Get ready for some Blog. Its been a while.
It's spring in Irkutsk, which I am happy to say came before spring in Minnesota. I have officially packed away my winter coat, and couple weeks ago we even had our first day of rain (which was fabulous, as it gave me real reason to wear the rubber boots I bought last month, specifically for puddle season). One of my favorite parts of this new season is that I can FINALLY find fresh produce in the market that actually comes from RUSSIA. Not to mention there are more interesting things for sale, like Cheremsha (known by some as "Wild Garlic" or "Bear's Garlic") which everyone is selling on street corners like candy: Beautiful, colorful, super-stinky candy.
We recently had an extra-long holiday weekend which I took advantage of (along with a troupe of Italians, great people) by going to Arshan: A Buryatian mini-resort town next to the mountains where you can get mineral water that will heal just about every ailment you have. Seriously. Minerals.
Buryatia is a Buddhist region, and we made it to the Datsan (Buryatian Buddhist temple/space?) and sat through part of a service. We couldn't take pictures inside, but it was a brightly painted room filled with incense, colorful fabrics, and pillows stacked waist-high for priests (?) to sit on while they chant. There was a lot of chanting... Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, it was just a guy chanting for an hour. Cool, though.
More updates coming soon...
Sarah
It's spring in Irkutsk, which I am happy to say came before spring in Minnesota. I have officially packed away my winter coat, and couple weeks ago we even had our first day of rain (which was fabulous, as it gave me real reason to wear the rubber boots I bought last month, specifically for puddle season). One of my favorite parts of this new season is that I can FINALLY find fresh produce in the market that actually comes from RUSSIA. Not to mention there are more interesting things for sale, like Cheremsha (known by some as "Wild Garlic" or "Bear's Garlic") which everyone is selling on street corners like candy: Beautiful, colorful, super-stinky candy.
We recently had an extra-long holiday weekend which I took advantage of (along with a troupe of Italians, great people) by going to Arshan: A Buryatian mini-resort town next to the mountains where you can get mineral water that will heal just about every ailment you have. Seriously. Minerals.
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| It's yellow because minerals. |
Buryatia is a Buddhist region, and we made it to the Datsan (Buryatian Buddhist temple/space?) and sat through part of a service. We couldn't take pictures inside, but it was a brightly painted room filled with incense, colorful fabrics, and pillows stacked waist-high for priests (?) to sit on while they chant. There was a lot of chanting... Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, it was just a guy chanting for an hour. Cool, though.
More updates coming soon...
Sarah
