Forgive me for not knowing what year this orthodox monastery was built, but it was very early on, even before 1785.
Monastery bells.
There is certainly a trickle down effect starting to happen in Russia. This is not a new house, but the siding is new.
This is Andrei. He is 19 and grew up in the orphanage. He is now training to be a "tractorist" in the local college (the equivalent of a TAFE or SIAST). I enjoyed relating to him, my heart went out to this young guy with no parents (well actually his mother rejected him) or siblings.
The shops were scattered across town. There was no shopping district. The shops were small and didn't have much. Melody was already at our Russia Area Retreat, and mentioned to me that she forgot to bring a soft toy for Abigail, and that Abigail was having trouble sleeping. The shop I knew was closed. But the three of us went exploring anyway. We found a shop that was big and bright and open to midnight. The department that sold soft toys was closed, but the lady working there kindly let me buy a toy anyway. Who said Turukhansk was not civilised?
Is this an airport or a post office? Well in a town this size it's both. Yes the airport is a wooden building.
When we arrived in the taxi there were about 10 dogs lying around sleeping on the door step. Later after we had checked in, we were standing outside and we saw the same group of dogs walk up to the plane when it landed. It was quite funny, in that it appeared they had been camping out over night and then were very keen to be the first dogs on the plane.
Our AN-24 flight back to Krasnoyarsk with Sibaviatrans.
When we arrived back in Krasnoyarsk Mika, Samuli and I were headed straight off to a retreat for our org. Mika and Samuli were our guest musicians. We arrived in the airport and I shook hands with the taxi driver. I then went off to the bathroom. When I came back out Yura had disappeared. This should not have been entirely surprising to me by now. I have become used to Yura's disappearing acts. I called Yura on the mobile and asked him where he was and mentioned that I wanted to say goodbye to him. (Yura was taking a flight back to Evenkiya the next day. Some people from his government department came to pick him up at the airport.) He came and found us outside. He then walked to the taxi with us. Just as we got to the taxi, Zhenya from Turukhansk (the man we stayed with up there) came by in the car and said goodbye to us. I then headed over to the taxi to load up my bags, while Mika and Samuli talked to Zhenya for a minute longer. I wanted to say goodbye to Yura but he would not. He did give me a hug though. I responded "ok, not goobye, just in the time of the Lord." He agreed, then jumped into the car and sped off. Mika turned up a moment later and asked where Yura was, and was quite disappointed to not say goodbye. This helped me understand some more about the Evenki world view. Melody had read a book about some Eveny (cousin tribe) reindeer herders. They would never say goodbye either. Evenki people like to come and go as they please. I understood that his desire to not say goodbye was a desire to see me again too. I then appreciated that Yura had come some distance towards my culture when he gave me a hug, even though he would not call it a farewell. I know one thing for certain, I can not ignore Yura's friendship when we return to Siberia. I dearly hope to see him again.
No comments:
Post a Comment