Reaching heaven, seals, and the Volkonsky house

To say that our 18 hour train ride from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk was uneventful would be dishonest. A few people in our group brought alcohol onto the train, and when four Russians joined them the noise became enough that the already frustrated attendants wanted to throw our entire group off the train. Luckily, our lovely directors intervened and we made it to Irkutsk safely, though some of us a little more covered in vomit and hung over than others.

After a bumpy windy bus ride, we arrived. And the lake was there to greet us like some great calm being. 

After a quick breakfast in our hotel, we abandoned our large bags and set to walking along the lake to a museum. It was a long walk. 

A fish carved out of Cedar. Cedar crafts are very popular. 

At the museum I learned a lot about Baikal; it is the deepest fresh water lake in the world, and has microorganisms that will strip the flesh from a dead fish in one day and from a drowned human in 7, leaving just the skeleton. there are many seals that live in the water, along with being an excellent source of fish. The above photos are of sand under a microscope. 

After the museum, we climbed up a mountain and then took a chair lift to a lookout point. It was so ridiculously beautiful I still can't believe I was there. 

Me, on a rock. Looking a bit awkward. 

I roomed with Shantel, and Chelsea and Libbie were our neighbors so we all shared a bathroom and a common room. We really lucked out-- our room was the attic of a house, so we had privacy and a big bear on the wall that Libbie affectionately dubbed "Vladislov". Our room was a great place to gather and drink a bit and talk. This is a view from one of our windows out across the neighborhood. 

We also visited an "open air" museum of an old Russian settlement. It was really neat and interesting; almost like abandoned ghost towns in the west. This is a picture of Tsar Nicholar II for those who don't automatically recognize him, like myself. (kind proud of myself for knowing that.) 

Shutters! 

Delicious peroshki. Filled with rice and egg, and the other apple. 

That night the girls and I went to the lake to step into the water, we took a bottle of cheap soviet champagne and enjoyed splashing around in the water and finding sea glass. 

It was only 100 rubles. And it tasted like it. 

This picture is awkward because some Asian man was near us taking pictures of us as we sat by the lake. We asked him what he was doing in Russian. He didn't reply and kept taking pictures with his telephoto lens. We finally ran away from the creeper, and Chelsea appropriately commented, "Why wasn't he taking pictures of us from behind a bush like a normal creeper?" 

Shantel and I in the lake. It was soooo cold! 

When we left Baikal, we went to Irkutsk for a day and visited the Volkonsky house, C. Volkonsky was a Deceberist who was eventually banished away. His wife abandoned her rich life and followed him. This is lounge room. It's beautiful and ornately decorated. 

This was part of Maria Volkonsky's room, and I really liked this mirror and stand. 

The red room again. 

Our group! :) 

This is a sewer cap that says "Irkutsk 350 years!" Such an old and historic city. :) 

A statue of Yuri Gagarin, a Russian hero and the first cosmonaut. Seemed appropriate.

Unluckily, when we were waiting for our train, I started seeing spots of light in my vision and I knew I was getting a migraine. I was sick the majority of our ride and demonstrated my puking skills by being very secretive about it. I also didn't throw up on anything or myself.. so kudos to me? I didn't know how to explain that I had a migraine in Russian, so my teachers just thought that I had a stomach bug, but after I explained that I had a headache severe enough to cause vomiting and nausea, Julia gave me a pill to dull the pain. I slept after I took it, and when I woke up I was still a bit shaky but better. I woke up to this beautiful view of wildflowers. 

There are seals in lake Baikal, and because of this there are many seal souvenirs. My favorite was this bottle of water I bought that comes from the lake itself. It has "natural silver content", so much for avoiding heavy metals in my drinking water. 

I almost forgot! I met a camel in the open air museum. 

Proof I am alive and well. 

Now, for my encounter with the camel. 

At first I was like, Oh neat! A camel! 

then he kind of lunged at me, and I was afraid. Look at his nose ring- you would also be afraid!

Finally kind of friends. Sassy ass camel. Look at that eye contact we had going on. 

I'll miss him. 

(b)log update

I've been bad at updating the (b)log lately, because I've been busy with school and adventuring. I apologize.

Saturday was День Города which means "City Day", also known as the city's birthday! It's strange to think that Krasnoyarsk is over 100 years older than the entire U.S. Just one little (big) city in Siberia. On that note, I really like Siberia. It's so beautiful here, and when we look at maps of Russia I feel so small in comparison.. I think I've mentioned how the city is built a lot like Salt Lake with the surrounding mountains, creating an inversion. TJ, another student in my group, asked if when it rained the air became clean because it was quite dirty. I said yes, and I should have asked how to beat the humidity because I am not used to it and TJ is from Missouri.. aka, misery. ;)

So on Saturday I went to the parade with Andrew, and after that we wandered around for several hours with our group, got lunch, looked at local sites and went up to the river. The parade was really.. Russian and by that I mean slightly strange and extremely sexy.

