Category Archives: family & friends

Funeral in Finland

Week 37
Joensuu, Finland

On Saturday 10.9. was the funeral of Outi Savonlahti. This was the first funeral I joined in Finland. This post’s objective is to briefly share my experience of this ceremony. There are two main motivators for this: (i) Outi was at charge of international affairs at UEF, and she always explained us things about Finland, (ii) it let me a lot food for the though.

In Finland once someone passes away is not buried right away. As far as I understand, there might be weeks in between from the moment someone dies and her/his funeral . During these weeks relatives, friends and others are informed of the particular person passing away, and the necessary arrangements for the funeral are prepared.

For example Outi passed away on August 9th but her funeral was until September 10th .

"Missal" of Outi Savonlahti funeral

“Missal” of Outi Savonlahti funeral

Outi’s  funeral started at 12:00 at the Rauhankappeli, which it is located inside Joensuu’s graveyard.  We started with the religious service with the coffin present. Family, friends and colleges join the “event”. I assume the procedure of the service was according the Lutheran church, however I did not asked this particular detail to anyone.

Location of the religious service

Location of the religious service

The priest started the ceremony with some words for the audience. Next, each one of participants who brought flowers gave them to Outi. If we had written something or we wanted to say something loudly this was the moment to do it. This process is not done in a rush, instead it is harmonious movement of people standing spontaneously, paying respects and getting back to their sits.  I interpreted this moment as offering our respects to her as each one says a personalize good bye, as close a possible to her earthly representation.

Entregando mis flores.

Screenshot when I pay my respects to Outi.

[Side note: A particular fact at this ceremony, and due to the work of Outi, was that the religious service was transmitted via Internet. Thus the photo above was taken by a friend of mine when it was my turn to be at front.]

Once all the flowers were surrounding Outi, I assume the traditional service started. That is, reading fragments of the bible followed by the priest’s  homily. Finnish, English and French were present during the service and during the whole ceremony.

The liturgy had particular moments with music, in some moments we also sang specific pieces.   Everybody new the selected songs due to the program that we were given. Additionally, on the chapel’s wall was indicated the song’s numbers and on each chair of the chapel had a book with the song’s lyrics.  I particularly liked a song which in this occasion included some African drums.  I must say that a lot of religions songs in Finland, as far as I had been exposed to, are not particularly happy. In my opinion – as a Mexican who has been involved in music during my past including religions songs, our church has a lot of happy songs – and in Finland the melodies are more kind of melancholic and nostalgic, so with this little twist of adding African rhythm all changed.

Lyrics of one of the songs at Outi's funeral

Lyrics of one of the songs at Outi’s funeral

At the end of the liturgy  the priest indicated us to pick up our flowers, so we can bring them with us and deposit them to the final destination. Right after the coffin was without flowers, a group of gentlemen came at front and pick up the coffin to carry it out. Then all the participants followed and the funeral procession started.

Starting the procession

Starting the procession

Once in the location where Outi was buried the priest offered some words. The coffin was deposited and if someone wanted,  it was the possibility to take some sand and place it inside the “hole”. Afterwards, a cover was put above and we were invited to locate our flowers there.

Location where the body of Outi rests.

Location where the body of Outi rests.

When I did my research on how to prepare myself for this event, I learned that in  Finland you do not have to buy only white flowers for the funeral.  You can get other colors, as for example the flowers that the person used to like. On my case I gave to Outi the following bunch:

Flowers I got for Outi. She always was elegantly dress, mainly in black and white with a touch of red present.

Flowers I got for Outi.
She always was elegantly dress, mainly in black and white with a touch of red present.

Next we  – all the people present at the funeral – were invited to share some moments together on the name of Outi.  The tradition, as I read before, is to gather in a house. However, in this case we were invited to Joensuu Ortodoksinen Seurakuntasali.

Once all the participants were at the specific location the program started. Outi’s godson was the ceremony master and several speeches were given for and about Outi.

Gathering together in Outi's name

Gathering together in Outi’s name

Outi was a special person and relevant figures came to her funeral.  For example speeches came from the  Ambassador of France, followed by the academic rector of the UEF, the priest, it was a pianist who played a couple of melodies…. then it was a pause for eating. Afterwards the president of Joensuu’s Rotary Club offered some words followed by the President of Joensuu’s French association and some family members too. Desert was offered and to finalized it was read aloud the condolence cards that were sent to her from all over the world.

In between the speeches one was encourage to talk on the tables about our memories with Outi. It was a nice event. For me it was difficult at times to do not clap.  You know, after listen to  nice words and good memories my inner emotion was to clap,  but I needed to keep quiet as the rest of the audience.  For me it is still difficult to understand that after a wonderful light that each speech depicted due to the life of someone, we could not join the words with the clap, instead after the speech complete quietness returned bringing me back to the sadness of the current loss.  All these was new and strange experience for me.

An anecdote comment that I got at the end, is that Outi helped to plan her funeral. I have not question about the possibility that she did. It was so beautiful and perfect, taking care of so many details as she always did with all what it was entrust to her.

