Month: August 2023

Come To Anti-Putin Rally On August 20!

Details of the event are here.

Also, i wanted to make a copy of Igor’s Instagram post:

I couldn’t agree more with what Igor is saying. I can’t stress enough how critical it is to continue to oppose the war, to say no to Putin.

I think about it a lot recently – people tend to forget that the war is going on. Too many people reverse to “We should end this war – somehow,” not understanding that nothing had changed – it is still the same war, people are dying, and a big portion of Ukraine is occupied. It can’t be ended because “everybody is tired.” And it can’t be peace “at all cost.”

Today, I finished listening to Mikhail Zygar’s War and Punishment – such an awesome book! I picked it after I heard a short interview with Zygar on NPR. I was immediately taken by the way he spoke: clear, to the point, talking about his guilt in what was happening. And that’s how the whole book goes. I was reading about the events which happened “on my watch,” and I was horrified at how ignorant I was, how I was not following the events, and how I didn’t take the time to analyze the root causes of events.

While I Was Away

My mom has this idea “not to bother/upset me when I am traveling,” which creates all sorts of problems. I am always prepared for some surprises upon arrival, and this time I just could read between the lines that something had happened at the end of the week. Weighting on all my options (see the previous post), I decided to make an effort and stop by her on the night when I arrived. Fortunately, our flight arrived on time, even a little bit earlier, and also, there was no wait at passport control and at the luggage carousel.

I called her at about 6-45 and told her I would stop by. After a relatively long discussion about her phone and how she couldn’t reach her Russian bank, I told her that Boris would look at her phone when he would come. Then I looked at the text messages on her Russian phone and realized that her scheduled payments were already restored (there was a message about the successful payment processing). Then I showed her a message I received about the plumbing inspection, and she said that “actually, the shower switch was not working.” I tried to ask her why she didn’t ask Igor to call the management company or the handyman who gave her his number, and she replied something like “Igor has a long commute to his office.”

But that was not it. After we discussed all of the above (and remember, it was evening when I flew in), she told me that when she went for a walk on Friday, “something happened.” She was talking to a person she sometimes meets when walking, and it looked like she fainted. Thee happened to be a Russian-speaking person nearby (a caregiver of one old lady), who lifted her up, and called the personnel on the beach. My mom didn’t call Igor, and she didn’t tell him, so now we have no way to tell what exactly happened. All I am describing is “maybe- possibly.”

The paramedics put her in the wheelchair, which she was trying to resist (thank goodness they didn’t call mental services!). They took a blood test and EKG, presumably nothing dangerous because, in the end, they let her go). I was mad and scared, and I yelled at her (I hate to do this, but otherwise, she does not understand the severity of the problem).

I need to come up with the questionnaire to make sure we can figure out what she is trying to hide because otherwise, she “does not want to bother me” and does not want to tell Igor, and this all might end up badly.

I Am Back

I typed the title of this post on Thursday morning and didn’t move any further :). Life after the return was intense :).

There are a lot of things going on at work, including some reorganization and interviewing people for an open position. The to-do list is so wast, I do not even want to start on it. Let me rather tell you what I have done so far.

The was this amazing concert on Wednesday which I already blogged about. I went to the youth shelter on Thursday night. I was asked to make pizzas, and some of the youth were so excited waiting for my coming that they made most of the prep by the time I arrived. There was one new staff whom I liked a lot. One girl who did a TickToc recording from out previous cooking asked me whether we could do it again, and I said yes, and we had a lot of fun with that! She asked me about my heritage and what I had for dinner when I was a child, and we had fun chatting about that.

I biked along the Lakefront. I went to the beach and soaked my body in the lake. I received both my CSA deliveries. And I am on my way to the clinic escort.

Grant Park Music Festival

Finally, after so many bad-weather-rain-too-hot-too-busy – finally, a perfect concert! Cirque Returns presented Troupe Vertigo aerialists’ stunning performance accompanied by classical music. The most extraordinary part was their “Carmen Cirque Spectacular” – a half-hour of extraordinary stuns accompanied by Bizet’s Carmen music.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any videos more than 20 sec long online; if you find some, let me know!!! No words to describe it, something very unique that I haven’t seen before.

Also, after the first number, the conductor announced that Mayor Brendon Johnson was there!

