This second week in Tsetserleg has been much better than my first week here. Last week I suffered some serious bouts of homesickness and feelings of purposelessness, and those added to my continuing frustration with Khan Bank made me a bit miserable. I wasn’t able to buy any of the things I needed for my apartment until this Wednesday, because there were continuous screw ups at the bank. The PC uses the Trade and Development bank in UB, but since there isn’t one in Arkhangai, I had to have my money transferred to Khan Bank, which was supposed to have happened by the middle of the first week I was here, but last Saturday, after standing in “line” at the bank for nearly an hour, I was told my money was not there. So Monday I called the PC office, and was told that the bank had sent my money to some soum or other, and that it should be there by Monday afternoon. So Tuesday I took the afternoon off work so that I could go to the bank and then go to the market and do some shopping. But, of course, when I went to the bank; still no money. After three calls to the PC and as many trips to the bank, my money was finally there at about 5 pm.
Going to the bank in Mongolia is kind of a stressful experience. Mongolians do not know how to stand in a line, or maybe they do, they just don’t feel like it. So you have to stand there squashed up against the person in front of you, with someone breathing down your neck behind you. And it never fails that as soon as I am the next person to go, Mongolians come out of the woodwork and start trying to shove their papers at the teller from either side of me. I guess it’s because I’m a foreigner, and they think they can get away with it. But it is really annoying! Occasionally a bank worker will come and point out the red line on the floor about three feet back and insist that everyone standing in line wait BEHIND the red line. That usually lasts about 5 minutes. Because of the language barrier, as soon as the teller tells me “no money” I can’t ask questions or try to figure out what is going on, I just get shoved aside and my turn is up.
Luckily my frustration was somewhat mitigated by the fact that Jeff and Greg (two of the TEFL volunteers who live in soums close to Tsetserleg) were in town. Their directors had brought them in for a conference (so they thought) but it turned out they didn’t have to go to the conference, they just had time to do some shopping and “play with their American friend.” So, even though I didn’t have money on Tuesday, I went to the market with them and got a better idea of where things were. Every time I go to the market I see new things. Everything is pretty disorganized and just kind of piled on top of other things, so unless you look really closely, it’s hard to find anything. But by now I have been there several times, and am starting to get a feel of it. And also the fact that I was unable to do any shopping on Tuesday (the market closes at 6), meant that I was able to take Wednesday morning off work as well. I had to go back to work at 6 on Tuesday to teach my daily English lesson to my coworkers, so I told my counterpart what had happened and she said it was OK if I came in at 3 the next day. We also drank some Aireg during the lesson, which made it a little more interesting.
Wednesday morning Jeff, Greg and I went to Fairfield’s for breakfast. Fairfield’s is such an amazing place. The owners are super nice, and it’s kind of an ExPat/Tourist hangout, so I got to meet a woman who works at the German NGO here, and you get to see all the tourists when you go there. Also, they have breakfast! And good coffee. I had some delicious scrambled eggs on toast with fresh tomatoes. It pretty much made my day. And I had money so I was able to go to the market and buy a bunch of stuff for my apartment afterwards.
Shopping at the market in Mongolia is an experience. You can bargain for things, which is nice, but also kind of tiring. I bought my electric wok (an amazing and necessary device in which you can cook ANYTHING) and my electric water boiler from a lady who Greg had bought some stuff from the day before. When Greg was buying stuff he was bargaining with her, and she loved it. Mongolians seem to really appreciate it when they can’t pull a fast one on you. I’m sure they like the extra income when they can, but they respect you a lot more when you know enough Mongolian to be able to bargain with them. Profit margins here are extremely low, so you can’t really bargain much, but you can usually save a dollar or two on larger purchases (2,000 Tugriks is enough to buy a good meal, so it pays to bargain for them!). I bargained the woman down by 1,500 Tugriks, and she acted very put-out, but then gave me a huge smile and told me to please come again. It was most gratifying! I also made my first Mongolian friend at the market that day. I was looking at a blanket, and a girl came up to me and asked me, in English, what I was looking for. So we started talking and I told her I was a Peace Corps Volunteer, working with businesses and that I was going to be living in Tsetserleg for two years. She is a business administration student in UB, and studies English in her free time, and was there helping her Mom out that day. Her English is fantastic, and unfortunately she left for UB on Thursday for school, but I got her email address and she took mine. It was so exciting to make a friend here, it made me feel like I really will be able to integrate into this community.
Thursday was the first day I actually felt good about work. The past two weeks I have pretty much just spent the whole day playing on the internet and reading stuff from the UB Mercy Corps office. It’s getting old really fast, and I haven’t really felt like there is any point in me being here. But Thursday afternoon I got to visit two clients. First Uunee and I went to one of our newer clients, who dries meat. Dried meat is a big thing here. I don’t particularly care for it, my host sister made a soup with it once over the summer, and it was kind of gross. But it travels well and it’s a good way to have meat in the winter when they don’t really slaughter animals as much. Uunee and I visited the client’s apartment, where they had a giant pile of dried meat sitting on sheets in one of the rooms. It was a little gross. But he has contracts with several super markets in UB, and the profit margin is pretty good.
After the meat drier, we drove out to Bulgan soum, which is 36 km (or an hour and a half) away. We visited a client there who has a carpentry business in the winter, and a tourist Ger camp in the summer. The wife, Gerlee, is an English teacher at the soum school, and is pretty much fluent. So I talked to her, and she told me about her Ger camp. They are partners with an American couple who live in Nepal. The American couple brings groups of tourists every summer, and they stay for 10 days to 2 weeks. The Ger camp sounds really cool. They have horse trekking, and they organize a mini Nadaam and do all kinds of other stuff. They are also organizing a Polo team this summer. There is a French guy who owns a really big Ger camp in another Aimeg who is really big on Polo. He apparently sponsors Polo matches in Mongolia and brings in Polo players from Argentina and France. Gerlee was really nice, and when she found out that I ride horses, invited me to come out to their Ger camp next summer and help out. I can’t really think of anything I would rather do! And I will definitely take my family there when they come next summer. I think my sister will be really excited about the Polo playing. Polo would be a really great sport to start in Mongolia. The horses are small and hardy and everyone here is a superb rider, so once they learn Polo there will be no stopping them! And, currently, they don’t really have any organized horse sports. Racing at Nadaams is big, but it’s not an industry and there really isn’t any money to be made from it.
The jeep ride to and from Bulgan soum was also great. Uunee was absolutely thrilled to learn that I can, in fact, speak some Mongolian. She would say a simple sentence in English, and I would translate it into Mongolian (what is a simple sentence in English is always much more complex in Mongolian, the grammar is hard!) and she would giggle and clap her hands and just be SO excited. It was great! So we went back and forth with English and Mongolian. I taught her some new words and grammar, and she taught me some. And we talked about the education systems in Mongolia and America and healthcare. She also invited me over to her house this Sunday, which I’m excited about. I started to feel like I am a part of things here. Sitting in the office behind my computer doing nothing all day definitely does not make me feel like my existence has a point. I’m really excited to start visiting clients and getting involved in things.
