Mongol Mama

2011-11-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while (make that a long while). Perhaps someday I'll start writing about Mongolia again, but for now life is all consuming. This blog served its purpose well for me, while writing from the frozen steppe, and now its job is to be a place where my memories are held until I'm ready to pick them up again and add to them. Until then, feel free to look about and read from the archives.-Mongol Mama

Tsagaan Sar Part II

2009-03-04T14:29:00.000-08:00

In the years I lived in Mongolia, I only experienced Tsagaan Sar a couple of times since it often coincided with an annual conference I had to attend in Thailand. Thus, I'm not an authority on the holiday, merely an observer.

Tsagaan Sar is technically a three day holiday plus a "Tsagaan Sar" eve of sorts. From what I have heard the length of actual celebration is directly proportional to how urban/rural your location is. Thus, in UB your holiday might only last a couple days, in the deep countryside you might receive visitors for a week or a month. The official date for Tsagaan Sar is often chosen by the lamas based upon the lunar calendar. Some years they agree, and some years they don't and the President tries to resolve the issue. At any rate, it is hard to be certain of the correct dates until as little as a month beforehand.

Tsagaan Sar is the start of a new year and a special importance is placed on new things. One of my students once told me that it is common for families to try and purchase something new for their home. Also, if time and finances permit, new dels (traditional Mongolian clothing) will be sewn and worn for the celebration of Tsagaan Sar.

The grandpa in this picture is wearing an everyday sort of del. Some fancier ones are made of silk, or sometimes leather.

It seems that a large percentage of Mongolian women dislike this holiday because of the insane amount of preparation it requires. Because this holiday revolves around visiting and greeting friends and family, and because lots and lots of buuz (and salad) will be served, each family must be prepared.

Some families must make as many as 3000 buuz (which they prepare ahead of time and keep frozen on their balcony if the weather stays cold enough). The norm is probably between 500-1000 buuz per family. Also, when visitors come to your home, you give them small gifts: shampoo, socks, money, etc; this also requires advanced preparation. At each and every house you visit, you are expected to eat.

In addition to buuz and various salads, some families have a sheep back (boiled?) on the table for you to nibble on.

Also on the table is usually a carefully stacked pile of special "bread" as well as sugar cubes and candy. I have been told that the sweets place on it should be white. As evidenced by the two thermoses on the table, there is always plenty of milk tea to drink.

Амар байна уу?

2009-02-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

Тодаи ис а биг Монголиан холидаи.

I thought about writing the whole (short) post phonetically in English using the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, but I'll spare you. Although, on a side note, I think doing that would be great fun since usually I have to write Mongolian using English letters...

Anyway, Mongolians are currently celebrating their lunar new year called "Tsagaan Sar" which means White Moon/Month. It's a holiday that involves greeting others, particularly your elders, eating lots and lots of steamed meat dumplings, and asking if people are well and if their animals are fattening nicely. If you want to read more about it you can check out the wikipedia article Tsagaan Sar or my previous post on the topic... Er, maybe not. It seems I've never brought myself to blog about the wonderful and painful Tsagaan Sar holiday before. Hmm. I have thoughts to share on the topic, but no time at present. For now I'll simply tell you that the Wikipedia article is mostly correct. Maybe 92% right.

Other pictures to come later... when I find them... They seem to have not been put back on my computer after the Catastrophe of Christmas 2006. I'm a little behind here.

How Do You Feel About Cats?

2008-11-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

I don't think it matters actually, whether you love them or hate them, either way this video will probably make you laugh. We came across it last night and were laughing so hard (crying, actually) that Tom got upset and started attacking... Poor cat has no sense of humor.

Enjoy!

I voted

2008-11-04T20:04:00.001-08:00

Did you? I opted for the electronic voting booth, simply for the novelty of it after years of running around town in Mongolia, looking for a fax machine with international capabilities (since my absentee ballot always arrived so late)...

Halloween Continued...

2008-11-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

While I didn't dress up this year, I did dress the cat up. It was highly entertaining to me to see Tom in his cow costume. He wasn't so amused, but he did like the warmth of it.

Halloween

2008-11-01T15:05:00.007-07:00

Well, I didn't dress up this year--there is something about working a regular office job in the States that didn't inspire me to want to wear a costume all day. But I realized that I'd never posted pictures from one of the best Halloweens ever: two years ago when we had to dress up for our culture-teaching party at the college. K and I decided to be something along the lines of Russian Hip-hop Choreographers. The costumes were inspired by a chance viewing of the Russian version of "So You Think You Can Dance" and were great fun to pull together. Plus, after all the years of being called Russian, it was entertaining to try and intentionally look like an "Oros khun".

The PET Journal

2008-08-19T20:27:00.010-07:00

For fun I thought I'd put a copy of the Practical English Teaching (PET) Journal up on my blog. It's a journal that is put out for Mongolian English teachers. I spent much of the last two years working on the design, layout, and editing of the PET. This edition here is supposed to be published early this fall.

There are a few issues with this online edition, the most noticeable being that shadows were made quite dark. If you wish to see this full-sized, please select "open publication" beneath the picture.

Enjoy!

Get your own - Open publication

Odds and Ends...

2008-08-13T21:41:00.004-07:00

First things first: We managed to find fresh lemongrass and galangal (Siamese ginger). Yay!

What have we been doing besides hunting for Thai produce? We've been doing a little renovation on our soon-to-be home:

Before

Now

There is plenty more work to be done, but at least we've made some visible progress. We are both job hunting though, and the actual procuring of employment might slow the apartment progress... until then, it's full steam ahead!

Wedding pictures... Finally

2008-07-31T14:54:00.005-07:00

Thanks for your patience, y'all. Thanks to Phil's uncle and aunt for sending us the pics they took. If anyone else has pictures, pretty please can we have them?

Phil and I

The wedding party

The ceremony

My girls

It was so special to have them all together! (L to R) Kathryn was my teammate for two years, Liz is my sister, Danielle was my teammate and roommate for three years, Heather is a friend of mine from college

A Bit of Culture Shock...

2008-07-31T14:34:00.003-07:00

The chances are that this year will be fraught with episodes, small and large, of reverse culture shock. It's pretty much a given when you've spent seven years living and working in a foreign, very foreign, country. It's unpredictable and wily and likely to sneak up on you in the middle of a conversation or in the aisles of your local grocery store. In fact, it's such a devious and insidious thing that you usually don't realize what is causing your confusion/watering eyes/sharp response/fill in the blank...

Case in point: Yesterday I was at the store. Exciting, eh? I wanted to find some seasonings for cooking, particularly for making Thai food. I have to tell you something shocking: it was easier to do this in MONGOLIA. That's right; here, in the USA (the "land of plenty" as people sometimes say) the only thing I found was "Thai seasoning" which, when I turned it over to read the ingredients, claimed to be made mostly of "chili peppers & other seasonings". How is one to know if it contains the Thai staples of Kaffir lime, lemon grass, or galangal? What exactly is Thai about "& other seasonings", and why do I have to pay $5 to find out? I just wanted some comfort food in the form of Tom Ka Gai (chicken and coconut soup). Anyway... it wasn't exactly rational of me to be upset at the seasonings aisle, but I was. Blame it on culture shock.

Maybe I should try to make some Mongolian tsuivan instead. Fewer seasonings involved. Now I'll cheer up and post some wedding pictures.

Reliving my past

2008-06-21T22:24:00.003-07:00

In the past I've blogged about how living in Mongolia changed my music tastes. One of my favorite groups was a Russian duo, now split, called Smash. I was looking around on You Tube and found some of their songs. To liven up your day, I'm posting them for you.

