The return

Names of all the in-laws in Russian. Yep, it's that complicated!
(Муж = husband, жена = wife)

It's that time again, time for the Trial by Fire Visiting Relative. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know what that means :p

Someone's mother has come to stay with us (and it's not Кит's mom!).

The front door burst open yesterday, and a laughing, exhausted mother/son duo stumbled in. The power was out in the building and they'd had to walk up probably 200 stairs to reach the apartment. As soon as mom caught her breath, she lugged her bag to the middle of the floor and began the gift distribution.

Someone got his USSR birth certificate and a new pair of shoes (and lots of compliment fishing: oh, they're probably the wrong color, you must not like them, I should have bought a different pair)

Decaffeinated black tea, impossible to get in Ukraine.

Life among the reindeer herders

In which Odin the Alaskan traverses the tundra, milks reindeer, makes pelmeni, and generally enjoys life with a group of Siberian reindeer herders!

Thanks to Khoomei.com for this map.

Missed something? Catch up on Part 1: Siberian Adventures and Part 2: On the road in the Tuva Republic!

Map of Tyva Republic showing our route. Kyzyl to Toora-Khem is shown in blue, while Toora-Khem to the herders' camp is in red. Regional boundaries are indicated by faint pink lines—Todzhu is the largest region and the one furthest to the northwest.

It's difficult to discuss reindeer herding without making it seem romantic and/or otherworldly. Its exotic image is probably part of why it's an interesting topic to many. Even as someone from Alaska, a land where reindeer herding was historically widespread for a time, the lifestyle of a herder seems far-removed from the realm of my day-to-day experiences.

Yet many aspects of life during my few weeks among the herders were rather ordinary. Our typical tasks and chores in camp were familiar. A number of days there seemed to drag on, making me stir-crazy, especially if I didn't leave camp to go walking or hiking. A big part of the herders' lives involves travel through the taiga. To a city-dweller this might seem exotic, but to someone who's worked in the woods or spent a lot of time there, it's often pleasant, yet also has a certain familiarity to it.

There is one thing that does make these herders' lives extraordinary, though. Almost all people in the modern world—even the vast majority of rural Siberian natives—spend some or all of their time living in town. Even most reindeer herders nowadays are based in settlements: herders in northern Siberia commonly work on a shift-based system (e.g. 2 weeks in the tundra, 2 weeks in the village), while Alaska's Inupiaq herders make day-trips to their reindeer and return to their villages each night.

But not the Todzhan herders.

Sergei Shagdyr-oolovich lives with his 25-year-old son, whom I'll call D. Both father and son return separately to the village of Toora-Khem (or nearby Adyr-Kezhig) several times annually, but live nearly the entire year in the taiga.

Sergei Shagdyr-oolovich

Wintertime they spend at lower elevations, where the weather is not as severe and the snowdrifts are not as deep. Here, the herders have a few small cabins, including this one, where we initially met Shagdyr-oolovich.

In late spring the herders follow their reindeer up to near treeline. During the course of  a summer, reindeer & herders move several times from pasture to pasture, the latter camping in a lightweight nylon walltent.

Reindeer may roam at any time day or night, but they seldom wander more than a mile or so from camp.

They are very curious animals, and often linger near camp, poking their paws & noses at anything of interest.

The lake

Back when the city was still swaddled in greenery and thunderstorms provided a chilly respite from the summer heat, D and I went out in search of an adventure.

This was the same afternoon we photographed the odd mix of art / graffiti that decorates Akademika Pavlova street. I remember feeling so relaxed that day; we actually had a whole afternoon off (it was Saturday) to wander around and not be at the constant beck and call of others. A student met us at the Akademika Pavlova metro stop in order to get her new coursebook for our private lessons and then- freedom. Sweet, sweet freedom.

Off we went, down the road. To one side was a high wall and an empty, weather-worn security booth. Aside from the traffic to our right, we were alone.

And then, as desolate as that view was, we reached the intersection of Akademika Pavlova and Blyukhera street and it all changed.

Housewives shook the dust out of rugs from their balconies on the 9th floor. Cars honked. People rushed down into the Studentska metro station like ants disappearing into their subterranean tunnels.

5 things you (probably) didn't know you could do in Kharkov

You know those days when you really should be doing something productive... but you find yourself wandering aimlessly through the hours instead?

That day is today.

So let's hang out together on the internet and avoid the outside world for just a little bit longer. Because-

picture found on vk.com

Here are 5 totally spur-of-the-moment-things-I-just-thought-of that you probably didn't know you could do in Kharkov.

On the road in the Tuva Republic

After getting off to an unpromising start, Odin's journey in search of the Tuvan reindeer herders continues...
(If you missed Part 1, click here) 

 

Thanks to Khoomei.com for this map.

