Club Day at the Sauna

Yesterday we took advantage of the public sauna that is only about 5 minutes from our house. For two Euros one can take advantage of one of the most civilized activities known to man- alternating turns between a really a hot room and freezing cold water. You start in the sauna itself where there is normally an older woman constantly pouring water over the rocks. This results in a more intense heat in the form of huge steam clouds that pour the heat down your back and into your nose. Every time, there is a brief five second panic that consumes you, ‘can I make it out of the room in time or will I die right here, should I make a break for the door or will I pass out before making it’. It literally feels like you are breathing fire, and you wonder if she has forgotten what she is doing because she is so engaged in conversation. Once you have reached your boiling point, you make a dash out of the sauna, swimsuit required in this case, and down the dock and into the water (remember that as of last week the bay was frozen over). Both of us started with only attempting a half body dunk, but as we got more comfortable we got up to our shoulders. It can be a bit scary if you swim out into the water and return to the ladder as the lower part is covered in algae and you can make a few useless grabs as your muscles start to freeze. You return to the hot box and beg for more water on the rocks and start the whole process again. This time our experience was topped off with free Finnish sausage because the club was having their spring celebration.

We created a google map which we will continue to edit as our adventures increase. For now you can see our home and the short walk to the sauna. Click the link below the map and select the blue place markers to see our location.

View Rauma Finland Blog in a larger map

Forecast…

This weekend we are heading to Helsinki to experience Vappu, which is a cross between Marti Gras and a New Year's celebration. We are scheduled to interview a number of foreign residents that live in the city. We hope to start our language project next week. We just learned that we received a grant from the Finlandia Foundation to support that project, so we are very excited!

Recipe for Finnish breakfast or snack

*Either very dark bread or rye crackers (Wassa is a good brand you can find in the US)

*Butter

*Rich cheese (Havarti or Gouda is found easily internationally)

*Cucumber (sliced thin)

Butter your bread or crackers and put thin slices of cheese and cucumber on top. Enjoy!