Playing with snow

Yes, we had to wait until spring to enjoy activities on snow! This year the winter has slightly moved onwards and the big snow storm came at the end of March. Helsinki was covered by the thick layer of snow as I have never seen. I have learnt to recognise different textures and sounds from the snow depending on the time elapsed from the last snow fall and the outside temperature. For instance, after a recent snow fall, walking on the snow mixed with dirty from the road feels like walking on butter ;-) Still with a intense snow fall over our heads we decided to take the sledge and enjoy like children going downhill once and again. I almost brake by back but we had so much fun. However, I am quite tired of this weather. We need higher temperatures. The winter's been not very hard but extremely long...

Tule Helsingiin

Lara's birthday

Here, there was no formal clothes, no sparkling wine but lots of fun. Lara and her Finnish boyfriend (Matti) invited us to celebrate her birthday in their brand new apartment. They have nice friends: several spanish people, a french couple and chatty Finns. We enjoyed good food (the dry-cured loin on the tomato sauce was superb) in good company.

Suvi's dissertation

Everytime we are invited to a Finnish social event, we learn to know Finns and this occasion we had the honour of being invited to Suvi's house for celebrating that she is a brand new doctor. The dissertation was similar to those I've been already but in this case it was rather difficult to understand anything as everything was discussed in Finnish. The social event was really interesting. We already know that Finns like to prepare (in some particular events like this kind) grandly and solemnly celebrations. All guests were dressed in formal clothes and driven to Suvi's cottage (near to Jokela's town). Suvi's family were very elengantly dressed and recieved the guests with sparkling wine. They prepared nice food and of course we had plenty of drinks. The atmosphere turned from quite serious and emotive to particularly funny and informal. As usual, the alcohol had something to do with that. Suvi's house is the typical traditional wooden Finnish house, cozy and warm, quite similar to the cottages that I've know. Her children are beautiful and so funny! Thank you for the kind invitation. I wish you the best.

A PLEASURE FOR THE SENSES

Spain has been gifted with the best cuisine in the world. Se on totta! Absolutely. We have the best raw material: fruits and vegetables grown up by a powerful sun, a very large variety of fresh fish and seafood from the small and calid Mediterranean sea and from the vast and cold Atlantic sea and high-quality, tender and tasty meat: pork, beef, poultry, lamb, kid, veal (the type that you can/should eat without a spicy sauce). Do not forget the aromatic olive oil, and the cheeses, and the dry-cured meats, and the wine, and the sweets and desserts...We know how to handle with good material to produce dishes of unequalable quality. Spanish cooks are known and recognised around the world. Times Journal considered that Ferrán Adriá (Spanish cook) is one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Nevertheless, any grandmother from every small city in Spain knows how to cook as well as he does, or even better. And finally, we know how to enjoy a good meal, slowly, in company of a good wine and good friends. To fulfill this requirements, a country needs history, culture and tradition, and Spain is full of those.

While staying in Huelva (Southwestern Spain) for giving some lessons in the International University of Andalucía, I had the chance to visit the place from which Cristobal Colón left Spain to discover America and, by the way, I enjoyed the local cousine as you can see from the pictures.

The food and drink in Finland needs an extense revision in another post ;-)

Votes Against Bullets

The girl (20 years old) from the photograph above is suffering an indescribable sorrow in this precise moment. She saw how his father was killed by a cowardly ETA gunman. His father (Isaías) got into the car to go to work as every evening. She saw how the man standing in front of his father's car shot five bullets against his father until the man was deadly wounded. Still, he had enough strength to get out of the car but just few seconds afterwards he fell, fainted, in the middle of the street. Seized with panic, the girl got out of the family house and went to assist his father. His mother went after her. A neighbour described the scene: both women were laying besides the man trying to encourage him, telling that he would recover from that... He answered shooking his head. He died few minutes later.

And it's done. These disgusting bastards, killers without heart and brains, destroyed another family and plunged a whole country into mourning. You might have heard that these terrorists kill people for the independence of the basque country and because they are oppressed by the Spanish government. Consequently, you might think that Sandra's father was an important polititian, a policeman or maybe a government employee. He actually was a modest worker in a motorway toll. But the sick killers found a good reason to kill him: four years ago he was councillor in a small town in the basque country and he was still supporting the socialist party. His friends say that he was an very socially commited person, concerned about his town and that's why he started to be involved in the local government. In Spain, and particularly in the basque country, somebody can be killed just because he/she belongs to, basically, any political party and does not support ETA's violence. That's why, every single polititian in the basque country (and also polititians in the rest of Spain, and some businessman and some journalists...) are followed ALWAYS (always means always) by two bodyguards. But it seems that Isaías cancelled the government protection after several years because he was tired of that life, tired of living with fear, tired of sharing his life with two strangers and tired of checking the bottom of the car every single morning looking for bombs...and of course the sick cowards knew that: he was a easy target, no guns, no bodyguards, just one daughter looking the scene through the window. You should know by now that this situation has nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with independence...it is just anger, these terrorists are full of anger and desperation and they kill to share their desperation with the rest of the world. The purpose of independence is actually supported by a minority in the basque country and they are supposed to force everybody to agree with them. They are supposed to fight against Spain and in favour of the basque country but they kill basques, they are supposed to fight the government and factic powers but they kill modest workers, they claim that they are revolutionary freedom fighters but keep the basque society opressed with fear following nazi's procedures, threatening, extortion, selective murders...It's been a long time that nobody in Spain looks for a reasonable explanation. These thugs stain the words "liberty" and "LEFT" with blood. Isaías was a REAL left-winded brave man, who REALLY fought for liberty and against oppression, first against Franco and then, against ETA. But was finally killed by a bunch of cowards who will finally see the end of his crazy journey; in prison.

The day of the funeral, exactely the day before the elections' day in Spain, the daughter made an speech in front of the TV cameras. The 20 years old girl asked to every single spaniard to fight against terrorism by voting the next day. "Votes against bullets", a journal printed the next day. Democratism against intolerance. The participation rate reached one the highest levels in recent years and his father's party won the elections...but he could not celebrate it. The entire population of Spain suffered Isaías murder as something personal and so close...we all were there, on that street, with your family, encouraging you to stay alive and we all cried for you, when your soul was finally taken away.