{gypsies}

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There are about 10,000 gypsies in Finland. In Finnish they are called "romani" or "mustalainen". They originate from India. They left India at around 1000 A.D. and arrived in Finland at around 1500 A.D. Romanis are spread all over the world now. They were persecuted by the Nazis during second world war. Up to 800,000 were killed in concentration camps. I hope a day will come when differences are celebrated, not feared and hated. We are all God's children. Our way of life may seem normal to us but might look weird to someone else. The more you know about the cultures of the world, the better. Knowledge brings understanding. Understanding brings tolerance. I think it's great that there is so much variety in our world. How boring it would be if we were all the same. I have always been fascinated in different cultures. I love to learn facts like "they used to stuff men's jackets with straw in Spain as big bellies were considered handsome".

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