Mari is sweet.
Tanel is funny.
Leo is hardcore (he has a mullet).
Lotta is lovely.

The boat was cool but also like a time machine. I slept well but could have done with a few more hours. It never really got dark.

Tanel came to pick us up with perfect timing after an eleven hour shift at the shipyard. They sent off a Russian pipelay ship? today.  I think he is a welder. He is funny and chill like the awkward but endearing English character on tv/in movies, minus the awkward. Mari is very nice but I think she was kind of nervous at first. I only caught a glimpse of Leo in the morning because he was hiding under his bed. Apparently it is otherwise rare that he and Lotta are able to sleep into the morning.

After a good breakfast of familiar things like bread and cheese and tomato and cucumber (less so the marmalade at Degla) but also a less familiar karjalanpiirakka, Mari took us to the cathedral from where we walked down the River Aura. Sibylle and I had lunch at the market and checked out two art galleries before heading back for dinner, which was a very edible casserole. It was good to eat such food after being sick at Degla and feeling weird and worrying all yesterday. It’s funny that it is sweets that upsets my stomach when there is an E. Coli outbreak from unidentified fresh produce (cucumbers?) in this part of Europe. For dessert (the kids shouted “come to eat!” at us in Finnish around 10pm, changed into their pjs after a nice walk in the forest), we had the cloudberry ice cream Tanel picked up this morning on the way to the family’s suburban home and a rhubarb pudding Mari made.

I would call this first CouchSurfing experience a success. *knock wood* (still haven’t actually slept yet) They gave us Leo’s room for the night. I hope the kid doesn’t resent us. He’s very hardcore even though he is helpful and points the way. Lotta is nice but just stares at us. They are not shy at all and seem pretty whatever about these total randoms in their house but Mari often invites foreign students over for a cultural exchanges. Maybe Tanel thinks we’re weird.

Anyways, we have mattresses. It’s nice.

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