I went to the beginning of the festival with my classmates, it was called, the "Aht" festival, almost like a snobby person would say art and it gave all of us a laugh. There was a lot of really neat music and people from all over the world that poured water from their local streams, lakes, oceans, etc into a big fountain that when full, symbolized the unity of the cultures. There were some really neat drummers from Japan that I watched on Saturday night with my family. I enjoyed many of the performances. 

Part of the parade-- It's a whale fish! This is significant because in my Russian studies class we sing a song called Whale Fish. I like singing more than I should.. The people on top of the whale fish are native people from far north in Siberia. Their traditional dress looks a lot like the inuits to me, and they even performed throat singing at their introduction, which was really cool. I had a great seat at the opening because I was sitting next to the head of our program, Tatyana Petrovna, and she narrated everything in understandable Russian. 

Seriously, Poseidon. He looks like he should be starring in Magic Mike or something. He wasn't wearing a shirt, either. That's not a costume, that's disturbingly real. And he was rockin' out. 

In our group's wanderings, we went underneath Komunalny Most (bridge). It was really neat seeing it up close. 

Look how enthused I am.. also notice my "friends" leaving me.. Andrew. 

I found this mural which seemed entirely appropriate for my blog. I really like that it says "NASA" while still having the USSR written on it in Russian (СССР).

I went to dinner with my family at a restaurant the other day-- a real one. Food here has been really fascinating, and it's interesting to take in why Russians seem to eat out versus why Americans do. however, this place was great, the soup was cream of garlic and it came in this giant rye bread bowl. 

My host dad saw me taking pictures, and put this sugar cube on top of my finished soup. He said to put in online and tell my family that it's Russian cake. I wonder how many people would believe it?

And then, they gave me a giant bowl of Soviet Ice Cream with chocolate shavings and a comically tiny spoon to eat it with. It was delicious. Most of the food here is, it's just really different from home.  What I like best is the conversation; at tea, breakfast and dinner, I get a lot of conversation in with my family and sometimes we watch tv in Russian, which is interesting in it's own way. 

I'm having a great time over here and am shocked that it's already July! On Wednesday we are celebrating both the 4th and Sho's Birthday! Sho is half Japanese and half American, and has been studying at the U, but it returning home indefinitely after his trip. Hopefully we can find an American bar like he wants. 

Tomorrow, I'm going to see "Brave" (it's called "Braveheart" here!) all in Russian. Hopefully because it's a cartoon it'll be easier to understand! 

Until next contact, 

Kelli 

Culture and Tube Food

For many of you who read my facebook, I feel like going a bit in depth about a post I just made. Sometimes when I explain American concepts to my host dad, I feel a bit like I'm explaining something from the muggle world to Arthur Weasley.
  Take tonight at dinner, for example. The bananas my host dad bought for me turned black from being super ripe, and he was jokingly chastising me for not eating them. I said, (in Russian), "Well, we could make bread out of them."
  He looked at me like I was some sort of alien.
"Bread?" he said, "what?"
I then explained, "When we have black bananas, my mom prepares bread with them. It's like a dessert."
He said, "You know how to do this witchcraft?" (Ok, he didn't say witchcraft, but keep listening)
I said, "I don't know how. But my mom does. I could email her."
Then he said, "Natasha! (to his wife) Can you make bread out of black bananas?!"
And Natasha dutifully replied, "Not today. I'm mad."
Doesn't skip a beat, that woman.

I also had a great time explaining the special stores that sell alcohol in Utah, and that many LDS people don't drink wine, tea, beer, alcohol in general, or coffee. ( "But why?" )

I hope he's getting as much out of me staying here as I am getting out of staying here.

Side note: I really like eating food out of a tube while I am here. It makes me feel more like a cosmonaut. Our sauces come in tubes. :)

Banya Initiation, Russian music, Tima, and discovering my own Bravery

Hello. If any of you are like Emily, Connor, or my parents, you've seemed a bit worried about my whereabouts this weekend. I had a very Russian weekend, to say the least. And I will tell you more about it... now. :)

On Friday I got home from school and napped. When I woke up, my host dad and I ate dinner, then he explained to me very slowly ( I was still tired) that we were going to his friend's house to eat and drink. I was really nervous. But it was great! We ate and drank and chatted (me in broken Russian) about all sorts of things. There was a man there named Mischa that reminded me of a big Russian dancing bear. He was really goofy and loved teasing his girlfriend. At the end of the night he got out a guitar and everyone (except me) sang while he played with all the lights out and candles lit until his neighbor came down from the 8th floor and said that he had work in the morning and told us to shut up, basically. It was like, 1 am, at that point. It was really amazing.  I wish I knew Russian songs to sing!

Mischa's apartment is newly constructed and the public areas are still mainly unfinished. We took a cab to it and when we got in the elevator, which was still clearly under construction, Andre said to me that the elevator wasn't finished being built yet, so that's why it was still covered in wood. Then he said in English but with a strong Russian accent, "I can see you going to America and saying, 'In Russia they have wooden lifts.'" Then we all cracked up.

