Change

There are some things that I quite enjoy about Mongolia. Practices involving money are some of them.  There are no tills at shops per say...it is always just a wad of money in a pocket that is worked with.

The veggie lady

In BX there is a lady who I always go to, to buy vegetables and other food items.  We are pals, and she is easily one of my favorite people in Mongolia.  She never fails to tell me when she will get new vegetables in, or make chit chat when I come in.

One day I went in to buy a bunch of carrots, but I only had a larger bill that I could pay with.  She inevitably did not have the 200 tugriks in change that she owed me.  I told her that it was really no big deal, but she would not have it.  She then asked to borrow the 200 tugs from another woman who was visiting her, but her friend only had 100.  Again, I insisted that it was no big deal, and as I was walking out she handed me the biggest carrot in the bin insisting that I leave with my change (and then some) in produce.

Gum

Something that I always extremely enjoy, is that in stores, you can literally go in, and just buy one stick of gum, or like 5 m&ms... you simply say how much you want, and they open the package, and give you just that.  It's great.

Now, in stores, it is extremely common that when they don't have change, that instead they give you a piece of gum or candy or something. One evening some friends and I were dining at a restaurant, and when we went to pay our tab, the restaurant didn't have enough change to give us.  The server, without a second thought, dug through her purse until she found a pack of gum, and gave a piece to the person paying in exchange for the change missing.  but then she saw all the rest of us, who were now without gum, and due to Mongolian's view on candy sharing, she offered gum to all of us in politeness.  

A mixing of summer and fall photos

shish kabobs roasted over a dung fire

fermented horse milk stirring

making vodka!

working in the gobi

where the cows at?

thats a skeleton

my paper bird

tiny gate door

a gobi frog

Preparing for the New Years Party

So I was told that this year, the social science teachers (which includes all the english teachers) are in charge of preparing the performances for the evening...So all the english teacheres are doing a dance/ song including 'snow girls' and the 12 zodiac animals.  Yes, all the english teachers also means I am included...and I was cast for the tenth zodiac animal...the chicken.

So when my teachers alert me of my role, they so proudly exclaimed to me, "You're a cock!"

Kid tales

Kissing and telling

The 5th graders are currently learning a few body parts in class, and to help them practice we played a fun game...The game includes the teacher saying two body parts, and then 2 students combining those two things together...such as 'head, shoulder' would include me putting my head on someones shoulder.

So as we were playing this game, my counterpart yelled out 'mouth, mouth' and the students were absolutely mortified, and did not want to kiss each other...perfectly understandable.  I told my teacher she was being so mean.

The next week, I was playing the same game with the same students by with a different teacher.  When this teacher announced the game we were going to play, all the students yelled, "nooo, we dont want to play that game because the other teacher made us do 'mouth, mouth.'.  They said this as others pretended to spit and wipe their mouths.  I guess cooties are also prevalent throughout Mongolia.

Multiplication

One of the newest Peace Corps Volunteers in Bayankhongor, Raaj, was in the aimag center visiting one day, and she came to my school to help out.  She looks similar to me in that she also has blonde hair.

As we were exiting the school, there were two small second graders walking together.   While looking at us, the one kid very quietly said to his friend, 'There's two of them now!'

How to make pepper jack cheese

I am just approximating here, but about a third of the Mongolian diet is meat, another third is flour, with the last third being dairy products.  During my 20 months here, it has crossed my mind a time or two that with all the dairy, how is it possible for the mongolians to not produce amazing cheeses.  They have invented so many other dairy products, but when it comes to cheese...NOPE.

So here is a 'how to' on how to make pepper jack cheese in Mongolia.

Step 1.  Buy a packet of processed cheese slices, probably imported from China.

Step 2.  Open a cheese slice.

Step 3. Put pepper on to said cheese slice.

Step 4. Put it in your mouth.

Step 5. Debate whether the moment of euphoria you are experiencing is ultimately one of winning, or losing...

Weekend tales

The shower house

There is a shower house in Bayankhongor that I sometimes go to.  You gather up your shower things and your clean clothes and take a hike across the dusty plains to the building.  It is about a 15 minute walk for me. This past sunday, I went and had a splendid shower.  After I was finished, I dried off, and was pulling my clothes out of my bag to get dressed, when I realized...I forgot to bring underwear.  I was not planning to go straight home afterwards, but instead did some grocery shopping...which I did, commando.  No big deal really.  