I also pitched my idea for a secondary project, which Uunee was really excited about. I want to make a website for all the Arkhangai tourist camps (there are 13 in this Aimeg). I have been searching the internet, and I couldn’t find any websites for Ger camps. The only things I found were organized tours put together by tourist companies. And reading through the itineraries pretty much horrified me. One that I read through was a 15 day tour, and it went from UB up to Selenge Aimeg, to Hovsgul, down to Arkhangai, and then I think to the Gobi before going back to UB for 3 days for Nadaam. That sounds like fun, you get to see a lot of the country, but any one who has done any traveling in Mongolia knows that it would be absolutely miserable. You would spend your whole trip in a mikr, and probably a good portion of it on the side of the road with a broken down mikr. No fun at all. The tour had you spending one night pretty much everywhere you go, which pretty much means you will arrive somewhere exhausted and pissed off, and then leave the next morning. I think that if tourists could find their own Ger camps and plan their own route, they would enjoy themselves a lot more.
Now that I have some ideas and have experienced doing something productive, I am feeling a lot better about the next two years. I had planned to make my first buuz (steamed dumplings) on Thursday night for dinner (now that I have my magical Wok!!!), but I was fed at the client’s house in Bulgan soum, and we didn’t get back until 8:30 pm. So I guess it will have to be a Friday night project, it’s not like I have a whole lot else to do with my Friday night. :)
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
The First Week
I have now been here one week. It's been interesting, but it is definitely going to take me some time to adjust. I did finally get a bed, and a bookshelf, and a kitchen table with one chair (I guess you can't have everything). I have developed a few new problems in my apartment though. Any time I run water in my bathroom sink or tub it floods my bathroom. I first noticed that when I did laundry last week, but then it would only flood sometimes... Now I can't even brush my teeth without creating a minor flood. When I got to work this morning I told Hongoroo about it, so we walked over to my apartment so she could see for herself. Supposedly the plumber will come this afternoon (maybe, if he isn't busy). More likely it will be "margash." I was also unpleasantly surprised to find out that in the Summer Tsetserleg doesn't get any hot water. I was first told that I would have hot water on Saturdays and Sundays, then when I got here they told me Saturdays. I didn't have any hot water this weekend, so much for my weekly shower. This morning Hongoroo told me that hot water comes on Sunday mornings and evenings, but then later she said that hot water doesn't come until September. I do have a water heater attached to my shower, but it currently doesn't work. She said that we can get it fixed though. Without a hot shower there is no point in living in an apartment, I would rather live in a ger!
My first week of work was pretty boring. I spent a lot of time reading through reports and other stuff that the UB office emailed for me to read. Then I read all of the client business plans that have been translated into English. I have learned that RASP mainly does trainings and helps to facilitate loans. We do technical trainings as well as trainings about business principles. And RASP has an agreement with several banks and will put up a portion of the collateral needed for clients to get a loan. The banking/loan system in Mongolia is much different than at home. The interest rates here are ridiculously high, usually about 2.5%-3% per MONTH, and the loaner has to put up collateral equal to about 1.5 times the amount of the loan. You can imagine it is really difficult for a lot of people to get loans. So RASP will work with small business owners, help them develop a good business plan and then put up a percentage of the collateral. That way the client can get a lower interest rate (because RASP puts up cash collateral, so that part of the loan is guaranteed) and build up credit with the bank. Our clients are pretty much all part of the agriculture industry, from herder cooperatives, veterinary clinics, vegetable growers, as well as tourist ger camps. From what I understand, tourism is our big thing this year, we are supposed to do a value chain analysis. I'm excited to help work on that. Arkhangai has 13 tourist ger camps, and a lot of cool stuff for tourists to see. We have hot springs, a volcano, a canyon and a lake with really good fishing. There are also a lot of herders, with yak, horses and camels. One of the main problems I can see with the tourist industry in Arkhangai, though, is that it is really tough to get out here. There isn't a paved road, and it is a LONG drive from UB. There also isn't a railroad or a working airport.
Once I finished all the reading, I didn't really have much to do. I'm really not sure yet how I fit into the office, and what I am supposed to do all day. I have started giving English lessons to my coworkers. Uunee and Hongoroo have pretty good English, so they want me to teach them grammar (gulp!). I created a worksheet on simple past tense this morning, so we will see how that goes over during this evening's lesson.
Last weekend I had big plans to do some shopping for my apartment. So on Saturday I went to the bank, and after standing in line for close to an hour was told that my money was not there. That was a bit upsetting, as the PC had told me it should be there by Wednesday at the latest. There was nothing I could do about it then, because it was the weekend. So I decided to just walk around town and scope it out. This morning I called the Cashier at PC, and it turns out the bank had made a mistake and sent my money to the wrong bank or something weird like that. I'm not sure how that is possible, since they had my account number, but oh well. Supposedly my money will be there this afternoon, and I will probably take an afternoon off work this week so I can buy some things that I need. The electric burners that were provided to me in my apartment are really crappy. One burner doesn't work, and the other will only come on high, but then randomly turns itself off and then back on after several minutes. It took me 3 hours to boil soup, so I'm probably going to just buy myself a new burner. I already feel bad about all the complaining I've had to do about my apartment.
Tsetserleg is really beautiful, and I'm really happy that I was placed here. I can't wait to do some traveling out in the country in Arkhangai! I'm hoping I will have a chance to ride a horse in the very near future!
Update:
It seems that all the problems in my bathroom are now solved. My landlord and Hongoroo came over after lunch, and my landlord showed me how to use the hotwater heater (apparently it's a bit tricky, and you have to do it just right or it doesn't work). Then the "plummer" showed up, with only a wrench. He sort of pulled apart my sink, and basically just stuffed a piece of one of my towels that he cut up down around the drain or something, and no more leaking! We'll see if that holds up tonight when I take a shower. And they even fixed my toilet! It didn't really flush before, I had to pour water down it while I flushed it. It took all three of them, some scissors and some string that we borrowed from my neighbor, and it's fixed!
My first week of work was pretty boring. I spent a lot of time reading through reports and other stuff that the UB office emailed for me to read. Then I read all of the client business plans that have been translated into English. I have learned that RASP mainly does trainings and helps to facilitate loans. We do technical trainings as well as trainings about business principles. And RASP has an agreement with several banks and will put up a portion of the collateral needed for clients to get a loan. The banking/loan system in Mongolia is much different than at home. The interest rates here are ridiculously high, usually about 2.5%-3% per MONTH, and the loaner has to put up collateral equal to about 1.5 times the amount of the loan. You can imagine it is really difficult for a lot of people to get loans. So RASP will work with small business owners, help them develop a good business plan and then put up a percentage of the collateral. That way the client can get a lower interest rate (because RASP puts up cash collateral, so that part of the loan is guaranteed) and build up credit with the bank. Our clients are pretty much all part of the agriculture industry, from herder cooperatives, veterinary clinics, vegetable growers, as well as tourist ger camps. From what I understand, tourism is our big thing this year, we are supposed to do a value chain analysis. I'm excited to help work on that. Arkhangai has 13 tourist ger camps, and a lot of cool stuff for tourists to see. We have hot springs, a volcano, a canyon and a lake with really good fishing. There are also a lot of herders, with yak, horses and camels. One of the main problems I can see with the tourist industry in Arkhangai, though, is that it is really tough to get out here. There isn't a paved road, and it is a LONG drive from UB. There also isn't a railroad or a working airport.
Once I finished all the reading, I didn't really have much to do. I'm really not sure yet how I fit into the office, and what I am supposed to do all day. I have started giving English lessons to my coworkers. Uunee and Hongoroo have pretty good English, so they want me to teach them grammar (gulp!). I created a worksheet on simple past tense this morning, so we will see how that goes over during this evening's lesson.
