Moultons in Mongolia

A Heart-breaking Goodbye

2009-07-23T04:50:00.028-05:00

Well, it has been quite a long time since last we posted anything here. It's certainly not for lack of interesting things happening. It's more because of being so enmeshed in projects, Peace Corps stuff, and, especially, wanting to spend all of our time and focus "right here, right now."I (Julie) spent 4 wonderful days in a tiny town in the countryside with my 4 "sons," Turbold, Muundii, Huujii and Hatnaa (in that order in the photo), and Turbold's lovely family.

Then, Jimmy and I went with Turbold and his family back to the same tiny town for a fantastic Naadam experience. His mom and dad were wonderful hosts, and made sure to help us experience all of the best things about this ancient Mongolian holiday. (In the photo, Turbold's mom, Baterdene is on the far left, his little brothers Onobold and Ganbold are next, then his dad, Tumersukh, then some of the extended family). The highlight was one of the horse races, where we got to ride in the car that follows the racers to the starting line, and then drive like maniacs across the open steppe as we follow alongside the horses racing back toward the finish. It was exhiliarating! And we beat the horses to the starting line with just enough time to lay out a carpet on the grass and polish off a bottle of vodka (among 8 of us), have a toast or two and eat some candies before the horses showed up. Never a wasted moment! (Notice in the photo that some of the riders [all kids] rode bareback, and many had no shoes. I swear some of these kids can ride a horse before they can walk!)

In addition to those 2 extended countryside visits, my counterparts took us out for a day, and Jimmy's did later, both of which included lots of great food and great laughs. Jimmy's, of course, was a little crazier, since he works with several men who LOVE to strip down to their skivvies and get in the river, and who love even more to throw the women (fully clothed and kicking & screaming) in afterward. This is a ritual we have observed several times before: the men get in, women say they're not going in but stay next to the river anyway, then the men grab the women and take them into the water. (That's Jimmy with Boogii and Enkhee in the water, and my teachers are in the next picture: Otgo, Saranchimeg, Uyunga, Zoloo, Sarantuya and Chimgee.)

I also attended the nicest high school graduation I've ever seen. It was Turbold and Muundii's class, and it was filled with energy and hand-clapping and kids all standing and holding hands and singing together, and teachers singing songs for the kids, and just a huge celebration. It was wonderful to see so many of the fantastic kids I've gotten to know celebrate such a special day. We followed the ceremony with a Chinese dinner and then karaoke. And if you've only ever seen/done karaoke in America, you have no idea what fun it can be! Folks here LOVE karaoke, and these kids, singing on their graduation night, sang with every ounce of their energy and heart.
Throughout all of this fun and frivolity, Jimmy has been working like crazy on the Anna Home expansion project. With the help of financing and planning by a Dutch group, Anna Home is expanding. Prior to this summer, there were 2 small bedrooms, a small living room and kitchen for 25 kids. In a few months, there will be 3 large bedrooms, a woodworking shop and computer/sewing room, a bathroom with running water (there is no bathroom now, only an outhouse), new electrical and heating systems, and an expanded living room. While Jimmy did not initiate this project, he has put in hours and hours of time and effort into making it happen and monitoring/training the construction crew. The kids are, naturally, thrilled about the whole thing, and are helping with whatever aspects they are allowed to help with. During our last week in Cho, Boldsaikhan, the director and our friend, invited us to Anna Home for a farewell gathering. The kids and their teacher made us a delicious meal, sang us a special song, and gave us loads of homemade "thank you" cards. When we left, they all insisted on individual photos with each of us (that's about 50 photos!), then followed us out to the car, where they surrounded us, blowing kisses and reaching in to grab our hands one last time, and then chasing the car to the end of the street (one little boy holding my hand as he ran next to the car). It was so darned SWEET!!!

As the days counted down to our departure from Cho, we squeezed in as many visits with folks as we could. On the two days before our departure day, we had an "open house," where we made lots of food (chili, cornbread, potato salad, apple cake, brownies and sugar cookies) and said thank you and goodbye to about 50 wonderful friends, co-workers and students. We gave away everything but what our luggage could carry, packed everything else, said long goodbyes, and ended with a champagne toast to two amazing years and especially this group of amazing people.

Then, we went outside to find that 4 cars (about 20 people) were loading up to follow us to the airport, 20 minutes away! It was overwhelming and wonderful, and I cried all the way to the airport. All of our counterparts (the man in the photo with me is Zoloo, one of my teacher counterparts), 6 of my students (in the photo at the end is my 4 sons, Gantuya and Elberel, all from a class I taught during my first year here), 2 other PCVs, Boldsaikhan (PCV Sarah and Boldsaikhan are with Jimmy in the photo), and several other friends came and stayed with us
until our plane took off. We had two rounds of toasts, first with Jimmy's Ger Sanachilag counterparts, then with my teachers, did lots more hugging and crying, then went inside to board. The hugs continued until the security folks finally insisted that we come through security to the boarding area. I'll never forget all those beautiful faces, crammed together in the little entryway into the security room crying, my "sons" hugging and consoling each other as they said one, two, three final goodbyes.

I will remember that day for the rest of my life. Jimmy and I both felt so utterly honored and appreciated and loved. Saying goodbye was almost unbearably painful, and at the same time, we both felt like the luckiest people alive to have had the kind of experience that led us to this point. It's so cliche, and yet it couldn't be more accurate: it's not the place, it's the people. Thinking back to our first impressions of Cho, we realized that falling in love with our neighbors made us fall in love with our dusty brown little town. Tan Soviet block apartment buildings actually became beautiful. Avoiding open manholes over unlit walking areas after dark became a fun game. Even listening to the wailing in the karaoke bar outside our apartment at midnight was no longer an annoyance. We knew that we shared these buildings, these "danger zones" and these Mongolian songs with some of the sweetest people on Earth, and being all in it together made it all worthwhile.

Cambodge!!!

2009-02-22T22:50:00.019-05:00

Our recent break from Mongolia’s cold was filled with many great sightings, foods and laughs. In researching where to visit this winter, many friends had told us they found Cambodia to be charming and the people to be very friendly. Despite knowing about Cambodia’s challenges to recover from a troubled history, the lure of friendly and smiling people was enough to draw us there. Of course for me, good birdwatching prospects are always attractive. We were happy with our pick.

We spent our first night in Phenom Penh, only to jump a bus to Siem Reap the next morning. We really enjoyed and are thankful we chose this comfortable 6-hour method of seeing the countryside. It was a nice introduction to the landscape. Siem Reap is an emerging tourist town that’s busting at the seams with growth. Tourist towns are certainly not our style, but Siem Reap made sense for us because of the nearby temple complexes and because it was our departure point for a 5-day excursion into the wilds.

We hired a guide to take us to wetlands areas and into a section of dry dipterocarp forest in northern Cambodia; some fascinating habitats. Unless you plan to stay awhile, this was a great way to get into the countryside, efficiently. A friend of ours here in Mongolia who works for Wildlife Conservation Society told us about a WCS project down in Tmatbuoy. An eco-tourism partnership was formed between WCS and the village. WCS built a small, low-impact facility to accommodate a few dozen paying tourists (often hardcore bird finders), annually. In exchange for providing paying customers and operational support to the village, area villagers agree to avoid encroachment on these important, disappearing habitats. We had a wonderful stay and are happy to have helped the cause.

We met many sweet people, our guide was fantastic and I got to see some magnificent (and critically endangered) species. A cool, non-bird highlight was having a strange animal literally cross our path – a species some call a “Bearcat.” Curiously, it is neither bear nor cat. When we first saw it, we thought a black bear cub was approaching. Instead, we encountered a binturong, a round squat animal that’s closely-related to civet cats. Later, we were told they are very rare to see because they’re nocturnal. They can also be vicious when threatened so we’re quite happy that it posed for us, then scurried off.

We planned a few days in Siem Reap for temple visits and a day trip on the huge Tonle Sap lake. Julie was happy she chose not to join me on the water because high winds that day produced big swells. We almost dumped the boat a few times. The trip was hairy until the waves calmed in the afternoon. We eventually reached our destination, a nature reserve and floating fishing village across the lake, which were interesting, but barely worth the anxiety.

Our Siem Reap time was great fun. Some of our very best Peace Corps friends met us there and we had a ball visiting the famous Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm temple sites with them. Like us, they know how to play hard and we laughed so much. Our favorite temple was Banteay Srei because there were far fewer tourists and the stone carvings were the most intricate and impressive. Our favorite new friend was a working elephant we fed and adored. Our favorite khmer foods were the fruit and the simple fried noodles and vegetables. We’re big bok choy and oyster sauce fans. We didn’t try the fried crickets, but the roasted tarantula I sampled was kind of tough and bitter tasting.

It seems we always say that the people are the best part of any of our travel experiences. Well, that was unquestionably true for us this time, too. The khmer people are extremely friendly and we encountered huge smiles wherever we went. We really felt welcome and enjoyed being with some of these gentle souls. Cambodia has a wealth of charms and we hope the khmer people continue on a path to enduring peace and profound happiness.

Happy New Year 2009!!!

2009-01-14T20:09:00.016-05:00

A quick post to say that we are just now recovering from a flurry of holiday parties filled with many laughs, dancing, songs, games, foods and ales. Julie and I hosted a couple parties ourselves, one featuring a fish fry. Friends generously gave us a huge one caught in Dornod's Buur Lake and we sectioned it four ways with different spicings/flavors. Then we had a song share. Tomorrow, we leave for Cambodia for a couple weeks.

Now, for your Mongolian culture lesson: Right now, we are enduring the third 9 of winter. What does this mean? Mongolians refer to winter as progressing through "The Nine 9's," nine phases with each lasting 9 days. On December 22nd, winter and the first 9 begins. The temperature of each phase is symbolized by a certain possible occurence:

1st 9: milk vodka freezes

2nd 9: the stronger vodka (hordz) freezes (this vodka is distilled twice)

3rd 9: the frozen horn of a 3-year old goat would break

4th 9: the horn of a 4-yr old goat would break (the coldest nine day phase)

5th 9: rice will not freeze (getting a tad warmer)

6th 9: foot paths darken (as snow melts and the ground is exposed on trails first)

7th 9: small hilltops are brown

8th 9: sounds of water emerge (drips and sloshing of mud under foot)

9th 9: Mongolians celebrate Tsaagan Sar ("White Month" and their lunar new year)

We're heard other variations of these phases, but these are the ones related to us by our friends. We have not tested them, but have no reason to doubt their accuracy.

