The only not so nice detail was when on meeting some people I hadn’t seen in a long time I realised that the crab mentality seems to be alive and well in certain sectors of society. Shame, but hey, what can you do. 😉 Overall it was great and I cannot wait to be back again, if only for holidays.
As my previous post detailed, I spent a great holiday in Mexico, catching up with friends and especially family. We spent a week in Mexico City, then 6 days in the Copper Canyon trail and a few days in Mérida and the natural reserve of Celestún before having to return to the winter wonderland. I was struck by the enormous variety of landscapes and peoples living in the country where I was born, even if I knew it in theory. As usual, pictures say it better (if you want to see more than these, they’re all here).
We are currently traveling in Mexico, enjoying the Christmas & New Year’s break. The latest photographic developments will be available here.
Enjoy the holidays!
Visited the city on a business trip. I have to say that the most interesting things about Istanbul for me were the long historical view you get in the city, and the uncanny resemblance Turks have with Mexicans.
As usual with these kind of posts, pictures say it better.
Mexico was drawn together with South Africa, France, and Uruguay, in group A, and will play the opening match of the tournament in Johannesburg against the hosts.
While the reaction in both France and South African media seems to have been mostly relieved, I wouldn’t be too optimistic. Uruguay can be a very tough opponent, and Mexico ended its qualification campaign much better than it started.
The opening match will be crucial and for that there is a couple of things I wanted to bring up:
Now we just have to wait for July to come over, right?
Good food, good company. A good time was had by all. And I didn’t have to watch the reception on TV =D .
The Mexican community in Helsinki organises a posada every December, and this year was not the exception. The menu included chilaquiles and crema de chile poblano, we had a piñata “beauty” contest before breaking them, and of course we sang the traditional songs.
It was definitely interesting to have such a Mexican feeling so far away, and really good to see the kids getting involved, since it was their party after all.
I have been thinking lately about the Darwin Awards, which you might know are all about:
Honoring those who improve the species… by
accidentally removing themselves from it!
Given the general conditions of life here in the far north, there are a few ways in which you could very easily make yourself due to receive such an “honour”. Some of my favourites below:
Any sure ways of winning the Darwin Awards that are common hereabouts you might want to add, that don’t include alcohol? 😉
I don’t know about you, but that’s probably the one award I could live my life without.
Today marks 70 years of the beginning of the Winter War, that historical event that is still at the forefront of the Finnish psyche. The good news is that Finland kept its unity and its independence (no mean feat when your adversary is the Soviet Union), the bad news is that it created a siege mentality that survives to this day in certain sectors of society.
For more background information, you can hardly do better than have a look in Helsingin Sanomat’s archive (1, 2, 3).