It was a very short speech: Brandon Johnson shared that all his three children play musical instruments (viola, cello, and violin) and he should probably learn to play something to be adequate. He reiterated how important is to make art free for everybody, and how this “free” requires a lot of resources, and he said that the city will continue to support the festival.

As usual, a final look at the lawn before leaving:

Helsinki Day 8

That was the last full day in Helsinki, and it was impossible to fit in “everything we haven’t done yet.” The weather was expected to be exceptional, and Anna really wanted to go back to Soumenlinna, so she convinced the rest of her family that it’s the best way to spend the last day.

And you know what – I agree with her!

It was very warm but also very windy, and when we were on the top of the fortress walls, it almost felt like the wind could blow you away. We walked in the water and just set on the stones looking at the Finnish Gulf. This is one of few places in the world where I can sit and do nothing, and think nothing, just taking the world in.

Later in the day, since in was still very warm, Anna & Family went to the beach. I didn’t stay there; the water was cold (although Anna and Nadia went in later). I decided to wait for my Lyola beach :). It’s worth mentioning though that this beach is so much better equipped with all the necessities, like toilets, changing rooms, lockers and even showers! I am jealous!

Helsinki Day 7

On Sunday, we met with my friend Natasha and her family, had a nature walk, and visited the Technical Museum. It was a relatively long hike, mostly on a boardwalk over the salty water marshes. We stopped at a couple of observation stations, but it was difficult to see the birds without special equipment.

The waterfalls in this park are amazing!
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Helsinki Day 6

On Saturday morning, Anna biked to our place, and we had a two-and-a-half-hours bike ride all over Helsinki. Both Anna and I were tired, but Boris wanted to show us all the best places, so it took a while 🙂

Anna was filming the whole route with her 360 camera, but for now, I only have a couple of pictures:

By the time we were done with this ride, and Boris and I parked our bikes, it was almost eleven, which meant that the ice cream place by the Sibelius monument was about to open!

In the afternoon, Nadia and I went clothes shopping; that was the birthday activity I promised to her many months ago. We also picked up several outfits for Kira and some Moomin toys for both of them. And in the evening, the four of us went to the concert at the Church in the Rock. We sat in the very front row, as close to the musicians as none of us ever sat, and listened to this truly amazing concert!

Day 5 – Tallinn

On Friday, we went to Tallinn. That was the only part of my June trip that I posted a lot about, so I do not have much to add.

The journey was smooth. The children’s playroom on board was great. In the city, Boris adapted the route so that Kira could do a lot on her own. We ended up not climbing any of the towers (and we will have to return to do that!). Girls had tons of fun in the Marzipan museum making their own marzipan figurines and painting them.

Also, the Maritime Museum was open, and since it was rainy in the morning, we spent almost two hours there. What I didn’t notice before was that they had models for kids to play on each of the floors, which made it especially entertaining.

Anna and I on the ferry
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Helsinki Day 4

On Thursday, we went to the museum island Seurasaari. I thought we would spend just a couple of hours there, but the weather was nice, and there were plenty of kids’ activities, so we ended up staying there almost until closing (or rather until it started to rain).

I just realized after checking my June blog entries that I didn’t even had time to post about Sauresaari in June, when I visited the museum with Natasha’s family. In comparison with the June visit, there were more open houses, more activities for children, and more food available in the cafe, so the whole visit was even more fun than I expected. I will add some of my June pictures to that post.

The Museum was opened in 1909, and it hosts old buildings from different parts of FInland which are being carefully moved to the island and rebuilt/restored there. In addition, each house contant s gigantic collection on different household objects from the correspnding region/historical period. Also, I love it when you can climb the rocks and smell the pines.

The boat shed
A farmstand
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Helsinki Day 3

We were so scared of the rain the day before that we ended up spending most of the day indoors visiting different museums.

The first one was a Burger House showing how well-off people in Helsinki lived in the second half of the 19th century.

With Anna at the Senat Square

Then we visited Aethenium Museum and then – The Helsinki City Museum.

Both of them had activities for kids, which made everybody happy. In fact, Nadia was so fascinated with the “classroom” exhibit in the Helsinki City Museum, she didn’t want to go anywhere else and stayed there almost until the museum closed 🙂

Anna at the classroom piano

All these exhibits plus more ice cream made the day, and we were glad we didn’t plan anything else!