New England meets Choibalsan

2008-12-07T03:39:00.008-05:00

Recently, we performed our best Chef Emile and Julia Childish imitations and helped out some friends who just opened a restaurant here. We were asked to conduct a TV cooking show, teaching Mongolian viewers how to prepare a couple simple foods with local ingredients as a way to help promote their new business. We thought it was a good idea and we had lots of fun doing it. And we're now famous in these parts. Now, more of the stares we continue to attract everyday are coupled with grins of recognition.

We wanted to prepare foods that were relatively simple, used only locally-obtainable ingredients, are culturally-relevant to us and are tasty. Jim demonstated a New England chowder recipe, suitable for a dairy-based diet and the approaching winter (it was -25C, yesterday). Meanwhile, Julie dazzled with a delicious apple cake that drew raves and sang a beautiful Mongolian song for the audience. Of course, the best part of the experience was the eating when we were done taping.

A teaser promotional ad aired for about a week before the broadcast. The ad featured many shots of me cooking and of Julie singing. The local producer likes to play with his studio gadgets and sped up the tape of Julie's song. She sounded like one of the chipmunks, which was cute. Upon seeing the ad, the elderly mom of Julie's co-worker called her daughter and asked a perfectly reasonable question: why was Julie singing while I did all the work? For us, that's an adorable cultural reflection...besides being a pertinent question in my domestic life. Why, indeed?

His First Haircut

2008-11-28T01:13:00.012-05:00

In the fall, I was invited to attend the hair-cutting ceremony of my counterpart Saranchimeg's 3 year old son, Zolbayar. We had learned about this ceremony during training, but I had never been able to attend one, so I was really honored and happy to be invited. In my understanding, the ceremony marks the transition from "babyhood" to "childhood" for boys and girls, and occurs between the ages of 2 and 6. Infancy, especially for children in herding families, is a vulnerable time. Many herding families have little to no access to medical facilities. So, a child making it through this time is something worth celebrating. The hair-cutting ceremony is a ritual held, in part, for that purpose. Traditionally, a lama would tell the parents which year is best for their child, and many families still consult lamas for this purpose.

As with seemingly all Mongolian gatherings, there was an over-abundance of food, including the requisite aruul (dried milk curd), potato salad, carrot salad, buuz, fruits, and suutai tai (milk tea). Saranchimeg and her husband put out a lovely and delicious spread, and their young niece helped serve food. It was a relatively small gathering -- mostly the other foreign language teachers from our school, though the ceremony is sometimes much larger and sometimes even smaller.

Passing of the airag (fermented mare's milk) got the ceremony started. The airag was in a beautiful pewter bowl, and each person took a sip before cutting Saranchimeg's son's hair.

Zolbayar walked around the table, while each guest took a turn cutting off a small lock of hair and placing it on a pewter tray. Before cutting, we wrapped a ceremonial hadaag (silk sash or scarf) around our hand and the scissors. After cutting, each person said a small "prayer" for the child's happiness and well-being in the future.

He very patiently allowed each of us to cut his hair, a glass of juice and Mom's touch making it all a little easier. When the cutting was finished, we ate many buuz and talked about life, and I felt very fortunate to be part of this special gathering. Saranchimeg wrapped the hair in silk and put it away, to be given to Zolbayar when he is older. Zolbayar, meanwhile, was given the cash collected for the occasion, and though he didn't seem to know quite what to do with it, he seemed to understand that it was something to hold on to--and he did so for the rest of the time we were there!

My Camp Songs Obsession Finds an Outlet in Mongolia!

2008-11-25T21:59:00.028-05:00

WE FINISHED OUR CD AND SONGBOOK!!!

As some of you know, my friend Kevin and I have been working on a project to create a cd and songbook for Mongolian and Peace Corps English teachers to use in the classroom. Now, after several months of scheming, proposal writing, budget planning (with LOADS of help from the budget-master himself, Jimmy, of course), materials purchasing, RECORDING, editing & mixing, printing and burning, our project is (practically) complete! We're burning the final of the 275 cds, and distribution of the cd/songbook 53-song sets will begin next month.

Kevin and I are both really happy with how the cds and songbooks turned out. And the process of creating them, while peppered with snafus and moments of frustration, was satisfying and loads of fun--especially the hours spent recording with my students. Kevin brought his laptop to Cho (he lives in Selenge aimag, north west of Ulaanbaatar, a 20-hour bus ride away), and we recorded everything on his Garageband program in classrooms.

One of the 4th grade classes we recorded with. They sang "My Grandfather Had a Farm" (we've been learning family names) and "Bingo," which featured "my grandfather" as well.

Most of the songs were sung by my 8th grade students, immediately after learning them. They're remarkably fast learners! Sometimes I would sing the song just once, they'd sing it 3 or 4 times, then we'd record. Now, I won't say they sound professional, and there are moments that my high school choir director would have had heart palpitations over, but the teachers and students who listen can easily follow along with the words and tunes of each song.

My 8th

graders in one of our smaller sessions.

The impetus for the project was a desire to share songs with Mongolian teachers that can be easily sung and memorized, in order to increase students' speaking fluency. Many teachers use full-length songs from pop singers to help with vocabulary and grammar study. But often those songs are really difficult to learn well. So I decided to use my love of camp songs, and (after 15+ years as a camp counselor) the vast storage of songs that dance around endlessly in my brain to create this teaching cd for English language teachers. Kevin, my exceedingly talented friend, agreed to take on the project with me and was just as enthusiastic about it as I was. He is a whiz with Garageband, and was able to turn a bunch of kids singing in a classroom into a real live, high quality cd. And, considering he has always hated "camp songs," preferring to write his own music in the vein of Pearl Jam and Tool, he was an awesome sport, even agreeing to sing a few of the songs (including "Itsy Bitsy Spider"!) himself. And speaking of "guest singers," Jimmy even puts in a performance or two (you should hear his sheep noises --uncannilly real)

Kevin & I during the "scheming" phase, in his ger in Selenge.

So now, as we receive help from our friend Boloroo at the Peace Corps office in UB in the form of cd burning, we have turned much of the project over to PC staff who will distribute the cds and songbooks to volunteers and schools. We are happy to say that Peace Corps Mongolia is also very pleased with the final product and has endorsed it and offered their help with it enthusiastically. I think that in the years to come, as I look back on this Peace Corps experience, this cd and the creation of it with my students and Kevin will be the thing I feel was our biggest achievement. I have such a great sense of satisfaction about it, and I look forward to sharing it with folks back in the States when we return next summer!

Following are just a smattering of photos from recording sessions and times when we made music JUST for fun!

Anna Home

2008-10-21T01:33:00.019-05:00

Did we tell you the kids here don't come any cuter? In our short time, we've been fortunate to play and work with the kids and staff of Anna Home, a safe haven for neglected children. This is a special project that offers much hope for a few kids and the Choibalsan community.

In 2006, the home's director Boldsaihan took the initiative to rescue homeless or neglected kids from the city's underground water tunnels. Without stable homes, people of all ages find warmth in bitter cold winters huddling near hot water mains. Manholes are their doorways. Boldsaihan first housed the kids in a basement and scraped together resources to feed and shelter them. In 2007, VSO volunteer Maarten Stoffels entered their lives.

Maarten, with the generosity of his Dutch contacts, helped Boldsaihan buy a house and land establishing the Anna Home residence. Foreign contributors meet the housing, food and development needs of 25 children who now share this very modest space. Last spring, upon his departure from Mongolia, Maarten asked Jim to assist with communications, project development activities and in the home's operations. Jim also serves as Boldsaihan's management mentor helping to develop long-term skills so that Boldsaihan may eventually operate the home as a fully-capable director.

Anna Home has experienced some big successes this year, not least of which were the drilling of a well, the building of a well house and piping of running water into the house.

Now, we are preparing for three major projects. In the spring, we hope to develop a property that will serve as a transitional home for young adults. When the children reach 18, the goal is to have a home and support in place where they can learn work and life skills in a semi-independent setting. They would be prepared for supporting themselves as capable adults in their lives beyond Anna Home's embrace.

Next summer, one project will be renovating the existing interior with new energy-efficient windows, new doors, trim, flooring and paint. The second summer project is huge: a building addition which would include giving the building a bathroom, storage space, a large classroom, computer and sewing classrooms and a carpentry shop. We believe it is not enough to improve the current living standards for the kids. The children must be prepared with social and vocational skills as well to help break the stranglehold of poverty here.

To the left, we've added a link to Anna Home's website, which Maarten maintains from The Netherlands. For the home, the long-term aim is to create an enduring refuge and training ground for Choibalsan children who have no other options and doing so with sustainable local support. Until then, maybe you'd like to pitch in.

Friends

2008-09-13T22:39:00.048-05:00

We've shown folks quite a few shots of our Mongolian friends and family. We thought you might also like to see some of the other Peace Corps and VSO volunteers we love to spend time with here. Some of the most wonderful people on the planet...

Outside one of our favorite restaurants in UB: Kevin, Amber, me, Jasmine, Jimmy, Jen, Brodie, Chris, Rachel and Phillip

Our farewell party crew for Matt (center, front), who finished his service in Mongolia and headed off to Cambodia for another (non Peace Corps) year of service!

Part of my Darkhan summer crew: Robin, Amber, Kim (M17), Carina,
Dwan and me

Mai and Kenny (who are now, VERY sadly for us anyway, back in America, after having completed their 2 years here in Cho) We miss them so much!
Some of the great friends that we spent much of our first year in Cho with. Most of them have, alas, gone on to other places (except for Sarah, lower right, who's still in Cho with us!). Back row, left to right: Angus (Scotland), Andie (England), Maarten (in back, from Amsterdam), Kaye (France), Cass (a different soum in Mongolia), Joke, (Amsterdam), Mai (NY), Jimmy. Front row: Yann (France), Kenny (from America but now studying in London), Sarah.

Jimmy with his posse from Sukhbaatar: Jimmy, Fahd, Salomon and Mike

The blue-eyed gang from Cho: JP (Mai's friend who visited from US) Jimmy Karen (VSO, from Scotland) Andie (VSO, from England & Africa) Kenny

Jimmy and Mike

Chris and Kevin

M17s Mike and Ashley Burden, who have also, very sadly for us, finished their service and returned to America

VSOers, Raj (from India), John & Patricia (from England) at our place in Cho.

