Baikal in Spring

Vegetables and Minerals

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.

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

Spring in Siberia (photo-post)

Uzbek Stew: Lagman

My local Hospital/Apartment Complex

Sunny Irkutsk

First foiree into whole, salted fish

Baikal (Don't worry, this man was saved soon after)

-Sarah

Back to the Future!

I chose this title because I live 15 hours ahead of my home in Minnesota, so unless you live between here and Japan you can consider this a message from the near future! It's actually a post about my most recent trip with the new international students who have arrived for second semester. Enjoy :)

Irkutsk is looking as beautiful as ever these days. The weather is slowly warming up (-15C yesterday, today -5!) and we took advantage of a long weekend by going to Olkhon, the largest island of Lake Baikal. This is a great time of year to visit, because the entire lake is frozen over with at least 2 meters of ice, which turns it into a vast icy highway. It's also nice that the island is almost completely void of other tourists, who tend to come to the island in the summer.

A view of the island as we drive over the frozen lake

The island's population is about 1,500 people, both Russians and Buryats. Buryatia is an autonomous republic of Siberia, it's capital being Ulan-Ude on the south-eastern side of Baikal. The Buryat people are very spiritual, and the most famous part of the island is dedicated to the Buryat tradition of Shaman practice. Shamanka, as the place is called, is home to the Shaman rocks and pillars to which Buryat people tie brightly colored fabrics to invite good spirits (that's my understanding of the tradition, anyway).

Buryat Fabric-tying

At the top of Shamanka

 We spent all of Saturday morning and afternoon on a tour around the island via marshutka (minibus) driving on the ice all the way. We saw ice caves, drank water from the center of the lake (best tasting water I've ever had), and stopped in places where the ice was so clear that you could see the lake bottom. One of the more beautiful trips in my lifetime thus far.

Great friends, great weekend, and great to be back in Irkutsk. For more pictures, check out the facebook album. Take care, everybody!

Sarah

A long post about Hospital Life.

Hello, all! 

Welcome back to the blog, sorry for my absence, but absence makes the heart grow fonder as they say. This time, think that I have good reason for lack of updates: First of all, as you can see in the previous post, I’ve been on vacation for about a month, but all good things must come to an end --- and I this case, a rather sticky one. After a great time traveling in Europe and around Western Russia, I had to check into a hospital in Moscow for an acute kidney infection. Thought I just had a sore back, until it turned into a fever , “malaise” (new word for Sarah!) and eventually the inability to walk, sit, stand, or lie down. I’m feeling good and healthy right now, so I’m not going to sugar-coat this: This was the worst condition I have ever been in. AND I was in Russia. With both of my parents in medical professions for most of my life, I’ve never had to deal with something like this on my own, much less in a foreign country. I didn’t know what to do, who to call, where to go --- After my program director didn’t answer her phone, I resorted to the internet to figure out exactly how bad things might be. After a skype with my mother, followed by a quick self check-up on Web-MD  I realized that this kind of pain and fever probably wasn’t going to get better overnight with sleep, Tylenol, and fluids. Hello, 2am ambulance… what’s that? You want to put a needle in my backside? Well, I’ve never had that done bef --- SSSSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!EEEEEZZZZZUS!!!!!!

Cut to me, sitting in a hospital bed, in the worst condition of my life, without any personal belongings (which were in my backpack in a hotel), thousands of miles from any family or friends. I won’t go as far as to say that this was a good experience for me, but it put a lot of things into perspective. In the hospital I had a lot of time to think, especially about all of the things I take for granted: Not only my health, but also my time, the people around me, my independence, and my seemingly endless supply of luck (which had thus far kept me from harm’s way during all of my crazy escapades). In retrospect, I learned a lot of things about myself and what kind of life I want to live. At the time, things weren’t so rosy.

In the hospital, I came to know a completely different side of myself. I was alone, stressed about my situation and the concern of my loved ones, frustrated with people who seemed not to understand my pain, bitter towards others who didn't call or visit. I never want to be hospitalized again, because I never want to see this side of myself. That's not me. Thankfully I had one small outlet, and that was my computer. Although it was extremely uncomfortable and inconvenient to use in the hospital, it gave me the chance to exchange occasional messages with the people I love. 

Every reaction I received was different --- Some gave me the gift of rationalism: “Well, you’re in the hospital. You’re not healthy. You have to wait it out and things will get better.” This response gave me a level head. Don’t freak out, this isn’t permanent. From others there was worry: “How are you feeling? What medications are you taking? Do things seem to be working? What are your latest test results?”  This pure love and concern made me feel more in control by keeping on top of my situation. Some saintly few brought me distraction: “Well, being in the hospital sucks, do you want to hear some news? Let me tell you…” Thank goodness for those of you who offered me unhindered, normal human conversation that took my mind off all my other worries.  Lastly, in response to my hospital blues were professions of my strength and ability. “So you’re in the hospital --- find a way out, mentally. You’re stronger than this. Make things better for yourself.” These are words I tell myself on a regular basis, but I didn’t want to hear them when I was sick. I loathed hearing them when all I was prepared to hear were words of sympathy. But perhaps these words were necessary and helpful as well. When I felt stronger physically, I had these words close by to keep me going. When I had enough energy, these words motivated me to escape in any way I could --- Watch the German news in the lobby, visit my favorite nurse from the Emergency room, and eventually go on a walk around the WHOLE hospital (even though every floor looked the same and I looked like a crazy mental-ward escapee). 