"Belle" is the first song of theirs that I heard.

Classic Smash

Thing #7

2008-05-13T22:31:00.002-07:00

What's not to love about these fruit and food posters you find in most kitchens?

A word from the cat:

2008-05-09T18:40:00.003-07:00

Tom said he wanted in on the posting action--especially since I hadn't done a new post in at least a week... I was out of commission for a couple days because of my back, and then after that I was packing up and moving, and now I'm in a state of living limbo for the next month or so.

Tom says: I'm going to miss my Russian cat grass--a plant all my own that I'm supposed to eat. Right now I'm missing Sarah. Since I was unable to get along with her friend's cat, I've been sent to live with Phil for a while. It's cool to have the male bonding time and all (we watch TV shows that Sarah would never let me watch), but I worry that Sarah isn't keeping her face as clean as when I wash it for her.

Thing # 6

2008-04-30T19:56:00.002-07:00

For graduation, the girls decided that they wanted to go to a photo studio where you dress up. It was actually fun. I am disappointed though, that I didn't get any fake hair like the other two teachers. Anyway, I'll miss crazy schemes like this...

Thing #5

2008-04-29T16:49:00.003-07:00

I'll miss being invited to friends' homes for birthday parties where I (or my teammates and I) are the party... This is from our friends' one-year old daughter's birthday. Isn't she adorable!

Thing #4

2008-04-26T19:07:00.004-07:00

I'll miss the sense of accomplishment I get from fixing the toilet with nothing but a (green) paper clip...

Thing #3

2008-04-25T17:37:00.002-07:00

It's fun to buy butter by the kilo in a plastic bag... but what's even more fun is asking to taste it first. Rancid butter is a no-no!

The Shop

2008-04-23T23:08:00.001-07:00

In case you haven't checked it out lately, there are a couple new designs over at the Mongol Mama Shop. Stop by and have a look.

Thing #2

2008-04-23T22:58:00.003-07:00

I'll miss having a hot bath be such an event! Really, when the water comes out of the tap icy cold, and you have to heat the tub overnight, a hot bath is truly something special.

Things I'll miss...

2008-04-23T00:34:00.002-07:00

Since my time here in Mongolia is winding down, I thought I'd start posting again--mostly about things I'll miss.

Thing #1: Padded doors. Rather insane assylum-esque, don't you think?

Time fillers

2007-10-09T06:47:00.001-07:00

There are many ways to fill one’s time here in Mongolia. (If you recall, last year I was accused of spending my time filling my radiator with sand and sludge…) One of the more recent ways I’ve spent time is by dissecting my stove. I was having problems with the breakers for my apartment (ie, they would trip five million time when I was cooking which would require me to turn off the stove go out into the stairway, undo the zipper that was tying the electrical box shut, and flip the circuit back on). Turns out the breaker wasn’t the only problem with cooking. After asking a few people about my situation, one of them concluded that part of the problem was the stove—it was having mini-fires and melting a key part. Ugh! So, since my stove vocabulary isn’t so hot, I removed the two problem parts and took them to UB to try and find replacements. Turns out no one has the one I really need… So I called my director, since the stove actually belongs to the organization, and he said he’d send someone out to have a look. The would-be repair person requested that I send some pictures so that he could fully understand the problem. For your entertainment, here they are:

All that was a couple weeks ago. In the meantime, the repairman had to go into the hospital and required surgery, and so I’m reliving my life of four years ago when I cooked on a little two-burner hot-plate on my living room floor. This time though, it is a two-burner graciously loaned to me by my fiancé, and it’s on my kitchen table. I’m moving up in the world! Really though, after a period of not being able to cook anything, I feel like I’m living the high life right now. Warm food is an amazing thing!

Patterns, patterns everywhere...

2007-09-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

Here is just a sampling of the patterns from my one-bedroom apartment here in Mongolia. The question is: Will they drive me crazy in the nine months til I get married, or will I cave and spend money covering them up?

Warp speed

2007-09-09T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is the point in my blog where I should have had several posts about the post-Ecuador part of my summer, but quite frankly it was busy and full and I lots to do other than blog... such as hanging with my new niece

Visiting Georgia

Going to my high-school friend's wedding as well as planning my own

And, of course, helping build and then playing in a sandbox with my favorite little guy.

Ahh, summer in a nutshell...

Leaving Quito (Back to the Coast)

2007-06-27T05:08:00.000-07:00

Old Quito

2007-06-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

We spent a day hanging out in Old Quito which has some really beautiful buildings (although, oddly enough, the vast majority of shops in this part of Quito sell shoes or undergarments... it's a bit bizarre).

These pictures are of the Basilica, a rather old building that is still "in progress". From it you can get great views of the city. Unfortunately that requires you to go up lots of stairs and scary spiral stairs (think glorified fire poles...)A view of another tower of the Basilica, from the tower shown below. The arrow shows how high I climbed. Because I am a wuss, I didn't go higher--it would have required climbing up tall ladders made of rebar .

Teleférico

2007-06-25T04:17:00.002-07:00

The Teleférico is a new and very cool thing here in Quito. As long as you can handle heights (or are capable of taking 15 minute naps when and wherever you want) it is an activity I'd highly recommend. Monday mornings seem to be the best time to go, provided the skies are clear.

If you've gone downhill skiing at a large enough resort, you've encountered this type of transportation before--boxes on cables. Quito itself is very high in altitude, but this takes you up to the top of a mountain that is about 4,050 meters.

When you get to the top you can walk to even higher lookout areas and get a fantastic view of Quito.

And yes, in case you are wondering, that is my fiancé :)

Middle of the World

2007-06-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

The place where people go to visit the equator in Ecuador, near Quito, is called Mitad del Mundo which made me feel like I was going to see hobbits or something... Alas, the middle of the world is not Middle Earth...

On either side of the equator

The view from the top of the marker/museum

Something new...

2007-06-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

To fix it or not to fix it, that is the question

2007-02-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

Every so often something will happen that will make me realize exactly how living in Mongolia has changed me. One such event happened about a week ago when my boyfriend came to visit for the day. (Yes, we are now not only living on the same continent, but are living less than an hour apart!) After offering to help with the dishes it dawned on him that I don’t actually have a working faucet in my kitchen (nor do I have running hot water). Of course he asked how long it had been like that and why something hadn’t been done about it. The first answer is easy—it’s been like that since September. The second question took a little more thought… I realized that nothing had been done about it because, quite honestly, it is less of a hassle to carry water in buckets from the bathroom than it would be to get it “fixed”. Besides, since I no longer have to carry buckets of water from my radiator to my bathroom, I need some form of weight lifting. The problem with my kitchen faucet is that both it and the pipe running to it leak continually, and if the faucet gets used, the leaks become downright torrential. I know that not only would I have to wait several days for a plumber to come (should I decide to call one) but when he showed up he wouldn’t have the right tools, which would require another several days of sitting at home waiting, and then when he finally showed up again, with the tools, he would discover that we didn’t have the right faucet and pipe parts (i.e., we were lacking the proper horsehair to tie things up), and, after another long wait, he would come and fix one of the problems, but definitely not both.

Now the light in my toilet room has ceased working (but the light bulb is just fine—I checked) and I find myself having the same quandary—wondering which is less trouble: using candles the rest of the year or waiting for an electrician to come. I’ll give you a progress report in a couple months.

I don't think I used to be this content to just let things be...

A Catastrophe!