I stopped by a friend's house on the way (who has a blow dryer so my hair wouldn't freeze) and before leaving for the market, I visited the outhouse.  Now usually when I am wearing 3 pairs of pants in the winter and go to the outhouse, I prefer to take the time and pull all my layers up separately, to ensure maximum comfort, with no layer bunching...well on this particular outhouse experience, I had forgotten that I wasn't wearing any underwear, and had a little freak out moment when I couldn't find my underwear to pull up.  It may not sound like that big of a deal, but when it is freezing outside, and you want to pull your pants up as quickly as possible, you don''t want to waste time looking for underwear that isn't even there.

The well 

I also took a water trip to the well on Sunday, to fetch a pail of water...and that's when I saw the pupsicle that is next to the well.  What's a pupsicle you ask?  It is a puppy that froze to death...yes, the name is a little harsh, but it is a way to deal when you have to see these types of things everywhere you go.

Also outside of the well, there were little seven year olds running about and playing, and of course, when the foreigner walks up, they are all my instant best friends.  They stood around me as I filled up my containers asking me all sorts of questions, and when I was done, they really wanted to push my water cart home for me.  They were really small children and the task was hard for them, but they really insisted, so I let them.  So two of them set off pushing the cart, but they couldn't steer it too well, and then the cart got stuck when they accidentally ran over the dead puppy.

Another puppy tale.

While at the market to buy food, there was a big pile of trash that had built up, and a small puppy dead beside it.   It's body was half on some trash, and its head was hanging upside down on the ground.

Now, from what I have learned here in Mongolia, is that it is Mongolian tradition that when you see a dead animal, you can spit at it in condolence, as if to say, 'I am sorry you are dead, but I am not the one that did that to you.'

I will let you assume the next part of the story and fast forward to the end.  Let's just say that puppy was NOT, in fact, dead.

A ger is pretty much a glorified tent.  It's a wooden lattice base, covered by a few layers of felt.  And while it is significantly warmer than the outside, it still gets pretty chilly. My old site mates left me a digital thermometer to update me exactly how cold that cold is.  Unfortunately the outside remote has stopped working...but when I think about it, I really don't care to know...

**Side note: Usually when I step outside I have an immediate grump face, and an overwhelming irrational fear that the cold outside will actually permanently freeze that expression on my face.

Usually when I go to bed, my ger is in the 90s, and when I awake in the morning, the temperature can range anywhere from 18-25 usually.  Yes, I can see my breath... inside.

 Here is a photo of an hour after I make my morning fire.

Fire:  I bought a new stove this year, a more environmentally friendly stove that uses less coal and keeps the heat in longer...it's ceramic!  I am still getting used to making fires with this stove...the process is completely backwards...you put the coal on bottom and the wood on top...how silly!

With this stove, you have to put all the coal in at once, so unfortunately, when the coal catches, it is extremely hot for a while...  The thermometer above records the record high and low temps, and as you can see 114 degrees is no joke.  However, this is not the record high of my ger...The inside of my ger has reached well above 130 degrees, which, if you are wondering, is hot enough to melt dried cheese curd and also hot enough to make this thermometer completely not work for 3 days.

It is tricky, because even though it might be so hot when you go to sleep, you have to not take off too many of your clothes layers, because when you wake up, there is...

Ice.

You know how you might invite someone to get a cup of coffee to 'break the ice'? Well in Mongolia, it takes a more literal meaning...Remember that story of how I have buckets of water sitting around my ger?  Yeah, you have to literally break the ice in order to prepare your coffee.

To leave you with the words of Robert Frost:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Daily Life Quip

I will preference with saying that 'Summer part 2, 3, and 4' are still coming...but on a colder note, I will leave you all with a small story of my everyday life.

Gers do not have running water, but they do have containers, that hold water, and that you can go to the well and fill up.  I usually get water from the well about twice a week,  and I am lucky enough to have a small metal cart that helps me carry my water containers. It is about a 5 minute walk there, and about the same back.  And yes, it is actually uphill, both ways. Needlessly to say, it's also usually freezing outside when I preform this activity.

So on this one fine Wednesday afternoon, I set out to fetch some water.  I bundled myself up, but I grabbed my thinner gloves, since taking the lid off my water container takes some dexterity.  I went to the well, filled up my container, and put it back on my cart and took off, in route to my home...but on this particular outing (as it usually does) my hands got a bit wet.  By the time I got home, and tried to open my gate, I realized that one of my hands was inevitably frozen to the metal cart...