Raj, John (M19) and our M18 Sarah

The newest Chobies:
Lindsay and Trinh (Jasmine, one of our M18s, in the middle)

Me and Jess

We hope all of our American friends and family get to meet all of these great people some day!

Make That Four

2008-08-24T21:16:00.005-05:00

Mongolia added their third and fourth medals with a gold from boxer Badar-Uugan, who dominated his weight class, and by Serdamda who settled for silver after a shoulder injury ended his pursuit for the title. Two golds and two silvers is celebrated wildly here as a country of just over 2 million people achieves great relative success. Congratulations to the winners!!!

Serdamba on the left

All That Glitters...

2008-08-16T01:49:00.007-05:00

This country and the capital Ulaanbaatar were jumping for joy Thursday night with Mongolia’s first EVER Olympic gold medal. Tuvshinbayar N., now a national hero, took the men’s 100kg judo title and the partying began with impromptu revelry and fireworks. Thousands whooped it up on UB’s Sukhbaatar Square. It would be too strong to say that the people consider it a mark of their “arrival,” but their world standing is progressing. They have a silver medal also, earned by the pistol-packing Gundegmaa O, who came within millimeters of winning gold, herself. And I dare say that the Mongolian boxing team is right there alongside America’s for quality depth.

It’s an interesting contrast between Mongolia and home regarding Olympic success. On the one hand, we have this small nation trying to find its way in the world positively ecstatic with a single gold medal. Then, there’s America’s Michael Phelps who could win eight of them by himself. To me, it’s another lesson in trying to take nothing for granted and appreciate the simplest gifts.

We have been able to see vastly more Olympic coverage than of any previous games. The competitions have been available, virtually wall-to-wall, on five stations: three Mongolian, a Chinese and a Russian sports channel. Though I’m an obvious USA and Mongolia fan, it is a great experience to watch the Beijing games on Chinese television – despite not knowing the language. The excitement the people are feeling being hosts, and brilliantly successful ones by athletic standards, is so clear in all the cheers and smiles…..government behavior and scandal aside.

Meanwhile, it’s nice to now feel strongly about two nation’s success at the games.

Political Troubles

2008-07-09T19:37:00.003-05:00

While we were at our camp in the countryside last week, we had heard only about a fire at the Revolutionary Party headquarters in the wake of the party’s very successful election results. When we returned to Choibalsan, we learned with great sadness of the rioting that took place in the capital on July 1st. In sum, the MPRP did much better than polls had previously suggested, winning a large majority of parliamentary seats. Many people expected the rival Democratic Party to do equally-well, but expectations were not met. Amid allegations of election fraud, agitators turned a peaceful protest into a riot, torching the MPRP building, a national art museum, police station while looting cultural centers and shops. There were several deaths.
A four-day state of emergency (since annulled) was declared in UB, and a 10pm curfew and alcohol ban were imposed. From what we gather, the riots were confined to UB and did not impact life here in Choibalsan. Discussions are underway between the political parties to redress grievances. We hope people will be able to resolve their differences and decide matters, peacefully.

Here is a related piece by Edward Wong that appeared in the International Herald Tribune:

A Challenge for Mongolia's Democracy
By Edward Wong
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia: The charred shells of two Soviet-style buildings rising from the center of this capital stand as a warning of the dangers of mixing vodka with voter frustration. In a barren land where nomads still gallop across pastures to polling booths, that potent mix led last week to the literal gutting of some of the country's most prominent political and cultural institutions. Now, with an election in dispute, Mongolia's fledgling democracy faces its biggest challenge since its birth in 1990.

Following cries of fraud in parliamentary elections - accusations that were disputed by international election observers - hundreds of rioters, many of them drunk attacked the headquarters of the dominant political party and the neighboring national art gallery on July 1. Fires were started. Five people were killed. More than 1,000 pieces of artwork were destroyed, damaged or looted.

"Poverty and corruption are eating away at our democracy," said Tsedevdamba Oyungerel, a Stanford-educated politician who ran for Parliament but lost (though she did receive 10 male horses as gifts while campaigning in the countryside.) To Oyungerel, who like many Mongolians goes by her given name, just as shocking as the violence was the government's reaction - it declared a four-day state of emergency, sent soldiers into the streets and shut down television and radio stations. The outburst of violence was without precedent in democratic Mongolia, and many here - from sheepherders to business executives - are deeply ashamed of what unfolded.
"I thought, 'This is totally wrong,' " said Gansuren, a bartender at a karaoke club.

Much is at stake for the United States as Mongolia struggles to right itself. With a population of three million scattered across a country the size of Alaska, it is, as one Mongolian leader put it last week, the only democracy between the Sea of Japan and Eastern Europe. Mongolia has supplied troops for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the former secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, was given a horse when he visited in 2005 (he left it behind). "Since the overarching aim of our foreign policy is to promote the expansion of democratic society in the world, Mongolia is a poster child for that," said Mark Minton, the American ambassador here. "It's my strong belief that democracy is here to stay in Mongolia."

The state of emergency ended Sunday, and much seems back to normal now in the capital. A wedding couple poses for photos in the central square. A herder leads three loping camels through the streets. The Grand Khaan Irish Pub is packed. But the country faces two major problems: resolving the contentious election - the official results still have not been announced - and identifying the cause of the recent violence.

Though many Mongolians say the riot was a criminal act, the anger most likely bubbled up from economic frustrations. Inflation has soared to 26 percent, Mongolians complain about corruption, and officials disagree on control mining rights to the country's immense mineral wealth. Prime Minister Sanjaagiin Bayar defended the state of emergency on Saturday night, saying the government, which is ruled by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, or MPRP, was concerned with preventing further disturbances. But Oyungerel and other senior members of the main opposition group, the Democratic Party, accused the government of using the riot as a pretext for quashing dissent. The only television station allowed to broadcast from Wednesday to Saturday was the national network.

On the surface, Mongolia is an unlikely place for an experiment in democracy. The home of Genghis Khan, it is the most sparsely populated country in the world. Half the population still lives in round felt tents called gers, and livestock outnumber humans eight to one. Yet Mongolia's literacy rate is 98 percent, a legacy of nearly seven decades of Communist rule. The country held a constitutional referendum in 1990 and a vote in 1992 that led to its first democratic change of Parliament. Since then, it had held peaceful elections every four years - until June 29.

Preliminary results announced shortly after the voting showed that the MPRP won 45 seats; the Democratic Party 28 seats; and three small parties one seat each. Those numbers would give the governing party the majority it needs in the 76-seat Parliament to form a government. In a news conference on July 1, however, the leader of the Democratic Party and a former prime minister, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, accused the MPRP of vote fraud. That assertion was challenged by the 52 foreign observation teams that went to polling stations on June 29. "In each of those cases, in each of the instances where we observed any part of the process, we were struck by the degree of rigor," said Bill Infante, country representative for the Asia Foundation, a group that promotes democracy, whose observers visited 100 of about 1,700 stations.

Nevertheless, on the afternoon of July 1 several leaders of smaller parties held a rally at the capital's central plaza, Sukhbaatar Square. The protest began peacefully. But in time an angry crowd of young men formed in front of the five-story headquarters of the governing party, next to the square. Soon they were throwing rocks and storming the building. Police officers fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. Nothing worked. The rioters started fires at dusk. They broke into a duty-free shop on the first floor and grabbed the liquor. And some were already carrying bottles of cheap Mongolian vodka. "It was a pity to see how they were demolishing quite expensive drinks," said Sumati, a pollster here. "It's $30 or $40 a bottle. It's really not cheap."

Rioters barged into the museum next door, the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery. They set fire to the building at 11:30 p.m. and made off with some wood and ivory carvings, said Enkhtsetseg, the museum director. Two storage rooms with modernist oil paintings suffered fire damage, as did a wing of traditional art that included tapestries, paintings and carvings. Of the museum's 5,000 pieces, more than a fifth were destroyed, damaged or stolen, Enkhtsetseg said. None are insured.

"I have no idea how to put a value on this," she said as she chain-smoked in her office on Sunday (she had quit six years ago, but took it up again last week). "It's unique; we don't have anything like this. Most of the artists have passed away." Next door, in the home of a national orchestra, horse-head violins had been destroyed. The police arrested more than 700 people, and as of Saturday more than 200 were still in jail, Prime Minister Bayar said at a televised news conference that night. "The police are paying attention not to violate human rights or treat prisoners badly," he said.

But some Mongolians say prisoners have been tortured. Enkhtsetseg said a prisoner released on July 3 came to her office and showed her bruises on his back. He had been among a group of young men trying to save artwork the night of the riot but had been mistakenly arrested, Enkhtsetseg said.

As the country's leaders grapple with how to resolve the election, everyone knows nothing less than the future of Mongolia is at stake. "We made our democracy ourselves, we will defend it ourselves," Oyungerel said. "I love democracy. I want to give this society to my children."

Youth Ecology Camp

2008-07-09T03:50:00.017-05:00

The first week of July, we helped host a youth ecology camp on a lake in northern Dornod. Julie and I assisted an environmental agency in securing funding, organizing and managing a program for Mongolian and Russian students. The kids had fun learning about water ecology, water quality monitoring, ornithology, mammalian behavior and animal tracking. Of course, there were many team-building games and songs. The kids had a lot of fun, got to connect with people from other countries and stayed healthy.

Travels with Marm and Mooner

2008-07-08T05:49:00.022-05:00

Our visit from Marm and Mooner (our niece Amanda) couldn't have been more wonderful -- at least for us. We think it was pretty good for them, too, despite nights without toilets (not even outhouses), a few rounds of carsickness for Mooner and delayed flights. Mooner did get to learn of a use for scotch tape. All tape here is simply called "scotch" (not a Mongolian word), and it is used in the way that Americans use duct tape -- to hold together absolutely anything. And while for years we've appreciated the adhesive qualities of the stuff, we were unaware until we travelled to Harhoran, of its curative properties. When Amanda was car sick, our driver told her to put a piece of scotch over her belly button and her carsickness would go away. Indeed it did! Whether it was from having already eliminated the contents of her belly or from having covered her belly button with tape, we don't know. But she took it all in stride. I'm sure any of you who suffer from carsickness will be scrambling to the nearest "House of Scotch" to stock up at this point. Please let us know what miraculous results you are able to achieve!