2007-01-06T22:51:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed the lack of posts in December. Up until the 24th, my excuse was that it was a busy month. I prepped and taught a long seminar in UB, and when I got back home I leapt right into the madness of Christmas and New Year's parties. Now my excuse is that my friend's cat, as a sort of Christmas Eve present to me, decided to leap over my computer in a effort to tackle my cat, misjudged, and ended up sliding--with my computer--to the floor. Now my computer is awaiting a new hard drive that my boyfriend, awesome guy that he is, will bring to me in Thailand in a couple weeks. Where, as I soak in the warmth and devour fresh fruit, I'll put my little Mac back together. Until then I won't be doing anything interesting (besides tons and tons of grading) so it's not like I'd be posting anyway. Check back after mid February!

Who needs workout videos?

2006-12-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

I’ve discovered a new form of exercise that incorporates both weight lifting and aerobic exercise. It’s called “attempting to get air out of the radiator by draining water from it” and it lets you feel like you are actually doing something important as you work out. There are ten bars on the radiator in my bedroom, and the bottom 2/3rds of five of them have gone cold. A student told me that if I drained out several bucket fulls of water (or is it buckets full?) that the problem would be solved because the air that is stuck in there would be released. If only! So, three days in a row I tried this. The beauty of it is that I’m always warm afterwards, and my bedroom ends up about one degree warmer for the next hour. Plus, running a relay with yourself, hauling buckets of water to the bathroom to dump out builds both arm muscle and endurance. They are supposed to send a repairman today, who hopefully will fix the problem once and for all, but I’ve taken such a liking to my new exercise that I may just keep doing it…

Three things learned at Thanksgiving:

2006-12-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

1. There are cows with windows (or portholes, if you prefer) in their sides. Really. The rumor is that they are for veterinary students—not only can they see the insides of the cow, but they can also reach in a touch them. Just imagine if they did the same thing for medical students!

2. “Women are the downfall of men,” stated one of our adolescent friends who was out for the weekend. By way of further clarifying the issue, he added, “Seriously!” So young, and already he’s got it all figured out.

3. Is it tryptophan or tryptopan? When you gather people for Thanksgiving that come from different families, backgrounds, and parts of the country, you are bound to have this discussion. We formed a truce by renaming it: Tryptofizzle (or tryptophizzle, if you prefer). It’s kind of catchy, and it describes exactly what you do after eating turkey—fizzle out and take a nap. (For those of you who really want to know—it’s tryptophan)

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

I decided that Thanksgiving was the perfect time to start posting again, and since Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday (those of you needing a little practice with “th” pronunciation and those of you who can never remember when Thanksgiving really is, repeat after me: Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of the eleventh month.) I thought a Thursday Thirteen would also be appropriate. So here you go—Thirteen things that I’m thankful for here in Mongolia…
1. Snow on Monday and Wednesday this week, but not Tuesday. If it had snowed Tuesday I wouldn’t have been able to fly home from the aimag where I’d been teaching a seminar. This way I get the beauty of the snow without the messed up travel plans.
2. I’m thankful that I just had the opportunity to visit my friends and students in the town I used to live in.
3. My apartment, in spite of the over abundance of carpets (more than seven in the living room alone—on the walls, on the furniture, on the floor…) and despite the fact that the only thing coming out of the taps this time of year is liquid ice…which brings me to point number three.
4. I’m thankful for boil-coils and for hot water in the radiators. For those of you residing in countries and cities with hot tap water, I’d better acquaint you with boil-coils. They look like this and are basically an exposed heating coil. Not only do they heat your bath water to an acceptable temperature, but they also can give you an adrenaline rush as you flirt with electrocution (should you forget to unplug it before testing the water temperature).
5. The jar of peanut butter in my fridge and the Girl Scout cookies on my table. Yum! Plus, one can justify eating lots of foods like this in the winter in the name of “keeping warm”!
6. Layers of clothing and my cozy down coat… Even though the layers and coat make me feel decidedly unglamorous, they do keep me comfortably warm.
7. As much as I dislike the cold and the winter, I’m thankful for it because it makes things like spotting the first green blade of grass in May so very exciting.
8. I know I’ve talked about scotch tape before, but I just want to say again how much I use it! It works as an art supply, it works for fixing things, it works for putting up stuff in the classroom, it works for taping things to students foreheads, it works for picking up cat fur off the carpet… Yes, I am thankful for the abundance and cheapness of scotch in this country.
9. Students who are eager to learn are another thing I’m thankful for. I’ve had classes with people who didn’t really want to be there, and so I know how special it is that my students this year want to learn and are eager to participate.
10. Teammates and co-workers who have welcomed me and accepted me here in my new town. Not only that, but they like to have fun and can be silly. Case in point: the “occasion elephants”.
These lovely candle holders were given to two of my coworkers as gifts last year…and now we make sure that they show up at all of our special team occasions. Isn’t tradition great?
11. A playmate for Tom my cat: For five years, Tom was only ever in contact with people, and as a result developed a rather skewed view of himself. Here in our new place, he has two cats in close proximity that he can hang out with. He pretends that he hates playing with others, but then I see him get a gleam in his eye as he eggs his fellow felines on.
12. Good nights of sleep—with my down comforter. Self-explanatory.
13. Fun Thanksgiving celebrations with students, that of course includes the Thanksgiving tradition of gift giving. Our festivities were complete with the reading of Thanksgiving essays, a play, and lots and lots of yummy food.
13.5 Mongolian potato salad. Yum! (available in abundant quantities at the festivities mentioned in point 13.)

Leaving, on a jet plane...Part 2a

2006-07-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

It's pretty much like Cherry said--they switched the time on us...so I won't bore you with all the details.

No, actually, I had written this post but wanted to save it and edit it and so, like an idiot, instead of hitting the Save as Draft button, I somehow exited without saving it and I just haven't felt like rewriting it yet. Sorry!

In other news, my charming and adorable nephew can now say "iguana" and "camel" and he knows the Mongolian word for mushroom. How's that for a 19 month old?

Leaving, on a jet plane...Part 1

2006-07-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Flying from point A to point B within Mongolia...

Procuring tickets and confirming flight times:

It all begins a couple weeks before leaving town when Danielle and I went to purchase our plane tickets, only to realize after walking across town that we didn't have our passports or even our worker cards, which are the necessary ID for foreigners to purchase plane tickets. I was working on finalizing my students' grades at that point so didn't have time to make another trip to the AeroMongolia office, which meant that Danielle had to go a second time alone. When Danielle went back they sold her the tickets but said we should check back with them to find out what time the plane would be flying (since they like to switch flight times around on a regular basis). The day before we were to leave, I stopped by the AeroMongolia office to ask about the time and they told me, "The plane will arrive here at 8am." So, knowing how often people are confused about flight times, I asked a couple follow-up questions to verify that I'd been told the right time. "What time will it be leaving UB?" "It will depart from UB at 7am." (Check) "What time will it leave from here?" "It should leave around 8:20am." (Check, check) "What time should I get to the airport?" "You should arrive at the airport at 6:30am." (Why anyone would go to the airport before the plane had actually departed from UB, I'm not sure...but they still like to tell us to get to the airport 2 hours early.) So, having asked about the time, and having had the answers to my follow up questions confirm the time they'd told me, I went home and told Danielle that the plane would fly around 8:20am and we set about finding a ride. Our former director and current coworker came over to take some pictures with us and they decided that they'd take us to the airport in the morning at 7am.

Traveling...

2006-06-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Some of you are awaiting eagerly the story of my rather insane exit from the countryside and, unfortunately, you'll just have to wait a little longer. Tonight I head to the States for a summer of family, Disneyland, and Danielle's wedding. Yesterday was my birthday (Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday Mongol Mama, happy birthday to me) and my family called (of course while I was out and about in UB which gave the general public some entertainment, I guess) and my friend Heather cooked me some yummy Mexican food, so all in all, it was a good birthday. The past week, I've been running around UB trying to get stuff done so I haven't had time to sit down and write the whole crazy exit story--I promise I'll post it at some point!

