Sunday August 10th: Finland is 7 hours ahead of those of y'all on the east coast, in case you were wondering. Jonna and I eventually got ready and packed to go to Hatala (I think?) which is about an hour and a half driving from Helsinki. First we went by the store and Subway (just for Evan). I just checked the weather: it's currently 66F and slightly cloudy. sunrise is at 5:06am and sunset is 9:23pm. This place is gorgeous! Many Finnish people have "summer homes" aka vacation homes that are out in the country that they visit during the weekends throughout the year. Jonna's mom's cousin owns this house and it's on a gorgeous lake. It's a log cabin and reminds me of Sonya and Derek's house :] We relaxed after driving (and we realized I could use the internet) then went to enjoy the saunas and swimming. The smoke sauna was first. Apparently these aren't nearly as common and I don't know the exact differences except it smelled smoky inside? It was super hot and humid but that's the point. Jonna and I wore bathing suits though it's completely normal to go nude. At public saunas there are even signs prohibiting bathing suits from being worn. Jonna told me a lot about the saunas. You go with people you know, usually at your house (most houses have the regular saunas) and it's hot and you get sweaty but it feels like you have new skin. You feel so much cleaner after (true, confirmed). We didn't stay too long in the smoke sauna (Jonna isn't a huge fan of it) and we went swimming in the lake. It felt a lot colder because we had been inside the hot room. The lake is gorgeous. We could see the full moon rising and the sun setting which was amazing, especially over each side of the lake. The lake has fishies (Jonna doesn't like them). Then we hit the regular sauna which is a bit overwhelming at first. It's hard to breathe when Jonna threw the water onto coals? I don't even know what. But it was truly awesome. I can see why the Finnish people like these so much, especially when it's cold outside. Jonna told me more about saunas. The dogs like them too (though not one of her dogs) and children also use the saunas. It's quite normal. The newer saunas have showers between the entrance and the sauna that you use when you're finished. This one is older so we used buckets of water and bathed like it was 200 years ago. It was quite the experience. My words can't really do it justice.
We had a lovely dinner after taking multiple photographs and videos of the view. Jonna's mom made chicken in some kind of tasty sauce with noodles. Bread, cheese, vegetables, chips, and dip were also on the table. I ate plenty of carrots (Jonna can confirm for you non believers!). They tasted good, especially with the sauce from the chicken. Now I've been skyping and typing. Bed soon, no idea what we're doing tomorrow. Possibly waking up at sunrise to see the view over the lake. Then of course going back to bed for a few hours :]
PS Check for postcards in the mail! They should be arriving very soon! <3 Message/comment when you get them please.
EDIT: I mention that I'm from North Carolina. People in Finland know vaguely where this is. My follow up: "halfway between New York and Florida. I went to the university that Michael Jordan went to." That seems to do the trick :] Jonna is teaching me some Finnish words and phrases that I promptly keep forgetting. I can remember about half of how to say "my name is..." and I know how to say "thank you." We've had a lot of fun discussing the differences in languages between Finnish, Swedish, English, and Spanish (Jonna knows a bit of all of these).
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