So, that last entry was rather inadequate in describing the fact that I really, really liked not being in Irkutsk. I had sort of forgotten that in my normal life, not in Irkutsk, there is natural beauty and things to do other than spend money and get yelled at by marshrutka drivers and one can smile and laugh and such. And now I am not very enthusiastic about being back in the city. Also, Baikal, is really, really pretty. One day I'll post pictures. Sometimes it's very tranquil, and sometimes it looks like the Atlantic Ocean, almost, like Holden Beach, and I couldn't believe that the water wouldn't be salty until I scooped a handful of water off the top of a white-capped wave and drank it.
Snow today.
In Baikal Studies today we learned that at one point when they wanted to further populate Eastern Siberia, around Irkutsk actually, and couldn't get anyone to move out there fast enough, they rounded up all the old soldiers (well, ones who had completed their terms of service) and all the prostitutes and paired them off and marched them off to the church and then gave them farms and made them move there. For some reason I was the only person in the class who asked lots of questions about this. Seriously, this would be the best reality tv show ever. Old soldiers and prostitues who know nothing about farming are plopped down on Siberian farms? Excellent!
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1 comment:
loved the quiz- very jealous of your baikal studies class- sounds like a good FYS- if you ever feel like teaching one.
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