About the Photos

Okay...well, I had to have my mom post my pictures from her computer (thanks, mom!)...so now I will add a bit of "commentary" (starting from the top picture and moving down)...

1.) This picture is of Emma (Vintta's daughter - she is 11 years old) and her cat, Olavi...it is probably the cutest kitten I have ever seen...and it loves to play with anything (string, paper, your toes - which hurts because it still has claws)!

2.) I took this photo at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival. Kaati, Vintta, Sirpa, all of the kids, and I were watching a music group perform and eating tiny fish (I can't remember what they were called). When I first saw the plate of food, I thought that it looked disgusting (it was full of whole, fried fish - eyes and tails and everything). I decided to try one fish, though (my policy with new food in Finland has been to try everything, even if it looks far from appetizing)...and I liked it a lot! I actually ended up eating several (they were minnow-sized) and enjoying every one!

3.) This one is easy to explain...it is a picture of the large tent that was set up over the stage and seating area where most of the main performances took place (at the music festival).

4.) Probably my favorite performance of the whole festival (well, the two days of the festival that I saw, anyway) was Frigg's. It was in the "Klubi" (club), which was actually just a gym in a high school that was set up like a club. Santtu found us great seats on the floor of a balcony overlooking the stage...the place was so packed that there were no chairs or standing room left! The group (Frigg) kind of looked like a rock group - youngish guys (plus one girl) - except that they played violins and other string instruments. The show also had the kind of atmosphere that I wouldn't have expected for a folk music concert - lights and screaming fans and lots of people. It was very exciting...and I was sad when it ended (although I was glad to be able to stretch out my legs, which were getting kind of cramped from sitting cross-legged on the floor the whole time)!

5.) This is a photo of Emma and Santtu's orchestra performing traditional folk music. Not all of the pieces were from Finland - and the kids actually sounded really good!

6.) Here's another photo of Frigg...a close-up, I guess.

Well...that's all the pictures I was able to post and still have time to write about. Hopefully I will be able to post more photos (and have a faster computer) soon! Until then, however, my "text-only" descriptions may be the only option...hopefully they're not too boring! It's getting late here, so I should probably go to get ready for bed...good night!