The first thing we did after they got to UB was get back on a plane and fly back to our town. We knew it would be a very short visit, and the additional flight was pushing it, but I really, really wanted them to see where we live and work. I wanted them to get a feeling for our lives here; to be able to picture in their minds places and faces when we talk about things after we get home. On our second night, our friends and colleagues welcomed them warmly and gave them gifts, and everyone told Mom that she looked very young for her age. Some of the high school students I teach at the library each week came, and we sang a couple of Mongolian songs and some of the songs I've taught them this year. Mandy especially loved listening to them singing "Imagine." It was so sweet.

The next day, Boldsaikhan, a friend of ours, took us around town in his car. Boldsaikhan (Bogii), is the man who runs Anna Home, a residential home for kids whose parents aren't alive or can't take care of them. Some of the kids he actually found living in manholes by the streets of our town (a relatively common situation in the country). Mandy was completely smitten! She and Mom both decided that they'd like to try to do something for the kids, and I know that any help at all would be hugely appreciated. Their biggest project right now is to get a well dug. It's going to cost many thousands of dollars, but they are trying to grow their own vegetables, and without a close source of water in this very dry country, they can't be successful. That being said, if any of you would like to support Mom and Mandy in trying to make something happen from the US side, please let them know!

After 2 1/2 days in our town, we flew back to UB and were met at the airport by a tour company guide, ready to take us to Harhoran, the former capital of Mongolia (back in Chinggis's day). We spent 4 days on the road, surrounded by more mountains, horses, sheep and goats than I've seen in all of the last year. Also, much more GREEN!!! This summer has been the wettest that locals can remember in the last 10 years, and the valleys and mountainsides are carpeted with grasses, sage, and lovely little wildflowers. We drove for hours, seeing nothing but those mountains, valleys & animals, scattered gers and the occasional herder on his horse.

The most beautiful part about Harhoran is its lovely monastery, which dates back hundreds of years. Like almost all the other monasteries in Mongolia, it was largely destroyed when the Soviets came in and tried to wipe out Buddhism. But parts of the original buildings remain, and all have been restored as closely as possible to their original designs. We had a chance to observe local folks sitting with lams (monks), receiving blessings and advice on family and personal matters, ie when to get married and what to name their children. Many Mongolians still go to lams regularly to solve such matters.

The other really awesome thing we got to do on the trip was ride camels! I had been hoping to try camel riding ever since I came here to Mongolia, and both Mandy and I finally had the chance. And for those of you who like to ride horses, I gotta tell ya, camels are SO much more comfortable to ride. They move so steadily, plus they kneel down to let you on and off. Course, their temperaments are a little more sketchy

(though neither camel ever spit at us), but they were wonderful to ride. The experience was made even more wonderful by the fact that our camels were being led by two young herder boys who asked us to sing an American song, then sang a beautiful Mongolian song for us as we walked along. The ride took place in a pocket of semi-desert on the way to Harhoran, with sand dunes and all, making it feel very much like an authentic "Lawrence of Arabia" kind of experience (except with Mongolian music).

Another pretty special part of the trip was that we stayed in gers every night. One night we stayed with a family near Orkhon Lake. Mom, Dad and 3 year-old daughter all had the intensely ruddy cheeks you would expect for people living in the elements every day. They were a herder family of very modest means without any kind of permanent structures near their ger, not even an outhouse. And they all slept on the floor with Jimmy and I, letting Mom and Mandy have their beds. The mosquitoes and flies were thick as thieves, the wind whipped mercilessly, water had to be hauled from the lake 1/2 a mile away, the ger was spartan, at best, and yet the family seemed very contented with their lives. It was the kind of experience that always makes me appreciate the fortitude and resourcefulness of these folks even more.

On another night, we stayed in a tourist ger camp where we were treated to an exclusive performance by a local group of musicians and dancers. The 4 of us were the only audience, and the show began a full 2 hours late, but it gave Mom and Mandy a good taste of the beautiful and unique style of music here in this country. We even got to hear throat singing (which sounds nothing like a human voice), watch a contortionist, and see a lovely young girl perform a traditional dance. It was such an intimate performance, and completely worth the wait!

After returning to UB for a day, we got on a train and headed north to visit our summer host families. The love was positively palpable. My eej and Marm greeted each other like long lost sisters, and spent the whole visit giggling together and hanging on to each other. It was the sweetest thing! Even with no more than the word "hello" in common, their communication needed no translation. It truly felt like we were all one family. It was definitely the highlight of my time with Mom and Mandy. We also stayed with Jimmy's family for a day, and his sister Mongono showed Mandy how to make buuz. Her patience was remarkable --making buuz the "right" way is truly an art form here, and "sub-par" buuz are not served to guests. And, believe me, making buuz look right is not easy!

We spent our last couple of days together in UB, poking around in shops and hanging out with other Peace Corps & VSO volunteers. I loved that many of my friends here got to meet my family: I loved showing them off to each other! Other volunteers have told me about family members visiting (especially moms) and hearing lots of complaints about the many "inconveniences" one must often deal with here, but not MY mom and niece! Mom and Mandy's tolerance was one of the nicest things of all for me about their visit. I knew that they would both be able to roll with stuff here, but they not only rolled, they rolled gracefully and without a single whimper. I felt so proud of them!

So, I couldn't have been happier with our time together. The only thing that would have made it nicer, of course, would have been to have them here for 2 months instead of 2 weeks. But I won't be greedy! I'm so thankful to both of them for having made the trip, and especially to Mom, who paid for all Mandy's travel expenses as a graduation gift. They both have plenty of photos, so feel free to ask them to share!

Up North

2008-05-19T04:53:00.011-05:00

Julie and I had an interesting trip north this weekend to the village of Dashbalbar, located about 4 hours drive from our home in Choibalsan. We traveled with Chinbaa and Odmaa on behalf of the Eastern Mongolia Protected Areas Administration. This agency is charged with managing the natural protected areas here in the east and we are helping them develop a youth ecology camp for this summer in the short-term and to improve their tourism skills for the long-run.

In a larger nature reserve up north, the local herder community owns and operates a small fledgling camp facility at Chukh Lake. A few years ago, nine local families combined resources to buy a main building and seven A-frame structures with the goal of generating some income in a hospitality enterprise. They have a lot of work to do, but seem committed to the project and to goals of protecting their lands from further environmental degradation posed by over-grazing, and the illegal harvesting of trees, animals, and medicinal plants. We were happy to meet with the group, hear their aspirations, offer some early advice and drink a toast or two to strong relationships.

When we arrived, the families were constructing a model ger (yurt) for the upcoming summer season. They had just acquired it from UB and it will serve as beautiful and comfortable accommodation for lucky visitors. We were invited to help put it together. The entire process takes about 30-45 minutes total. It has a very efficient construction allowing for speedy assembly and comfort for nomadic living.

We took a packed mini-van (meeker) home with a highlight being an unexpected stop at a family’s home. The custom is for anyone to enter a home unannounced at anytime. When visitors appear, tea is served, so we shared tea with all of the meeker passengers while we waited for a sheep to be chosen from the flock. You see, this sheep was to ride in the meeker with us to Choibalsan. We were not too put-off by the smell of sheep dip for most of the ride home. At least, the sheep was not in our laps. Sometimes, sheep will get packed in amongst the passengers, which is not at all uncommon. And another thing - camels are HUGE!!!

Moultons in Malaysia

2008-04-13T22:38:00.017-05:00

We had an absolutely wonderful experience and a refreshing change of pace during our three-week Malaysia/Borneo trip. It was a shock to the senses shifting from the flat, dry dustiness of the eastern Mongolian steppe to the lush, exceedingly diverse rainforests of Malaysia. Beyond the really interesting sights, the smells and the sounds were amazing and they cannot be explained. You have to be in a rainforest – spend nights in the rainforest – to get a full sense of the magic of this planet.

We confined our travels to natural areas and tried to vary the habitats a bit with the exception of our first stop, Fraser’s Hill about two hours north of Kuala Lumpur. We spent a few days in this very small tourist town in the mountains where we could acclimatize a little and ease our way into a comfort zone with some reliability. It was a nice transition place from the Mongolian winter to the equator. The mountains tended to have temps in the 70’s with cooling breezes- just perfect conditions! It would be very hot and sticky later in the lowlands.

We spent the majority of time in Sabah, the eastern Bornean state. We spent four days at the Danum Valley Conservation Area in the south, staying at a field research center in some of the last remaining low dipterocarp forest anywhere in SE Asia. Because we stressed our naturalist backgrounds, we were allowed the opportunity to mix with some of the researchers and to access some fascinating wild areas. We made some fast friends and learned a lot about the diversity and natural systems of the place.

Next, we enjoyed a couple nights at Uncle Tan’s jungle camp along the Kinabatangan River in eastern Sabah. The seasonal floodwaters had just receded (uncharacteristically late, this year) and we trudged through a lot of mud. It was a beautifully wild place. Long-tailed macaques and bearded pigs frequently visited the camp, which featured rustic accommodations (mattresses and bug nets), a restful pace and wonderful foods. The highlights were boat safaris when we saw orangutans, hornbills and crocodiles. Julie loved the night safari when she came face-to-face with a 5” Blue-legged Tarantula and held a huge scorpion. We also felt lucky to experience the place with a fun, considerate group of fellow explorers.

We closed our trip at the Kinabalu National Park, which highlighted a very comfortable sub-montane forest with great trails beneath SE Asia’s highest mountain peak. It is one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet. The sheer number of different plant and animal species is staggering. For example, this relatively small reserve area has over 300 bird species (many being unique to this one spot on Earth) and over 1500 orchid species. And they’re cool looking!!!

We ate very well the whole time and public transportation is plentiful, cheap and a snap. Julie enjoyed her leisurely mornings sipping tea and writing in her journal. Predictably, I had a fantastic time bird-finding as I always do in new places. I easily saw over 200 species with 169 of them being ones I could identify as new for my life list – a list that now exceeds 800 species. I had many favorites, but I’ll include just a couple of them in the photos below: the Asian Paradise-Flycatcher (a pic borrowed from Wiki-Commons as we couldn’t get a good one, ourselves) and the Red-bearded Bee-eater, pictured with a fresh, juicy cicada.

When we are asked to recount any of our trips, the standard answer to the question, “What was your favorite part?” seems to be “the people.” Well, same case, here. The Malaysians we met were so friendly and many were smiley and giggly. They were very cute and hospitable. I want to re-visit this place, but I don’t know that we’ll be so lucky. We are not wealthy and there are other places we want to see as well. We will be happy to settle for these once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Little cuties, these:

Stunners:

These are bugs!!!