I’m happy to be out of the hospital, and to be home safe in Irkutsk. I hope this post doesn’t bring anyone any pain or unnecessary worry on my behalf. I am feeling fine, still taking medicine and having a check-up next week to see if my infection is gone. The Russians tell me that kidney issues come from cold, so I am keeping warm.  I am drinking lots of fluids, I am lightening my work schedule and eating good food.  I’m also counting all of my blessings: That my program was able to help me by taking away all financial worry, that I had so many great people around me to help me when I needed it. I’m thankful to all of the other Fulbrighters who reached out to me as I was missing our long-awaited reunion in Moscow, and that I have so many other people in my life who love me and care about me. I love you all back.

More, happier news to come! Thanks for reading, and happy upcoming V-day! (I am making homemade valentines with paper hearts and candies... Get ready, Siberia.)

All my love, as always,

Sarah

Back-from-Vacation Photo-Post:

Rennes, France

Christmas Eve

All my siblings live in Rennes

London, UK

Stonehenge is ok...

View from the London Bridge

Moscow, Russia

Viktor Tsoi Memorial Graffiti Wall

Red Square

Velikiy Novgorod, Russia

Host family Reunion

St. Petersburg, Russia

"Chaika"

The End!

Playing catch-up

It's been a while, folks. Thanks for waiting around (or for clicking on this link form my Facebook page, which I'm sure is the case for most of you. No worries.) I have a few things to update you on, chronologically. If you want to end on something more up-beat, try reading this post bottom-to-top.

1. Thanksgiving. Since the beginning of November, I had been wishing and hoping and planning for a great Thanksgiving celebration. I wasn't sure how we could pull it off (or even who "we" would include, but what I do know is that I have a DANK stuffing recipe (Thanks mom) and I only get one chance a year to use it. Well, Thanksgiving day was a normal day at work, which meant there was NO WAY I could put anything together (A "normal day" for me consists of waking up somewhere around 10am, sitting on the bus for half an hour to get to the University, and not coming back to my edge-of-town dormitory until long after dark). However, this day was a special day. As I waited for my 7pm class to start, I got a call from a student: "Well, I know that today is sort of a holiday for you, and, well, if you don't have anything else planned, I wanted to invite you over for dinner so that you could celebrate?" this turned out to be one of the greatest Thanksgivings I've ever had. The menu featured meatballs rather than turkey, spaghetti noodles instead of crescent rolls, potato pancakes in lieu of mashed , and in place of cranberry sauce: fried eggs--- but I couldn't have asked for better company. The next day my international friends and I had an enormous feast prepared by our Chinese classmates, and Saturday was our own home-style Thanksgiving potluck where I got to showcase my stuffing, but the best part of Thanksgiving was sharing it with so many great people. (Awwww.)

2. Siberian Teacher's Conference. We had been planning this since my arrival in Irkutsk, but the annual conference at our university was to feature (by my invitation) other Fulbright ETAs from different cities, including myself. We came, we presented, and the Russian teachers had very little to say about it. This may have been because of our theme: Extra-Curricular activities to supplement language learning. Russian teachers, like teachers in the US, are overworked and underpaid. Russia is a little bit worse off in this department, though... teaching is not considered prestigious in the least, most tell me, and many teachers feel resentful of the amount of work they already have to do." Extra-curriculars? We don't need no stinking extra-curriculars." Not to mention the lack of resources, limited space, and scheduling disasters that are inherent in any school or university in this country. I may talk more about that later... Anyway, we had a great weekend otherwise, and my colleagues were extremely welcoming of our new guests. I work in the greatest place on earth...

3. Current events. Part of the reason it has taken me so long to write a decent post is because of the string of happenings, all rather close-to-home, which have basically rendered me incapable of sitting and writing positive, quirky updates on my life in Russia. The first of these was an extreme shock which directly influenced my work. After a routine and successful trip to a nearby high-school with some colleagues and students, we entered the office to find another colleague about to leave. She had cancelled all of her classes and told her students to go home, because one of the other students from their group had been killed. She told me the student's name --- a very general Russian girl's name, which sent all of us in a tizzy trying to deduce exactly which girl this was. She was a first-year, worked with a wonderful group of talented students. I had lead a class on fashion just a week before where she described her style as "classy yet comfortable". Days later she answered a call from someone "looking for a nanny" and was found that weekend, dead, in an abandoned apartment near the center of town. I didn't know how to feel about this, but I still teach the same group of students, and everything has to continue as usual. Teaching was hard for a while after that. Then came the news from Connecticut, which I try to avoid talking to my students and colleagues about (because they already think that all Americans own guns just for kicks). Just another thing that made teaching harder, from an emotional standpoint. I'm not saying I had to fight off tears to get through my day, but teachers everywhere had this on their mind --- STILL have this on their mind as they go about their teaching. And then came the very serious talk of Russia banning adoption of Russian children to American families... which has since been passed into law. Maybe you don't know this, but for the past two summers I have worked as a Russian teacher in a children's camp where a generous percentage of our students are adoptees from Russia. I've heard some of their stories, and I know that many of them wouldn't even be around today if it weren't for the adoptive family that jumped through all the hoops to bring a child from the often dismal conditions of a Russian orphanage into an average American home. This new law, Putin's senseless retaliation against American policy, will take away the chance of that future for about 1,000 Russian orphans this year; from kids who have disabilities, who (in all likelihood) won't be adopted by Russian families because they can't afford/don't have access to the proper care. All these kids --- at camp, at the university, private pupils --- These kids are my students. I love my students. They are the reason (the only reason, really) that I am a teacher. Honestly, sometimes I really hate teaching; I tell myself that I'm only doing this because I have no better prospects, or else I get overwhelmed and just want to cut and run, but I know that I can't. I live for these students, and the thought that I could lose any one of them in a very permanent sense... well, it kinda freaks me out. It makes me a little upset --- mad, even. But mostly these "current events" makes me value each of my students even more.

Don't mess with my students.

Merry Christmas, Everybody.
Sarah