Sain suuj baigaarai!

Khuushuur-muushuur

2006-06-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

One question that I get asked a lot by both Americans in the States, and by Mongolians, is about what I eat in Mongolia. Inevitably this is followed by, “Can you cook Mongolian food?” If you say yes, and then your Mongolian friends may ask you to help them cook some buuz or huushuur, or other such meat and dough dish, at which point, they’ll realize that you cook at about the level of a Mongolian seven year-old (because you lack the dough rolling and pinching skills that people here seem to be born with). Case in point: Phil’s Mongolia-shaped huushuur— which, although it looks nothing like a Mongolian’s huushuur, is great for teaching geography.(Key cities have been labled for your benefit.)

If you say no, that you can’t make Mongolian food, you cause your Mongolian friends to worry because they are likely to think that if you can’t make Mongolian food, you obviously can’t cook, which means that you must be starving! I’ve had to reassure many people that I can indeed cook noodles and soup and meat.

Anyone have dust allergies?

2006-05-30T15:30:00.004-07:00

Just another Mongol morning...like none that I've ever seen before. Keep in mind that it is usually completely light here this time of year well before 6am.

8:30am

8:45am

9:00am

9:30am

The flying dust eased off but did continue until about 5:00pm.

Scotching

2006-05-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well, the Scotching Fiends (see the original post about the Scotching Fiends ) have been at it again—scotching things, that is. Since we are moving (or rather, I’m moving within Mongolia, Danielle is moving to another continent) we spent the better part of the week packing boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff—mostly books. Boxes, as we all know (in Mongolia, anyway) require lots of scotch—in this case, 35 rolls. (Re)discovery of the week: you can get scotch cuts, like paper cuts.

Stay tuned for more from our last week here, also known as “Two Spoons, Two Mugs, and One Annoying Phone” (because nearly all our other possessions were sent to UB this morning) or “Sculpting with Empty Scotch Rolls” (our entertainment for the week)

Shoots & Leaves

2006-05-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

I interrupt this blog post hiatus (resulting from grading, packing, and moving, among other things) to inform you that I saw the first leaves of spring today. Hooray! I saw the first shoots of grass a couple weeks ago (and accidentally startled Danielle quite badly because I was so excited) but today I saw the first honest-to-goodness leaves! This means that by the middle of the week all the trees around town should be a lovely, fresh, spring green. Yes, the end of the brown and grey season has arrived and it's so exciting!

2006-04-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

As Mongolian transportation is one of my favorite topics, I have no idea how I could have gone this long without writing about it...

In UB you have lots of cars, buses, micros (minivans that function as buses of sorts), and your own two feet. In “cities” in the countryside you might see buses, but you are much more likely to find micros, cars, 69’s (aka jariin yuce--cozy yet indestructible Russian jeeps with minimal shocks that can be fixed with anything—and result in a ride not unlike a cross between the Indiana Jones Ride and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland—minus seatbelts and with bucketfuls of dust tossed in), Russian vans, horse or camel carts, and, of course, your own two feet. A couple years ago you would have seen lots of motorcycles and sidecars, but, at least where I am, they have become few and far between.

The goal of all of these forms of transportation (with the exception of feet and animal carts) is to pack in as many people as possible, which is ironic considering that Mongolia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Personally, I haven’t done too much busing or taking of micros (although I was once in a micro with 23 people), but my 69 record is 16 people for a four-hour ride. Ouch! So, all you people who have been to Mongolia and experienced these forms of transport, what are your records?

2006-04-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

You'll all be happy to hear that "comments" are functioning again. Sorry for the delay!

Old Favorites

2006-04-17T01:25:00.000-07:00

It’s snowing again and the grey weather is interfering with my ability to write, so I thought we could do a look back at some of my earlier posts.

You might be in Mongolia if…1-10: and 11-20: Self-explanatory.

Scotch: Not the drink. The tape. It even includes a song!

I’m Not Russian: Living here I often get mistaken for a Russian—which wouldn’t be so bad if I actually spoke Russian!

Concerning an Outhouse and a Pig: A traumatic event—but I survived so at least you know there is a happy ending.

Mr. Dogs & Me: Brushing shoulders with the Mongolian stars—or, rather, dancing foolishly in front of them.

The Rules of Hello

2006-04-12T01:47:00.000-07:00

You live here long enough and the constant hellos of little children, teenagers, and the occasional random adult cease to be cute and, to be perfectly honest, become a source of annoyance. That’s rather harsh, you are thinking to yourself, they only are saying hello… aren’t you glad to hear an English word every once in a while? Yes, they are only saying hello, but you begin to feel as though you’ve got a flashing sign above your head that says, “I’m foreign, talk to me.” Since, there seem to be a lot of misconceptions about proper helloing etiquette, and since, if we responded to every hello uttered in our general direction, that is what we’d spend all day, every day, doing, Danielle (my trusty roommate) and I have come up with some rules:

1. Hellos screamed at the top of ones lungs, especially those hellos that sound angry, will not be responded to—particularly if they are screamed from a balcony.
2. Hellos said after we have already walked past (in other words, those hellos that are said to our backs) will not be responded to.
3. If every child in a group says hello, they will only receive one collective hello in response. Individual hellos in response are not necessary.
4. Hellos said while making fun of us (in Mongolian, which we happen to understand) will be ignored.
5. Polite hellos, especially from cute kids will gladly be responded to with a smile and a hello.
6. Hellos in foreign languages, particularly Russian, German, and Chinese, will be responded to at our discretion.

Note: we did consider broadcasting these guidelines on local TV, but decided not to since we’ll both be moving soon–Danielle to the states, and me to another part of Mongolia.

2006-03-24T17:15:00.000-08:00

Danielle and I are bingeing again—this time on Scrabble, which we both consider to be a much more profitable thing than say, “Lost” or “CSI” or any of our previous binges… I’ve found, after five years of living in Mongolia, that my vocabulary just isn’t what it used to be—either because I’m used to limiting my vocabulary to make myself more easily understood by English learners, or because certain Mongolian words have crept in and are trying to displace their English “counterparts”—and this is not a good thing my age. We’ve toyed with making “A Scrabble game a day keeps senility at bay” our slogan, but decided that at this point in life, senility and loss of vocabulary are two very different things. At any rate, Scrabble is indeed working its magic as I am finding words like “gist” and “orb” rolling off my tongue. Granted (Mom and Ben), these aren’t high scoring words, but they can prove useful!

I am afraid, however, that the makers of the “Scrabble Dictionary” are biased against Mongolian vocabulary. Why are words like “kumiss” (fermented camel or horse milk—-incidentally there are five accepted Scrabble spellings for this: koumis, koumiss, koumys, koumyss, kumiss) and “yurt” (the Russian name for a Mongolian felt tent) permissible yet “ger” (the Mongolian name for Mongolian felt tents) and “airag” (fermented horse milk) aren’t? It’s rather unfair, if you think about it. Speaking of unfair…Tom thinks it quite rude that Danielle and I don’t permit him to join in the fun, as a result, he occasionally tries to eat the letter tiles.

Spring

2006-03-23T23:02:00.000-08:00

It is “spring” here in Mongolia—the season of constantly changing weather and inexplicably tired people. Case in point: today started off beautifully with warm temperatures, little wind, and bright sunshine streaming through my window at 6 AM. By 10:17 it was snowing—yet still so warm that I went out on our balcony barefoot and in short-sleeves and wasn’t cold. Within 20 minutes the only remaining snow was in the shadows of buildings

At 11:35 it started snowing again and it was coming down harder and the wind was colder.