Sar Shineen Mend Hurgee!

2008-02-09T03:59:00.000-05:00

My friend Sarantuya's family. In the photo is me, Sara, her husband Dohgie, Jimmy, Dohgie's brother and his wife. This was our first stop on the Tsagaan Sar tour.

Happy Tsagaan Sar! Yet another holiday in this culture of people who know how to have a good time! We've just finished our 7-family tour, and what a wonderful tour it was! Tsagaan Sar is probably the biggest "friends and family" holiday in Mongolia, and, thanks to some great friends, we've been lucky enough to be included in many folks' celebrations. It's been a truly heartwarming 3-day event, with people making us feel very welcome in their homes. In fact, I'd say it has been a milestone event. While we have always felt accepted here, we have been made to feel like part of the family all over town. Jimmy and I have been welcomed like long lost friends and honored guests; that's what Tsagaan Sar is all about. But first, some explanation of the origins of the holiday.

Although Tsagaan Sar is officially a 3 day event, many people celebrate the holiday for many days, or even a month. In the city, unfortunately (where we are), it's the shorter version. The words Tsagaan Sar mean "White Month," and there are a couple of different explanations for the name. One is that it's because of the fact that it's in February, which is a month with lots of snow, and the other is that it's a time when people eat a lot of white food (dairy). Well, we don't have much snow here, but there sure is plenty of food, so I'm going with the second explanation. The color white also symbolizes happiness here.

Tsagaan Sar is the Mongolian Lunar New Year. It coincides with the Chinese New Year, and uses the Chinese zodiac with its 12 animals. While it may coincide with the Chinese observation, however, Mongolians do not consider it the same holiday--they consider it their own. It is, in fact, many hundreds of years old, having begun with Kubilai Khan in 1267.

The night before Tsagaan Sar is called "Bituun"
which translates literally as "filled up," and, more
poetically as "eating and drinking to one's heart's content." The name is perfect, since it's an evening of massive consumption of aruul (dried milk curd), milk rice with raisins, sides of mutton or beef, lots of veggie (non-lettuce) and pasta salads, chocolates, cake, and of course, airag (vodka). Of course, for most Mongolians, the feast is preceeded by days and days of preparation: buying gifts to give to every guest, cleaning the home until it's spotless, and cooking, cooking, cooking. Jimmy did an informal survey, and the average number of buuz (meat dumplings - the quintessential Tsagaan Sar food) made by each person was 600.
My friend Sarantuya let me help her make buuz a few nights before Tsagaan Sar. Presentation is critical, however, and my buuz prompted plenty of laughter. So, we decided to eat the buuz we made that night. They're a relatively easy thing to make: dough from flour and water, rolled into 3" circles and filled with cube-sized beef (cut from massive slabs of meat), onion and salt; pinch the edges together (that's the part I haven't yet mastered--it's harder than it looks); steam for 15 minutes. (I'm looking forward to a buuz party or two when we get back!) They are really juicy and delicious! If I do decide to go back to being a vegetarian after I return to America, I'll definitely have to wait until after I've made (and eaten) a few dozen buuz with people.

Our Tsagaan Sar began the morning after Bituun, when our friend Sarantuya, her husband Dohgie and her daughter Solongo picked us up and brought us to their brother's house. The first thing that happened was that Sarantuya's uncle, who was the oldest family member present, sat in the most comfortable chair, put on his hat and deel, and waited to be greeted. The second oldest family member put on his hat, and held a blue hadag (silk scarf) across his hands. He went to Sarantuya's uncle, and, holding his arms out and under Sarantuya's uncle's arms, kissed him on each cheek. The other family members, oldest to youngest, then did the same. This greeting, given only on Tsagaan Sar, is called the "zolgoh," and it symbolizes the younger person's respect for and willingness to help the older person. The younger person's arms out, palms up, under the older person's arms is a sign that says "I shall support you always." Is that perfectly awesome, or what? Maybe it's gestures and beliefs such as these that have kept this culture strong for such a very, very long time.

The Tsagaan Sar table is overflowing with food!

There are all of the same foods served as at Bituun, and at very traditional homes, the "otes" is also served. The otes is the sheep's back, with the head on top, sitting always at the head of the table. I hope the photo doesn't make people too squeamish, but it's reality. And although I thought I'd be completely freaked out to see it, it actually didn't really bother me at all. The death of livestock here is an absolute matter of survival for the people, and, therefore, it's everywhere. It also involves reverance for the animal, something which in our American plastic-packaged society doesn't exist for most people. There is a real connection here between people and their food, and a profound appreciation for this gift the animals provide.

The exclusively Tsagaan Sar "piece de resistance" is the "harvsai." It's a 3 to 21 (odd numbers only) stack of hard, oval-shaped bread, decorated with sugar cubes, candies, and/or pieces of aruul. Stacks are shorter and smaller in young families, or couples whose parents are alive. Older folks have taller and often wider stacks. The display remains on the table until the fourth day, when it is finally dismantled and eaten. By then, the bread is quite hard, but people just dunk it in their sootai tsai (milk tea) and it's just fine. We tried some before Tsagaan Sar and it was like a combination of a huge donut and fried dough. How can you possibly go wrong?!

Another tradition practiced at every holiday or

significant gathering, is the sharing of the "khamareen tamekh," or "nose tobacco," aka snuff. The older men and women in every family have their own special bottle for the snuff, and to share it with guests is an important welcome gesture. Everyone was very patient with us as they explained that we must put just a very tiny spot of it on our finger, or else we would sneeze uncontrollably. I still managed to sneeze a few times.

I mentioned that folks give gifts on Tsagaan Sar, as well. That means that whenever you go to someone's home, they give you a gift! Sort of a hostess gift, in reverse. Jimmy and I were given everything from leather key chains to a box of milk. The gifts were always given to us when it was clear our hosts were "wrapping up" our visit for us. It's interesting that the Mongolian word for happy is the same as good-bye. We joked that maybe the present means "We're glad you could come, now we're happy to say bye-bye!" It worked great -- Jimmy and I never really knew how long we should stay, so it was a great cue to skidoo. And on Tsagaan Sar, with families welcoming as many as 50 guests in a day, it's very important to, as we used to say in the restaurant business, "get 'em in, get 'em out." We never felt the least bit like people were rushing us, though. They were just letting us know, in an extremely kind way, that it was time for us to go.

While all of the visiting is going on, every few minutes, children knock on the door and wait to be given candy or an apple or a crisp 20 tugrik (about 20 cents) bill. It's like a 3-day Halloween, without the costumes. Some children knock and wait, some just walk right in. Even strangers will come and visit. While we were at Sarantuya's, 3 young men came in, sat down, waited to be served shots of vodka, hung out for about half and hour, and left. I asked Sarantuya afterwards who they were, and she said she had no idea, nor did her husband! Your door is open to absolutely everyone on this holiday, and, for many folks, every other day as well.

A real highlight for both of us came on the second night. Jimmy and I had both gotten into our long johns and settled in for some cold pasta salad, when our neighbors' grandaughter knocked on our door and invited us to come across the hall to eat and celebrate with them. We had seen her grandparents once or twice, but had never spoken to them. They are a well-known couple in town and very well respected, and they welcomed us as if they'd been waiting nearly 6 months to do so. Their granddaughter, Gantsetseg, is a junior in high school and speaks English quite well, so she translated most things for us. However, Shataar, her grandfather, made it very clear that Jimmy and I must learn Mongolian, and that he and his wife, Poorevsuren, are there to help us every day. In fact, he said at least half a dozen times that he wants us to visit every day, and that if there's ever anything at all that we need, we must come to them. We felt very honored by his offer, especially since our predecessors (also American volunteers who lived in our same apartment for 2 years) were never in their apartment. So now, suddenly, finally, we know our neighbors! There are a few people in the building whom we always greet, but these folks feel like friends, and that's a wonderful feeling! For us, it's too bad Tsagaan Sar comes only once a year, but for Mongolians, who often go into debt (never mind the stress) because of it, I'm sure once a year is more than enough. Next year, we'll have to do some hosting ourselves. By then, we may have 50 guests of our own visiting!

Shine Jiliin Mend Hurgii!!!

2007-12-31T02:43:00.001-05:00

The beautiful Christmas tree Marm sent, complete with presents for unwrapping at Christmas! Thanks, moms and wonderful friends!

Happy New Year!!!

We have had a wonderful holiday season here, despite missing good times with family and friends back home. The two weeks in UB playing with Peace Corps friends, and the playing with Mongolian friends here in Choibalsan have been fun and rejuvenating. Combined with the gifts and greetings from home, we have the holiday spirit all around us.

Many have asked if Christmas is celebrated here. The answer is yes and no. They don’t have Christmas in the religious sense. Christianity is not a popular religion here. The culture has adopted much of the symbolism, however, and has incorporated it into their New Year’s observations, without all of the same practices or trappings as we have at home. There are tinsel, garland, and strings of lights everywhere. A common style is to hang extra long tinsel, strand-by-strand, from the ceilings; a labor intensive process with a big payoff. The glints of rainbow light look great. At the same time, it can be tough to navigate through the jungles of tinsel, as it often hangs down to neck level. There are artificial trees in many of the restaurants and schools. Many people know some of the better-known American Christmas songs, with maybe a dozen versions of "Last Christmas" being the runaway favorites. The culture has a Santa-like New Year's figure. He's an old, bearded man dressed in blue and white, who is like a shepherd of snow and winter, and goes by names such as "Winter Grandfather" and "Old Snow Man;" but some people have taken to calling him Santa.

There is modest gift-giving with candy and snacks being the dominant choices. We’re told socks are pretty popular, too.

Actually, ringing in the new year is a much bigger deal than Christmas, with parties, fireworks and the requisite watching of wrestling on TV. Generally, socializing with co-workers is a very big deal here and usually the spouses are left at home during office parties. The New Year’s bash is no exception, yet Julie’s school colleagues were kind enough to include me in the activities. It was a great time! A wonderful thing about partying with people here is that many people seem to adopt us as instant friends. I liken it to children meeting on the playground for the first time – often a bond develops, almost immediately, and we play together like we’ve been life-long buddies. Part of it is their welcoming, playful nature, part is that Julie and I are a novelty, and part of it, I think, is the “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” condition – have a blast now and the details will not leave the room.