Now, I bet you are thinking, if i just took my glove off, my hand would be free... but unfortunately, since I took my thin gloves, the moisture froze my skin to the gloves...to the cart...making it, in fact, temporarily impossible to take my hand off that cold metal cart.

summer, part 1

It's summer!  Well, it was...I think it is autumn now...it's all very unclear.  I took a bit of a hiatus from the internet for the summer...mostly because I was traveling, and just such luxuries were not available.  School starts soon, and now with internet access finally, I would like to update you on my summer a bit, but since I have had such an awesome summer, I will update you in parts.

My summer travels started at the very end of May...

A One Year Done Celebration.

note the chicken balloon

The new Mongolia Peace Corps Volunteers came on the very last day of May, and a few of my M24 cohorts gathered in the capitol to go to the airport and greet them when they first walked off of the plane.  It was great to see all of my friends from my group again, and we were all anxiously awaiting the plane to arrive...so with a chicken balloon we had some small adventures (which even included finding a fresh peach!),  and remembered our own plane ride in, just one very year ago.  We laughed about our moments of confusion over the past year, the realities/unclarity that we faced at every turn, and those 'funny' moments you didn't know you were being 'funny' that you might want to forget, but Mongolians will never let you live down.

We all gathered at the airport when the plane finally did arrive, and the new volunteers walked out sleepy eyed with smiles.  We made a human tunnel to their bus, and did our best to make them feel welcomed with some 'welcome to Mongolia' chants, and maybe a little bit of joyous shouting...

a peach!!!

Children's Day.

Children’s day celebrates…children.  But Mongolia does it up right.  There are games and activities spread out all over and fun is to be had.  I celebrated in Ulaanbaatar, and the city square was overrun with happy faces.  Toys and ice cream were being sold everywhere, and of course I bought a kite and joined in the celebration.  From a parade of clowns to horse rides in the traffic jammed streets, I have to say, I am glad I am a 28 year old child!

The Reindeer trip

Transportation

 So for this trip, I and a group of PCVS went to the edge of Siberia to put on a camp with the Tsattan people of Mongolia...aka, the reindeer people.  The reindeer people live very remotely, in teepees, and the transportation to get to them was quite extensive...so just imagine (not counting the roughly 13 hour bus from BX to UB), a roughly 18 hour bus ride to the capitol of the Huvsgul province, followed by a roughly 12 hour pergon  (a Russian style minivan) ride to Tsaagan nuur soum, followed by another 1 hour pergon ride to a smaller soum, and a day horseback trip to the spring camp of the Tsaatan people. 

i hope the bluriness of this picture conveys the roughness of the bus...

Now, you may be thinking, 43 hours in motor transportation and a little pony ride might just be a walk in the park...well, it's not.  Just imagine dirt roads that whole way, and well, a nice June blizzard. The bus ride actually wasn't too terrible, since I pumped myself up for terrible beforehand.  We all had to sit in the very back row of the bus, there were 5 seats, and 5 of us Americans...and then a surprise Mongolian to make it six people for the 5 seats. It was an up and down, overnight (and then some) bus ride that left most all of us quite unrested and sore.

for this bridge we had to walk across the "bridge" before the bus.  Mongolia is all about safety precautions

a pergon

The pergon ride was horrid.  The dirt cloddened road made the drivers turn this way and that, throwing our bodies up into the air, and our tailbones swiftly down back onto nicely unpadded seats. It was enough to turn our stomachs, that were previously lined with Dramamine.  The next one hour pergon was nothing.  When we arrived in the tiny one house village, we packed up some horses and set out for the most significant transportational trip...

tightly packed pergon

beautiful views on the way

thirsty? no problem!

view from horseback

Being my first time truly riding a horse (and not just having someone pull the reins to lead me around), the first 20 minutes I spent atop the horse, I figured out what I was doing.  We went across a grassy field and right into a marshy forest, maneuvering around trees and puddles big enough to be called small ponds, or just really big puddles.  Once we got out of the forest, the outside opened up into beautiful mountains and frozen rivers.  Truly untamed landscaped, to which a similar I had never really seen before.  After a while, we stopped in a bushy field for lunch, and we all delighted in some hot dog sushi, and some trail mix.  After enough time, a distant bear roar that echoed over the field got us back onto our horses, and off on the...more interesting...part of the journey.  

