Our time in Finland is almost over! We are leaving for Scotland on Tuesday, TUESDAY! Last night we had a dinner for our friends and it was wonderful, but sad. I didn't want anyone to leave; I don't want to leave!

We made Mexican food- no one had ever had it! Black bean and beef fajitas and tacos with grilled vegetables, a fresh pineapple pico de gallo with onion and green chili, mexican deviled eggs, queso and tortilla chips and chocolately-chocolate mudcake for dessert.

This weekend is Vappu (May Day celebration). It's a very important tradition in Finland and we've heard that things get pretty out of control; I can't wait! On Friday people meet in the park in the center of the city and there is a carnival, then Saturday there are bonfires and celebrations all night. Sunday morning everyone gets together to have picnics in the park. Arto has warned us that we will be scarred for life by what we encounter- I don't believe it.

Robert shaved his beard!

An extremely creepy Vappu mask.

An extremely sexy Vappu hat!

Wow.

Our friend, Mikko, randomly showed up at our apartment a week ago.. I was surprised to see him and even more surprised when he handed me a HUGE bag of 120 and 35mm film!! Woohoo!

and, more of our Finnish forest!

Yesterday I packed all of my things away into one suitcase and a carry-on luggage bag. It feels strange to be packing everything up, but I am determined to only take one luggage home. I have a lot of winter clothing that I will be getting rid of before we leave, and some books.

Next week is everyone's 'going away' party, it's so strange! I'm ready to see the other side of Europe, yet I don't want to leave our home here for good!

In exciting news, we are going to Prague!




I am so excited! A few weeks ago I was convinced that we wouldn't be able to find a cheap way to visit the Czech Republic- I was wrong! We are going to take a bus from Krakow, Poland straight to Prague (6-8 hours) on the 24th of May. On the 29th of May we are flying from Prague to Barcelona, Spain (our plane tickets were only 50.00 euros total)!

I think that I'm going to have a visual overdose next month; it's too much. It should not be possible to see Scotland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Spain within one month.

Paulina and I were looking up rental car prices for Warsaw, and they are only $20.00 (american dollars) a day! Robert and I plan on renting a car for the five days that we are there so that we can travel between the cities.

All of the snow has melted here. It's hard to adjust to Jyvaskyla without all of the white. The days are getting longer and longer, with the sun going down at 9:00 p.m.

This is the the temperature today, 12 degrees celsius! It's a miracle!

This was the sky at 9:40 last night! Still so bright!

Packing all of my things, and throwing away useless school papers!

Paulina.. in the woods, with a turban on her head.. eating falafel (?) She's cute!









Also..

Major airports have been reopened in Europe! We're free!!

Here is a video of Robert's performance today; he did so well!

Also, it is snowing here.. how depressing is that?

Please enjoy the fruits of our labor.



This 28 second video took 4 hours (of drawing) to create, and will probably be the cause for early onset arthritis in my right hand! Please enjoy my super Finnish-speaking skills, as well as my ultra sexy pitch shifted voice. Most importantly, enjoy Robert's music- its really something.

Aside from that, we have finally purchased our return tickets for the United States. It's a terrible reality, but it had to be done. We are leaving from Barcelona, Spain on June 30th with a three hour layover in Geneva, Switzerland, and arriving at Dulles Airport on the first of July. In better news, our tickets were amazingly priced! Among pages and pages of $1,200-$2,600.00 tickets we found ours, at $600!!

Our time in Finland is rapidly coming to an end, which makes me terribly sad. I'm not ready to leave all of the amazing people we've met and our comfortable little home. I am excited about our travels to come, though. We are going to see so many amazing countries, and that more than makes it worth it.

We are leaving on the 4th of May for Scotland and returning on the 11th. Upon returning we will pack up all of our belongings, then leave for a week and a half stay in Poland. From Poland we are flying to Barcelona, Spain.. and from there.. we'll see!

I've finished all of my classes except my Greek Mythology course, which is every other Monday. This past week has been very hectic and worrisome, as I have been frantically studying for my Finnish exams. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that I did well.

We are planning a short weekend trip to the Finnish island of Mariehamn, it's a few hour trip on the ferry from Turku.



I wanted to share some images of the Finnish cartoon series, Moominland. I had the opportunity to read Moonminland Mid-Winter in my Finnish literature course and I thought that it was a beautifully written and illustrated book.






The author, Tove Jansson, was a really interesting and beautiful person.


She wrote the first Moominland book during the Winter War in Finland. Tove created the story out of an apparent desire to see a safe, nurturing and innocent world (whether fictional, or real). Many of the Moomin books tackle tough topics that arise in such cold and dark climates as the Finnish winter; which makes the stories enjoyable for adults as well as children.

Anyways, I am off to nap and fret about my test scores.

this is my new favorite picture.