Ooh exciting!

I'm writing from the winter cabin at the reindeer herding grounds of some folks I met in Kautokeino. Unlike the cabin in Tuva, this one has a generator and electricity, wireless internet, and a phone signal, but no water and only a wood stove for heat and cooking. This time of year there's not much to do, aside from riding on a snowmobile through all terrain, circling the herd of more than a thousand reindeer, to make sure no groups of 1-200 reindeer wander off in search of food or other nearby herds, butchering a few deer to bring to a Sami education day at a nearby folk high school, collecting firewood, water from the river, etc. It's super different from how herding is done in Tuva, where it mainly serves to facilitate quick movement while hunting. Here, it's all about the meat. And supposedly the sale price has fallen and support from the government has gone to extractive industries instead (typical). It's only been around -20 celcius, (-4 F), but very windy, and it's quite cold zooming on a scooter at 50-60 km/hr. Clutching to the driver and trying not to fall off helps you to keep warm though.

If some folks stop by from a nearby cabin on their way back to town in the next 30 minutes, I will be able to hop on a 2 pm bus going straight to Jokkmokk, Sweden, for the Jokkmokk Winter Market, an annual Sami festival that started in the early 1600s. The herders I've been with may gather their reindeer into a fence next Monday and Tuesday (so they can migrate them down to town to sell). So I may also be able to come back up and watch that awesome process before I fly to Oslo Feb. 9, Moscow Feb. 10, and Nenets Autonomous Okrug on Feb. 12, with the anthropology field expedition. Allllright!

But, as usual, everything depends on my making it back down to town, which, of course, is uncertain. (Update: the generator ran out of fuel, we ran out of water (I washed a bunch of dishes with snow melted on the fire), and the people on the snowmobile slept in and still have not arrived, so I will hopefully hitch a ride with someone driving to Jokkmokk today or tomorrow...) Ahhh adventure!