salo

Hi-

It has been a long time since I have written, at least it seems so to me. It is my turn to write the team blog tonight, so I won't talk about the detail of this day. I only wanted to say how good this trip has been for me. For some reason, I didn't imagine being on a boat in the sea when I imagined this exchange. But there is no doubt, that aside from meeting some really good people, being on boats has been my favorite part. We have been on boats 5 times I think. The first was on a rainy day that turned so sunny on a river near Vammala. That was the day that I realized how beautiful the Finnish flag is.

The next boat we were on was when we went out to pick up the herring, that day was sunny the whole time. And, we had an accordian player playing. He played tangos and gospel music and Finnish folk songs. ( It will be a surprise to some of you, but I never mentioned my short time playing the accordian. I felt that keeping quiet about that showed self control and a lot of wisdom.) The next time we were on the sea was when I got a chance to sail a beautiful boat that was a replica of the wooden boats used for delivering mail and animals and everything else in the islands. The boat was 11 meters long and the mast 10.5 meters high. We needed to take it under a bridge that had a half meter clearance. I almost brought it under the bridge, but got nervous when I saw how little room there was for a mistake. But I loved that boat.

On Sunday we went in a power boat to an island that was a leper colony until the 20's I think and then had a mental hospital until the 80's or something. That was creepy, but the island was so pretty.

Today we went to another island, on a ten passenger boat that is an old taxi kind of boat that runs among the islands The weather was cool, cloudy and the seas pretty rough. I am still rocking back and forth in my head. It looks to me like the computer screen is moving back and forth, back and forth... I love that feeling. It tells me that I was really on a boat. There are 60,000 islands in the archipelago, some tiny, others big enough for more than one town. Some are connected by bridges, others by a five minute ferry crossing. When you look out, especially today in the gray weather, you see one island and then just behind it another until they get smaller and more misty in the distance. There are red summer cottages up a bit from the sea and right at the water, close to the dock, is a smaller building for the sauna. Today was the last day to be on the water in a boat that is small enough to let you feel the water. I have had my last sauna followed by a dip in the sea. This is all coming to an end. Saturday the others on the team leave for the US. I will stay in Helsinki for a day to go to the art museum and look around. Then I am going to Estonia for a day, and then to Stockholm. I am taking a big boat to both of these places, but I don't think I will feel like I am on the water. I don't know though. It will be my first experience with a cruise ship. I was going to do these things with a woman from Finland but that fell through. It's good though. By now I am looking forward to being on my own. Picture me sitting on the deck, in the sunset, gazing out in peace and quiet. I won't have to say one word. I can even be crabby if I feel like it. Perfect.

The family I am staying with is making cooking noises in the kitchen. I should go see if I am eating again today. I don't know. It is 9pm. Maybe.

Later, I will do the team blog. See you there.

Mom, Mary, nonna

xoxoxo