What we miss the most when living abroad

The other day I asked myself a question. What do I miss the most from Finland? The first thought I had in mind was insane. On the top of my materialistic mind was dry shampoo. I sincerely asked myself whether I am going crazy or am I plainly materialistic. Dry shampoo? It’s not even a Finnish product, but Pirkka Dry shampoo is the thing I had in mind. Actually the Pirkka (white labeled) product is produced in Estonia. So there it is.

Digging deeper into the depths of the mind, I found some things interesting. If I really focus, I can smell the grass of Summer and hear the wind blow through the bed of reeds at my summer cottage. I can even hear the specific birds. I miss the Finnish Summer, I miss my summer cottage which is the greenest of places with its own private beach.  

 What else do I miss? Next thing in mind was the chewy and warm, oven fresh rye bread made by Kanniston Leipomo or ohra rieska (barley flatbread) perhaps?

As Finnish family bonds tend to be less close (not like Southern Europe), I do not miss to be close to my family. I do not need my friends less then 10km away and I do not miss Finland in itself. This plainly means that I am not ready to return to Finland. The things that I miss are material and experiences, which I have when I return for a visit. I load my batteries full of the things I like about Finland, and then return back to Portugal.

As last, I would like to point out that, I do not miss Portugal when I am away. And Portugal is not the place I will stay for the rest of my life. Perhaps I have a nomadic spirit. Many Finns live their lives abroad, switching countries every now and then. Why do we do this?

What is the thing you miss the most?

Outono = PSL e Dia das Bruxas

Omg, it arrived. The fall. I was not sure how long I would be able to take the pressing heat. It is actually nice to have some semi fresh air in the lungs. I said semi fresh because it is nothing compared to the Northern fresh air. Fall is my favorite time of the year.





Lunch walk


Vertical Rain. Fall here is not only colorful leaves, but a never frickin´ ending vertical rain. Normal outfit consists of: raincoat, rubber boots, umbrella and a water proof hat. Never forget the outfit! Otherwise you will get soaked, sick and unhappy. Like me for the past week…

Fall equals to October which equals to Halloween which equals to Pumpkin Spiced Latte. PSL FOR LIFE!! I had already two of them. Not going to miss any chance to obtain more. October also means cold, which means that we (I) need an extra fat layer. Hello love handles. (Duly noted, the over consumption of PSL…)

Besides PSL, I love Halloween (Dia das Bruxas). That is why I organized a Halloween party at work. Because I cannot party in my own house (sensitive neighbors who own cats). I decided to benefit of work. HA. I am going to be dressed as Dracula at 8am sharp. (The party starts at 3pm). But a Vampire is always sharp...I can work on the red eyes by intensively staring at the computer screen for eight hours before the party. And then I travel home by buss. If someone stares too long I bite.

On the contrary to love handles (which will appear latest at Christmas), I bought a Jawboneup2, it’s an activity band alright. The smart device tells me when I have been sitting for too long. After 45 min it vibrates. I jump from my chair like a bolt of lightning and take a walk around the office. If someone thought I was weird before, now they certainly do (they don´t know about the band). Power walking back and forth. The up2 also measures my sleep, food consumption (paired with Lifesum) and overall steps during the day. It’s a-o-k. I am walking extra much this week because we are making cinnamon buns (korvapuusteja) on Saturday. I had cardamom from Finland.

 

On the pictures you see me power walking during lunch break, taking evidence (pictures) of the fall in Lisbon...  

Kaalilaatikko and other Finnish food

I have been so lucky, lucky,lucky, lucky.. ok this is not a song. I have syrup. From Finland!
That can only mean one thing. Kaalilaatikkooooooooo!!

Ok, so I might be a little over excited. But I have been planning for this moment a week. The moment I am making one of my favorite dishes of all time. Btw, its cabbage casserole.. now that you know what this Finn is babbling about, you really think this girl is out of her frickin' mind.
A. Because its Saturday night and I am not getting my groove on anywhere.
B. Because nobody on planet earth can get too damn excited about cabbage casserole.
C. This girl shot a dramatic picture with the view of Martim Moniz behind the syrup bottle.

