Baikal Dreams

During the month of March, I was in Russia, biking across frozen lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world, containing nearly 1/5 of all the fresh water on the planet. It is nearly 2km deep for more than half it's length of 600km. We biked from Irkutsk to Olhon Island, which ended up being around 340km. I went with two friends from my lab in Amsterdam, and one Russian friend from Germany (also the guide/leader). In the end, there was a party of 10 on the ice for a bit over a week. Certain a trip to remember.

What I found most fascinating about visiting Russia was how far away it felt. The fashion on the streets of Moscow already tells you are not in Kansas. There is fur and leather everywhere, on everyone and in every window. Nearly everyone is in a hurry, and certainly they can see you are foreign just from your lack of beast-based clothing. Not being able to decipher a single sign or spoken word also can be a real wake up call. In Germany or France, your mind at least feels like it's seen similar text before. In Russia, your language center will malfunction for a time, until you realize that many words are nearly identical to their English counter part, with the exception of using the Russian alphabet. Then for a short time, you will fell a bit more confident and optimistic. On the flight to the East from Moscow for example, I noticed that I could read "stewardess" in Russian on the Aeroflot flight. After announcing this revelation to Rogier, I felt like a kid who just taught himself to "read" a stop sign.

The people of Russia were all very curious upon seeing us, but I never experienced anything other than longer than average glances, or second looks. Again, there wasn't anywhere that we could blend into the crowd. Still, I had imagined more people trying to sell us stuff, or asking us if we needed a ride, or other general harassment. There was none of this. It could also be that because we were always with Andre, they could clearly see we didn't represent that sort of opportunity. I don't know for sure. I do know that it was an amazing experience which gets more amazing everytime I look at the photos.

Greetings from Lausanne

Well, I arrived two days ago. I have animals ordered, permits in process, and the rigs are free all weekend. I am pretty happy to be here. I am always stunned by the contrasts in societies over here. The contrasts between the people you meet here versus in the Netherlands, the styles of dress, and body language...it's all so different. I am staying with some friends, and that makes it much easier to be away from Veerle and the dogs. Still, I miss home all the time. I am trying to get some work done that should have been done already in Amsterdam (like right now...), but I am still a bit homesick.

Lausanne is a beautiful town on the shores of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). I see the mountains across the lake nearly every morning. There is a local game/joke surrounding seeing a certain snowy peak everyday. Good luck or something, I guess. The EPFL (university I am working at) is a federal university, which means budgets work a bit differently when you are appointed here. It's not an unlimited sort of thing, but it's a more negotiable thing. And you aren't under pressure to get grant money all the time like back home. That makes Henry Markram's position pretty cool. This lab is a specialty lab for what I also do in Holland, but on a more intense level. The have some real state-of-the-art work in progress here, so it's a real priviledge to have the chance to work in the lab. The people I see on a daily basis are more than helpful and friendly, and our friendships picked up right where they left off last visit. I feel practically like I have been here comfortably for months already.