By 1:02 PM, when the last picture was taken, the snow was gone and the sun was back. The afternoon then rounded itself out with two or three dust storms (separated by beautiful periods of light breezes and sun), and a bitingly cold north wind. I’m curious to see what tomorrow will bring.

Ice

2006-03-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

The ice on my window has already melted this morning...but I thought I'd post some pics I took a couple months ago.

Making Spaghetti

2006-03-12T22:28:00.000-08:00

I discovered that I could make spaghetti when I was in college, so it was ironic that today, while I was making spaghetti, Danielle told me I looked like a college girl. Perhaps it was the super high ponytail (necessitated by an unfortunate overly layered haircut) Or perhaps it was the Wheaton sweatshirt (necessitated by my notoriously messy spaghetti making. I actually got the sweatshirt right here in Mongolia from another Wheaton grad.) Who knows…

Anyway, as I was cooking the aforementioned spaghetti, while apparently looking like a college student (yes, I think I’ve finally hit the age where I take that as a compliment) I was thinking about how many places my ingredients came from. Tomato paste from Italy, oil and bay leaves from Russia, Garlic from China, Onions from Mongolia, the ground meat (horse, because it is the cheapest, that we ground ourselves) from right here in our province. Other seasonings had to be brought from UB, Thailand, China, and the States. The pasta we’ll eat with the sauce came from Italy but was originally meant to be sold in Japan (all the ingredients and instructions on the back are in Japanese and not the usual four or five other languages). What’s in your spaghetti?

Narnia

2006-03-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

While in Thailand I was able to see the new Narnia movie in the theater. (It’s always great fun to go to movies in Thailand—not only are they cheap, but before the start of the movie everyone in the theater must stand as a video tribute to the king is played. This fascinates me.) Anyway, Narnia… I have read this book many, many times in the last four years because it is part of the curriculum I teach. I enjoy the story very much, but unfortunately I know it too well to be able to appreciate the movie. Instead I got a bit hung up on the changes…I realize that they have to cut things out to make it fit in a two-hour time frame—cutting makes sense to me—but adding extra things is always a bit weird in my opinion.

My two main questions: Why did they have to add to, alter, and embellish the children and beavers’ flight from the witch and wolves? And what was up with the near drowning of the kids?

And now, a free language lesson: C. S. Lewis is said to have gotten the name Aslan from the Turkish word for lion. Apparently he came across it while reading Arabian Nights… Anyway, the word for lion in Kazakh is also Aslan, and the word in Mongolian is Arslan. In both Mongolia and Kazakhstan this is a perfectly acceptable name for a guy.

A Random Assortment...

2006-03-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

Olympics: There was actually a Mongolian news crew present at the 2006 Olympics in Italy. In fact, there were probably more Mongolians present there to report on the events rather than participate in the sports. This time around the Mongolian athletes didn’t do so well (in the biathlon, I think, or maybe it was cross-country skiing), but we’ll be back in ’08 with some excellent wrestlers, I’m sure! Back to the news crew… It was really fun to see them interview athletes in both Russian and English (of course it was then loosely dubbed over in Mongolian). I particularly enjoyed the commentary about various athletes because it gave me lots of practice with numbers—height, weight, birthday, etc.

Olympics (academic): Not a big fan. I may or may not delve more into this topic at a later date. At present I need to finish writing a test for the (secondary school) English Olympics, which will be held this coming week in my town.

Nephews: Maybe I’m biased, but I really think that my nephew is actually getting cuter as he ages—and he was a cute baby to start with! I cannot wait to hang out with the monkey this summer.

Milk: I find it strange that in the land of meat and dairy products I had to go to seven stores today before I found milk. Seven!

Lights and Leakage: I finally replaced light bulbs and put the light fixtures in our bathroom back in place today. New year’s morning we’d woken up to find water dripping out of the light fixtures that are in the drop ceiling in our bathroom. This time it wasn’t even the result of the people upstairs flooding their bathroom—rather it was due to warm weather and melting snow. On January first. In Mongolia. (Have I mentioned that the weather has been strange this year?) Unfortunately, the people who live below us are also having light fixture issues. It seems to be a yearly occurrence that while we are in Thailand, our apartment will have some plumbing issue and will flood the apartment below us. Last year our kitchen sink decided to back up and over flow—even though it hadn’t been used in a month. This year a pipe in our bathroom decided to develop a hole and become a geyser. Needless to say, the people downstairs don’t like us much—even though none of the water leakage has actually been our fault.

You might be in Mongolia if...11-20

2006-03-02T01:43:00.000-08:00

(1-10 can be found in a previous post)

11. You associate the word “Olympics” with academic test giving.
12. You think bell peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes are exotic vegetables. (And just in case anyone out there is feeling persnickety—I am well aware that the tomato is technically a fruit.)
13. You know that the difference between “beefshteak” and “cutlet” is the presence or absence of a fried egg on top.
14. Spring is now your least favorite season.
15. You had a choice of watching the 2006 Olympics in Russian, Chinese, or Mongolian.
16. You are well acquainted with the “Numa Numa” song. (Of course, I’ve heard that it was #1 in 27 other countries, too…I think it is actually by a Romanian group.)
17. You can buy music in the food section of your market—perhaps even from the same counter that sells “sausage”.
18. All big events in your town take place at the Wrestling Palace… Or, for that matter, if your town even has a Wrestling Palace.
19. You don’t live in Japan yet, on a regular basis, you can watch sumo wrestling on TV.
20. When reading and writing in English you mix g’s and d’s, p’s and r’s, y’s and u’s, H’s and n’s, B’s and v’s.

2006-03-02T01:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts... I was in Thailand thawing out.

The view from my window

2006-01-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

This winter has been a strange one—warmer than usual and much less snow—but the ice on the windows is still present. It is a strange feeling to know that you are on the fourth floor, yet not be able to see out the window. It is disappointing not to be able to watch people, camels, and horse carts from the windows, but it is neat to see the variety of patterns the ice creates. This picture was taken during sunrise--which, since it occurs after 8:00am would be something I'd see quite often if it weren't for the ice.

I'll never be the same...

2006-01-23T06:59:00.000-08:00

Mongolia has irrevocably changed my fashion tastes. It’s not just me though--I’ve noticed this occurring in my foreign friends too.

Case in point: Three of us were shopping at a large indoor market in UB (Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia) the other day. The item that all three of us were eyeing was, sadly enough, a fake fur/knit vest. It had a zipper up the front, black and grey faux fur, a purple knit waist band, and a band of fur below that. It was spectacular! (We restrained ourselves though, after concluding that it wasn't worth the price the saleswoman was asking.)

Other items that are now “eye-catching” to us were high-heeled boots, boots with fur trim, clothes with sequins, and leather coats.

Kitchen Decorations

2005-12-23T04:57:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas all!

I’m traveling around right now—Danielle and I thought it would be nice to visit some of our friends for Christmas—and as I’ve been in other people’s homes I’ve been reminded of one of the great things about Mongolia: the kitchen posters. They often contain odd combinations of food, most of which cannot be purchased in Mongolia, flowers, which also can’t be purchased in most of Mongolia, alcohol of some sort, and brightly colored backgrounds. Food ranging from fried chicken legs to breakfast burritos has shown up on kitchen walls throughout Mongolia. Here is just one sample from the multitude of choices.

I used to find these oversized posters hideous but now rather enjoy them. I’m thinking about starting a collection and papering our kitchen in a montage of these colorful pictures. I’ve also considered starting an export business. Oh the possibilities with these things!

The moment you've all been waiting for...

