Murmansk Oblast (the Kola Peninsula)
WELL! Cindy was a joy to bring along on the Arctic Studies Program's one week excursion to the Kola Peninsula / Murmansk Region (or, Murmansk Oblast) of Russia. I live on the southern edge of Lapland, not only Finland's northernmost province's name but a region that stretches across the northern reaches of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The 'laps' are actually SAMI, the indigenous peoples of Fennoscandinavia, and with European settlement, they moved further to the North. Russia's Sami population is the smallest of the four nations at 1,700, but there is still a sense of their presence there: especially in the town of Lovozero where Cindy, our friends and I visited a Sami Cultural museum and a Sami Cultural House which was sumptuously designed in a teepee form with a dome covered in geometric designs similar to ones found on petroglyphs from the peninsula. Otherwise, we had a good time experiencing a culture completely new, making wonderful friends with a sense of the joy of living that defies any troubles with the past, the transitions from the USSR to the Russian Federation and even 2 months of complete darkness in the winter! Cindy told me she loved visiting a large city again (she's sad she can't go along with me on my trip to Helsinki in 3 weeks) when in the 400,000 person Murmansk. We visited the Murmansk Institute of Humanities and Murmansk State Pedagological University (where they study to be teachers just like Annie's doing!) and had a chance to go out on the town with students from both. She enjoyed meeting Anya, Maria, Nikita, and all our Russian friends - who really enjoy having grown up in Murmansk and enjoy their city so much they plan on staying and working.
Murmansk is a major industrial city, founded in 1916 just a few kilometers from the city of Kola founded in the 1500s. It's at a prime spot: though nearly 69 degrees north, and well above the Arctic Circle, it is warmed incredibly by the Barents Sea, with temperatures not often below -10C (app. 14F) or above 10C (50F) in the winters and summers. Kola Bay where it is situated is ice-free year-round and easily allows Murmansk to be home to a fleet of icebreakers that make the Arctic Ocean a sailable seaway even in the winters! Cindy and I were able to visit the Vaigach, a NUCLEAR icebreaker, one day in Murmansk, and she had some fun there! NOnetheless, here are some maps and photos...
A MAP OF THE KOLA PENINSULA
All 30 or so of us stopped for our first night at a cottage hotel owned by a Sami couple in Sevettijarvi, about 40 or 50 km from the Norwegian border in northern Lapland. As you can see, Cindy and I had tasty meals at the restaurant, and Bettina Pinzl showed her a reindeer skull that had been lying around.
Tuesday we visited the Vaigach, and Balazs was pretty excited about Cindy's photo op there!
CINDY STEERS A NUCLEAR ICEBREAKER!!!!!!!!!! watch out! :).
That evening we had some free time around town with MPSU students, and you can see Cindy along with (i feel awful I can't remember her name!), Helgard, Christiane and myself on the electric powered IKARUS bus going to a pancake dinner in Olga's family flat made by her mother - a special treat Cindy and I will never forget!!!
and on the day we left murmansk (thursday), Finn was awake and ready to hang out with Cindy (and, well, hang her upside down - woops). I'm not sure if Tom was quite so energized...
cindy at the russian orthodox cathedral in montsiegorsk, in the center of the peninsula.
But all in all, we had some wonderful times in Russia, and won't forget the excursion!
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