Last weekend I had big plans to do some shopping for my apartment. So on Saturday I went to the bank, and after standing in line for close to an hour was told that my money was not there. That was a bit upsetting, as the PC had told me it should be there by Wednesday at the latest. There was nothing I could do about it then, because it was the weekend. So I decided to just walk around town and scope it out. This morning I called the Cashier at PC, and it turns out the bank had made a mistake and sent my money to the wrong bank or something weird like that. I'm not sure how that is possible, since they had my account number, but oh well. Supposedly my money will be there this afternoon, and I will probably take an afternoon off work this week so I can buy some things that I need. The electric burners that were provided to me in my apartment are really crappy. One burner doesn't work, and the other will only come on high, but then randomly turns itself off and then back on after several minutes. It took me 3 hours to boil soup, so I'm probably going to just buy myself a new burner. I already feel bad about all the complaining I've had to do about my apartment.
Tsetserleg is really beautiful, and I'm really happy that I was placed here. I can't wait to do some traveling out in the country in Arkhangai! I'm hoping I will have a chance to ride a horse in the very near future!
Update:
It seems that all the problems in my bathroom are now solved. My landlord and Hongoroo came over after lunch, and my landlord showed me how to use the hotwater heater (apparently it's a bit tricky, and you have to do it just right or it doesn't work). Then the "plummer" showed up, with only a wrench. He sort of pulled apart my sink, and basically just stuffed a piece of one of my towels that he cut up down around the drain or something, and no more leaking! We'll see if that holds up tonight when I take a shower. And they even fixed my toilet! It didn't really flush before, I had to pour water down it while I flushed it. It took all three of them, some scissors and some string that we borrowed from my neighbor, and it's fixed!
Monday, August 20, 2007
A Bunch of Random Pictures
The Sukhbaatar training group with our LCFs after site announcement
A crazy scary cloud in Sukhbaatar
Our Case Study presentation. Boloroo (our client who makes yak wool products), Jim, Me, Salomon, and Cady
Mongolian Traditional Food: boatz, with fly of course
Landscape picture from the drive between Darkhan and Sukhbaatar
Nadaam Hoshur (there are two ways to make hoshur, either as a hot-pocket like thing, or you roll it out flat after you put the meat in the middle of a pocket of dough)
Me and Cady painting chess boards at the school where we did our training. This was our training group's community project
Cady and Me at Oasis my last night in UB
Me and Dashzegve, my new boss
Cady and Me after Swearing In
Sukhbaatar Square in UB
Parliament Building in UB
Me, Tuya (LCF) and Cady at Host Family Appreciation Day
The CED group at our last training session
Melissa doing a Mongolian Traditional Dance at Host Family Appreciation Day
Me and my adoptive Host Family (aka Cady's host family)
The Garden
I have finally made it to my site. Tsetserleg is beautiful. There are mountains surrounding the town, and there are trees everywhere. It is a pretty small town, my apartment is on the edge, and from my balcony I can see the other side. Getting here was quite an adventure. We swore in on Saturday, and then Sunday morning my supervisor, Dashzeveg, and I left. He called me at 9:30 (I have a cell phone now!) and arrived at the dorms to pick me up about half an hour later. We got in a taxi and drove to the micr stand. At the time I wasn’t sure if we were taking the taxi all the way here, because Dashzeveg had told me that he would find a car and then pick me up. I was a little scared about the taxi, because we had been driving for about 4 minutes when it died. It was raining really hard, and we were just stuck there in the middle of the road in UB for like 15 minutes while the driver got out and looked and the engine, then tried to start the car over and over again. Finally it started, and I was quite happy when we arrived at the Micr stand and got out of the dysfunctional taxi. We were some of the first people in the Micr. They wait until it is full before they leave. We packed it pretty full. There were 16 people in it by the time we were on our way, not including the driver. But that number did include about 3 small children, and they don’t really count apparently. I was squished in the very back seat with three other people. There were two other foreigners on the Micr, a couple who is touring Mongolia for three weeks. One was from Germany, and one from France. They seemed a little perturbed by the Mongolian way of doing things, and they spoke no Mongolian at all, which meant they had a hard time. They kept asking the driver “what time will we leave,” and it was all I could do not to laugh. Mongolian drivers never have a set time of departure, they may give a time, but basically it’s when the car is full.
We finally got on our way, only to get stuck in the mud after about 20 minutes. We weren’t really even out of UB yet, we were still in the far out Ger district. They are doing a lot of road work in Mongolia right now, which basically means they tear up the existing dirt roads, and people drive around in the field. And they don’t do it in sections, they tear up miles and miles of road and maybe it will be completed sometime in the next few years… The driver spun the wheels for awhile, and then made all the men pile out, and with the lightened load was able to get us out of the mud. So then we were REALLY on our way. We actually left UB at around noon, and were on the paved road for maybe half an hour. Then it was the dirt road. Being in a packed Micr on a bumpy dirt road is not exactly what I would call “fun.” I may have suffered a slight concussion from the numerous times I banged my head on the roof, and I’m a bit bruised on my left side from smashing into the side. I have always been to sleep anytime, anywhere, but in that Micr it was nearly impossible. I would doze off for a few minutes only to be thrown against the side of the Micr when we hit a bump. We stopped once at about 4 pm on the side of the road for a “bathroom” break. Basically everyone scattered and tried to find a bush (or not if they were men) and almost immediately the driver herded us back in the micr and we were off. Around 7 pm we stopped for dinner. There was a little strip of Delguurs and Guanzes (Canteens) along the side of the road, so we all had a quick bite. I had hoshor, I was a little worried that I was going to get the Gehdis Mo, because I hadn’t really eaten anything all day and who knows what the quality of the meat they used in the Hoshor was.
After dinner it was back in the Micr and on to Kharkhorin (that was where the European couple was going). We didn’t get there until about 10:30, and we had to drive around for awhile before we found a hotel. Then we were off again toward Tsetserleg. We got stuck in the mud again, and this time the driver made everyone get out. And they had tied a rope to the front of the Micr and everyone lined up and pulled. I didn’t really realize what was going on, I had sort of been dozing, and had been in the micr for about 12 hours at that point, so I got out and I was kind of stretching, then I started to notice that everyone was standing in a line in front of the micr. By the time I realized everyone was pulling, it was too late. I felt kind of bad, and one of the Mongolian men in the Micr was giving me a hard time about it. They had all warmed up to me at that point, because I was helping translate for the European couple. Mongolians love you if you know some Mongolian.
Finally we started getting closer to Tsetserleg, and we started dropping people off at their respective houses or gers along the way. The last 30 minutes of the trip were pretty nice, because there were only three people in the back seat, so I wasn’t squashed up against the window. About 20 minutes outside of Tsetserleg we met up with the Mercy Corps driver in the office’s Russian jeep, so we transferred all our stuff over and then went to my apartment. We finally got here about 4 am. We carried all my stuff up and then Dashzeveg and the driver left. Dashzeveg told me he would come and pick me up for work at 11 am on Monday.
My apartment is pretty nice. It is small. It’s just one room, then a little kitchen nook and a bathroom. There are a few issues though. First of all, I don’t have a bed, again. I don’t know what it is with me and beds; apparently I’m not supposed to have one. All I have this time is a pile of blankets on the floor. I think it will get worked out though. A bed is definitely one the list of minimum housing requirements, and it specifically says “bed and mattress,” so I will get one.