2005-12-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

Although there were some excellent guesses, no one really got the right meaning of "Winter's person's one eye is blind." I guess the most similar idiom we have in English is "to turn a blind eye." I actually encountered this saying twice in one day and both people explained it to me in the context of clothing or footwear. As a general rule, Mongolians are more fashion conscious than your average American (I can't speak for the rest of the world), but, as I was talking to one friend about how dirty and scratched my lined winter boots are, she responded with this phrase and told me that it meant it was okay to wear stuff that wasn't as fashionable but was warm or more functional in winter because people don't notice, or they turn a blind eye. Nice that for a few months of the year I can "dress down"!

Who knows...?

2005-12-06T03:18:00.000-08:00

I recently learned a new saying in Mongolia that, if I translate it literally is, “Winter’s person’s one eye is blind”.

What do you think this means?

You might be in Mongolia if...

2005-11-28T02:04:00.000-08:00

1. You have a picture of Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan) on your wall.
2. You slip up and call your cell phone a “hand phone” when speaking in English.
3. You guard your peanut butter with your life.
4. It got dark today before 5pm.
5. You’ve seen a camel cart on the street in the last two days.
6. You consider 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) to be warm for this time of year.
7. You think that pink, blue, or green walls and orange floors are normal.
8. The appearance of or lack of hot water determines when you bathe.
9. You have a collection of graph-paper notebooks, used for a wide range of things, that sport covers ranging from Harry Potter to Korean stars to cars to wildlife.
10. You are disappointed at the warm winter weather because it means you can’t use your balcony as a walk-in freezer.

Thankful for food...

2005-11-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

There are some areas in which I’ve become a stickler for tradition—one of them is Thanksgiving food. Thanksgiving, in my mind, is embodied by family and food; I can’t have the family since the Pacific Ocean and a lot of land separate us, so I better have the food! Since Thanksgiving is this week I thought I'd tell you about our menu--which we'll be enjoying Saturday since Thursday is a normal work day in this part of the world...

Chicken Legs: It would be near impossible to find a turkey here so we settle for the nearly equally rare chicken legs. This is my first year to have to cook them; I’m a bit nervous!

Cranberry Sauce: Sent across the Pacific by special request, it helps complete the holiday.

Fruit Salad: When I was a kid we always had a fruit salad that included coconut and baby marshmallows; over the past few years here I’ve stumbled upon a canned fruit mix that, when mixed with yogurt, marshmallows, and coconut (the latter two being from the States) makes quite a good substitute for the salad of my childhood.

Green Bean Casserole: For some bizarre reason, the past few years we’ve been able to buy canned green beans in one of the stores here in town. Cream of ~~mushroom~~ “whatever you happen to have on hand” soup is really easy to make from scratch, and my parents have been so kind as to send the necessary fried onions for the top. Yum! This year, although we’ve already got the onions, we haven’t yet been able to find green beans. There is one other place in town I can check—otherwise we’ll have to fill the casserole with something else!

Green Salad: This one is a bit less normal—the only green leafy thing here is cabbage, so sometimes we settle for a tray of veggies (cucumber, bell peppers—if they are being sold at the market, carrots)

Jello Salad: A nod to the mid-westerners in our crew; it’s a tasty mix of jello and fruit.

Mashed potatoes: not a problem since potatoes are so abundant here.

Rolls: Of course they have to be made from scratch here, but when you live in a place like Mongolia, you learn how to do things like that…

Stuffing: It could be made from scratch but the lovely mix my parents sent tastes so good!

And for dessert we’ll have Pumpkin and Apple pies. Yum!

So you see, we manage to be fairly traditional even out in the middle of Mongolia.

P.S. You'll all be relieved, I'm sure, to hear that the trial run for cooking chicken went smoothly and was delicious! (Okay, so it really was just another excuse to eat valuable chicken...but it was still good!) AND, drum roll please, on my hundredth lap around town I finally found green beans; so we get to have our lovely casserole tomorrow after all.

More on music

2005-11-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

So I learned the other week that a music group I like broke up several months ago. Here in Mongolia, you get exposed to a very strange mix of music. Sadly enough, one of the things Mongolia has done is introduce me to the international pop and hip-hop music scene…Yes, in all honesty, I actually like some of that fluffy music now. Smash!, this group I like, was a Russian duo that sang in English, but also had one French song. They were a relatively new group, and had been around about two years, I think. A few weeks ago I noticed that only one of the guys was appearing in a live performance that happened to be on TV; this set me wondering what had happened to the other guy. Let me tell you, trying to find information in English about a Russian group is near impossible! They had a website that had info in English but that hasn’t been updated since December 2004. The little other news you can find in English is quite sketchy and not fit to be read. Finally I found something that said they’d broken up. Why, I don’t know. It seems that one guy has kept the name Smash! and the other guy is now singing under his own name. It’s sad, because they always looked like they were having fun singing together. Another one bites the dust…

Public Notice

2005-11-11T00:28:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when I disappear under a big pile of homework and teaching. I will emerge in a couple weeks, hopefully unscathed for the most part, at which point in time I'll have more stories for your education and entertainment. Thanks for your patience--all five of you.

Concerning an Outhouse and a Pig

2005-11-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

I went to the countryside a couple weeks ago. As always, it provided some ~~near-death~~ interesting experiences, one of which involved a pig—which in and of itself is worthy of note in Mongolia. I haven’t always gotten along well with pigs. I had a particularly scaring experience at the county fair when I was little, in which a large mama pig decided that she should have the french fries I was nibbling on. Granted, she was in a pen, and I was outside the pen, but you don’t really think about that when you are two years-old and something 10X your size lunges at you! Oh, right, the countryside… when you are in the countryside there are generally only two places to relieve yourself—either in the great wide open, or in the very occasional outhouse. The area we were driving through was amazingly flat so I ignored my bladder until we stopped at a home possessing an “outhouse”; it was “out” alright, but there was no “house” about it! It was quite the sight to behold; a roofless, doorless, and nearly floorless outhouse being held upright by two wires, attached to opposite corners, that were staked into the ground. It must be quite exciting to use at night since not only were there very large gaps between the floorboards, but there was there a hole in front of it and one behind it! As I was using this “outhouse” I heard snuffling and snorting that was getting closer and closer. At the same time, my coworker was beginning to sound panicked, “A pig, a pig! Oh! Oh! It’s coming closer, Oh! The pig is coming!” We had seen the pig on our way to the outhouse, but it had been a ways away. I was quite uneager to meet the pig at eyelevel while balancing on planks in a rather unstable structure. I exited just as the pig’s snout poked around the side. I’m sure that my coworker has never seen someone leap out of an outhouse with quite so much speed or momentum! The pig, having done its work by unsettling the foreigner, ambled back to the patch of grass it had been rooting around in before.

Mr. Dogs & Me

2005-10-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

A friend asked if Danielle and I wanted to go to a concert and we surprised her by actually saying yes. So the next night found us rushing to get to there on time. Silly us. We are in Mongolia. When we arrived, the doors were still closed, and closed they remained for another 30 minutes. When they finally ~~were broken down~~ opened, a ruckus ensued—never mind that the seats were assigned. Everyone wanted to enter at once, and Danielle and I foolishly forgot that we had the option of waiting for everyone else to push and shove through… There is nothing quite equal to being packed like cattle, on steps, in heels, while trying to avoid stepping on people (an offensive thing to do in Mongolian culture). We made it to our seats without ~~any~~ major blood loss and waited for the show to begin.