So about 3 minutes after we set off on the camp again, it started to rain, and the terrain became quite swampy, and the horses could only go at a slow grueling pace.  Being on the edge of Siberia with frozen rivers around us, it was a pretty chilling rain...but on we rode with our not really water proof clothes.   It rained long enough to thoroughly soak us and make us so entirely cold...and that's when the blizzard started.  snow.  and lots of it.  It was SO cold.  So cold that feeling your hands and feet was entirely overrated.  My hands were so cold that the horse reigns kept falling out of my hands, and when I went to go pick them up, I just pawed at the horse’s mane until I was lucky enough to loop my unworking fingers through the leather strap.  It kept happening multiple times, because I just couldn't feel them in my hands.  No one really knew how much further it was to the camp, and we constantly were checking on each other to make sure we were ok...we kept our complaints to ourselves, because we all knew how miserable everyone else was too.

During my time, on horseback, in the blizzard, I contemplated those silly shows like survivor man and the like...and how it is totally possible to die out in middle of nowhere...how even if we were to stop our horses, there was no way to make a fire, or really even to get warm, we would be standing in swamp like land, and couldn’t even make any sort of shelter.  So we could only press onward, and hope the camp would come soon, and that the people would take care of us when we got there.  I also thought that I might seriously lose a finger, or at least a couple toes. 

Eventually we saw a small spec on the horizon that was a teepee, and the beginning of the camp.  We tried as hard as we could to get the horses to go faster with this little bit of hope, but the camp was still at least a couple miles away, and the horses trudged as fast as they could through the mud.  the mud lessened the closer we got, and the horses could eventually run, but when they ran, I knew my body was also bouncing up and down, but I couldn't feel that.  There were people waiting for us when we arrived to help us, and when we got off of the horses, we could feel our hands to help us, or our feet to land on, so we just fell off really. Ha. 

We were rushed into a teepee, with a nice warm fire, and of course handed some milk tea right away.  Due to my mouth's in ability to hand hot things, I am usually a sipper of milk tea, but on this day, I don't think I ever guzzled it faster.  I still couldn't feel my hands, so someone else had to help me take of my soaking wet clothes.  So there we were, after our trek, standing in our underwear around the fire of some random persons home.  When the owner walked in to see us all in our pathetic state, she immediately burst out in laughter at the site.

I have to admit, looking back, it must have been a funny site.  They built the fire up so much for us, that the Mongolians had to leave because it was too hot for them inside.  We eventually warmed up, and no fingers or toes were lost. 

the view later in the day.

this is in JUNE

The reindeers:

Being able to work with reindeer was so cool.  It was my first time seeing reindeer, or hearing the sound they make...I would best describe their noise as a cross between the sharpness of a barking dog and the intensity of a snorting pig.

Every day the reindeer went out into the forest to eat, and in the evenings, they would be herded in.  I got to help herd some.  Usually one person would go out, and herd them in to a certain point, and the each of the families would go out and get their own reindeer and take them back to their places.  It was neat to listen at this time with all of the reindeer were walking, because with each step, the reindeer's hooves made a unique clicking noise. 

There was a baby reindeer born when we were visiting.  It was born in the middle of the evening, and when we woke up, we found out about it.  It was a cute, all brown little guy.  The baby was having trouble nursing, and the family said that had it been a normal warmer summer, the baby would have died overnight since it was not nursing...but luckily, that didn't happen! On my walk home to my teepee, I would visit the baby every night.  It was precious.

the baby reindeer

a bag and make shift coat bag full of baby reindeer food

I also got to help milk a reindeer...it was pretty straight forward and fast process.  They don't produce that much milk, and so to save milk for the baby reindeers, you only milked out a small amount.  I learned in the summer, when the babies are a bit larger the families will drink more milk. 

Baby reindeer, in addition to nursing, eat a special type of moss.  This moss is found atop the mountains.  I took an expedition one day to go pick some baby reindeer food for the family that I was staying with.  I picked two bags full, and hiked back down with it.  Since it dries out pretty fast, the moss bags have small holes poked in the bottom, so that you can moisten it again in the river before feeding it to them.  So you just dunk the bag in the river, and then pull it up, letting the water drain out.  Then, after the babies nurse, they have a little moss snack. Yum!

