Day 2 in Finland is in the books and it is starting to sink in that we only have three short days in Europe before we jump on a plane and head home. However, checking out our itinerary, one can see that these last few days are jam packed with tours.
Today we visited ETT, Finland’s voluntary organization focused on animal disease control. We learned about different diseases that have come through Finland and what they are using to control them. Currently, they do not have PRRS or PEDv. For a while, Salmonella was a big issue for them, however, they now have it under control.
Next, we visited a company called Snellman. Snellman is a meat packing plant, comparable to Tyson in the US. Snellman has 1200 employees located in three different towns. They harvest about 1200 pigs and 600 cattle a day. We were able to watch a portion of beef harvesting and cutting up of meat products from a window, as well as a video on their pork harvest. A company called FiGen is a part of the Snellman company and is the portion that deals with the pigs directly. They provide breeding stock and semen to all of their contracted farmers. They also have a nutrition group that helps provide insight to the farmers about what a good feeding program would be.
The real fun came later in the evening when we headed to a resort to enjoy a Finnish tradition, the sauna. The resort we visited had two saunas, a traditional smoke sauna and an electric sauna. After we sat in the sauna for a while, we were advised that we should jump in the lake, which was a lovely 50 degrees Fahrenheit, stay for a bit and then get back in the smoke sauna. Though we were apprehensive at first, it really was relaxing after the first time.
Traditionally in Finland, people have saunas in their houses. The woman we spoke with this morning has three in her home. Typically, people go into a sauna in the nude. The men on our trip kept with this tradition. The ladies, however, opted for swim suits. The guys started in the smoke sauna and moved to the electric, and we did the opposite.
Families in Finland typically sit in a sauna together. Talk about some quality bonding… Another Finnish tradition is to whip yourself in the sauna with a birch tree branch. Apparently it helps with blood circulation and also helps exfoliate your skin. We didn’t have any birch tree branches today, so our group missed out on that portion of the experience.
I think I can safely speak for the group in saying the the sauna experience will definitely be an experience to remember. And that if we could, we’d probably all invest in a smoke sauna to put by Lake Lavern back at ISU. Let me tell ya, my skin has never felt better.
We’ve got an early morning, so I’m off to bed.
Until next time.
Bre's Babble 