We began today with the luxury of sleeping in since our program didn't start til 11:30 am. Amy and I have been so sleepy lately, so we took advantage of the extra time to catch up on our sleep. We began our first program of the day at a local private health care center, "Laitilan-Terveyskoti" in Laitila. Terveyskoti in Finnish translates as, "Home for Brothers". There are currently 23 rehab centers in Finland that provides rehabilitative care to those who have served in the Finnish War. We were informed that the spouses and widows are also cared for here, which we felt was pretty cool. Marine Rapala and Paulina Iiskala were our gracious hosts at the center. We began with lunch in the cafeteria where we sat and enjoyed live music with the facility and patients. After a tour of the facility and a short presentation we headed for the sauna- let me just say this was unlike any previous sauna experience. We had to first shower with a special shampoo and then place a mixture of mud all over our hair and bodies before we went into the sauna. We had to remain in the sauna for 30 minutes ( low setting), while the staff brought us refreshments. We looked so ridiculous that we couldn't stop laughing at each other. We took pictures, but we can not post them until we have a chance to censor them-believe me when I say, "We looked hilarious". Next we walked to Vakka-Suomen Musiikkiopisto, the music school of Laitila. We enjoyed a music presentation and tour of the classrooms. Heli Laaksonen, a famous poet, has a studio in the school where she writes funny poems on female issues in a local dialect. We really enjoyed listening to the children play for us. Later in the evening we gave a presentation to the Rotary of Laitian, where we enjoyed dinner and conversation.
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