The concert was T. Delgermurun and the group Mr. Dogs. T. Delgermurun is famous for being a member of Nomin Talst (a well known Mongolian group) and Mr. Dogs is made up of some of his childhood friends. The hip-hop/rap music wasn’t bad but it was very loud. It was my first real concert in Mongolia (I know, I know, I’ve been here how many years?!) and I was surprised to notice that the other people in the audience, while they knew and enjoyed the music, didn’t even bob their heads. In fact, I’m not sure they were even blinking. Since there were only a couple hundred people there, I’m sure Danielle and I entertained the ~~people around us~~ entire audience as well as the singers, with our inability to sit still with the music going. They kept encouraging people in the audience, especially the kids, to get up and dance, but no one moved. Then they resorted to bribery and coercion. They offered a signed hat (that both Danielle and I secretly wanted) to the first person up dancing (but we didn’t want it that badly…) and their back-up dancers started pulling people up from the audience. Of course, since Danielle and I ~~sort of~~ totally stand out in any crowd here, and since our seats were next to the aisle, they made us dance—with all the kids—who came up to our waists. (Did I mention that we are tall compared to most Mongolian women?) Of about 20 people dancing, only four were adults... Both Danielle and I had adult students in the audience and were somewhat embarrassed for them to see us; however, most of our students are under the misconception that we dance well, so perhaps this “dancing at the concert” experience just made them think we were a little cooler. After one song we slipped back into our seats to continue our simple head bobbing and foot tapping for the rest of the show.

On the way home we decided that we should go to concerts ~~every week~~ more often.

On Not Being Russian and Other Such Stuff

2005-09-28T19:37:00.001-07:00

Well, since I think my blog readership is now up to a whopping five people (besides myself) I thought it was time for another post.

Mongolia and Russia used to be very good friends and still like each other fairly well; in fact, Mongolia was the second communist country in the world. Many changes occurred in Mongolia due to Russian influence and input; the alphabet was changed, architecture and cities became drastically different, the educational system, governmental structure, and military were all greatly altered. Because of this close relationship, all Mongolia school children studied Russian; I’m not certain, but I believe that until recently, Russian was the official second language of Mongolia.

Up until the late 1980’s there were many Russians living and working here in Mongolia. Since most Mongolians knew Russian, there was little need for the Russians to learn Mongolian. And, since for several decades Russians accounted for 99.9% of the foreigners in Mongolia, it is often assumed that I am Russian because I don’t have a small Mongolian nose or dark hair. “Is she Russian or English?” I hear people asking each other as I walk through the market (that I’ve been walking through once a week for the past four years). Groups of school children will greet me by saying, “Hello” and then they'll say, “Ooh, I said hello to that Russian woman…” and occasionally one of their friends will reply, “She isn’t Russian.” Taxi drivers will start talking to me in Russian and will continue trying to talk to me in Russian even after I tell them, in Mongolian, that I don’t speak Russian. Shopkeepers will occasionally answer my queries in Russian, which can lead to utter confusion for all parties. This is all fine except that I don’t actually speak Russian. My spoken vocabulary is limited to: Yes, no, what’s your name? My name is ______. I am American, tea with milk please, thank you, let’s go, 404, Happy New Year, I don’t know, and (ironically enough) I understand.

I thought that I’d help people out a bit by telling them, in Mongolian, that I’m not Russian so as to eliminate some communication problems. Enter the “I’m not Russian” shirts… should you, too, have this problem, you can purchase the shirts at Mongol Mama at Cafepress.

Scotch

2005-09-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

My coworker and apartment-mate, Danielle, and I entertain ourselves by writing songs about life in Mongolia; it’s become tradition for us to perform at least one during our organization's Fall training each year. This year's hit was “Scotching Fiend” to the tune of “Dancing Queen”. There seem to be certain phases that everyone goes through as they adjust to living here, and one of those phases involves an obsession with scotch tape. Scotch, as it is called here, is between one and two inches wide, comes on big rolls, and can be used for anything. Last spring I went through a phase where I was scotching everything; especially any teaching aides that I created—to make them last, you know! Anyway, this scotching phase is what gave birth to our song. Enjoy!

Scotching Fiend
I can scotch, I can jive, having the time of my life
See my skill, watch me work, I am the Scotching Fiend.

Friday night and I need to know what is the best route to go
For fixing the toilet, for picking up cat hair
I think I need some scotch…

It’s a great thing to keep close by
It works for anything; just give it a try

Covering your papers, filling window cracks
I’ll never go back

And when I get the chance

I am the Scotching Fiend,
Giving things such a lovely sheen
Scotching Fiend, cover those papers—keep them clean
I can scotch, I can jive, having the time of my life
See my skill, watch me work, I am the Scotching Fiend.

The Scotching Queens, I mean, Fiends...

For those of you who also struggle with scotch addictions, you'll be happy to know that you can now get your very own "Scotching Fiend" shirts! Once again, Mongol Mama is the place to go.

Inner and Outer...the perpetually confusing aspect of Mongolia

2005-08-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

To properly address this item, we must delve into a little history.

A long time ago, the Mongolian tribes were united by a great and fearless leader named Chingis Khaan (KH is actually a hard H sound--not a K sound). If you've never heard of him, it's because we were taught to call him Genghis Khan, much to the dismay of the Mongolians. Chingis Khaan and his descendants managed to conquer the land from China to Europe. At that time there was focus on the exchange of goods, culture, and religion in the Empire's capital. Eventually, this empire began to loose its power and most of the conquered peoples were able to live independently once again. After a couple hundred years China gained control of what was left of Mongolia. Fast forward 200-300 years. Some Mongolians, tired of being under the Chinese, approach Russians for assistance. In 1911 Mongolia fought against the Chinese and gained some independence. However, not all of Mongolia was given autonomy and thus it was divided into Inner and Outer Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is still a part of China, Outer Mongolia, usually referred to simply as Mongolia, is its own country. I work in the country of Mongolia.

Because I don't have a map with me, the "hand illustration" will have to suffice.

Warning: semi-graphic content do not read if you love horses!

2005-08-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Horse intestines have a variety of textures--chewy, squishy, tough, tender...it all depends upon what part of the intestine you are eating and how it was prepared. The flavor is a little gamey but not bad

As for the white blood sausage...I was so puzzled when my student told me what they were that I asked her repeatedly to explain how they were made. What she told me is that when left for a certain amount of time, horse blood separates: red and white. The white portion is then put into a cleaned out portion of the intestines and boiled or steamed (I'm unsure which she meant). It has a smooth, gelatinous texture and a mild flavor. The most difficult thing about eating WB sausage is the fact that it is what it is.

Eating unusual foods is part of life when you live in a foreign country. At home I can cook what I want (provided I can come up with the ingredients) when I go to someone's home I need to eat what they serve me or risk offending them.

I haven't come across any desserts here that are genuinely Mongolian, however they have adopted some things from other countries. There is now an abundance of hard candy in Mongolia, and people here will often serve store-bought cakes (perhaps brought from the capital or Russia a week before) for special occasions. I am dreaming of the day that someone learns to make a moist chocolate cake with good frosting. In the meantime, cake, for me, is something that nightmares are made of.

Proposals & Marriage

2005-08-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me if I ever was proposed to, and the answer is yes...in ninth grade, but I'm guessing that the intention of the asker was to know if anyone ever proposed to me in Mongolia, to which my answer is no. However...by Mongolian standards I'm getting a little old to not be married or at least have a kid or two; as a result I often get scolded by coworkers and taxi drivers alike. This is a subject that people in Mongolia feel very free to comment on. I've been told by a taxi driver that I should have Mongolian children (why this was so important, I'm not sure); I've had people tell me that I should marry a Mongolian so that my language skills would improve (since we all know that is the only reason people get married); One individual, who takes great delight in asking me if I've gotten married yet, likes to tell me that I should get married because I need someone to fix things in my apartment. The list goes on... What I've tried explaining is that people from the USA tend to get married later in life than Mongolians; what I lack the Mongolian vocabulary to explain is that I'd rather be single than be married to the wrong person, and getting married just for the sake of being married is lame.