We’re pictured here with two of Julie’s co-workers, Chimgee and Zoloo, seated at a pretty typical holiday table. The cakes are beautiful and ubiquitous and serve as the centerpiece of a New Year's party table. The big, frosted bottle is “Chinggis” vodka, the top of the line here. On New Year's, people get dressed up in their finest. The women often get their hair styled just for this party and wear lavish dresses as if going to the prom. Dusting hair and painting eyes with glitter is common and adorable, even for some of the men.

At the party, we were fed several yummy courses, played games, and danced a lot. Unlike at home, where it is more common to eat first and then dance, the dancing begins right away here. The common method is for people to form a large circle and the braver, zanier dancers take turns in the middle. The dance music varies a lot with some ABBA, hip-hop and techno in the standard dance mix. The big game was a lottery in which nearly everyone won something (Julie even won 1000 tugriks - a whole dollar!), and in another game, I found myself in a bizarre situation – blind-folded with absolutely no clue about what was being said or what I was supposed to do. Zoloo helped me by explaining that I was supposed to feel people and guess who they were. Knowing only a few people in the crowd made the task even stranger. I could only laugh and play along. Julie got to be one of the "feelees," though, so at least I got one right!

Here are a couple of holiday scenes: holiday cakes for sale at the market; a school pageant with students dressed as the 12 different animals in the Chinese zodiak; and another cherub...

We wish you, our dear friends and family many blessings and good times in the year ahead. Happy 2008!!!!!!!

Quality

2007-12-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

For this North American, the birdwatching in Mongolia has been great fun. I've been in-country for about 6 months and I’ve seen about 80 species on occasional weekend treasure hunts. I’ve seen it written that what Mongolia lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. And I’ve been lucky in my short stay to have discovered some very high quality.

Part of my summer was spent in Sukhbaatar soum in Selenge aimag which is located in the country’s extreme north. The area boasts rolling grasslands, small wooded hills and a marsh area just south of the population center.

Among my summer favorites were a pair of Hooded Cranes. I found them only once in the marsh in mid-August, and I’m guessing they were in transit. Also in the marsh, I was delighted to have a Baillon’s Crake slip out of the reeds into plain view and a flyby of the massive Great Bittern. I really enjoyed watching the feeding and flitting of the large flock of resident White-winged Terns. Among the ducks species were Ruddy Shelduck, Garganey, Northern Shoveler and Gadwall. My favorite forest denizens were Hazel Grouse and a cute Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

At the end of August, since Julie and I have lived in Dornod aimag in the extreme east, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the diversity I’ve found in the steppe. I’m lucky to have a large river snaking nearby and a section of it features a largely willow riparian zone. Fall migration did not disappoint with about 40 new entries on my life list – a list that now exceeds 640 different species.

I love owls and the Eurasian Eagle Owl and Oriental Scops Owl I found in Choibalsan are runaway (flyaway?) favorite finds so far. I found the latter at dusk on October 1st. A Dark-throated Thrush caught my attention as it flew up into a nearby tree. Just below the Thrush, the Scops Owl sat perched. I called Julie on my cell phone and she took the 10 minute walk to find us. What a treat!!!

The Bar-headed and Swan Geese have been real prizes as were the Eurasian Nightjar, Japanese Quail and a surprise Chinese Pond Heron on October 4th, which I spooked and got long looks at along the Kherlen River in Choibalsan. Also along the Kherlen, I found a Chinese Grey Shrike on both November 3rd and again on November 11th. It would only allow me to get within about 20 meters before moving off to a more distant perch or to hunt by hovering over the nearby grasslands. This was quite unlike the very tame Northern Shrikes I’m used to in the States. I found it again on November 24th.

The Wryneck, Palla’s Sandgrouse and Eurasian Spoonbill I found this fall have curious appearances while the Azure Tits, Bramblings, Orange-flanked Bush Robins and Daurian Redstarts were all striking.

I’ve been impressed by all the bunting species and in my short time here, I’ve already enjoyed spying the Tristram’s, Rustic, Little, Black-faced, Palla’s and Meadow varieties. I’m told the Tristram’s is a rarity. The winners of the prize for cuteness are the diminutive Lanceolated and Rusty-rumped Warblers who slinked about in the grasses underfoot and would occasionally peer up at me in apparent curiosity. They were adorable.

I’m looking forward to future visits to other habitats in Mongolia and to find some of the real prizes in the world of cranes and raptors. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Meet My Kids and Co-Teachers

2007-11-14T00:28:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd begin this blog entry with the faces of some incredibly cute kids. Actually, I have to say that Mongolian children, in general, are absolutely beautiful. These three are the directors of the "Hello!" chorus we hear every time we leave or enter our building. Originally the refrain sounded more like "Gaddo! Gaddo!" but they're saying "hello" like old pros now.

I also think it's about time that I introduced you to some of my kids and other English teachers at my school. This is my 7th grade class, very proudly showing the animal (and animal parts)

drawings they did. They are a rambuncious group! Like 7th graders everywhere, they LOVE to
chat and mess around with their neighbors in class. They make me absolutely crazy, but they're so lovable. Most of them are enthusiastic about learning English; many have ambitions to study in England or America some day, and some just might get there. I will, supposedly, be teaching these same kids for 2 years, and I'm so happy about that. I hope to be able to really see growth in their language skills, and 2 whole years together should allow me that opportunity. We've done a little bit of singing, but not nearly enough. That's all gonna change next semester, let me tell you!

They love to sing as much as I do, and they sing really well. So, I'm going to start regular fluency practice using songs (just like I used to do with my Flood Brookers) next week, when we begin Semester 2.

On October 30th, we had a Halloween party for the 4th graders and my 7th grade! My English Club kids (10th and 11th graders) ran mask and decoration-making activities, and I did some Halloween games and songs. There were 2 shifts of about 50 4th graders each, and only 3 English club kids present, so it was a rather chaotic
affair. It fit well with one of the songs I sang with the kids, which had the line, "Have you ever seen such a hullabaloo?" in it. I don't know if I ever have, really. But all the kids seemed to have a great time! I took the three English Club kids out for an ice cream afterward. They were absolutely beat.

So, in this picture to the right are some of my 4th grade students. I have 4 4th grade classes, and we meet twice a week. It's almost all games and songs, so I love it. It's a great challenge teaching English to someone who doesn't speak any at all. It forces me to be creative in ways I would never have thought I could be.

One of the nice things about having so few things here, is that it actually makes it easier, sometimes to make decisions. For example, my Halloween costume:

I happened to have brown pants and a green shirt, some construction paper (thanks, Mom!), and Jimmy's hat. Voila, bi mod baina! (That's French and Mongolian for "And so, I'm a tree!") Notice the bird perched on my "crown." Very proud of that one. I think it was Jimmy's idea, though. Halloween has never been a big holiday for me, but it sure was fun to see kids getting so excited about it, and about my costume!

Now, on to my co-teachers. There are 7 other English teachers in my school, and I work with all of them. I have 3 English classes a week for them -- 2 classes with half of them, and 1 with all of them.

I love this picture because most everyone is at least kind of smiling. Usually, Mongolians don't smile for pictures, but they all look happy here! Back row, first woman, is actually a Russian teacher, so I don't really know her. Next is Chimgee, then Ariuntuya, Enkhtuya, Tuul and Saranchimeg. Front row is me, the other Russian teacher, and Zoloo. Sarantuya wasn't there for this photo. They are really a fun bunch of people, and there is plenty of laughter when we work together. I work most closely with Tuul, since she is the other 4th grade English teacher. She has a great sense of humor and is very kind to me. I'm looking forward to getting to know them all better in the next two years.

Finally, here's a picture from the outside of my school, during the opening day celebration, September 1st. The school is huge, though you can't really tell here. There are about 1800 students, but many only go to classes in the morning or afternoon.

The instruments the boys are playing are called "murrinhores, " or "horse-head fiddles." They are strung with just 2 strings, and have a very deep, rather haunting sound. The girl is dancing a traditional Mongolian dance. Her performance was brilliant.

Hope you are all "autumning well," as they say here!

BeauSox

2007-10-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

A tip of the hat to the Yankee Wordsmith, my uncle Bill of Manchester NH for treating me to that moniker. Yes, even here in Mongolia I can follow the exploits of my favorite sports teams. I can use an online feature that gives play-by-play accounts of any baseball, football or basketball game played in the States in nearly real time. This is how I "watched" the Boston/Cleveland Game Seven, yesterday morning.

While there is some excitement in this method, I confess my acute homesickness in times like this. I knew this would be an issue before I left for Asia in June. New England sports fans anticipated a terrific Red Sox season, and why not? They had a 13 game division lead when Julie and I boarded the plane. We anticipated a special Patriots team with their new offensive weapons and look at them - a 7-0 start and on a pace to break the NFL season scoring record. I read of the acrobatic catches Moss makes. It is not the same as watching and cheering them with friends on the couch. Then there's Boston College's great season and the new-found promise of the reconstructed Celtics. I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the DVD season-ending recaps. Sure am looking forward to those.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the best I can from afar and take heart in knowing the fellow fans that I love are having a fabulous time. GO BEAUSOX!!!!!!

Yasan Bay?

2007-10-08T20:30:00.000-05:00

What happened? On Friday October 5th, it was 70's and shorts. On Saturday, winter hit...

Mongolian BBQ

2007-09-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we experienced a version of our first "Mongolian BBQ." Jim's co-workers invited us to the countryside for a picnic in our honor and to "welcome us as friends." Very, VERY sweet!!!

The standard picnic includes a day at the river. It was a typically hot day with temps in the 90's. The Kherlen River is a clean, cool meanderer that was very refreshing for Jim and his new friends. The boys, Jim included, were without bathing suits, but not shy about stripping down to their underwear. To Julie's disappointment, Jim is just shy enough to keep pictures of same off the blog, though. Immodesty has its limits.

The "BBQ" consists of meat, usually sheep or goat, and veggies in a dish called Horhog. The chunks are put into a small can that resembles a milk can we've seen at home. River stones and a little water are also mixed in and the covered can is buried in a fire. Here's the result.

Other standard picnic items include tomatoes, cukes, a bologna-like substance called "hyam," bread and cookies. Beverages are typically sugar-laden fruit juice (apple, peach and pineapple are popular), bottled water, vodka and beer.

We were joined for our feast by a local goat herder who was minding a flock of about 200 for cashmere. After eating, the gang insisted that the two of us hop onto his horse for a brief stroll. I was afraid - not for me, but for the horse, which was a small yearling that would have suffered chronic back trouble supporting me. Julie has a much lighter touch and made another fast friend.

