Winter On The Chukchi Peninsula

Hello everybody! My name is Tatyana and I am 27 years old. I was born on the Chukchi Peninsula and I still live here. I have a son who is 18 months old and two jobs – I work as a reporter for a weekly newspaper and own a photo studio. I have to be ready to combine these three activities any minute. That’s one of the disadvantages of my life.

So, it’s the Chukchi Peninsula, February, 17th.

Good morning! As you see, my morning began at 7.40 a.m. but in fact it started at around 5 when my son woke up.

I usually have breakfast, put on makeup and watch the radio nanny at the same time.

I checked out temperature outside to find out how many pants I had to put on, two or three. It was warmer than it had been before when the thermometer showed -40C!

My baby was still sleeping when I left home.

My apartment is situated in the house on the left.

Such cross-road vehicles are of much lelp here in Chukotka.

I arrived at one of the military units to make a report.

I talked to both the commander and soldiers. Those are letters from a girl who is looking forward to having her loved one back.

Soldiers told me about their life and even sang a song for me.

This is one of the abandoned military units you can find in the area.

It looks like a ghost city!

Back in my neighborhood.

I met my mom who had to go to work and went to meet me with my son.

I decided to drop in at a store where my friend worked. There, I met another friend of mine who asked me to take a photo for his passport.

My son liked the cat there. And here’s my friend. Her name is Natalia.

It was 11.30 according to this Transaero calendar.

After that we headed to the playground to play. Usually, there are more kids to play with but that day we were a bit late.

It was cold outside and we had to go home.

Before that, we had to return to the store to get my keys.

This is me.

By the way, food prices on the Chukchi Peninsula are the highest in the country.

We also had to go to the post office to buy a newspaper that I work for. They sell it on Friday.

Back home.

My son Ivan.

I wanted to show you what a beautiful view I always see through my window but the weather spoilt it…

I had potato dumplings with sour cream for lunch not because I’m lazy but because it is one of my favorites.

I gave my son an apple.

I checked the newspaper to find three articles I made.

Then we watched a cartoon together.

When I saw my child playing some game, I turned on my computer.

I had to edit that photo I took in the morning.

I have to keep an eye on my son all the time!

Done.

I tried to feed my son some fresh venison borsch but it was of little success.

Then he dozed off.

I received a call from my potential client and had to go to my studio to work. I’m happy it is situated in a neighboring apartment.

My client liked what I did.

Then I had to type everything I had recorded in the military unit.

Once I began working, another client called.

What did I have by 4 p.m.? I had a child who had just woken up and was in a bad mood, a pile of dirty dishes and a bunch of work I had to do.

I had to make sure that my son didn’t touch wall outlets because he likes playing with them!

Another try to feed my son some borsch was a success.

I texted my friend who had given birth to her second child and just returned home. I was happy for her.

Then I decided to bring my son to one of his friends to lift his spirits. I had a lot of work to do, yes, but nevertheless I can work only when my son is sleeping.

See those balloons? It is the apartment of my friend I’ve just told you about.

While the kids were playing, their moms had some time to have a cup of tea and relax for a while.

It was 8 p.m. when we returned home.

My mom came just in time to take care of her grandson and let me do my job.

My mom put my son to bed and I worked for about three hours.

I made a break and check out my vkontakte account. I came across a photo of my friend she’d just posted. I saw she gained a lot of weight so I decided to download photos of myself more often so the fact than I gain weight too was not that obvious.