Ballet Again or Where Russian Gas Comes From
I have changed my mind regarding today’s blog as I haven’t got enough photos to accompany my story about Russian weddings. Hopefully, I will have got them by Sunday evening. Tomorrow I am planning to call on a friend of mine who got married a couple of years ago (the one with the baby I mentioned in one of my previous blogs) and I am sure she won’t refuse to share some photos from her wedding with you.
Do you remember me mentioning my work in the north of Russia? I thought I would write about it now, otherwise I might forget to do it later.
I worked on the Yamal peninsula, the literal translation of the name “Yamal” is “I am small” and the peninsula really isn’t that big. Most gas fields in Russia are situated in the north. The company I worked for builds all the facilities necessary for people working for “Gazprom” to be able to live and work there. The only way to get there is by helicopter (tiresome three-hour journey from the closest city of Nadym) as there are no roads there; in winter time it is also possible to get there by lorry. Spring, autumn and summer seasons are not suitable for driving as you risk getting stuck in mud. It’s tundra. There are trees there but no tree is taller than 30 cm. The navigation period is very short. I was said that the bottom of the only river on Yamal is never free from ice. 
Above is a photo of the builders’ village I was living in. Below is a photo of what the builders live in.
Living there is not actually that scary as it might seem at the first sight. The coldest it got when I was there was - 43°C. I was staying in a room on the second floor of the two-storey wooden hostel. Even though I was living in the tallest building, I couldn’t see much from my only window as it was soon snowed under.
I learnt that northern lights appear in the sky on the night before a snowstorm. Snowstorms can be very strong there and sometimes it is impossible to discern an object that is only a meter away from you, and I was told about the cases when people left the canteen to go home in the evening and ended up actually straying away from their home. The food in the canteen was not too bad, you could always have some simple vegetable salad, meat (normally venison), soup, most types of porridge, sometimes blini and lots of buns that were all shaped differently but tasted absolutely the same. There are no shops there so you are supposed to bring with you everything you need or might need. I remember that I brought loads of chewing gum, chocolate and shampoo.
The canteen was supplied with venison by native people (the Hanty). It is worth mentioning that the Hanty’s only occupation is breeding reindeer. They might have herds of an impressive size of up to a few hundreds of heads. They live in yarangas a photo of one of which you can see below.
Nowadays the Hanty tend to use snowmobiles to move across the snow space but if you are lucky you might see them in a little sledge pulled by a few reindeer.
The Extreme North is a very strange place and the realization of the fact that you are literally in the middle of nowhere is a great feeling. It’s the only place where you can see two or three (or maybe even more) rainbows one above the other in the sky. Once I even saw a completely round rainbow around the sun.
There is another similar builders’ village on Yamal. It is situated on the very sea shore and, as a result, they have polar bear problems from time to time. Apparently, a little polar bear cub (a height of two meters is not a great height for polar bears) once got inside their canteen causing loads of chaos and panic. The canteen was evacuated and, having satisfied his curiosity, the polar bear cub left the canteen a bit later. :)
A few months on the Yamal peninsula were a great experience for me which I will never forget. Sorry if my story lacks any logical sequence, but I tried to give a short account of the most interesting facts.
Meanwhile, forget everything I told you about my ignorance about the ballet. I was just being shy. I was actually quite good at ballet dancing about six years ago (and who knows, maybe I still am!) and I think this photo speaks for itself. Trudi, I have finally hit on what we have in common. I would have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. It’s our hairy armpits!
Let me finish my today’s blog with this wonderful news,
With best wishes,
Anastasia
Comments
Hi,Anastasia,you are really humorous.So do you see Santa Claus live there?
Hi Nasty After take a look on your photos I feel like a duty to send you warm greetings. What amazing views, specially those of the Hanty. Do they usually have so many children? I would like go there one of these days, before global warming turn that landscape in an enormous naked field. Have fun
Uh-huh, Anastasia! It is seems that you ever danced “Swan Lake” in “New Adventures”, Matthew Bourne’s dance company. Congratulations! And not be shy!
Hi. Thank you for all your funny photos.