Monday morning my two counterparts, Unenbat (the Admin Officer) and Hongoroo (the translator), picked me up at 11. We walked over to the office and then we along with Dashzeveg piled into the Jeep and the driver drove us around town. They showed me the post office, police station and some other important places. They also drove me up on top of a hill that is right across the road from my apartment building where there is a statue of Buddha. There is a Monastery right there, which used to be a really big one, but now has 2 lamas. Then we went to the bank so I could open up an account, which took forever. Mongolian banks don’t move very quickly, and Mongolians aren’t really that great at lining up and waiting their turn. By the time we were done there it was time for lunch. The whole office went to Fairfield’s, which is the café run by the British ex-pat couple. I was really excited to see that they serve breakfast there. It’s nearly impossible to find a normal American breakfast in Mongolia, and I’ve been craving some eggs and hashbrowns.
After lunch we went back to the office. I was exhausted, and really just wanted to go home and go to sleep. But I read through some of the past few months’ monthly reports, and played on the internet a little bit. Then Hongoroo asked me if I could go through the monthly reports and check them for grammar mistakes, so I worked on that for awhile. Then Unenbat called a coffee break, so we had coffee and tea and chatted for about half an hour. After that they asked me if I needed to go shopping for some food, which of course I did. So they took me to the market and I got some meat and veggies and other necessities. Buying meat here is scary. It’s really hard to tell if it’s fresh, and it’s not trimmed at all. So you pay for a lot of fat and gristle, which the Mongolians don’t mind because they eat that, but it kind of irritates me because I don’t want to eat it. I wish I could have a dog to feed it to. I’ve been contemplating having a dog. But I don’t know if I’m even allowed to in my apartment, and I would feel bad for it being home alone all day locked up. That’s one thing that makes me really wish I were in a Ger, because then I could have animals. I could have a cat, but I just really don’t like cats.
After shopping Unenbat and Hongoroo brought me back to my apartment and we did a walk through. Unenbat was making an inventory of everything that was in my apartment, which provided a great opportunity for me to talk to her about the fact that I don’t really have a bed, or a kitchen table and chairs, or a bookshelf. So supposedly on Tuesday I will be getting those things. I’m also supposed to have a carpet, and technically I do have one, but it is hanging on the wall. I asked them if we could put it on the floor, and they said no. So I guess I am going to have to buy my own carpet, or just get along without one. I’ll have to price them at the market.
My last day in UB was really fun. We had swearing in in the morning, and then after that a lot of us and a lot of M17s went to pub next door and had a beer. Once we swore in all the M17s who had trained us were allowed to drink with us, which was fun. That night we all went to Oasis, which is a dance club. It’s kind of an ex-pat hangout, and you can get in free with a Peace Corps ID. It was really fun. I was really sad to leave on Sunday, a lot of people were staying a few more days. But UB was really expensive, and it was easy to spend way too much money there, so I’m kind of glad I left.
We finally got on our way, only to get stuck in the mud after about 20 minutes. We weren’t really even out of UB yet, we were still in the far out Ger district. They are doing a lot of road work in Mongolia right now, which basically means they tear up the existing dirt roads, and people drive around in the field. And they don’t do it in sections, they tear up miles and miles of road and maybe it will be completed sometime in the next few years… The driver spun the wheels for awhile, and then made all the men pile out, and with the lightened load was able to get us out of the mud. So then we were REALLY on our way. We actually left UB at around noon, and were on the paved road for maybe half an hour. Then it was the dirt road. Being in a packed Micr on a bumpy dirt road is not exactly what I would call “fun.” I may have suffered a slight concussion from the numerous times I banged my head on the roof, and I’m a bit bruised on my left side from smashing into the side. I have always been to sleep anytime, anywhere, but in that Micr it was nearly impossible. I would doze off for a few minutes only to be thrown against the side of the Micr when we hit a bump. We stopped once at about 4 pm on the side of the road for a “bathroom” break. Basically everyone scattered and tried to find a bush (or not if they were men) and almost immediately the driver herded us back in the micr and we were off. Around 7 pm we stopped for dinner. There was a little strip of Delguurs and Guanzes (Canteens) along the side of the road, so we all had a quick bite. I had hoshor, I was a little worried that I was going to get the Gehdis Mo, because I hadn’t really eaten anything all day and who knows what the quality of the meat they used in the Hoshor was.
After dinner it was back in the Micr and on to Kharkhorin (that was where the European couple was going). We didn’t get there until about 10:30, and we had to drive around for awhile before we found a hotel. Then we were off again toward Tsetserleg. We got stuck in the mud again, and this time the driver made everyone get out. And they had tied a rope to the front of the Micr and everyone lined up and pulled. I didn’t really realize what was going on, I had sort of been dozing, and had been in the micr for about 12 hours at that point, so I got out and I was kind of stretching, then I started to notice that everyone was standing in a line in front of the micr. By the time I realized everyone was pulling, it was too late. I felt kind of bad, and one of the Mongolian men in the Micr was giving me a hard time about it. They had all warmed up to me at that point, because I was helping translate for the European couple. Mongolians love you if you know some Mongolian.
Finally we started getting closer to Tsetserleg, and we started dropping people off at their respective houses or gers along the way. The last 30 minutes of the trip were pretty nice, because there were only three people in the back seat, so I wasn’t squashed up against the window. About 20 minutes outside of Tsetserleg we met up with the Mercy Corps driver in the office’s Russian jeep, so we transferred all our stuff over and then went to my apartment. We finally got here about 4 am. We carried all my stuff up and then Dashzeveg and the driver left. Dashzeveg told me he would come and pick me up for work at 11 am on Monday.
My apartment is pretty nice. It is small. It’s just one room, then a little kitchen nook and a bathroom. There are a few issues though. First of all, I don’t have a bed, again. I don’t know what it is with me and beds; apparently I’m not supposed to have one. All I have this time is a pile of blankets on the floor. I think it will get worked out though. A bed is definitely one the list of minimum housing requirements, and it specifically says “bed and mattress,” so I will get one.
Monday morning my two counterparts, Unenbat (the Admin Officer) and Hongoroo (the translator), picked me up at 11. We walked over to the office and then we along with Dashzeveg piled into the Jeep and the driver drove us around town. They showed me the post office, police station and some other important places. They also drove me up on top of a hill that is right across the road from my apartment building where there is a statue of Buddha. There is a Monastery right there, which used to be a really big one, but now has 2 lamas. Then we went to the bank so I could open up an account, which took forever. Mongolian banks don’t move very quickly, and Mongolians aren’t really that great at lining up and waiting their turn. By the time we were done there it was time for lunch. The whole office went to Fairfield’s, which is the café run by the British ex-pat couple. I was really excited to see that they serve breakfast there. It’s nearly impossible to find a normal American breakfast in Mongolia, and I’ve been craving some eggs and hashbrowns.
After lunch we went back to the office. I was exhausted, and really just wanted to go home and go to sleep. But I read through some of the past few months’ monthly reports, and played on the internet a little bit. Then Hongoroo asked me if I could go through the monthly reports and check them for grammar mistakes, so I worked on that for awhile. Then Unenbat called a coffee break, so we had coffee and tea and chatted for about half an hour. After that they asked me if I needed to go shopping for some food, which of course I did. So they took me to the market and I got some meat and veggies and other necessities. Buying meat here is scary. It’s really hard to tell if it’s fresh, and it’s not trimmed at all. So you pay for a lot of fat and gristle, which the Mongolians don’t mind because they eat that, but it kind of irritates me because I don’t want to eat it. I wish I could have a dog to feed it to. I’ve been contemplating having a dog. But I don’t know if I’m even allowed to in my apartment, and I would feel bad for it being home alone all day locked up. That’s one thing that makes me really wish I were in a Ger, because then I could have animals. I could have a cat, but I just really don’t like cats.