Outi  left a legacy, no only to each one of us who met her, but also to future generations. There will be a foundation Outi Savonlahti to support females from developing countries searching to study their bachelors abroad.

This was my first experience in a Finnish funeral with the departure of a special person. Thank you Outi for teaching me constantly and share moments with me!

 

working and enjoying in Finland

Week 50
Joensuu, Finland

This is a post dedicated to our dear friend Marcus, who has inspired us to enjoy life at its maximum 😉

Let me explain. Often people that care about me tells me that I should relax. The comment arises because most of my time I dedicate it to work.  Nevertheless, I should confess that I have been lucky because what I do is what I like to do!  The only BUT is to  find a proper mechanism to be paid constantly for what I do 😉 that is work in process!!

In October 19th  while being at a summer cottage with my dear friend Kirsi, we were commenting about this: there is not one way to live life, and it is hard to find your own way. So, advices and suggestions are always welcome!. Marcus has encouraged us to enjoy more 😉  as both of us are perceived as kind of workaholic. Actually, it is common that we get together to enjoy time and work. So, this time we decided to document some of our hard work lives and share it.

1) First we need to drive some kms until reach out cozy summer cottage. Once there we discover there are still FLOWERS!!!!

Flowers in late autumn

Flowers in late autumn

2. Harvest some bio and unique carrots!

I confess this activity was new for me, and I did not help THAT much, however I did enjoy 🙂

Harvesting 1/3

Harvesting 1/3
Harvesting 2/3

Harvesting 2/3

Harvesting 3/3

Harvesting 3/3

3. After harvesting, one has to clean the carrots from all the dirt

washing

washing

4. Then prepare the carrots for WINTER. This work is done indoors by pealing and cutting the carrots.

preparing for winter

preparing for winter

5. Ready to get into the freezer

ready to go to the freezer

ready to go to the freezer

6. Maybe I am not dress in proper office dress code,  but in a cozy environment one gets ideas to do some writing…..

some writting as well

some writing as well

7. After so much hard work, SAUNA!!!!!!! 🙂

This part of Finnish culture is from my favorites! 🙂

sauna

sauna

8. After sauna, fireplace 🙂

fireplace

fireplace

9. Before the day is over, a toast for our friend!

toast for our friend

toast for our friend

It is an ART to balance work and pleasure, specially in this modern “knowledge society”, but the day was productive, we got food, enjoy nature, and start and finish and abstract, in addition to actualize ourselves…..So it was not difficult to have sweet dreams and see a new sunrise (ok, the sunrise below does not look as sunrise but it is a new morning on this trip!) 🙂

next day....

next day….

However, I confess I am in the process to balance work and pleasure.  Maybe, lately the relax part is expanding! 🙂 Perhaps the secret is in discipline and small production batches!

In any case, thank you for my harvesting teacher and our inspiration for this post Marcus 😉

Next post about: games and coincidences…

game of life includes happy & sad

Week 28, 2012
Joensuu, Finland 

Have you seen the mathematics of life, right? Otherwise I copy the image below. Those calculations are full of truth in my own experience.

half-happy-half-sad

half-happy-half-sad

image source in here 

This weekend is the Ilosaarirock, and my heart is crying despite I will be treated very well.  Exactly in Ilosaarirock 2011 I wrote a letter, that perhaps one day I will share, which expresses a personal life-mark and fills my eyes of tears. Lately, I have been learning that my past should not occupy all my present, otherwise there is not future, and this weekend is full of action about games in Joensuu, so to move forward!

However, life does not work that simply. I found amazing and shocking all what can happen to one person in exactly the same moment.  That is life, and we need to learn to live with it.

You might ask, what happen last year? Well, I was working very hard on my thesis in a hot flat. I was not allowed to travel because my visa was being renewed and it was my last opportunity to push my dissertation’s draft while my supervisor was in Finland. So, the rock festival’s music reached my window from far away and you could sense the happiness of the people in Joensuu. At the same time, my inner was in deep pain and sadness because I was not able to be next to someone I love and was dying. He biggest wished was that I could be next to him. He needed a hug, I know that and I could not give it. The only thing I could do was to be my best, to focus with tears in my eyes and listening life outside the window. To do my best was my commitment and strength.

It was very hard, and still is. I know I did my best. We talked and inclusive made him smile last time I talked to him. But still, this weekend marked me….

Life is a very intense and a mysterious game. A game that does not allow repetitions, replay or anything like that. Life just go forward.  I want to dedicate this weekend to him and to life. Because without any question  my life is full of happiness and sadness that are knitted tightly together very strangely. Hope to find the strenght to be always my best focusing correctly. Yeap, learning to play the game between happiness and sadness.

Dead, happy, life, love, sad, life is all and it just go forward

Dead, happy, life, love, sad, life is all and it just go forward

image source in here

 

 

 

 

books in your professional life

Week 3, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

My memories tell me that I always have liked books. However, books for study are another issue. In my first semester on my first University (yes I have been in several of them 🙂 )  my Dad did something I will always be thankful for. He bought me ALL the books I needed for my studies that semester: the text books and the reference books.  Crazy? perhaps. I bet they were no cheap.  Also, I remember he told me something like: now you have all what you need for your studies,  you cannot quit this semester.

