Since we started talking about moving to Finland we had decided that it would be more cost effective to spend some time living with his parents in Kuusamo, which is only 20 miles away from the Artic Circle. So, just after a few days in Helsinki we started our trip up north, with a few days stop in the lovely city of Jyvaskyla.
My boyfriend use to live in this city before moving to the states. So, it's normal that he has lots of friends here and knows it's salsa community in and out. A sign of relief was at all times in my head... Finally, some dancing!!! I had been without dancing for a while and it was literally driving me insane. So, as you all can imagine every time that I had a chance I was asking and confirming that in our short stay in Jyvaskyla we were going to one of their salsa socials. My boyfriend being as patient as he is with me, kept on reassuring that we would not leave Jyvaskyla without some good dancing. When the day came to go out dancing I was very excited... but of course having issues finding what to wear since the temperatures were getting chilly at night and wanting to look good on my first actual salsa social in Jyvaskyla. Little did I know that this great social turned out to be a Surprise Welcome to Finland Party for yours truly organized by my amazing boyfriend. It was a surprise indeed! I even got a great Strawberry Cake covered with sugar frosting that resembled the Finnish Flag. Yum!!! Needless to say I felt overwhelmed and truly welcomed to this country and to it's Salsa Community. Thank you!!
Yes! Believe it or not I danced all night, I even got to dance my first Rueda ever and have to say it was "Awesome!" I haven't laughed that much with a dance in a while. Almost at the end of the night they had a "Circle Dance" just for me to officially welcome me to the salsa community and I have to say that this was my favorite part. I love the circle dances because it gives you the opportunity to dance with as many dancers as possible during one song and get to know a little bit about their style.
After we left the party we went for Finnish Street Food, thing that I have been craving ever since I knew I was coming back to Finland. You got to understand... this is the kind of food that is not good for you in big quantities but it lets you always wanting more every time. It's so good it should be illegal!! And don't worry, soon I'll write a post only about it... ;)
The next day after a well deserve good night sleep we were ready to head out to Kuusamo. But first we had to go and pick up the other member of our little family. Pinja, our great and spoiled by me, dog!! Ever since I met her during the holidays I've missed her very much and asked my boyfriend constantly to take her to the states, but because she is a big dog it would be cruel to take her to a life in an apartments with just occasional visits to a park, when she is so use to the forest, open fields and playing with big sticks that she finds along the way.
After playing tag for a while with the person that takes care of her when we are gone, we were able to pick her up. She was so excited to see us that she kept on barking and literally moving the truck where she was side to side asking to get her out. It was a priceless moment when she got out. She didn't know what to do with so much excitement. We played with her for a little while till she calmed down so we could get her in the car to start our 8 hours road trip to Kuusamo.