Map of Tyva Republic showing our route. Kyzyl to Toora-Khem is shown in blue, while Toora-Khem to the herders' camp is in red. Regional boundaries are indicated by faint pink lines—Todzhu is the largest region and the one furthest to the northwest.

Finally our host-family in Toora-Khem asked their neighbor, Anton, to guide us, and he proposed an arrangement that would be slightly cheaper and less risky than our other options had been. This plan involved renting a huge Soviet truck called a ЗИЛ (ZIL), apparently capable of plowing across the swollen streams along our route to the herders. The ЗИЛ could get us to within walking distance of the herders' current camp. Anton would then hike up and fetch back the herder, along with reindeer on which we and our gear could ride up to their camp. (A former herder, Anton disingenuously claimed that I would be able to ride a reindeer, despite the fact that I weigh 220 lbs!)

The ЗИЛ

After a morning marked by yet more gossip-driven uncertainty, and an afternoon spent buying lots of groceries and packing, we at last loaded up the ЗИЛ and prepared to leave. Our host family sent one of their relatives along with us (a "service" for which they requested a hefty chunk of our cash); a local cop and some other friend or relative also came along for the ride. This entourage was planning to use the trip as an opportunity for a few days of hunting in the mountains, and the cop also had some sort of work-related mission near our destination. We weren't supposed to know about it, but he himself told us while drunk later that evening.


Just before leaving, our host family warned Ayanka that we be extremely careful to guard our money from our traveling companions, that they would undoubtedly be drinking lots of vodka, and that under no circumstances should I drink with them...

Siberian Adventures

Dear readers,

I have an extra special treat for you today! Odin, the larger-than-life guy who is always hopping from one crazy situation to the next, is here to share his summer reindeer-herding adventures! Enjoy!!

Katherine

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When I visited Katherine in Kharkov this August, she asked me to write a blog entry about my travel to the Tuvan reindeer herders this past summer. After months of procrastination, I've finally obliged. This first part is more about the journey—why and how I got there—than about the herders themselves. The next part will be about our few weeks of life with them among the reindeer.

My enthusiasm for reindeer is something that was gradually born from my enthusiasm for Russian language and culture. As it happens, I first met Katherine in Russian 101 at University of Alaska Fairbanks, where we learned to say phrases like "привет!" "хорошо," and «ёбанный мороз!» After a few years of studying Russian, we decided to do a student exchange together, to Yakutsk, Sakha Republic--in the "ёбанный мороз" (&*&E@%! cold) Northeastern corner of Siberia. Here we are in 2006, shortly after arriving, together with Gunhild (Norway) and Ruslan (Yaktusk local).

L to R: Odin, Katherine, Gunhild, Ruslan.

Katherine and I both dropped out of the exchange program after our first semester there. Katherine returned to Alaska, while I got short-term work teaching grade-school English in Verkhoyansk--a small town in northern Sakha Republic. While there, I traveled to the village of Sakkyryr for the annual Reindeer Festival--my first glimpse at the world of domestic reindeer and reindeer herders. I didn't really see or learn that much, partly because I made the mistake of drinking too much vodka with the herders. But it was enough to kindle a persistent, nagging curiosity about reindeer and the folks who herd them.

Before there was Lady Gaga, there was Mr. Gaga...rin

Crazy cool murals have been popping up around town. This one appeared on Sumskaya Street in August, featuring a lead character from the 1973 film В бой идут одни «старики» (Into This Battle Go Only Veterans).

Then work began on a mural of Yuri Gagarin on (where else?) Prospect Gagarina. Side note: is it just me or does this guy not get much publicity in the US? I didn't even know who he was until I saw his portrait on the wall of a Russian bakery/grocery store in Alaska. [cue gasp of horror] What do you mean, who is that? It's Gagarin, the first man in space!

That was only about 5 or 6 years ago, shamefully. Until then I'd heard of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and maybe a dog or monkey that had been sent to space... but seriously, nothing about Mr. Gagarin. Oh high school, where did you go wrong? Or did I fall asleep during that part of the lesson?

So if you're like me and somehow missed out on this rather monumental historical fact, here are the basics-

Yuri Gagarin was the first human to truly get off this rock. He orbited the Earth once, spending less than 2 hours in space, but it was enough to make him a mega-ultra-super celebrity in the Soviet Union and the rest of the world (except for my school district, apparently). Although he died in a plane crash at the tender age of 34, his name will never be forgotten. Just like every city here has its Lenin Avenue, there's bound to be a Prospect Gagarin or Gagarin metro station somewhere nearby. His face is instantly recognizable both for being quite cute (it's true! do a Google image search!) and for its smile. Let's face it; how many other famous Soviets have you ever seen smiling?