Hello Anastasia, it must be a strange feeling, to be in this large area, surrounding by snow and ice, but it must be very impressive , to observe the natural phenomenon. The accommodations doesn't look very comfortable. What kind of work did you do for Gasprom? Had you special tasks? I've never heard of the Hanty before. But I've heard of an unforgetable " Prima Ballerina" , called : Anastasia! Have a good time...
Dear Anastasia, I get really surprised when you mentioned about trees in Tundra. A lot of flashback came into my mind. What I learnt in my school days is that tundra is a vast and treeless land which covers about 20% of the Earth's surface. Tundra comes from the Finnish word "tunturia", which means a barren land. The ground is permanently frozen 10 inches to 3 feet (25 to 100 cm) down so that trees can't grow there. The bare and sometimes rocky ground can only support low growing plants like mosses, heaths, and lichen. There is barely any vegetation in the tundra, only about 1,700 different species, which isn't very much. Your experience about rainbow is really unforgettable because it is a rare view from other parts of the world. So many years ago, a complete rainbow encircling the sun was seen in Kathmandu too and older generation believed that something unnatural calamities may happen. I know that it is baseless but it is also difficult to argue with conservative people. Your story using love related words is interesting and I do not hesitate to praise your ability to read your story spellbound.
Hi Anastasia, When I see your pictures from Yamal I really wish I had been there. It sounds probably strange. I like extreme situations. If I could I would like to hike from Dakar (Senegal) to Djerba (Tunisia) passing through Timbuktu (Mali) and Tamanraset (Algeria) And when I say to hike I mean with a caravan on dromedary camels. In the other hand I would like too to participate on a raid through the Siberian area no matter the temperature. Well, all this are dreams that I do not think I could realise anymore. Having a family gives to one some responsibilities and avoid to take some risks. As long as I can still dream …. Your stories from homework are really good. So, your nickname is Nastya I do not know why but I had thought it was Anya. Looking forward to reading your next blog. Antonio
Hello Anastasia! Reading your blog made my day fresher. It´s very hot here. Anyway, your story sounds great. Don´t worry. Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Hi dear Anastasia , What are you up to ? How was your weekend . I 'm waiting to your big bang about wedding tradition in your country . You seemed have a real adventure in Yamal peninsula . I saw som thing like that just in movies .It was like reading an adventure story ! Oh and photos , when i saw little boys photo i thought they are dolls and after being carfull i realized that they aren't doll . How much i was silly . Any wey have a nice day and byyyy xxx
Hi dear Anastasia , What are you up to ? How was your weekend . I 'm waiting to your big bang about wedding tradition in your country . You seemed have a real adventure in Yamal peninsula . I saw som thing like that just in movies .It was like reading an adventure story ! Oh and photos , when i saw little boys photo i thought they are dolls and after being carfull i realized that they aren't doll . How much i was silly . Any wey have a nice day and byyyy xxx
Hi Anastasia, I really like your story about 'Yamal'. I wonder how people can live with -43 c. I live in a hot country (but not too hot) and I don't think that I can live in Yamal. Anyway have a good day...
Hi,Anastasia Your letters get me itchy feet and your description of the North of Russia is extremely interesting and beautiful.I love the picture and you look cheeky in the picture.PS:do you open go gigs with friends or your fianc'e? see you soonxx
Hi Anastasia, thank you for telling us the story - it's so interesting as I have never thought about that kind of job and place. What did you exactly do there & why did you work for it? I would appreciate if you could tell us another story! Have a nice day x
Hi dear Anastasia!!! Reading your blog made my day fresher. It´s very hot here. Anyway have a good day
Nastya, thank you so much for such interesting blog entries! Your English is perfect (it's an English teacher's oppinion!). Though I am a Russian like you I know very little about the North of our country, it is really amazing! Have a great day!
Hi Anastasia. Now I have feeling as if I travelled Yamal. Thanks for vivid description. Kindly post some more photo's of Yamal peoples (Hanty's) depicting culture- dance, wedding,etc. Which language they speak?
Nice story!!! I like it much? it is very interesting to know something new about different people and places=) Thank you!
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