Well, the snow didn't stick

People have been telling me that we are having abnormally warm weather in Ukhta. When you hear "warm," though, don't thinks that it's that warm. Since I arrived in late September, the temperature has been pretty constant, hovering around freezing. Rarely, it's been 40 degrees (Fahrenheit, that is). Rarely, it's been 20 degrees. Regularly, it's been 32. It seems to me that almost everyday there is some sort of precipitation falling from that sky. I say "some sort of precipitation" not only because it changes frequently, but also because I don't really know what to call it. Sometimes it's clear: rain. Sometimes I think it's rain, but it's definitely some sort of slush. Sometimes  I step outside, see it's raining and run back inside to get an umbrella. But then, umbrella in tow, I step outside and I see that now, in fact, it's snowing. Hmm, interesting.

Last week, snow was on the ground for a few days. The streets were lighter. The streets looked cleaner. The birch trees were more camouflaged. The air felt fresher. The sidewalks were slippery. In fact, the sidewalks were very slippery. I'm amazed that I haven't seen more falls (I've only seen 2) because every sixth step or so, pedestrians seemed to take a long and not-always-elegant skate on the ice. Personally, I love snow. I love the crunching sound when it's not too wet out and I love that everything gets white (and light). And, right now, light is very important to me. It starts to get light around seven in the morning and it's dark again by three in the afternoon. And, in general, the clouds don't like opening up to the sun, so it stays pretty gloomy. This is why I welcome snow. It brightens the place up.

That being said, I try to take advantage of the brighter part of the day. I go for long walks when I can. These walks can be nice when it's dark out, too, but I try to get my fill of vitamin D by going when there's light. When I'm lucky on these long walks, friends take me to places I haven't seen yet. Ukhta is really not that big. That's why people laugh when I tell them that I got lost once. But, there are a bunch of streets that I have not roamed down yet. Once, I went for a four hour walk through town and out into the nearby woods and fields. Out there, my friend Vika showed me a natural spring where some people get there drinking water. While we walked happily through lots of mud of huge puddles that were on the road next to Ukhta River (happily because we both wore big rubber boots), we even spotted the town's token camel grazing in a field. This camel was given to the town as a present some years ago. I'm not quite sure why, yet. Below is a picture of the camel in his usual hangout spot: Komsomolskaya Square.

On that note, 'til next time! 

Thanks for reading,

Sara