After shopping Unenbat and Hongoroo brought me back to my apartment and we did a walk through. Unenbat was making an inventory of everything that was in my apartment, which provided a great opportunity for me to talk to her about the fact that I don’t really have a bed, or a kitchen table and chairs, or a bookshelf. So supposedly on Tuesday I will be getting those things. I’m also supposed to have a carpet, and technically I do have one, but it is hanging on the wall. I asked them if we could put it on the floor, and they said no. So I guess I am going to have to buy my own carpet, or just get along without one. I’ll have to price them at the market.
My last day in UB was really fun. We had swearing in in the morning, and then after that a lot of us and a lot of M17s went to pub next door and had a beer. Once we swore in all the M17s who had trained us were allowed to drink with us, which was fun. That night we all went to Oasis, which is a dance club. It’s kind of an ex-pat hangout, and you can get in free with a Peace Corps ID. It was really fun. I was really sad to leave on Sunday, a lot of people were staying a few more days. But UB was really expensive, and it was easy to spend way too much money there, so I’m kind of glad I left.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The Big City
The day before we left for UB we had our host family appreciation day. It was fun, Jim Carl (our Country Director) gave a speech, and then one representative from each training community gave a speech in Mongolian, and some people did performances. Then we had a dance competition and a volleyball game. My family didn’t show up. I was kind of sad, but expecting it. My host Dad had told me that he and my host Mom were going to come, but the day I left Sukhbaatar my Dad told me that my Mom had gone to the hospital the night before because she was throwing up. I’m pretty sure it was from the weird Chinese diet pills she had been taking… but nevertheless, apparently she was still in the hospital on Sunday. Tuya said that my Dad called and said that he had gone to UB and my Mom was still in the hospital so they were not going to come. I think it pissed my LCFs off more than it upset me. I hung out with Cady’s family, which feels more like my family than my actual host family did. I think I will probably go back and visit Cady’s family, but I definitely will not go back and visit my own. I’m kind of sad that I don’t have that relationship though, because most PCVs are really close to their host families and it’s nice to have at least a pseudo-family while you are half way across the world from your real one.
For the final days before Swearing in and dispersing to the far corners of Mongolia we are all in UB. During the bus ride here we had an experience that I feel has allowed us to truly say we have "experienced Mongolia." We had a breakdown. We had a big bus and then a smaller bus to fit everyone, I was on the smaller bus because it had AC (a delightful thing, I was actually cold for a little while). But about an hour or so into our trip we had a tire blow out. And, of course, the spare tire was lost. So we all stood around on the side of the road for awhile while PC in UB tried to decide what to do. It's funny that they hired a vehicle with no spare tire, because I'm pretty sure in one of our safety and security sessions they made a point to tell us to check for things like that BEFORE getting in a car for a long journey. Maybe they were just testing us, and we failed. In the end the decision was made for all the Americans to pile on the big bus, and the Mongolians who were with us (some LCFs and other staff) would get on the small bus and "drive slowly" until they crossed paths with the PC Jeep that was being sent from UB.
We did eventually arrive in one piece. UB is an interesting place. It's sort of a big city, but not. The outskirts are all ger district, which pretty much means slum. There has been a huge influx of people to UB for the past several years, and a lot of people just load up their ger and put it up on the outskirts of town. PCVs aren't really allowed to go out there much because it's dangerous. There isn't much of a skyline here, the tallest building I've seen is maybe 16 stories, which is big for Mongolia. But there are a lot of stores and cafes and other such amazing amenities.
We have all been anticipating UB for several weeks now. Mostly because of the food. There are hamburgers, pizza, chicken, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Korean, the list goes on. After a summer of rice or pasta with slivers of meat/fat and vegetables if you are lucky, this is like heaven!
Once we finally got to UB we arrived at the dorms where we are staying and had to wait for the truck with our bags to show up. I think the PC felt bad that we had the tire issue on the way here, because they brought us mutton burgers. We were all really tired and grumpy, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was around 3:30 pm. It was really nice that we got free food, because it meant we had an extra 2,700 Tugriks for lunch that we didn’t have to buy! We’re staying in student dorms, which are really terrible. It’s pretty far away from the PC office and pretty much all of the restaurants and stores that we want. The beds (if you can call them that) are wood frames with a thin, lumpy bed matt sorely failing to act as a mattress. And there is only one shower for the whole floor. Although I have to say that at least we don’t have to hold the shower head in one hand while trying to wash ourselves with the other. That is a nice change. It’s a lot easier to shower with two free hands!
After we all dragged our ridiculously heavy bags and all the random crap we have been issued by the Peace Corps up the stairs to our rooms we piled back on the bus to go to the PC office and get our meal allowance for the 6 days we are in UB. After that Cady, Peter and I went in search of this place called “Coke & Kabob” that one of the PCVs had told us about that sells really cheap gyro-like things. We got really horrible directions and sort of got lost, but eventually we found it, and the Kabobs were, in fact, delicious. But practically impossible to eat with any sort of grace. They are GIANT pita pocket things absolutely stuffed with shaved lamb, tomatoes, onions and lettuce, as well as a sort of 1,000 Island dressing. But they don’t give you plates, or a fork or a knife; just a flimsy plastic wrapping. Somehow we managed.
We ran into a bunch of the other Sukhbaatar trainees at Coke & Kabob, and after we all ate we went to a bar called Tse, where they have beer and wine for 50 cents. They also charge a 50 cent fee to sit, but if you have a couple beers, it is definitely worth it. The normal price for a beer is anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 Tugriks, while 50 cents is roughly 600 Tugs. Cady and I left earlier than everyone else, because I had my room key, and I was worried that Amanda, my roommate, would be locked out. Thank god we did leave while it was still light out, because it was a little difficult to find our dorms, and the rest of the group didn’t leave until after dark and got completely lost. After wandering around for about an hour and a half they finally had to call one of the PCVs who lives in UB and figure out where they were. In UB there are women who sit on the street with phones that look like normal land-line phones, but are actually cell phones, which is nice. Since we don’t yet have our Peace Corps issued cell phones, it’s nice to be able to use a phone in a pinch.
On Tuesday the CED group visited CHF headquarters and the Enterprise Mongolia Project Headquarters in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went to the US Embassy. The Embassy was nice. It was nice to step on a little piece of America. The building had AC, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. I saw snapdragons, which made me miss home. The security was pretty intense, it was more elaborate than the Brussels Embassy I visited last summer, but at the same time the guards were not nearly as serious. They were Mongolians, but had very good English, and while we were standing in line handing over our PC ID cards he was joking about which ones of us had guns. I’m pretty sure there would never be jokes like that in America! After the Embassy we took a walking tour of some of UB. We went to the State Department Store, which is where you can get pretty much anything. The first floor has cosmetics and jewelry and then a big grocery store. The second floor is clothes, then appliances and then the 4th floor is house wares. It was an amazing store, but pretty expensive. It was incredible to walk into one store and be able to find anything you could ever want, including giant Chinggis rugs like the one that hung on my wall in my host family’s house. In a country where you have to walk into 6 different Delguurs to find one cold soda, I can see why all Mongolians love UB for having stores which such variety.
