Shannon Mendis: Hyvää Pääsiäistä!

Hyvää Pääsiäistä! (Happy Easter!)
 
This weekend was Easter weekend here in Helsinki. I planned to go on a train to Espoo to visit with Hanna and her family, which was about 20 minutes out of the city. They invited me for dinner at her parents' house and also to color eggs with the kids. I couldn't wait! I was obviously excited about the delicious home-cooked Finnish meal, but also very much excited about coloring eggs. I love doing that! Always have and always will. It's one of my favorite things about Easter, besides the Peeps and Cadbury eggs.

To my surprise, on Easter Sunday, Tiki handed me a candy packet of Cadbury eggs. I was SO happy!!  She is too sweet, right? Although I missed my family this year on Easter, I was very happy to spend it with Hanna and her family. It was super nice for her to invite me.  

Easter commemorates the resurrection of Christ, but it also celebrates the arrival of spring. Finnish Easter traditions also combine these characteristics. At Easter, the Finns welcome spring, though just a few days ago it was snowing...so I am yet to really call it spring.  There aren't really many flowers blooming, but it doesn't mean Finns don't have Easter flowers. They make them by hand, out of tissue paper and dyed feathers.

Mämmi is traditional Finnish Easter dessert. Mämmi is a dark brown porridge made from water, rye flour and powdered rye malt. Sounds good right? You should see what it looks like.  I tried mämmi at our monthly meeting last week along with other Easter desserts. I ate mämmi cold with sugar and some vanilla sauce. It was...how do you say...hmmm...DIFFERENT.

Last Sunday, children with sooty faces and scarves tied round their heads were out carrying broomsticks and bunches of decorated willow twigs. Little girls dressed as witches go from door to door, reciting good luck poems in return for money and sweets (sounds like trick-or-treating). I don't have any kids in the building where I live so I happened to miss all this action last week, but I read about it and heard about it from my co-workers. It is also said that the kids will tap their relatives and neighbors with sprigs of willow and wish them good luck and health for the next year.

Also, this weekend Lisa Julius (a GROW ambassador from Winter Park to Estonia) visited me. I was excited for her to see the city and to see a familiar face. The weather was beautiful Saturday so she went on the tour of Helsinki, the same one I had taken by bus when I arrived. It is definitely worth it! The bus takes you around the Helsinki Cathedral, Senate Square, the Orthodox Church, and also over to the Sport Museum Art museums and famous monuments. It's a must if you come to visit Helsinki.

Next we went to Zetor to eat. In some ways, the restaurant sums up the unique Finnish approach to life. Named after a Czech manufacturer, the chaotic decor includes sitting around real tractors.  It felt like we were eating inside a chicken coop with chicken wire around us, hahaha. The menu has many options, ranging from traditional Finnish reindeer steaks to beef steaks and Russian foods. But we ended up ordering chicken! Hahaha, nothing like eating chicken in a chicken coop! Great food and the atmosphere made it!

After eating, we headed to the Ice Bar. I think it's something for the tourists for sure but we had a great time! They put these big cape-like coats on us and we went into the cold. The ice was imported from Lapland, which is in the north of Finland. Next we went to the Grand Casino which was very close to my flat and in the city center. It was nice to play some slots for awhile and entertain ourselves but in the end losing money.

Sunday we woke up and went to Nolla for a reggae buffet breakfast. It was so great to hear some reggae and we were both happy to enjoy our time together. Afterward we met with Tiki at Café Strindberg for a coffee and then we ended up meeting one of Lisa's friends that is a travel advisor for Helsinki and went for tea. He showed us around the central area and harbor and also explored the inside of the Helsinki Cathedral. Before we knew it, it was time for Lisa to be back on the ferry to Estonia. It was such a great time spent and I was happy to see her. Lisa has just started her program in Estonia in April and I was eager to learn what she has experienced so far as well as to share my stories with her. That night I went over to Tiki's friend's place to experience more Easter treats. It was a wonderful end to a fabulous weekend! Hope everyone had a great Easter, too! :)

Shannon