Summer Cottage!

It sounds fun. A lakeside, wooden cabin with a sauna and shower, and a boat to take you into the glistening water under huge pillows of clouds. But then you soon figure out it's heaven in hell...

No flushing toilet; there is an outhouse 100 meters away from the actual cabin and it's a dry toilet...meaning NO FLUSH and it can get smelly.

Then there're the mosquitoes....those darn flying pests. I have acquired 11 known bites, 5 alone are on my the back of my left hand. And one of my left ass cheek...Being allergic to these bties, my left hand has swelled a decent amount. I cannot see my pinky's knuckle and the tendon under my thumb when i lift it back.

The sink water wasn't clean either. So we had to use bottled water to brush our teeth.

And I slept on a mattress on the floor.

There was a thunderstorm too. I don't think I've ever been that close to one that I could hear the noise pounding and the rain pours here. It's worse than what's Oakland usually sees.

But there was a good side. Immediately after unloading the food and appliances from the truck, my host sis and I took the boat and took a nice trip to the islands nestled in the middle of the lake. It wasn't a motor boat, even though the host family had one wrapped under a tarp. My host sister rowed first and got to the island. And then it was my turn! I was extremely excited to row like how I've seen the guys in crew races row. But let me tell ya. That shit was hard! It took me perhaps longer than my host sis to get the boat back to point A, partly due to my inability to control eveness with both of my arms. Hence, the boat swerved always to one side and the next thing you know, I am totally off with my direction. But it was a good arm workout.

Then we played darts. My host sister beat me pathetically.

And then we went inside for snacks, just in time to escape the downpour of rain. Rain stopped us from going outside, so we played a Finnish trivia board game, and I won the first round suprisingly. I'm good at guessing with that game.

Before sleep, we all went outside for a game that includes wooden cylindrical sticks that you knowck over for points. And I won a round of that too!

Sleep was actually comfortable. We only stayed one day and one night because of their baseball schedule. But they said they usally come 3-4 times a summer.

I think I will come out of this experience well acquainted with nature...