After the State Department Store we walked to Sukhbaatar square, which was pretty impressive. We saw the Parliament building, which is currently under construction. The Kuwaiti government is funding a project to add an elaborate façade. It’s really pretty, it’s right at the top of the square, and there is a giant statue of Chinggis Khan. Sort of reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial. Before we came to UB we had a safety and security session about UB. Pick pocketing is a serious issue here, everything from slashing the bottom of bags to the three man “delay, distract and snatch” gig. After that session I was really worried about being pick pocketed, but so far so good. I haven’t really even been in a shady situation. We did have street children come up to us and ask us for money. They are really annoying, they are horribly dirty and probably have scabies, and they get up really close to you (personal space is nonexistent in Mongolia) and sing or just say “money, money money money.” I tried saying “hoosh” to them, which is a word that pretty much means “get away” but that just made them get closer and start touching me and talking louder. Obviously not an effective word with street children.
Cady and I had pizza for dinner that night, which was incredible. It was actually real pizza, and a place called Pizza Broadway. I think that I will be able to get good western style food in Tsetserleg though, which is exciting. According to the Lonely Planet guide there is a restaurant there owned by a British Ex-Pat couple that serves pizza and burgers and other such delicacies.
Wednesday we got to visit the Mercy Corps headquarters. That was really interesting for me, because RASP (Rural Agribusiness Support Program), where I will be working, is run through Mercy Corps. It was really interesting to learn how RASP is funded. It’s funded by USDA, but what actually happens is that surplus wheat from the US is shipped over to Mongolia and sold "in a way that doesn’t interfere with the local market", and the proceeds are used to fund RASP. That is the only source of funding. RASP runs on a budget of just over 8 million USD per year, and there are offices in 4 Aimeg centers. I’m really excited to start work. I think that I will get to travel a lot out into the countryside, because nearly all of the clients are herders. I think I will also get to travel to other Aimegs. About a week after I start work we will have a big trade fair, so I will get to meet a lot of our clients. I think my job is going to be really awesome.
After lunch on Wednesday we had a tour of the Peace Corps office, and then we had the rest of the afternoon free. Altaa took Cady, Melissa and I to this place called Mercury Market and Good Price Store. We were supposed to go there in the morning, because they are stores that have a lot of food that you can’t find out in the country, but they decided against taking us then because it may or may not be open in the morning, so instead the CEDs got to sleep in! I bought some stuff that I won’t be able to find in Tsetserleg, like brown rice, cinnamon, granola cereal and vanilla. Good Price Store is even more amazing, but unfortunately, as Peter says; “it’s the store called Good Price, that has bad prices.” They have hot chocolate mix, some spices, peanut butter, frosted flakes, saltine crackers and even Doritos! You can’t even imagine the excitement that is involved in seeing such things in Mongolia. They even had Charmin toilet paper!!! Most of the TP here is more like sand paper. But after the initial excitement, you realize that you are poor and can’t afford to buy very many things. That is a sad realization. A large jar of peanut butter is 12,000 Tugriks, well beyond what I can afford for such luxury.
Wednesday was a bit of a splurge day for me. I went to dinner at a restaurant called “California” with a bunch of other trainees. It is an amazing place that feels like a little bit of America. It’s all American food and the waiters all speak English. We even tried to speak Mongolian to them, but they responded in English. A lot of people in UB are like that, a lot of them know some English (it was just recently declared the second official language of Mongolia) and seem to prefer it if you speak to them in English. Cady and I shared a Caesar salad appetizer, which was delicious. And then I had a cheeseburger. We also had Long Island Iced Teas, which were HUGE! I spent way too much money on my dinner, but it was definitely worth it. After we all ate, everybody else left to go to a bar, but Cady and I stayed to have another Long Island and split a piece of chocolate cake with ice cream. They were, sadly, out of chocolate cake. But we spoke to the bartender in Mongolian, so he added an extra shot of top shelf liquor to out Long Island, which was pretty sweet. We were sitting next to a guy from Germany who is here on vacation, and we talked to him a little bit. He was commenting on how cheap Mongolia is. He’s definitely right, if you are here on vacation, but when you are paid $126 per month to live here, it’s not so cheap. And volunteers can’t afford to eat at good restaurants. We are given 9,000 Tugriks per day for our meals while we are in UB. I spent 15,000 on my dinner and drinks. When we were doing our tour of the PC office, we were talking to Jim Carl (our country director) and kind of complaining about how we can’t really afford to eat anywhere good on our budget, and his response was “yes, well those restaurants are not for Peace Corps volunteers.” They really do mean for us to live poor. But, at the same time, we aren’t in UB very often, so if we save up for when we come, we can afford it. And it’s not like there are very many places to spend our money out in the hudoo anyway! Aimeg Centers are a little different, but nothing like UB. As long as you don’t go out drinking every night, $126 out to be more than enough.
It’s amazing how many foreigners there are in UB. They are everywhere! A lot of them are “Jesus people,” as the Mongolians call them. When we were in Mercury Market today there were a lot of Jesus people there, talking about how they were praying for a 3rd floor apartment, but got one on the 5th floor, so maybe God is telling them they need more exercise. Mongolians are really sensitive to the missionaries here. A lot of times PCVs get asked accusingly if we are “Jesus people.” There are some Mongolians who have converted to Christianity, but I would say the vast majority resent that the “Jesus people” are here.
When Cady and I left California and began our 45 minute walk back to the dorms, we discussed the fact that we had two of the three “A’s” that are almost always involved in incidents for PCVs around the world (alone, at night and alcohol involved). So we decided to get a cab. Cady also made the point that taking a taxi was something we should experience to familiarize ourselves with UB. As we were discussing this, we were crossing a street and there was an empty taxi right in front of us. So we jumped in. The problem with us getting a taxi is that we don’t know the name of the dorm we are staying in. They told us to say the name of the Monastery that is right down the street, but of course we forgot the name. So we told the driver to take us to a restaurant that is really close by. And we spoke to him in Mongolian, as much as we could. We said things like "Mongolia is very beautiful" and "I like fruit" (we’ve been told that if you speak to the drivers in Mongolian they may cut you a break on price, or at least won’t over charge you). We successfully arrived, and it was only 800 tugriks! Even better, it took about 5 minutes to get back, rather than the 45 it would have taken to walk.
Today was the first day of our supervisors conference. Everyone's supervisor came and the Peace Corps talked to them about American work norms and other stuff to make the cultural adjustment easier, while we had a Medical Session with the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer). Right before lunch we all went into the conference room and they called out the Aimeg, Soum and organization that we will each be working for one-by-one and we went up to meet our supervisor. After that we went to lunch at a restaurant near by and got to talk to our supervisors for awhile. Mine is really nice. His name is Dashzegve, and he has worked at RASP in Tsetserleg for 6 years. He speaks fairly decent English, which was nice. A lot of other trainee's supervisors speak no English, so they had to have one of the PC staff translate for them. He told me that I will get to travel out in the countryside a lot to meet with herders who are our clients, and we will be having a big trade fair on September 24th and 25th. It will be nice to get to meed a lot of our clients right off the bat, and get familiar with what they are producing.