We also had fun playing 2-on-2 soccer with an over-inflated basketball, having river mud fights and singing Mongolian traditional tunes. Julie and I spent a couple afternoon hours exploring a nearby lake and birdlife that included cool species like Palla's Sandgrouse, Eurasion Spoonbills, Saunder's Gulls, along with Swan and Bar-headed Geese.

The closing scenery was quite an impressive end to a fun day!

Our New Town

2007-08-25T23:38:00.000-05:00

We have arrived in our new town! The plane ride from UB was only about an hour and a half, and despite the fact that it was a very small plane, the ride was smooth as silk. I'd been worried about that! Another unfounded concern.

There are 2 other PCVs from our group "stationed" here and 2 who are half way through their service. This town is not on any tourist itinerary, so there are far fewer non-nationals than in UB or the western part of the country. So, even though there are, including several VSO and other service agency volunteers, about 12 non-Mongolians living in town, there are still few enough that we get the wide-open stares most everywhere we go. The little kids don't usually stare -- they just say "hello, hello, hello" over and over again, and as many times as we say it back, they continue. Then, at some point, as we continue past them, we say "good-bye," and then the "good-bye, good-bye, good-bye" chorus begins. They are absolutely adorable kids! Our new town, while topographically challenged, is actually a pleasant town. Even though it's the largest city in the eastern third of the country, it's still more like a big town -- much smaller feeling than Keene or Brattleboro. There is no grass to speak of, but there are people who pick up trash around town, and even brightly-colored mushroom and soccer ball-shaped trash cans for people to use! These are the first public trash cans in wide use that we've seen in Mongolia. (The photo above is the view from our 4th floor apartment window.)

There are several kindergartens, too, all of which have brightly-painted animals and other objects to climb on. Again, we've not seen much of this kind of thing in other parts of Mongolia where we've travelled.

The streets and ubiquitous playgrounds are almost always filled with children. Children of all ages walk freely among the buildings, unaccompanied, and moms and dads don't have to worry about them. Emays and Ovwos (grandmothers and grandfathers), in their traditional deels, are also here, although their numbers are quickly declining. The young people have little or no interest in the traditional clothing; we feel so fortunate to be here when there are still those that do.

We love how we can address any old woman or man as grandmother and grandfather. There's, essentially, no such thing as a person who chooses not to have children, so virtually all older people have grandchildren. And other adults, we refer to as "ekch" (older sister), "ahk" (older brother), or "doo" (younger sister or brother). The words for woman, man and child are rarely used. I love that! Instant extended family!

Our apartment is very nice! We actually have 2 bedrooms! The paint is peeling and there's a weird smell that comes from the bathroom drain, but other than that, it's great!

Here's our kitchen.

Here's our living room.

It's everything we DIDN'T expect to be living in when we came to Mongolia! We have grieved our lack of a countryside placement (and ger-living), but are allowing ourselves to fully appreciate what we do have here.

Jim has begun his work as a business trainer and consultant and school starts for Julie this week! More to come...

Successes!

2007-08-19T03:33:00.000-05:00

Chapter one closes and chapter two begins with some great feelings of accomplishment. Last week, at our "Host Family Appreciation" ceremony, Jimmy,

the man whom I have tried to teach to waltz for, oh, about
17 years now, won a dancing contest! It was a formal, waltz-
type dance, and his partner was his language teacher. The teachers all got to choose who they wanted to dance with, and Jimmy's teacher, Tuya, chose him. Smart cookie, Tuya. Tuya is about 5' 1" and pregnant, and she and Tom Bagway (Mongolian for "Big Bear" - the name most other PC folks and many Mongolians call him) looked ridiculously cute
dancing together. We think that may have been the real reason he won. The other medal was indisputably deserved,

however, since it was for volleyball, and Jimmy's team was, by far, the best (of 6) to play. The Mongolians take their competitions very seriously, and since Jimmy does too, it worked out beautifully for everyone. We both felt, though, like it was very surreal to experience Jimmy receiving a medal for dancing. Another one of those highly unexpected experiences here. I also sang a song with my little sister, and I wish you all could have heard her sing. Absolutely lovely.

This week we are in UB (Ulaanbaatar) for final training sessions, to meet our supervisors for our new jobs, and for our official Peace Corps swearing-in. My supervisor is Sarantsetseg (Mongolian for "moonflower"), who is the principal of my new school, and who seems really willing to work closely with me. The school has about 1500 students and 80 teachers, and I'm slated to teach 5th, 7th and 11th grade English classes, work 6+ hours a week on teaching methodology and English language lessons with other language teachers, 2 hours a week teaching English to non-language teachers, 3 hours a week running "English Clubs," and 2 hours meeting with and tutoring my principal in English. I've been told that that schedule is highly preliminary, so we'll see when we get there what I really end up teaching. Jimmy's supervisor, Enkhbaatar, is a jovial young guy who Jimmy feels will be really flexible with him as well. In the photo, that's me and my supervisor, Sarah and Cassandra (who will be in the same town with us) and their supervisors, and Jimmy and Enkhbaatar. The photo was taken at the theater in UB where we had our swearing-in ceremony.

The "tsamts" we are wearing (check out the sleeves on mine!) were custom-made for us by our host families. That's a standard, and incredibly wonderful and generous gift that host families most always give to their PC trainees. Mine is absolutely gorgeous.

I was asked to sing the same song I sang with my sister at the appreciation event, at the swearing-in ceremony. It went over really well! One Mongolian teacher actually told me that my accent sounded like a real Mongolian was singing! I couldn't have had a nicer compliment.

And, finally, I thought you might like to get a look at some of the folks with whom I have spent the last 2 1/2 months, laughing, learning and exploring. In the photo are 8 of the 11 PCTs who trained in the same school as me, and our two teachers. Starting on the left, it's me, Cassandra, Agee, Tsetsgay, Dwan, Chris, Jacob, Alli, James, Charlene and Peter. Peter and I did our practise teaching together, and had a blast the whole time. His wife, Cady, lived right next door to Jimmy, and the two of them also had a great time together this summer.

We've now already said good-bye to most of these folks, until we meet again in December for our In-Service Training week back here in UB. We head out at 5AM to the airport, then take a 2+ hour flight to our new city. It's going to be so weird to have our very first apartment-building experience take place in Mongolia! We also have our PC issued cell phones, which everyone is having fun watching us try to figure out.

So, in our next entry we'll be able to tell you all about our new community of Choibalsan! Meanwhile, happy back-to-school for many of you, and enjoy these last glorious days of summer.

Julie's Family's Turn

2007-08-07T02:29:00.000-05:00

Now it's my turn to tell you all about MY wonderful host family. Wish I'd had time to do it earlier, since, at this point, we have actually moved on. But I certainly intend to stay in touch with these lovely people while I'm here in Mongolia and beyond.

My mom, Haltar, is an absolute stitch. She cracks me up every day with the way she pretends she is going to have a nervous breakdown if I don't eat more dinner. She has so many endearing mannerisms, including referring to herself in the third person all the time. I think that might be a cultural thing; mothers here are very highly esteemed, and moms wear their titles as well-earned badges of honor. She loves to laugh and does so most of the day. She is also highly respected in the community, as she is a medical doctor. Everyone knows her. When I come home from visiting Jimmy in the center of town, all I have to tell the taxi driver is "I'd like to go to the doctor's house." They say, "Oh, Haltar," and take me right to my door. My dad, Nansungsuring, is just as cute and sweet. They're both around 57 years old. They both treat me like I am truly their daughter, and they treat each other with a tenderness and affection that is, apparently, quite unusual here. They are the world's cutest couple.

My sister, Boloroh, who is in the photo with us, is 17, with the maturity of a 25 year-old and the playfulness of a 5 year-old. She has taught me bunches of games and 2 beautiful Mongolian folk songs, that I will sing at our "Host Family Appreciation" ceremony this weekend. She sings like a sweet songbird, and she's just as beautiful, inside and out. Everywhere we go, she puts her arm in mine. She is also an incredibly patient and helpful teacher. I don't know how she can hear me ask the same questions a dozen times and, each time, act like it is a perfectly reasonable question. I don't know what I'd have done without her.

My 19 year-old sister, Egee, is in the photo to the right. She was only here with us for 2 weeks, since she's a university student in Ulaanbaatar now. Her impact on me was great, though. She is also a beautiful, patient and loving young woman.

The best thing about my family, though, is the laughter. We laugh constantly! Sometimes we laugh at my language mistakes, but usually we just laugh at those things that don't require language to understand. I feel like the Peace Corps couldn't have done a more perfect job in placing me with my family. We all have similar sensibilities, plus there are no little kids banging on my door at all hours, like some of the other trainees have. Those other trainees are fine with their situation, too, so I think we were pretty much all put with families into which we fit great.

So, this week we said very tearful good-byes to our families, with great hopes of visiting often during the next 2 years. These people will certainly live in my heart forever.

Caihan Naadarai!!!

2007-07-27T03:59:00.001-05:00

While we melt in the summer heat, may we bid you a belated Caihan Naadarai!!! Using the English alphabet, this is the closest we can get to wishing a great Naadam holiday to you. We experienced our first Naadam, one of the biggest holidays/festivals here. The word, Naadam, derives from the word “naad,” meaning play or rejoice. The festival is an Olympiad of sorts, featuring the “three manly games:” wrestling, archery and horse racing. These games, originating long before Chinggis Khan’s reign in the 1200s, were originally contests of warriors’ skills. The games are held annually in July and span 3 days. Despite being referred to as “manly” sports, women are allowed to compete in archery and horse racing.

Mongolian wrestling is at least as old as the 3rd century B.C. There are no weight classes. It was not surprising to learn that with the hundreds of takedown moves available, the larger man does not always win. The loser in a bout is determined when any body part other than his feet or palms of his hands touch the ground. In the national games in Ulaanbaatar, the field started with 512 wrestlers in a single-elimination tournament. Our Sukhbaater Nadaam began with a field of 256.

The Naadam archers are skilled at hitting targets from great distances. The men take aim from 75 meters away with the women finding the mark from 60 meters. The target is interesting. The archery officials set up a small wall on the ground composed of small cylinders having cork cores and braided leather strap coverings. These cylinders are stacked creating a wall 50 centimeters high and 4 meters long. An archer’s rubber tipped arrow must hit the wall to score. The 6-8 judges for the Sukhbaatar Naadam would wave their arms and sing a brief song to explain a shot’s accuracy.