The people.

The Tsaatan people are an amazing group of people.  They have a strong sense of community, and are very friendly.  They speak Mongolian, and they also speak Tuuviin.  They herd reindeer, and live in some of the harshest Mongolian weather.  They live in teepees year round, and the teepees are open at the top, so whatever weather there is, it is inevitably always inside with them.  They move locations with each season, in the summer being by the tallest mountain, so the reindeers can climb up and still have chilly weather.

We were lucky enough to be able to stay with a family for the days we were there.  I stayed with a grandmother, who's 3 grandchildren were always frequenting.  She seemed thrilled to have me there, and even tucked me in at night, and then put wood pieces around me so I wouldn’t roll over into the fire. 

There is much work to do every day, and living is not easy up in the Taiga, so there is a schedule that they follow every day.  While visiting, we taught some English and health classes, and played some fantastic games..like ultimate volleyball (it’s exactly like ultimate frisbee, only with a volleyball…given the fact throwing a frisbee is difficult for Mongolians, we adapted). 

foot warming

playing games

the end of the relay race

I got to help set up a teepee, which they built for us to have someplace to cook and host our lessons.  The first three teepee poles are tied together, in our case with some fabric ripped from someone’s shirt, and then supporting poles are placed around to give the structure more of a body.  Canvas is then strung around, using strings to pull it up around the top. 

At the kid’s request, we also hosted a reindeer race.  All the small kids got their best reindeer and saddled it up for the race.  An older kid led them out to a starting point very far in the distance, and the race began.  We would sporadically see the kids racing towards us, as they popped up between the rolling hills and disappear again.  When they reached the flat field, we saw who was in the lead.  We also then saw the lead kid lose control and fall off his reindeer at quite the high speed.  Eventually all the kids crossed the finish line, leaving the reindeers panting in exhaustion…which led me to realize just how big a reindeer’s mouth is!

the mouth is huge!

gathering before the race

Our last night in the taiga, we had a talent show.  The kids really got into it, and spent so much time practicing.  After waiting out a thunderstorm, all members of the community gathered, as we all performed. During the show the sun was setting behind us, and just the location of it all was truly amazing.  I juggled rocks and recited a Mongolian poem (not simultaneously), and the other Americans sang some songs and did a rap, but we were all outperformed by the children. From the little 4 year olds to the older kids, wonderful songs were sung that echoed across the landscape and the finale was a wonderful dance to Gangnam style. (watch it here)  We were surrounded by mountains, in the literal middle of nowhere, having this astounding show.  I can’t really describe how amazing awesome it was, but in that moment, witnessing this show unbeknownst to the entire world outside the taiga, I felt so incredible apart of everything…the nature, the music, and the community.   The show was however rivaled in awesomeness by the dance party that followed afterward.

Club taiga: how to make the most amazing dance party every.

So you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and you want to party.  Here is a little how to, to make an amazing evening.

Step 1. Location.  Pick a place, in a field, close enough to hear the rushing waters of the river, but still dry enough to get your dance moves on.  Since the setting sun has painted your club the most beautiful of backgrounds, no need to decorate.

drop that beat

Step 2. Music. Hook phone up to speakers that are powered by a car battery. Turn volume up until it echoes across the land.  Later, when someone on a motorcycle rolls up, hook phone up to motorcycle, because not only is it louder, the motorcycle has party lights.

Step 3. Dance. Shake your tail feathers or what your momma gave ya, or shake it like a polaroid picture.  Doesn’t really matter how, just have fun.

Step 4.  Fun lighting effects.  When the sun has fully set, leaving you in complete Taiga darkness, keep dancing and wave your flashlights around for fun lighting effects.  Also, turn your flashlight quickly on and off repeatedly for a fun strobe light sensation.

Step 5. Dance some more, until you are too tired to continue. 

Our final hoorah dance party was one of the coolest things ever-just to be dancing outside, surrounded by wilderness as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.  After my time in the taiga, I felt connected to everything around me, especially the people who just welcomed me and my fellow PCVs into their home.  I realized that I would miss them terribly when we left the next day, and so as I danced, I unwillingly shed a few tears.  As we danced on into the night, I felt completely at peace.  Altogether, I would say this experience ranks among the top not only in Mongolia, but in my life.

family

Coming soon, summer part two…which includes tales from inside crowded meekers for 8-12 hours a day for 2.5 weeks.