UFA: MAKSIM GORKY VILLAGE

Xäyerle irtä! 
Good morning in Bashkiria!

Well, maybe people are getting up early here. We have arranged a meeting at 11AM in Chashmi, a suburb of Ufa. The weather is just perfect. Time after time we notice some weird-shaped plants on roadsides; these are for oil pumping and belong to the state, which doesn’t mean gas is here is much cheaper. We are in Chashmi at 11AM and guess what! It’s 1PM! Moving further East, we totally forgot about time zone changing. Mr. Karklinsh, the leader of local Latvian society, a tall man, is immediately noticeable among small Bashkirs. About 5PM we arrive to Arhlatvian or Maksim Gorky village. Nowadays, there are about 1, 000 Latvians living in Bashkiria, yet this number has decreased about ten times since last century’s 30-ties. Our meeting takes place in local school, and then we are placed in the house where Latvian teachers live during the school year. Their main job is teaching Latvian to the children of local Latvians. We are walking around the village and time after time someone is addressing us in Latvian, mostly there are older people. Feels weird. 
The storm begins in the evening.