Accra and Kigali, the longest I have ever travelled by air. I arrived Dubai, UAE on the 27th of October 2020 to meet my cousins who were to host me waiting to receive me. I took another Covid-19 test before leaving the airport and travelling to Ajman where my cousins live and study. I settle in Ajman quickly and quite enjoyed my stay there. My daily routine included taking a short walk to the Starbucks café where I use the free internet to participate in lectures or following my cousins to the neighbouring city of Sharjah to use the public library for my assignments and course work. Days rolled into weeks and my appointment with the embassy was approaching. Sincerely, I was worried; prior to my interview, I had never been to a visa interview. The UAE visa I applied for was done online and physical presence or interview was not required. I was worried about being rejected after I had left my job at home, paid my tuition and said goodbye to friends and family. Before then however, my birthday was the 9th of November and my cousins and new friends made it a memorable one with a little celebration which took my mind off the pressure of the visa application and appointment. To visit the Estonian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, I had to take another Covid-19 test to be allowed in at the border. I took the test on the 10th of November and the result was ready by the 11th November. I readied all the needed documents and my credentials and set out early on the 12th of November from Ajman to meet up with my 11:30am appointment with the Embassy in Abu Dhabi. I arrived the Abu Dhabi border at about 7:45am and to my dismay, the border police denied me entry and asked my cousin who volunteer to drive me to the embassy to turn back. I was shocked to my core, I had all the necessary documents and I had taken the compulsory Covid-19 test; so why am I asked to turn back? As I am not one to give up easily, I asked my cousin to make a U-turn and try again. The same officer once again asked us to turn back, this time angrily. I tried to explain to him that I had an important appointment to catch-up with but he was not interested in anything I had to say. The officer then told me that Nigerian passport holders are not allowed into Abu Dhabi. I was perplexed and realised the officer was acting on his own volition as there was no prior official announcement to that effect. He ordered us to turn back and once again I was denied entry. Not knowing what to do, we parked at a gas station from where I called the Estonian embassy to explain my ordeal. The voice at the other end of the phone was so assuring and agreed to move my appointment by an hour if I can make it in. We drove to the border for the third time hoping for a miracle or a different officer and luckily this time we were attended to by a different and really amiable officer who only check my passport, confirmed I took the Covid-19 test and set me on my way. The experience at the border really shook me and I arrived at the embassy looking very distraught. Surprisingly the lady that attended to me was very friendly as though to compensate for my unpleasant experience at the border. I explained the challenge I encountered getting into Abu Dhabi and the embassy offered to have my passport delivered to me in Ajman when a decision is taken provided I make the necessary arrangement with a courier company. I took the offer with both hands, thanked the consular official and left. On the 16th of November 2020, I received an email confirming that a decision had been taken on my visa application and on the 17th of November the courier company I had earlier contracted delivered my passport with the Estonian visa stamped in it. I booked a Lufthansa flight and left the UAE in the wee hours of the 21st of November 2020. I had a 12 hours layover in Frankfurt, Germany and arrived Tallinn airport around 1:30am on the 22nd November 2020. As the taxi drove me to the hostel where I would be isolating for the next ten days in compliance with the Covid-19 regulations, I wound down the window and to allow some of the drizzling cold Estonian rain touch my face. I then, like William E. Henley “thank(ed) whatever gods may be…” for my resilient spirit – probably the same manner of resilience that has kept the University of Tartu going since 1632. Same manner of resilience I would be needing to excel in my programme for the next two years.
Submission by Emmanuel Jonathan