Although my IBS stomach (darn you) is always in war against the food I want to eat, I had rye bread this week. It was two slices, one on Wednesday and the other one on Thursday. One cannot get too excited you know. I topped the bread with cream cheese (another frenemy) and salmon. I also made good pancakes with berries. Delicious.

Sometimes my cravings just win the pain I suffer afterwards. So today I had remix candy. Next week I am living like I would be preparing for the Lucia contest. I think pure thoughts and eat nothing more than what my stomach can approve and might on top of this try to make a contribution to the society by leaving clothes at the homeless shelter. I could apply and be the only Lucia in Lisbon this December. I mean, I might be the youngest girl living full time here and we are only twenty anyways..

Talking about Lucia and December, I declared myself a day off for Independence day. I also might have done some video clipping.. I might (I will) publish a Tuntematon Sotilas clip or the National Anthem on our intra at work. Ha-ha, nobody has access to take it down. Its time for the Portuguese to learn about Finnish history. (Or not, but I don't care.)

Soooo, there is one note to make about Portuguese food tradition compared to the Finnish. They have so much of the same at the same time as they are so distinct.
First, the food culture is nothing too fancy, in Finland (imagine kalakukko, yäk) or in Portugal ..bifana.. dry bread and pork beef?.
Secondly, we have a dish in common. It is karjalanpaisti aka. jardineira. In Finland its known from the former Finnish territory, in Portugal its the gardeners food. And it is the same!
Thirdly, both food cultures are created by poor people. In Portugal a plate consists of rice, fries and meat. In Finland potato and meat.
Fourth, we both eat fish. Loads of it. With the slight bacalao difference and fish species.
Fifth, surprisingly we also eat berliininmunkki, here it is bolina de berlim, without the pink topping. Also our cakes are very similar. There are so many more similarities. Gosh. Only funny and surprising thing is that the Portuguese are extremely proud of their traditional foods, which are really no big culinary experience. On the bright side, Portuguese wine is an other story ;)

Im going to roll out now. Since I ate too much. To get my groove on.

Bjs,
Heidi


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Brunch Electronik in the park

Sunday went by trying out a recipe from Fitmencook, writing thesis (not true at all.. the wall becomes extremely interesting when its time for studying) and stomping to really good deep house with some cool peeps..

Sunday was a fun day. 

Clumsy as I am, I fell in the stairs some days ago and hurt my ankle. It literally looked like I had an egg underneath the skin.. and then I had to be representative at work.. which I did, minus the part that I was wearing a compression sock with a dress. "Finnish fashion" -I told everyone. 

Tomorrow I am going on a contemporary class. I am either going to look like a wounded scarecrow or something similar to a-OK. Time and ankle shows. 

Back to Sunday. (Fun day!) Brunch Electronik is the coolest Sunday event I have experienced so far! It's at the Agricultural University in the middle of nowhere, but in the city centre. The ground at the event had hay for horses and there was powdered sand in the air. The atmosphere was chilled and the music was oh so deeeeeeep, umptsumptsumpts. 

I had a wine, which after I had to pee. Logically. So I skipped happily downhill to the outhouse thingy you have at festivals. All good so far. Fancy lady, as I am, I managed to be clean in a dirty environment until my hand touched wet PEEEEEEEE. Eeeeewwwwww. No disinfecting gel around, nothing!? I walked with my hand stretched out like I had the  plague until I met a kind spirit who understood my concern and gave me some clean wipes. That hand was obviously not going to be anywhere near my face again for the rest of the night. Pee-hand. 

Back to the group of cool UG (under ground) peeps. All of them German, which of half I have not met before. Well, my name is technically German. So everybody naturally thinks I am German. And speak German to me and around me, if in a circle. Because I seem German. Tactic: smile and wave, smile and wave. 

