Going out there is learning

And suddenly I´m home.

Another exciting big outing is done and I´m richer by various new encounters and events. I have witnessed with my own eyes the existence of two new countries. (If you think about it, nothing can really exist untill you see it for yourself.) I have met people, good and bad, some of which I will alway remember and feel sorry for not having them in my everyday life. Once again I have re-established the fact that in every country people are the same, with same needs and wants. I´m improving at seeing people as caring individuals rather than as a crowd of strangers.

Whoever it was who said that life is a book and those who don´t travel read only one page is right. And why would you not want to read more, learn more, see how other people live in faraway countries? In Greece I learned to relax and go with the nature. In Bulgaria I enjoyed extreme kindness and hospitality. In Hungary I discovered how easily you can connect with people from all over the world. In England... well, they´re always jolly good fellows and polite, too.

At home you sometimes fall into being frustrated as you´re countrymen are predictable and ordinary. But for somebody we are foreigners and we might cause confusion or delight. Little by little I'm starting to appreciate being Finnish even though all that many foreigners know about us is the long winter and (consequently) high suicide rates.

Finns are alright. Every nation is, even though sometimes we don´t get their ways. If you just meet enough people you´ll know that they are still as good as we are. Once you discover that muslims are not just a bunch of fundamentalists, southeuropeans can speak fluent English etc, the world feels like a more pleasant place to live.

Two portions of wine a day is healthy right?

Kalimera !!

I've been working on Euphoria farm for three days now and glad to say I like it here. We've been planting melons and peppers, weeding vineyards and garden, preparing the guesthouse... It's not too hard though: there's always time to sit outside and sip wine or later on in the evening, zipporo!

Kefalonia is a beautiful island with high mountains where herds of sheep graze and cars drive on narrow moutain roads. I've already visited Argostoli which is the capital of the island but actually just a small touristy town. I'm hoping to have time soon to go down to the beach and swim in the sea.

I live in my own trailer which is really comfy and equally inhabited by dozens of tiny ants. It's nice and cool to sleep there, amid lemon trees.

I'm loving the food too and it's mostly vegetarian, thank god. At every meal we drink white wine (from the house) and have feta cheese. And olive oil of course!

My facebook account is locked even though I replied hundreds of security questions. Nevermind. I'm enjoying my time without addiction to the internet.

Bye for now, it's siesta.

Full speed to the south !

Dear friends

Since the spring semester is over it's only appropriate to direct my feet to the summer pastures, to the south. My main destination is Kefalonia in Greece. I left home yesterday morning hitching all the way from Oulainen to Seinäjoki. It went as smoothly as one can hope although I was a little anxious about my chose route: it was dead quiet in some parts. I made it to Seinäjoki in about three hours but I gave up in the pouring rain and took a train to Tampere. After staying in the sunny Lempäälä for one night, I'm now in the beautiful capital of Finland feeling the aftermath of WC celebration...

Great to be on the road again ! It's the closest to freedom I can get these days. Next two days I'll spend riding trams and metro and being as urban as this country girl gets!