Dear Friends in Oulu,

By chance, last week, I came across info on this seminar on Minority and Indigenous peoples Rights and decided “what the heck, I’m going to go” and signed up. On Monday I will take my backpack and leave my family for a few days and travel on my own (I think the last time I actually did this was when I came to Finland for my university entrance exam and interview in June 2007 – so this is a big deal for me).

While I know Gábor is more than capable of holding the fort for 3 days (he is the stay-at-home-parent in our family after all), I am sure he would be very happy if you were to pop in for coffee or take the kids to the park for an hour, come by and  help cook dinner and eat with them or cycle with Lily to school (Sari, we are taking you up on your offers now). I am sure these little things would really help maintain his (in)sanity while I am gone. I would also like to warn you in advance that I will need some similar company when Gábor goes to a conference on “Making Marginalized Voices Heard in the UN Processes” in November.

I thank you in advance for your kindness.