Yesterday, we attended the Siberian Children’s Art Exhibit in Yakutsk. We were lucky enough to see cultural dances performed be Yakutian children. They were adorable and eager to interact and pose for pictures. The artwork was amazing coming from art students as young as 8. The bus rides around town are adventurous, always packed with riders and bumping over frost heaves (evidence of the continuous permafrost this city was built on)! We were fortunate enough to tour the Permafrost Institute by Dr. Valentine himself. We saw a four foot long mammoth bone, musk ox skull and beautiful crystals. This permafrost looked sandy being deposited by the Lena River at the beginning of the Holocene (10,000 years ago). We enjoyed out last veggies for a while at a Mongolian Restaurant in downtown Yakutsk. Now on our way to Cherskii, we can look forward to mostly cabbage borsch, moose and reindeer. Bonding between undergrads and P.I. is keeping the group laughing through miscommunications with locals and extreme jet leg. Later this day we will have crossed 19 time zones!

Until our next internet connection,

Kayla and Erin

P.S. We are hoping to see the infamous X-Governor Sarah Palin’s house from the barge. You can right?

Max and Kayla Pleistocene style