At the time I was studying Electronic Engineering at ULSA. The first semester was very hard for me. It is the only semester I remember some part of the schedule:  Monday, Wednesday and Friday my mornings were full: 7-9 Physics, 9-11 Calculus and 11-13 Algebra. Of course I had other lectures at the afternoon, and on Tuesday and Thursdays. But that triplet was unforgettable for me.

I must confess that my Dad did the correct and very intelligent thing getting me the books, because I recall that more than once, when I came back home after that triplet I was ready to quit. But then I looked to the books he bought me, they  REALLY helped me to pass the courses and I felt supported by them. I must acknowledge I also had a very GREAT group of friends 🙂  . But the books played a role in no quitting that specific semester.

Since then, books related to my studies acquire a special meaning. It is as having wise people next to me, explaining me things. Books are just special.

My Dad turn to be an angel in 2011, and still I am digesting his transformation.  In reference to his profession, he was a GREAT civil engineer and passionate learner.  As you might imagine he had a very special library about his profession. We decided to canalise his library so it could support others to learn by spreading knowledge. Some books are actually gems in his field, according to diverse engineers.

My dad was active at the CENAPRED, and we decided they will be at charge of indexing the volumes and canalize them properly.  They just reported us that my Dad donated 746 volumes. Wow! I am so PROUD of my Dad! and very thankful you for this knowledge-addiction that he somehow seed/share/promote with me.

No wonder why I love so much the books in my profession! 🙂 Now, I think I will start to share more about them.

Dad's books donation

Dad's books donation

 

 

 

 

beyond games…

My research is in Hypercontextualized Games (HCG), and this blog is mainly finding myself within my research that, in itself, is a challenge. But after the last two weeks, I saw how my PhD education is influencing my daily perception of things…. let me explain.

So far I have lived in four complete different countries, and visited over 25 more (I am a lucky one, I know). I refer to live in a country when I have been a minimum of two years without interruptions in the same city. Two years, in my opinion, gives an opportunity to start to merge with the host culture. Actually it is needed more time to merge, but in two years one goes beyond the novelty of the first year to find oneself in a context that is not “new” anymore in the second year.

Now, I do not consider myself an ethnographer, because I get involved with my new country, with the locals, I make empathy with them, I make friends, I join their culture, I make roots.  I do not compare my host country in anyway with a previous one, because each place is unique. Each of my countries is part of me. I am not in a country to analyze it with an “objective” reference point or research agenda; instead I live my new country and I merge with its culture as much as I can. It is my country too, I grow with it. Nevertheless, I admit that to have roots in different locations allow me to perceive similar things from different perspectives. I give a value to it, and for me that is a gift of discovery.

Perhaps due to my recent research training, in the last weeks while I was in Mexico (due to an emergency), and after 10 continuous years to be out of the country, I documented events and things with an ethnographic influence. One example is a reflection of the ICT system in the Mexican health system.

In México we have very good medical doctors. For example the hospital I was “working” the first days of November,  Hospital Juarez carries different types of medical research. The hospital has an ICT infrastructure. From my perspective, according of what I notice,  it is used for charging the fees and host the website. The clinical data is handle on paper (hard copy). Perhaps, under an official visit at a directive level I would have seen a wider use of the ICT, but I was a patient’s family member, hence my perception of the ICT system is from the bottom-up.

Hospital's shelves of clinic histories

Hospital's shelves of clinic histories

On Dec 11, while waiting for some medical information, I confirm that ICT by itself will not help to develop a person, or organization or a country. I waited for HOURS (literal), the secretary did not have a PC and all her work was convey on paper. At some moment she decided that it was time for a break and left a note that she will be out for an hour for breakfast. Then, I started to wonder (I had enough time for that) how a PC would have changed that behavior? How ICT would help to improve the situation? (you know be involved in a research group of Educational Technologies with strong influence in ICT4D, well invite you to think in this stuff)

Secretary desk. It says: Lunch break from 10 to 11

Secretary desk. It says: Lunch break from 10 to 11

Honestly, the ICT alone would not have changed a thing. I can imagine the  same desk with a PC instead of her notebooks and still making me wait per hours, and still a note saying: “breakfast time from 10 to 11”.  Perhaps the paper work system could be done more efficiently if it is in a digital format, assuming that the program matches and hopefully improves the actual administrative system.  Hence, a probability to reduce waiting time could be present. But honestly, it is needed to improve the attitude of the public servants even before the ICT implementation. Increasing their education and attitude before, during and after an ICT implementation is mandatory.

Still, I am thankful with this specific secretary,  because thanks to her my issue was solved on the same day instead to wait several days. Even though I was only picking up one paper which should have been ready even a day earlier.

However the hours of waiting made me realized and confirm that the technology by itself will not trigger “development”, “innovation”  or change things anywhere. It does not matter if it is Mexico, USA, Finland or Timbuktu. From my perspective, to promote development, innovation and changes we need to observe and understand things from two perspectives: from a top-bottom level AND from the bottom-up level too. The task is not simple.

One step at the time!