I began writing this post shortly after moving back to the USA at the end of spring in 2021, and while I had wanted to finish it not long after having visited Murmansk- the last place I would visit in Russia- that didn't happen. Life happened; I returned home, got reacquainted with the country of my birth, and tried to find out what to do next. I began teaching online for a school in Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha Republic, which is the largest republic in Russia. It is the home of the Sakha people, the indigenous inhabitants of this vast, forested region. Summer in the Sakha Republic involves mosquitos, forest fires, and celebrations of native culture, while winter involves -50 degree weather, fur coats, and short excursions outdoors. I had fallen in love with this place that I had never been to, and began to regret my trips to other regions when I could have gone to this magical land of endless trees, rivers, and mountains. Yet...