View of the Yensei and Komunalni Bridge from Mischa's apartment.

New apartment complex and dormitories.

This was on the back of Mischa's toilet. It made me laugh. He spoke really broken English on and off, and his place was covered with stuff from the soccer team Manchester United. He said to me, "Manchester United is my favorite team!!!" (imagine a thick accent here :))

Saturday (which was last night but feels like forever ago) I went to the dacha with my family. Arina and I picked these really really tart berries. When I ate one I said, "So sour!" and my host dad explained in Russian that they aren't actually that sour, home grown ones are much sweeter than ones in the forest.  I just looked at him like a crazy person. I bet he's getting used to it. :)

This is my new best friend, Tima! He's a big orange cat without a tail and the object of every family member's affection, even granny loves him. He, however, likes to try and escape the dacha and chase butterflies. He doesn't hurt them, he just plays with them. He's a sneaky cat, too. Last night when I was trying to sleep on the pull-out sofa, he scared the hell out of me by jumping on me and trying to give me a surprise bath. He's not Chicken, but he's a pretty good bed-mate. 

Tart berries.

Construction stuff, Andre worked on the house most of the weekend.

This is the banya from the front porch. My host dad says I am almost a real Russian now because I went into a Russian banya. As I didn't my swimsuit to the dacha, I had to wear this toga thing that Natasha gave me. So, I learned that Russians aren't afraid of being half naked. I, an American, am, so I stayed in my toga during the whole process. 

  The first part of the banya is the dry heat part. I'm talking 80 degrees CELSIUS or so in a sauna like room. It's made of special wood, and after a few minutes you throw cold water with scented oil on the stones to cool the room off a bit, though it tends to feel like it's getting hotter. Andre said, "The first rule of banya is if you are sick, run. That's all the rules of banya." It felt a bit like fight club.  So we stayed in a sweltering room for about 5 minutes, then went and dumped cold water on ourselves in the second part of it, and went outside and cooled off more. Although shocking, it was also quite enjoyable. 

  In my first round Andre explained that all good business transactions and political talks happen in banyas, so if I wanted to have a good business relationship with someone, I must go into the banya with him. Natasha then interrupted and said, "yes, but sometimes not." and we laughed. 

  So after two rounds of dry heat and dumping cold water on ourselves, Andre said, "Now you will go into the banya with Natasha and she will beat you with wet branches." Remember that, "you're-a-crazy-Russian" look that I said I was really good at giving Andre? I used it here as well. It's really quite endearing. 

  So, it's a form of massage and it's not really so much of a beating as more of swatting. It relaxes the muscles a lot. It felt nice, but while I was lying there I kept thinking it was the weirdest thing I'd ever done: lie naked in a toga in an extremely hot room while a Russian woman hit me with wet branches, willingly.  When we were done we had wine and chai (that means tea) and I was really really sleepy and ready for bed. I also had real kvas while I was doing the banya thing. It is a carbonated drink that is made with bread and yeast basically. It's god-awful in the US (I had it at a Russian club activity), but not so terrible here. Still not a huge fan of it, but it didn't make my gag reflex go into effect.

  But I didn't get to go to sleep quite yet. Arina, Andre and I went to a concert in a bar that was an old band, "Pep-see". It was really great and hilarious in parts. The three women in the group were in these giant dresses that had carrots printed on them. One dress was pink, another blue, another green. It was really enjoyable. 

  I discovered on Friday that hipsters have invaded Russia. Andre likes to make fun of them and I even told him a joke that translated alright into Russian. "How much does a hipster weigh? An instagram." He thought it was great and I could tell he was logging it away for his friend Olya. After the concert we went to the dacha and went to bed, and around 4 am I discovered that I am braver than I know. The bathroom is quite far from the house, and is in outhouse form. I woke up and had to pee BADLY, something about all that tea I drank. So, I put on my shoes, confused Tima by throwing all my blankets on him so he couldn't escape like he wanted to and went and peed in the dark. It took a lot of courage on my part because I hate outhouses/am afraid of them and I had to leave the safety of the dacha to do so. Almost the best pee I've ever had. 

Part of the garden. 

Tima, hunting butterflies.

View from the Dacha. 

The dacha itself. It has 2 floors, with a mini kitchen and I suspect a bedroom upstairs. I learned that Andre LOVES pirates. The whole dacha is pirate themed and there are a bunch of empty bottles of Captain Morgan Rum everywhere. He hung a sign on the door that says "Pirates Only, All others will walk the plank." and was trying to rig it so that the eye of the skull was the peep hole. There's a stuffed monkey dressed as a pirate, and it's all themed with pirate stuff, even the banya. It made me wish I'd known this beforehand so that I could have gotten them a pirate themed gift! 

To end this post, I found a mushroom that I like. (See photo. It's a little cookie with a mushroom cap made of chocolate. It totally counts as a mushroom in my opinion.)

I miss you all. Especially my family and close friends. Tomorrow, I have school. We are going to Lake Baikal soon, I will post the exact dates when I know them so none of you worry.