We were skiing in Tahkovuori very recently and I was wondering about the amount of Russian tourists to be found unlike the previous times I’ve been there. Searching a little bit I found this and this article, where they explain that there is a boom in visits of Russian citizens from last year.
If you are looking for a job in Eastern Finland (currently suffering from difficult times in the wood industry), try hospitality and learn some Russian.
A couple of good friends live in Tampere, and we visit them every once in a while. We were there just a few days ago, and enjoyed as usual.
Tampere is called the “Manchester of Finland” and pictures like this of downtown make it quite obvious. I didn’t know that the city, given its industrial past, has been an important part of Finnish history and site of key events in the Finnish Civil War.
We recently visited a friend who moved to a small town near the Russian border called Parikkala. It was great to see her and her family, but it made me realise more than ever that life is about the choices you make: I would never be able to live outside of Kehä III here in Finland, and that trip confirmed my view.
A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to visit Stockholm, to finally see Nortec Collective live. Nedless to say, we jumped around like crazy and enjoyed the gig immensely, especially since instead of Banda samples they actually had live musicians backing them up (who played an encore of their own). We even ended up backstage with them after the gig, and naturally welcomed them to come to the Helsinki Festival whenever they could.
It was a very welcome pause, and it was nice to see that Stockholm still looks the same. An interesting note was that everybody spoke to me in Swedish (even though I had a tejana on most of the time), while that seldom happens in Finland with or without funny hats.
Mexican immigration in the US is not limited anymore to the border states. More and more often, Mexicans are to be found in areas of the country they weren’t before. NY, which has had for long a Puerto Rican and Dominican Hispanic community, has received for the past 10 years or so an influx of people specifically from the state of Puebla in central Mexico. They are as inconspicuous in the city as any other immigrant community.
Some joke about Puebla York (instead of Nueva York, as it is called in Spanish). I was glad to have found a decent taquería in a recent business trip (as long as you’re willing to go for some pastor or lengua).
No “Chipotle Mexican Grill” for me.
A couple of weeks ago we spent a long weekend with friends in Moscow (photos here). The city has very beautiful areas and downtown is just amazing.
One thing that surprised me was that clearly the current price of commodities has done wonders for the local economy and you can see it everywhere you go: people dress better that what I saw 7 years ago in Saint Petersburg, the city looks clean and frankly it’s not the cheapest place on Earth.
Another interesting thing was that we were there while the situation in Georgia was developing, and the points of view in the local media were completely different from what you see in CNN or even the BBC.
Finally, as stupid as this might sound, it was very comforting to get past the usual stereotypes and just notice that the people over there are just like everybody else 😉 .
And indeed it is. The place is called Xochimilco, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
The place as you can see is completely full of nature. We saw some bovines and heard that they don’t get sacrificed for their meat, but are rather used as natural lawnmowers, so we were joking that we would like the life of a Xochimilco cow.
Yes, of course it did. The structure of the city is typically American, built around the car, and of course the American and Texan flags fly everywhere you look. Furthermore, you will find that Texans are very, very proud of their heritage and to be respected, of course.
However, in a recent visit to San Antonio I was surprised by the huge Mexican influence in the place, as can be seen in the photo to the right and in these other two. I was also rather impressed by the Spanish-language proficency of people not of Hispanic descent, and the amount of Hispanics in the city was quite large. I was wondering if it was always like this given its geographic location or if this is a recent change.
This is a flower I’ve certainly missed during my time in Finland. Since it grows during summer and I usually visit Mexico for Christmas, I hadn’t seen it for a long time. It reminds me of my childhood, as there were bushes of this plant growing all over my neighbourhood.
