Quick Note

We leave for the bana (sauna/bath house) in 10 minutes, so I’m going to have to make this quick. I know there is no way I can do justice right now to all the amazing, breath taking, varying sites I have seen in the last two days – more than many will see in a lifetime. I hope we get back early enough tonight that I can try and get more down. If not, I’m going to go ahead and take the computer with me to Ol’han so I can spend some real journaling time. I’m going to start now with today while it is still fresh in my memory. I just learned on the way back here that Irkutsk is 345 years old on June 4. That means the city was founded in 1661. That is crazy to think about.

I’m picking up a few more Russian words every day, but I still wish I could learn more and faster. My host family is so nice – and I’m so fortunate that Sasha’s English is so good, but I wish I could speak better with Natasha and Babushka. Today, I learned da zaftra (until tomorrow), and kolodnya (cold). There was no hot water this morning – so that was an important on to learn. Also, it was ochin kolodnya (very cold) today, so it was used frequently. We bundled up and headed out to Lystvitanya. After visiting Tultsi (outdoor museum of a village from the mid-1700s), we went to a museum of Lake Baikal. They had a live aquarium, too, with Omul and nyerpa (seals – the only fresh water seals in the world, according to Itkutsk natives).