I'm so excited to swear in on Saturday! I will finally be a PCV! And then on Sunday I'm off to Tsetserleg. It's a 12 hour drive, which is going to be rough. I think part of the road is paved, but not very well, so it might be even worse than a dirt road. I have no idea when we are going to leave, so I may not get there until the middle of the night and then my supervisor will probably want me to be at work on Monday... Yahnaa! The Peace Corps is kind of making things more difficult too... they are giving us our winter bags, our cell phones, our traveling money and a bunch of other random stuff on Sunday morning. And not until 10 at the earliest. It's ridiculous, because I need to pack strategically to get all the extra stuff I've acquired into a bag, and I only have extra room in my winter bag, so I need that to pack! The Peace Corps is not always the most organized... We are trying to get them to open up the office on Saturday after swearing in, so we'll see.
For the final days before Swearing in and dispersing to the far corners of Mongolia we are all in UB. During the bus ride here we had an experience that I feel has allowed us to truly say we have "experienced Mongolia." We had a breakdown. We had a big bus and then a smaller bus to fit everyone, I was on the smaller bus because it had AC (a delightful thing, I was actually cold for a little while). But about an hour or so into our trip we had a tire blow out. And, of course, the spare tire was lost. So we all stood around on the side of the road for awhile while PC in UB tried to decide what to do. It's funny that they hired a vehicle with no spare tire, because I'm pretty sure in one of our safety and security sessions they made a point to tell us to check for things like that BEFORE getting in a car for a long journey. Maybe they were just testing us, and we failed. In the end the decision was made for all the Americans to pile on the big bus, and the Mongolians who were with us (some LCFs and other staff) would get on the small bus and "drive slowly" until they crossed paths with the PC Jeep that was being sent from UB.
We did eventually arrive in one piece. UB is an interesting place. It's sort of a big city, but not. The outskirts are all ger district, which pretty much means slum. There has been a huge influx of people to UB for the past several years, and a lot of people just load up their ger and put it up on the outskirts of town. PCVs aren't really allowed to go out there much because it's dangerous. There isn't much of a skyline here, the tallest building I've seen is maybe 16 stories, which is big for Mongolia. But there are a lot of stores and cafes and other such amazing amenities.
We have all been anticipating UB for several weeks now. Mostly because of the food. There are hamburgers, pizza, chicken, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Korean, the list goes on. After a summer of rice or pasta with slivers of meat/fat and vegetables if you are lucky, this is like heaven!
Once we finally got to UB we arrived at the dorms where we are staying and had to wait for the truck with our bags to show up. I think the PC felt bad that we had the tire issue on the way here, because they brought us mutton burgers. We were all really tired and grumpy, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was around 3:30 pm. It was really nice that we got free food, because it meant we had an extra 2,700 Tugriks for lunch that we didn’t have to buy! We’re staying in student dorms, which are really terrible. It’s pretty far away from the PC office and pretty much all of the restaurants and stores that we want. The beds (if you can call them that) are wood frames with a thin, lumpy bed matt sorely failing to act as a mattress. And there is only one shower for the whole floor. Although I have to say that at least we don’t have to hold the shower head in one hand while trying to wash ourselves with the other. That is a nice change. It’s a lot easier to shower with two free hands!
After we all dragged our ridiculously heavy bags and all the random crap we have been issued by the Peace Corps up the stairs to our rooms we piled back on the bus to go to the PC office and get our meal allowance for the 6 days we are in UB. After that Cady, Peter and I went in search of this place called “Coke & Kabob” that one of the PCVs had told us about that sells really cheap gyro-like things. We got really horrible directions and sort of got lost, but eventually we found it, and the Kabobs were, in fact, delicious. But practically impossible to eat with any sort of grace. They are GIANT pita pocket things absolutely stuffed with shaved lamb, tomatoes, onions and lettuce, as well as a sort of 1,000 Island dressing. But they don’t give you plates, or a fork or a knife; just a flimsy plastic wrapping. Somehow we managed.
We ran into a bunch of the other Sukhbaatar trainees at Coke & Kabob, and after we all ate we went to a bar called Tse, where they have beer and wine for 50 cents. They also charge a 50 cent fee to sit, but if you have a couple beers, it is definitely worth it. The normal price for a beer is anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 Tugriks, while 50 cents is roughly 600 Tugs. Cady and I left earlier than everyone else, because I had my room key, and I was worried that Amanda, my roommate, would be locked out. Thank god we did leave while it was still light out, because it was a little difficult to find our dorms, and the rest of the group didn’t leave until after dark and got completely lost. After wandering around for about an hour and a half they finally had to call one of the PCVs who lives in UB and figure out where they were. In UB there are women who sit on the street with phones that look like normal land-line phones, but are actually cell phones, which is nice. Since we don’t yet have our Peace Corps issued cell phones, it’s nice to be able to use a phone in a pinch.
On Tuesday the CED group visited CHF headquarters and the Enterprise Mongolia Project Headquarters in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went to the US Embassy. The Embassy was nice. It was nice to step on a little piece of America. The building had AC, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. I saw snapdragons, which made me miss home. The security was pretty intense, it was more elaborate than the Brussels Embassy I visited last summer, but at the same time the guards were not nearly as serious. They were Mongolians, but had very good English, and while we were standing in line handing over our PC ID cards he was joking about which ones of us had guns. I’m pretty sure there would never be jokes like that in America! After the Embassy we took a walking tour of some of UB. We went to the State Department Store, which is where you can get pretty much anything. The first floor has cosmetics and jewelry and then a big grocery store. The second floor is clothes, then appliances and then the 4th floor is house wares. It was an amazing store, but pretty expensive. It was incredible to walk into one store and be able to find anything you could ever want, including giant Chinggis rugs like the one that hung on my wall in my host family’s house. In a country where you have to walk into 6 different Delguurs to find one cold soda, I can see why all Mongolians love UB for having stores which such variety.
After the State Department Store we walked to Sukhbaatar square, which was pretty impressive. We saw the Parliament building, which is currently under construction. The Kuwaiti government is funding a project to add an elaborate façade. It’s really pretty, it’s right at the top of the square, and there is a giant statue of Chinggis Khan. Sort of reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial. Before we came to UB we had a safety and security session about UB. Pick pocketing is a serious issue here, everything from slashing the bottom of bags to the three man “delay, distract and snatch” gig. After that session I was really worried about being pick pocketed, but so far so good. I haven’t really even been in a shady situation. We did have street children come up to us and ask us for money. They are really annoying, they are horribly dirty and probably have scabies, and they get up really close to you (personal space is nonexistent in Mongolia) and sing or just say “money, money money money.” I tried saying “hoosh” to them, which is a word that pretty much means “get away” but that just made them get closer and start touching me and talking louder. Obviously not an effective word with street children.
Cady and I had pizza for dinner that night, which was incredible. It was actually real pizza, and a place called Pizza Broadway. I think that I will be able to get good western style food in Tsetserleg though, which is exciting. According to the Lonely Planet guide there is a restaurant there owned by a British Ex-Pat couple that serves pizza and burgers and other such delicacies.
Wednesday we got to visit the Mercy Corps headquarters. That was really interesting for me, because RASP (Rural Agribusiness Support Program), where I will be working, is run through Mercy Corps. It was really interesting to learn how RASP is funded. It’s funded by USDA, but what actually happens is that surplus wheat from the US is shipped over to Mongolia and sold "in a way that doesn’t interfere with the local market", and the proceeds are used to fund RASP. That is the only source of funding. RASP runs on a budget of just over 8 million USD per year, and there are offices in 4 Aimeg centers. I’m really excited to start work. I think that I will get to travel a lot out into the countryside, because nearly all of the clients are herders. I think I will also get to travel to other Aimegs. About a week after I start work we will have a big trade fair, so I will get to meet a lot of our clients. I think my job is going to be really awesome.
