Been a While

What has been happening...

City Day was not long ago.  It was a cold but beautiful night out. 

During the Summer I taught English at a kid's camp.

 Buluus...

In order to cross the Lena River, it is necessary to take a barge.  It was a beautiful day.  

The barge in use.

This is Buluus:  A glacier about 4 hours by car away from Yakutsk.  I was there in the middle of July!   How it manages to stay frozen through the summer, I don't know.  It was such a fascinating sight.  The water from the springs around the glacier was so clean.  I brought some home to drink.

It was a warm day, but rainy as well.  The glacier was melting, but they say it keeps it's size generally.  One of the Father's creations that fascinates me.

Yes, you can stand on it.  One guy that came with us decided to take a bath in the stream next to the glacier.  

The Lena Pillars...

On the boat on the way to the Lena Pillars, a set of cliffs that the people here are very proud of.

These are the cliffs!  Amazing creation!  

The boat that we arrived on.  It took 18 hours to make the trip.  

Once again, a rainy day.  Not real cold.  

The group that I made the trip to the Lena Pillars with.  Almost all of them were German, with the exception of a guy from Holland and our guide, who was a local lady.

The Amazing Pillars.  I loved to just stand on board the boat and stare in wonder at the pillars.

Ok, I am afraid of heights, and somehow I managed to get on top of this brick wall long enough for the photo to be taken.

I taught English at another English camp in town for the month of July when I wasn't studying Russian at the university.  It was quite a challenge, and I learned a lot.  It was a great joy to interact with the kids.

My Russian teacher from last year.  Her and I hit it off and have continued to spend time together.  I thank the Father for her.

What do the kids do in the summer when it is hot out?  This is certainly an option!  Right in the middle of town.

 The Longest Day of the year...  June 21st typically here.

The Longest Day celebration.  It was hot and sunny out.  Everyone gets together to celebrate the longest day of the year.  Foreigners are all over the place it seems.  It was a beautiful day.  

Some of the local costumes of the people

Some friends that were with me at the celebration.  Everyone looks nice and some wear their local dress.

The tables at the celebration are full of food.  From fried fish on sticks to horse meat to horse milk, all sorts of salads, and of course...

Salamat - a kind of porridge made from flour and butter.  It tastes like eating floury lard, if you can imagine it.  

Extra large versions of the "cup" they drink mare's milk out of.

The people worshiping the sun as it rises at 4am the day after the big celebration.

It was a beautiful sunrise!  I did stay up all night with the people to see the sun rise.  

After the sun rose, the people did a circle dance in celebration.

Once Again

So many things have happened

I went to an outdoor museum with the foreign students from the university.  We did a lot of sightseeing and sledding.  

Fascinating Photo:  Outside a shoe store.  This poster is made of real shoes, some of them pairs, painted.

My friend wanted to take me around and show me the sights.    We probably walked for 2 hours that day.  It wasn't really cold out, but everything was still covered in snow.

Noone is forgotten, Nothing is forgotten.

The ballet theater in town.  My apartment is in the building off to the right.  I don't even have to walk 5 minutes to get there.   

The Zoo!  A camel in this weather?  Really?  I found that interesting.  There were bears, a lynx, and all sorts of other animals, but a camel? :)  Ok.  I felt bad for the camel.  

The May 1st parade.  I don't think I have seen quite so many people out  in this town.  I didn't know there were quite so many people in this town!  

The river breaks up in May each year.  It is a big event to go see the ice break up and flow north to the Arctic Ocean.  I joined a group who went to see this.  We did not get there in time to see the actual break-up happen, but got to see the water flowing out in the center.  

I was given an opportunity to go to the Mammoth Museum.  Our guide had just been on an expedition where they brought back a piece of flesh of a mammoth that was discovered in the north.  

Event after Event

Isn't it beautiful outside the city?

I had the opportunity to go visit a village about 2 hours way by car.  I think the tallest building in the village was the school.  Everyone lived in little houses without indoor plumbing.  

While in the village, we visited the school where we were asked to answer questions in front of all the children.  It was a very enjoyable time.  Can you tell who the foreigners are?

The kids in the school did a program for us.  This outfit is what their warriors used to wear when they went to battle.

This man is the grandfather in this house.  He is 92 years old, and still up walking around.  He came and sat at the table to eat with us.  He said he is just waiting to die, but wants to live till he is 100 years old.  

The way of life of this man with the fur is to round up wild horses and train them to be race horses.  He came by on a sled with 3 horses tied to it.  

I look like this after being outside in at least -40 for only 30 minutes.  Under all this fur, wool and down I was quite warm.  

When we went to the village we had to drive across the Lena River.  From what I understand, it is about 2.5 miles wide where we cross.  While we were crossing it, a tracker trailer drove right by us.  It shows how strong the ice is still.

My landlady and a friend were making banana cookie pie with layers of ice cream for dessert.  It was very sweet, but very simple.  My landlady is on the left in the photo.

I am a part of an international club at the university.  We get together occasionally to make food from different countries.  Many of these students are from the dorm where I used to live, while the rest are a part of the university. 

I attended a birthday party of one of my friends from the international club.  We were playing a game here where you must figure out what the word is that is written on the paper plastered on your forehead, by asking yes and no questions.