A Public Service Announcement

2005-08-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have the cutest, sweetest nephew in the whole entire world. Like a good auntie, I firmly believe in cornering innocent bystanders and showing them pictures of the kid. It seems that after a mere eight months of Tommy's life, I have more pictures of him than of my whole childhood; now the only questions is how to get all those pictures back to Mongolia while keeping my suitcases within the airline weight limits. Perhaps I should forgo some of the extra clothing items I was planning on taking. Who really needs long underwear in -30 degree weather, anyway?

And now, a few words to the kid: Thomas, you are sweet and fun and cuddly and adorable. Just because Auntie is going away for a while doesn't mean she doesn't love you. True, I will miss your first steps, your first words, and your first birthday, but I made it for your first Christmas and your first teeth; I was your first evening babysitter--your parents went to a Giants game for your Daddy's birthday. Even though I don't get to see you most of the year, in the summer I get to spend lots of time with you! Plus, I give you bragging rights--how many other kids will be able to say that they know where Mongolia is, much less that they have an aunt who lives there. Monkey, I love you so much--don't you ever forget it!

A little more about food

2005-07-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Having grown up in California, I love fruit and vegetables. In my town in Mongolia, I can buy potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, cabbage, onions, garlic, and, on occasion, tomatoes and cucumbers. Apples can be bought year-round and at three or four points in the year I can get kiwis, bananas, grapes, mandarins and nectarines. I would say, that aside from my family, and from basic lifestyle changes, the thing I miss the most is variety in food. If I decide that I want a lettuce salad, I'm out of luck. If I decide that I want Mexican food, I have to make it with whatever resources I can find. It is a challenge, but it can also be fun. Living in Mongolia has done wonders for my cooking skills!

Food

2005-07-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

The two main ingredients of food in Mongolia are meat and dough. There is an abundance of meat in Mongolia, although in recent years the price has been increasing. The type of meat that you can buy varies from place to place. In my town we can buy beef, mutton (sheep meat), some goat, and horse. In some parts of Mongolia you can buy camel and yak meat, too. The dough is simply made from flour and water. A variety of Mongolian foods are made with meat and dough (and occasional other ingredients).

Buuz, the kind of dumpling shown above (with a pickled salad), are made of meat, fat, onion, a little salt, and a little water wrapped in dough and then steamed.

Bansh, above, contain the same ingredients as buuz, but they are smaller and are pinched differently. Bansh are generally cooked in soup.

If you used the same ingredients again but made the dumpling flatter (sort of like a quesadilla) and fried it, it would be called huushuur. If you cut up the dough like fat noodles and stirfried some meat and root vegetables (carrots, turnips, potatoes) and then cooked it all together, it would be called Tsuivan. Tsuivan is my absolute favorite Mongolian food and is best when topped with a slightly spicy Russian ketchup.

Mongolians also eat a lot of soup, although, I should warn you that even vegetable soup in Mongolia must contain meat or it wouldn't be considered a real meal. Rice stirfried with meat and some root veggies is also a common meal.

Some of the different ethnic groups in Mongolia have different foods as well. One of my friends, who is a Buriat, served me this meal of horse intestines, white blood sausage, and beet salad.

A little help please...

2005-07-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

I need a bit of help thinking of what sorts of questions to answer in my FAQ series. If there is anything you would like to know, please post a comment and tell me. It would make my life easier.

FAQs 1

2005-07-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

1. Where is Mongolia?
Mongolia is a Central Asian country located north of China and south of Russia. It is a land-locked country and so has no true oceans. However, in Mongolian, the word used for "large lake" is often the same as the word for "ocean". Another free fact: several of the lakes in Mongolia are salt-water lakes.

2. What language do they speak?
Mongolians generally speak Mongolian. It is nothing like Chinese or Russian; in fact it is actually related to Turkish, Kazakh, and possibly Korean. Until the last century, Mongolians used a script borrowed from the Uighurs. Currently the Cyrillic alphabet is used.

3. Are you fluent?
This question still, after four years, sends me into a fit of giggles. Mongolian is not an easy language to learn, in part because it is unlike any other language I've ever tried to learn. Can I communicate? Yes, of course, but there is still so much vocabulary and grammar to be learned! Even people who have studied Mongolian for ten years feel like their language skills need a lot of improvement.

How to ask questions

2005-07-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

When people learn that I work in Mongolia, they generally are curious. Unfortunately, the questions that come out of their mouths are so broad that I stutter and stumble and end up at a loss for words. Questions such as, "What is it like there?", "So, is it really different?" and "So, tell me about Mongolia." terrify me. I do much better with more specific questions. What's the food like? What's the weather like? What does it look like? What are the people like? What is the exchange rate? By asking the more detailed questions, you ultimately will get your broad questions answered, and with a lot less confusion on my part. When I do try to tackle the broad questions, I never know if the person asking wants the one sentence answer, the five-minute answer, or the two-hour speech; more specific questions alleviate this issue.

I'll be answering a series of frequently asked questions in upcoming posts. If I don't happen to touch on a subject that you are curious about, please ask!

Seasons

2005-06-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

By far, the biggest changes from season to season is the weather. Winter, which is about eight months, is cold--really cold. It actually doesn't snow that much since Mongolia is a land-locked, very dry place. In Spring it could be hot, cold, calm, windy, dry, rainy, snowy, dusty, or nice all in the same day. Mostly it's windy and dusty, and everyone is tired. Summer is generally hot with some rain around August. Fall is short.

Altargana

2005-06-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Altargana, the Buriat version of Naadam (a Mongolian festival held every July). As for Altargana, the story goes that about 12 years ago, some Buriats from Mongolia, Russian, and China got together and, seeing a need for more interaction and celebration between the Buriats scattered across the region, it was decided that they should have a festival every two years. And, because the Nadaam festival of Mongolia is such a smashing success, and because Buriats and Mongolians are very closely related and so presumably have very similar athletic traditons, it was decided that Altargana would consist of the same three "Manly Sports" as Nadaam: Archery, wrestling, and horse-racing. It should be pointed out that women or girls may participate in two of the three "Manly Sports". These archers were marching in the opening parade of Altargana. They are wearing traditional Buriat clothing, which has some distinct differences from the traditional clothing of most other Mongolian tribes.

Progress

2005-06-17T11:25:00.001-07:00

Well, in the past few days I have figured out how to post photos (although there is room for improvement in this area) and how to occasionally change the color of fonts--exciting stuff, I know. Next week you might be lucky enough to find even more improvements since I'll be spending the week with my nephew, sister and brother-in-law; one of whom is the star of a blog, one of whom picks the photos for the blog, and one of whom has figured out most of the backroads to blogging and whose knowledge I plan to draw from. Stay tuned.

The Ancient and the Modern

2005-06-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

In the countryside of Mongolia you see an interesting mix of new and old. The ger (tent) has been used by Mongolians since before the time of Chinggis Khan. The motorcycle and solar panel are more recent additions.

The Highway

2005-06-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

yup, that's really what most of the roads look like in the Mongolian countryside...

The Very First Post

2005-06-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

Who knows what sorts of stuff will eventually appear on this page...

I am trying to get some stuff ready to put up this week. Hopefully everything will be sailing smoothly by the time I head back to Mongolia where I'll get the fun of posting while battling a dial-up ISP with personality!

Za, enough on this--time to get to work on some real postings.