Moultons in Malaysia

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!

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!!!

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

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

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

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?

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