The horse racing is impressive, but challenging to fully appreciate because the jockeys run a 15-30 kilometer course laid out across open land guided by signs. There are no tracks. There are six age classes of horses and children as young as five run the fast ones because of the kids’ smaller size. The top five finishers are honored with airag (fermented mares’ milk) and the crowd sings songs in praise of the winners. In classic Mongolian fashion, a special song of engouragement is reserved for the last place finisher as well.

Food, and LOTS of it, are a feature of every festival. A standard for Naadam are meat and/or potato hoshers. These are deep fried “hot pockets” filled with minced meat, potatoes, onions and spices. They are simply delicious!!!

The games and big party were lots of fun and we’re looking forward to sharing the experience with those who are lucky enough to visit us here in the future.

Welcome to My World!

2007-07-13T01:37:00.000-05:00

Hi again. Jim here. We are now midway through our initial training and the end is in sight. Predictably, the summer is flying by for us. This week marked Mongolia's largest national festival called Nadaam, which is the second oldest-known athletic competition, the Athenian Olympics being older. Next post, we'll tell you more about it.

Meanwhile, it's high time for an introduction to my family and such. Pictured above is my family. They have all spoiled me rotten as is customary treatment for a foreign guest. My "mother," Hishgay is pictured in the lower left. She has a great sense of humor and will force feed me (just shy of physically doing so). She will thank me when I insist I'm full. Just to Hishgay's left is my little sister Gahnaa, who is my best pronunciation coach. She will accentuate the syllables repeatedly for me, getting right in my face to make sure I'm getting them right. She's a big reason I did well in the pronunciation aspect of our recent language test. To my left is my younger "father," Gahnsuhk who is an able handyman, carpenter and a lover of sports, particularly Mongolian and sumo wrestling. He's an excellent shahray and volleyball player, too. Seated behind us is Hishgay's younger brother Ontgo, who has been working in the capital UB this summer. From what I can tell, he's a sweet, soft-spoken young man. Lastly, and certainly not least, is my 16-yr old sister ("doo"), Mongono. She has been my closest attendant who so kindly cooks for us and escorts me to new places in town until I learn to understand directions. They are a wonderful family that has made my existence here comfortable and distraction-free. You may have noticed that I'm the only one smiling. They do like me - honest! It is customary to strike a serious look when photographed despite the joy they take in photography and in sharing photos.

This photo is from my balcony. Yes, I have a small balcony, which is not close to normal for homes here. I have a large second floor room and the balcony has been a great place for me to study and watch some of the Mongolian world go by. I saw THE best lightning show ever from this perch last night.

The women pictured here is my language trainer, Tuya. She has been fantastic and I feel really fortunate to have her as a teacher. She understands a lot of English and though she doesn't use it in her instruction, it has been great when she can often confirm our suspicions about translations. Part of the challenge of all-Mongolian, all-the-time in class is having to struggle to figure out grammar rules and occasionally wondering if the interpretation we decide on is even correct. This happens, regardless the level of English competency a trainer has. Tuya's English capability has reduced a lot of uncertainty for the fortunate few in her class. I am blessed in many ways.

We continue to miss our friends and family a ton, and the constant distraction of newness, all and everyday, does not come close to mitigating that. We hope you are well.

It's A Good Tired!

2007-06-26T03:58:00.000-05:00

Hello again from the, aptly-named, Land of Big Sky. Jim here to report that our first three weeks have been filled with language training, laughing at ourselves and with loving, hospitable host families. Our first week of orientation was spent in Darkhan, one of the bigger Mongolian cities north of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Our first day featured an official welcoming ceremony when we were each presented with blue silk “khadags,” a gift of thanks and respect. We were treated to a marvelous performance of traditional music and dance. We had been wondering when, exactly, the realization would hit us that we really are taking this journey. For me, this ceremony was that time as it marked the literal beginning of our service here and the epiphanal moment when the surreal transformed into the very real. It was the “This is really happening” jolt and my eyes welled up with feelings of satisfaction and pride.

In our host city of Sukhbaatar, the training throughout, be it on language, culture, safety and our program areas, has been terrific. The language training has been pretty intense and exhausting. The language trainers do not use English in class and we rely on each other as classmates to do interpretation. Often we find ourselves staring within inches into the mouths of our trainers in attempts to answer the frequent question “how are they making that sound?” For some sounds, there are no English equivalents. We must sound very funny to people here and our mispronunciation can lead to many laughs. For example, if you don’t say the phrase “It doesn’t matter” just right, you might actually be claiming to have “no nose.” This training period is flying by. We can’t believe we have only 5 weeks of language training until final testing. We have to be capable enough to survive here on our own before we are released to our assigned homes at the end of August.

Our host families have been wonderful to us. The living conditions are not like you’d expect in the States, but we are comfortable and all our needs are being met. The food has been really good. The meals for many families here in Sukhbaatar typically consist of some combination of meat (often beef), potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, garlic, rice and noodles. It’s amazing how many yummy dishes can be created. Our favorites have been something called tsuivan, which consists of the main ingredients above, along with boodz and hoeshuurs, forms of meat dumplings that are steamed or fried. Delicious!!! We’ve had a few opportunities to try organ meats, which we’ve passed on thus far. We can’t truly predict what ingredients will normally be available to us when we’re “at-site,” but we should be okay.

Next time we post, we to have family photos to share and we'll tell you about these fantastic people.

Our internet access is limited and we are often moving at sub-dialup speed. We’re finding that during this summer with the intense schedule that this is the most efficient way to communicate. We are very thankful for the emails we receive via our hotmail address and for the letters and packages we get. A couple notes about communications, though: the comments you write on the blog here (which we love to get) are for the world’s eyes, so if you want to be more personal, email is the way to go. Also, please let us know by email if you’ve sent us anything via the postal service. While we’ve gratefully received some mailings we can’t know if your delivery made it here okay, otherwise.

Please know that we finding our experiences to be demanding and exhilarating. Generally, we can find comfort and there’s awesomeness all around us. While we know we can’t change the world, we can help satisfy some basic desires of the wonderful people here and that’s so very rewarding.

Orientation, Week 1

2007-06-08T05:56:00.000-05:00

What a ride! And where to start??

After a restful layover, following our 15 hr flight to Seoul, we were ready to meet Mongolia face-to-face with no jet lag.

We were greeted at the airport in Ulaanbaatar, the capitol of Mongolia, by a boisterous group of currently serving volunteers who gave us a heroes welcome. We took a bus, in the dark, to our ger camp (see photo) for the night. It was perfect that we didn't get to see where we were until waking up in the very early morning to see the sun rise over the mountains behind us. Julie was practically in tears from the impact of realizing, suddenly, that we were really looking out on Mongolia. Its beauty met all of our expectations.

As the sun rose, Jimmy and I stepped out to a sky full of magpies, wheatears, hoopoes and the magnificent black-eared kites. It was a sublime beginning to our journey here.

Later in the day, and a four-hour, extremely hot and sweaty bus ride later, we arrived in Darkhan, an aimag (provincial) center north of Ulaanbaatar. The heat was NOT what we anticipated as a big weather challenge for us, but it is HOT right now! The Mongolians are saying that its hotter than usual -- about 90 degrees lately!

We are now in Darkhan, an old, highly Russian-influenced city, for our first four days, to meet the PC folks we'll be working with and to prepare us for our homestays (in Sukhbaatar) which begin next week. The language training we're getting is phenomenal. Julie keeps wishing she was using these techniques when she was teaching at home-- although she's proud to say that she has done a couple of activities that she used to use in her classroom. Lots of games, repetition, and laughter, and zero English. While learning the language is daunting, we're feeling less concerned about our effectiveness here and believe we'll be successful.

The training has been excellent, and the people have been wonderful to work and play with. Our Mongolian language teachers are a group of absolutely adorable, incredibly sweet, funny and highly effective women, who we all adore. And our colleagues are full of enthusiasm and warmth. We never feel funny about inviting ourselves to hang out with anyone at all, and no one seems shy to do that with us. We are thoroughly delighted to be part of this incredible group of people, collaborating on this incredible experience.

In two days we'll step over (not on - bad luck here) the thresholds of our homes for the next 2 1/2 months, and meet our new families. We are filled with butterflies, but know we will be embraced as special members of the family.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read our blog!

Smooth Sailing

2007-05-24T09:52:00.000-05:00

Jim here. We are really going to Mongolia.

The last couple of month's have moved along smoothly. We've been able to save the money we want, get our legal documents (POAs, wills, etc.) in order, locate and train successors for my dozen or so bookkeeping clients, and pay many visits to many dear friends. We had a fantastic 10 days in Vieques in April, and in May we moved from Weston, VT to Spofford (Chesterfield), NH. With a beautiful day and the help and company of Mace, Kelly and Dave Wicker, Tom Spiro, Julie's brother Matt, Diane Goodman, Ron Mack, Betty (Marm) Zinn and Stu Carswell, how could anyone go wrong? Thanks to you all, kind friends.

We leave for a 2-day orientation in Atlanta May 31st, and then on June 2nd, fly 15 hours to Seoul, So. Korea. From there it's a couple of hours to Ulaanbataar, Mongolia's capital. Julie and I may be in the same training group, though that's not likely. We do know we'll be living with separate host families. While living apart will be a real test of our resilience as individuals, we appreciate the policy to fully immerse us into the culture. We understand that removing the avenues to English-speaking will speed our learning of the Mongolian language. It will be more than a little daunting, too.

Our going away party on the 27th will be a major highlight for us -- so many wonderful people. We will deeply miss our family and friends. I trust that the Mongolian experience will be an intense ride and I look forward to hearing from folks to bring me smiles from home.

We tell ourselves that we're handing our fates over to the universe and we'll see what positive comes of it. Knock on wood; so far, so good.

56 Days and Counting

2007-04-09T08:36:00.000-05:00

It has now been about 16 months since we began this whole Peace Corps process, and after all of the forms, surveys, medical and dental examinations, emails with current volunteers, planning for financial matters, logistical planning, etc. etc., it seems that this thing is really going to happen. Last week, PC sent us a survey that asked about our preferences for a host family situation. I guess that means they are really planning on us coming!

We decided to create this blog to help us stay easily in contact with our wonderful friends and family. We have no idea if it is something that we'll be able to add to regularly, but we will update it as often as possible while in Mongolia. We hope that you will check it occasionally, and leave comments, questions and suggestions when you can.

We are really excited to share our experiences with you!

Julie and Jim