Helsinki Pride was a ton of fun! I got there in the afternoon, checked into my hotel, went to get something to eat and met up with couple of my former classmates from Tampere, Iita and Antti. We went to a terrace, had few beers and just chatted away for few hours. It has been few years since the last time I saw Antti so it was great catching up. We were neighbors in Tampere, lived in the same apartment building, watched episodes of Friends and IM'd each other when we needed to go out for a beer. I've missed those "lets see in 5 minutes" pub outings. Anyway, as it got close to 8pm I had to make my exit as I still had to get ready for the women's party. I texted with Katja to see where she was at and what time she was going. We made plans to meet at Kaivohuone. I got there maybe around 9:30...it was hot as hell, around 27 degrees so walking all the way there probably wasn't my wisest idea but whatever. It was weird being there already that early as usually in Finland we go to bars around midnight if not after. But this also was the biggest women's party of the year so if you go to an event like this once a year, you do want to get it all in. There was a quite a long line to get in for those who hadn't bought their tickets in advance. I had so I just walked in. I walked around the place few times, checked to see if I knew anybody and proceeded to get a drink. I saw one of the girls from Seta training but wasn't exactly sure it was her so I waited and walked around some more. First couple of hours I spent with Katja and her friends. Was introduced to a bunch of people and was even told by one of them that she's seen me around. Told her it couldn't have been me as a) I don't live in Helsinki and b) I had spent the past 3 years in USA. So we came to the conclusion that I have a twin sister somewhere. Or impersonator! Hope I don't lose my identity as well...
We were sitting inside and I could see when Minna and her friends came there but they headed outside and when I went to look for them I couldn't find them. Sucks being this short sometimes. And Minna's not all that tall either so I couldn't spot her because of her height either. When she came inside I went to say hi and then followed her outside where they were sitting. I was introduced to her friends and spent the rest of the night with them. We chatted, danced and drank. They invited me to march with them the next day...When it was time to go I got a lift from them too.
I was at my hotel little after 2am but before that I went to get some McDonald's. I had 2 beers with Antti and Iita before the party and 3 beers at the party with glasses of iced water in between because I didn't want to get too drunk and I was really just trying to manage the hangover. I'm not one of those people who function well with a hangover, quite the opposite actually, so I wanted to make sure that I wasn't getting too drunk and embarrass myself and then have a hangover from hell when it's billion degrees outside and I'm spending the day in the sun. I also drank a bottle of water before going to bed. Hydration's the key to good hangover management!
On saturday I had breakfast, took a shower and got ready for the parade. I checked out little early just so that I could go take my backpack to the lockers at the train station and go get some coffee before heading to the Senate Square.
Amnesty was there too.
Pride fashion
More Pride fashion
Nice backpack
Heidi is ready for the Parade!
Nyyti was channelling her inner character from the movie "Up" and almost flew away with the balloons.
Paavo Arhinmäki, chairman of Left Alliance and current Minister of Sports and Culture. I was rubbing elbows with the government!
Ready...set...Here we go!
And we're marching!
Ella in yellow. Minna and Nyyti were marching in front of the Left Alliance group.
At the train station in front of a Pride Art. I had to be in 1 picture to proof I actually was there! Nice job Heidi! (taking the picture, not the art) I look fat btw...
4 euro iced latte. Not as good as DD but I was dying for it! It was the best iced latte I've EVER had in Finland! At that point 3 hours in the direct sunlight, little dehydrated and hungry...made a delightful Jenni! When I took the first sip and sigh'd and smiled Heidi was like "Better than sex, huh?"
Picnic at the park afterwards. I was still little dehydrated and hungover so I wasn't drinking at the park. Just water and sports drinks for me.
I had a lot of firsts with this Pride Parade. First women's party, and first Pride in Finland. This was my first time marching too. NYC Pride was always spent drinking and spending time with old and new friends. Dunno if T ever even thought about marching but I never even thought about it because I wasn't sure if it was possible. Now I've found out via twitter that yes, it's possible. And possible groups to march with could have been HRC, Immigration equality and obviously MSU.
The whole experience was amazing and I'm definitely doing it again next year provided that I'm still in Finland. It was great to get out, get to know some new people and be amongst "my peeps". I left the picnic around 6 when I had made a date with Antti and Sauli to have drinks with them. Sauli couldn't make it on Friday because of work so we had made plans to see each other before I left. We sat at a terrace, drank some beer and chatted away. It has been 4 or 5 years since the last time I saw her too so we had a lot to catch up. I took the 9pm bus and was home little after 11pm. All together a great weekend and a mental break from the tedious everyday life! I felt like I recharged my batteries and will do it again in 2 weeks time at Tampere Pride!
What this Pride experience taught me... Finland is a VERY small place! I've always heard that lesbian circles are really small everywhere and if you date more than few people in your lifetime the chances are you will meet and date people that your friends have dated and that your circle of friends is most probably going to include some of your exes as well. Well, something has gone seriously wrong if my ex shows up in my circle of friends as she's not in this country, continent or even where we used to live! While me and Heidi were coming back to the picnic area from our coffee and grocery run she ran into a friend of hers from Turku...proceeded to introduced us and I realized she was from Forssa! I have a feeling that "6 degrees of separation" is more like 2 or 3 degrees in Finland...and you can connect almost everybody through few mutual friends or acquaintances!
That instance right there was a little wake up call for me... The circles here are really small. Everybody knows everybody. How do I fit in in all of this? And this might sound funny or weird or whatever, but I'm gonna have to learn a whole new language...sounds weird since I'm Finnish but it's true. And culture. I seriously sometimes feel like an outsider in my own country. But I'll learn. I'll adapt. Ever since I realized I was a lesbian I have been with an American...speaking English...getting my "cultural cues" from an American... Finland and Finnish culture is totally foreign for me. And nobody knew what my Lebanese T-shirt meant or represented. I am a gaylien!
So there...that was my PrideParade experience. One day I will go to London Pride and some day to Euro Pride. And I'm not done with NYC Pride Parade either. I know the place to be at!
Later!
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