Old books
N 51°31'20.3'' E 104°09'01.4''
Day: 71-72
Sunrise:
07:03 am
Sunset:
9:08 pm
Total kilometers:
13304.85 Km
Temperature – Day (maximum):
20 °C
Temperature – day (minimum):
16 °C
Temperature – Night:
4 °C
Latitude:
51°31’20.3”
Longitude:
104°09’01.4”
Tanja
In Irkutsk I had tried to send a few little things to Germany, such as magnetic pictures for the fridge, local music, a book I had read, stones from Baikal and other things. The answer was that I could not send the sound carriers and the magnetic pictures. As I keep coming up against such obstacles in Russia, I resolve to send things to the nearest town at the next opportunity. Baikalsk is therefore ideal for this project. When I arrive at the post office, I see the usual situation. A slender young woman looks at me with widened eyes as I express that I want to send a parcel to Germany. A large, thick and old book is taken out of a drawer, usually from a gnarled old cupboard. This is followed by a period of waiting for me. After the woman has read the old book for a while, she starts to rummage through my bag to get a closer look at what I have in there. I would get the magnetic pictures through today, but I would have to send the German-language book separately and I am not allowed to send the stones at all. Music CDs must not leave the country unchecked either. The receipts and copies of invoices are considered documents and are also subject to a separate rule… The different variants would be time-consuming and relatively expensive, compared to the fact that I have already been able to send a mixed package for the equivalent of just under 7 euros in a completely relaxed manner. I just don’t have the nerve to go through with it today, I think to myself as I am approached by a German woman. She is happy to help me translate and if the stones are so important to me, she will take them to Germany for me by plane. How is it that she speaks Russian so well is my next question. Rather the opposite, says Anastassiya with a smile, she emigrated to Germany at the age of 19 and is originally Kazakh. After Anastassiya has handed in her registration, we walk out of the post office chatting. She introduces me to her mother, her brother and her three-year-old son. “I’m here for two weeks to visit my parents and show them my little son. Unfortunately, my husband has to work and has therefore stayed in Germany.” As we talk so animatedly and show so much interest in each other’s lives, Anastassiya’s mother invites me to come to their home for tea.
The parents’ apartment is just one street away and in no time at all I find myself in the family living room, getting to know Nicolai’s father and sitting in front of a richly laid table. In front of me is a cup of tea, cake, cookies and chocolate. Fresh berries and sweets. Hunting trophies hang on the walls and my first question to Nicolai the hunter is whether he has ever seen a bear in the forests of Siberia. “Not only seen, but also killed,” he proudly tells me, showing me a photo of himself and a bear on his cell phone. Anastassyia translates and talks about her father’s love of hunting and the beautiful, endless forests of Siberia. “We also lived in Mongolia for five years. My father didn’t really like the landscape there. He realized his big dream when he moved here to Siberia with my mother.” Of course, I’m still full of questions about the bear I shot. “Can you just shoot a bear here?” “No, no, you need a shooting permit. That costs 5,000 roubles. (113 euros) You then have permission to shoot a bear at a certain time,” replies Anastassiya. “And if you don’t hit one?” “Then the money is gone.” “Did your father get his money?” “That’s not my father’s point. It doesn’t matter to him. It’s his passion, his enthusiasm. He shared the license with a few friends. The meat is eaten and sold.” “Where’s the head?” I want to know. “It belongs to another man from the group.” Anastassiya goes on to say that the most expensive part of the bear is the spleen. “It’s sold to China and made into medicine”. Nicolai points to a mountain. “If you walk 24 hours in that direction, you can look down from a hill onto a meadow and there are bears everywhere.” We talk about how Anastassiya likes it in Germany and ask her lots of questions. Her attitude and thoughts inspire me and I am fascinated by this clever and likeable woman. I could talk for hours, but I don’t want to be rude and say goodbye at some point. Anastassiya takes me outside and we agree to talk on the phone when I’m back in Germany. She wants to send me the stones from Baikal by post. “If for some reason I’m not allowed to take the stones home with me in Moscow, you’ll get some of mine that I already have at home,” she says with a smile. We say goodbye and I’m glad it’s not forever.
