Our transition into Russia has been a good one. After our 36 hour train ride, we got to the beautiful Lake Baikal town of Irtusk. Since we don't know any Russian, we've been looking to find ways to remember how to say things. We found that if we said it really loud and fast it would somewhat sound like Russian.

Does your ass fit = Welcome

Bin Laden Fishnets = Thank you

Does Freed Anya = Good bye

We have been doing a homestay, which means we've been bunking with a family. Leavitt and I stayed at a family who has just been so kind to us. On the first day she asked what we don't eat and so I mentioned i wasn't a big fan of fish. I didn't think that it would kill off 80% of Lake Baikalan cuisine (we had chicken that night). I did end up trying some fish, it was ok. The smoked fish or ulma tasted like bacon bits.

Lake Baikal is huge. Then again, it's the largest freshwater lake in the world. It seriously looks like an ocean and the water is pristine clear. They said that it had been an especially cold summer and so the water it is only 8 degrees celsius-- so in the 40s maybe? Was that going to deture us from swimming? Heck no!

Leavitt, Nat, Keri, Quarantine Girl and me went down to the lake's edge. I really wish it could have been warmer, the lake is full of so many cool things than any other lake I've been in. They have these weird coral looking things, neat species of fish and freshwater seals. When we went to the museum they had two seals there and they seriously looked like fat little butterballs with button eyes swimming around! They we're pretty adorable.

Leavitt and I did the "1, 2, 3"and ran into the lake. It wasn't bad at first, then the sharpness of the cold goes through your body and it's piercing. Your feet are the first ones to suffer, after that you become stiff with cold. We got back and shore and collapsed on to the rocky shore. Nat and Keri went in next and then Quarantine Girl. Nat and I then went back and I wanted to do a hand stand. It wasn't so bad, but I had to open my eyes to see where to place my hands. I have never felt my eyeballs freeze before. It's a really weird feeling.

Quarantine Girl challenged Leavitt yet again, to another competitive thing. You would think that after losing to archery and then something else she would give up any sporty challenges. Nope. The duel was to stand in Lake Baikal the longest.

Leavitt had already been walking around in the lake, it was hardly a challenge. After a few minutes, you can see the silent struggle Q had internally. Leavitt propped herself against a rock and sensed that Q was ready to give in. She perked up and Q waved her off. Leavitt was like, "Oh I thought you were getting out, I'll go sit up against my rock then". It was easy to guess who won. I wonder what the next challenge will be.

It was a great day. I love Siberia-- ok, at least in the summer. One of the things that threw us off was when it was 9pm and we were dog tired. Leavitt and I looked at each other and were like, "Is it time to go to bed yet?" We've been used to China and Mongolia where their sunset times are closer to 8pm. It didn't even get dark in Siberia till around 10:30 or so. We'll be entering white nights soon, so that should be really interesting.

Our next leg of the trip is the worst, it's a 54 hour train ride to Ekaterinburg. This is where the Romanov's were murdered. We'll be spending 2 nights there and I'm looking forward to that. It's been a great few days, I am really surprised how the trains are really not that bad. It does help having Keri around, she stirs even more life into our train cabin. It's a lot of fun.

For my birthday today, the group got me a Lake Baikal shirt and all signed it. It was very sweet of them. Then Natalie was kind enough of to regift the hotel slippers I slipped into her bag. Keri gave me the Raisinettes I was coveting. We'll be opening those up tonight on the train! I am definitely loving it here. The best part about it is that the mattresses keep getting softer the further west we go!

I'm glad you are liking the emLogs-- I'll talk to you soon or really, in about 60 hours :)

Emily the Siberian Tiger Wrestler