That's it for now. Pee-hand is thoroughly disinfected and belly is full of extremely good chicken-quinoa. 

Obrigada e boa noite! 

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Life of a sloth

My weekend has passed by in a blink of an eye. I am still as tired as FriYEY when I came home from work.. ahhh had a cold beer on the balcony enjoying the fresh evening air, and well... then I passed out. Of sleep, not alcohol, duh.

I do not want to wake up tomorrow at 6am. Nope, not ready to be an adult again after pretending to be a sloth all weekend. Chillen' around, drinking some Somersby and enjoying explicit company over an organic pizza and miradouro.. A miradouro is a view point. We have several in Lisbon, and they are just lovely.

The blonde is back. This weekend I managed to download 4 apps, all paid. Not learning from my previous mistake, I repeated it (as said before: blonde).. I think it is misleading though that Appstore does not show prices on products when you are using your mobile.. Then I think its free, and oh well.. you know the rest. So I downloaded: 1.Fit Men Cook 2.Deliciously Ella 3.Omvana 4.Moldiv

1. FitMenCook: My nutritionist (yes, I have one) told me its good for nutritious food. My IBS cuts back what I can eat, so I am trying to learn new combos. And also force mister SwagN to try to eat something else than caveman food every day. He is not happy about my attempt. Meat is the salad of the man. 

2.Deliciously Ella: She makes lovely food. Again, the IBS. I can't eat gluten or lactose, nor many other random things. If you want to learn to make carrot soup in a new way, check her out. Myself, cooked Pea, Broccoli and Almond soup. Ok, it looks like a witches poison, but anyway.. u got the idea.

3.omvana: I am a nervous person. That is also related to my IBS condition. Stress makes me overreact... So I downloaded a meditation app. I tried to meditate. But I ended up screaming with laughter when I was thinking of what I look like. Bit hungover, sitting crosslegged on the living room rug, swaying, hair like Einstein and my green soup splashed over my shirt.. trying to fokus.. a sight for sore eyes.

4. Moldiv: !? I wanted to edit a picture and Jesus Christ, I had to pay for it too... -.-

PS. I linked some apps, so that you are not falling for the same blonde trap as I did.

Here's a picture from the weekend though, life of a sloth

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Cascais

The beach city of the wealthy (and tourists).

This weekend we celebrated my birthday in Cascais. Mister SwagN had booked a hotel night at a four star hotel to celebrate ME! We enjoyed our day at the hotel pool (no sand, thank lord). Would you believe that a Finn is bored of sand and beach and sun? Well not the sun, except the fact that you are sweating like a pig most of the day.

Most weekends this Summer I've been on the beach. Estoril beach to be precise. Its nice, packed. You are lucky if you are not partly under someones shade or touching someones beach towel. And then the sunscreen. Oh lord, all the sand sticks to your body, and you end up feeling like a stranded whale covered in sand and sweating on top of that.. Not this time, nope, not this time.

At night we had dinner at a local (not tourist) petiscos restaurant, Páteo de petiscos. Yummy,yummy in my tummy. Choco frito, carne maturada and atúm (cuttle fish, aged meat and tuna). Later we took a swing at the Cascais city centre, which was packed since the Cascais music festivals grande finale. It was fun, music and hot chocolate (due to cold wind), ahh life. I even managed to show my behind to half of the tourists on Cascais busiest street. And that was due to the wind, of course. My pretty little white dress above my ears and yes, my sun burned butt. Lovely.

Cascais is situated about 20km outside of Lisbon. The coastline to Cascais is full of beaches, which are packed during the Summer months. The fisher town is also known for its wealthy population. Not much to say; visit during the day, eat good fresh fish (not bacalao!! its from Norway.. or Iceland) and enjoy the nightlife which is more quiet then in Lisbon. Good for families and a romantic get away.

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