After lunch on Wednesday we had a tour of the Peace Corps office, and then we had the rest of the afternoon free. Altaa took Cady, Melissa and I to this place called Mercury Market and Good Price Store. We were supposed to go there in the morning, because they are stores that have a lot of food that you can’t find out in the country, but they decided against taking us then because it may or may not be open in the morning, so instead the CEDs got to sleep in! I bought some stuff that I won’t be able to find in Tsetserleg, like brown rice, cinnamon, granola cereal and vanilla. Good Price Store is even more amazing, but unfortunately, as Peter says; “it’s the store called Good Price, that has bad prices.” They have hot chocolate mix, some spices, peanut butter, frosted flakes, saltine crackers and even Doritos! You can’t even imagine the excitement that is involved in seeing such things in Mongolia. They even had Charmin toilet paper!!! Most of the TP here is more like sand paper. But after the initial excitement, you realize that you are poor and can’t afford to buy very many things. That is a sad realization. A large jar of peanut butter is 12,000 Tugriks, well beyond what I can afford for such luxury.
Wednesday was a bit of a splurge day for me. I went to dinner at a restaurant called “California” with a bunch of other trainees. It is an amazing place that feels like a little bit of America. It’s all American food and the waiters all speak English. We even tried to speak Mongolian to them, but they responded in English. A lot of people in UB are like that, a lot of them know some English (it was just recently declared the second official language of Mongolia) and seem to prefer it if you speak to them in English. Cady and I shared a Caesar salad appetizer, which was delicious. And then I had a cheeseburger. We also had Long Island Iced Teas, which were HUGE! I spent way too much money on my dinner, but it was definitely worth it. After we all ate, everybody else left to go to a bar, but Cady and I stayed to have another Long Island and split a piece of chocolate cake with ice cream. They were, sadly, out of chocolate cake. But we spoke to the bartender in Mongolian, so he added an extra shot of top shelf liquor to out Long Island, which was pretty sweet. We were sitting next to a guy from Germany who is here on vacation, and we talked to him a little bit. He was commenting on how cheap Mongolia is. He’s definitely right, if you are here on vacation, but when you are paid $126 per month to live here, it’s not so cheap. And volunteers can’t afford to eat at good restaurants. We are given 9,000 Tugriks per day for our meals while we are in UB. I spent 15,000 on my dinner and drinks. When we were doing our tour of the PC office, we were talking to Jim Carl (our country director) and kind of complaining about how we can’t really afford to eat anywhere good on our budget, and his response was “yes, well those restaurants are not for Peace Corps volunteers.” They really do mean for us to live poor. But, at the same time, we aren’t in UB very often, so if we save up for when we come, we can afford it. And it’s not like there are very many places to spend our money out in the hudoo anyway! Aimeg Centers are a little different, but nothing like UB. As long as you don’t go out drinking every night, $126 out to be more than enough.
It’s amazing how many foreigners there are in UB. They are everywhere! A lot of them are “Jesus people,” as the Mongolians call them. When we were in Mercury Market today there were a lot of Jesus people there, talking about how they were praying for a 3rd floor apartment, but got one on the 5th floor, so maybe God is telling them they need more exercise. Mongolians are really sensitive to the missionaries here. A lot of times PCVs get asked accusingly if we are “Jesus people.” There are some Mongolians who have converted to Christianity, but I would say the vast majority resent that the “Jesus people” are here.
When Cady and I left California and began our 45 minute walk back to the dorms, we discussed the fact that we had two of the three “A’s” that are almost always involved in incidents for PCVs around the world (alone, at night and alcohol involved). So we decided to get a cab. Cady also made the point that taking a taxi was something we should experience to familiarize ourselves with UB. As we were discussing this, we were crossing a street and there was an empty taxi right in front of us. So we jumped in. The problem with us getting a taxi is that we don’t know the name of the dorm we are staying in. They told us to say the name of the Monastery that is right down the street, but of course we forgot the name. So we told the driver to take us to a restaurant that is really close by. And we spoke to him in Mongolian, as much as we could. We said things like "Mongolia is very beautiful" and "I like fruit" (we’ve been told that if you speak to the drivers in Mongolian they may cut you a break on price, or at least won’t over charge you). We successfully arrived, and it was only 800 tugriks! Even better, it took about 5 minutes to get back, rather than the 45 it would have taken to walk.
Today was the first day of our supervisors conference. Everyone's supervisor came and the Peace Corps talked to them about American work norms and other stuff to make the cultural adjustment easier, while we had a Medical Session with the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer). Right before lunch we all went into the conference room and they called out the Aimeg, Soum and organization that we will each be working for one-by-one and we went up to meet our supervisor. After that we went to lunch at a restaurant near by and got to talk to our supervisors for awhile. Mine is really nice. His name is Dashzegve, and he has worked at RASP in Tsetserleg for 6 years. He speaks fairly decent English, which was nice. A lot of other trainee's supervisors speak no English, so they had to have one of the PC staff translate for them. He told me that I will get to travel out in the countryside a lot to meet with herders who are our clients, and we will be having a big trade fair on September 24th and 25th. It will be nice to get to meed a lot of our clients right off the bat, and get familiar with what they are producing.
I'm so excited to swear in on Saturday! I will finally be a PCV! And then on Sunday I'm off to Tsetserleg. It's a 12 hour drive, which is going to be rough. I think part of the road is paved, but not very well, so it might be even worse than a dirt road. I have no idea when we are going to leave, so I may not get there until the middle of the night and then my supervisor will probably want me to be at work on Monday... Yahnaa! The Peace Corps is kind of making things more difficult too... they are giving us our winter bags, our cell phones, our traveling money and a bunch of other random stuff on Sunday morning. And not until 10 at the earliest. It's ridiculous, because I need to pack strategically to get all the extra stuff I've acquired into a bag, and I only have extra room in my winter bag, so I need that to pack! The Peace Corps is not always the most organized... We are trying to get them to open up the office on Saturday after swearing in, so we'll see.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The Big Day
Today was a big day in the life of the M18's. We moved out of our host families and came to Darkhan. For some of us it was a tearful farewell to the host families, for others it was a happy escape. I was much more of the later category... Other than my Dad no one in my family even woke up to see me off. I got a handshake and "bayertay" from my Dad. I will (most likely) see him again on Sunday though, we are having a Host Family Appreciation Day in Darkhan and all of our families are going to come. My Dad told me that he and my Mom are coming, but then this morning he told me that my Mom had to go to the hospital last night because she was throwing up (probably because of the weird diet pills she has been taking recently)... So who knows if they will come or not. But Cady's family will be here, and they are my adoptive host family. Last night I went over to Cady's house because I was really bored and my family was ignoring me (it's kind of a mutual thing, I can't really blame it all on them) and she and her Mom and brother and sister were having a little party. We kept making jokes that they are my family and that they have two American daughters. I love her family. If I go back to Sukhbaatar, it will be to visit them, and I probably will go with Cady for Naadam or Tsagansaar (the Lunar New Year).
As for the big news.... today the Peace Corps finally enlightened us as to where we will be spending the next two years! I will be working for RASP (Rural Agribusiness Support Program) which is run by Mercy Corps, funded by USDA, in Tsetserleg. Tsetserleg is the Aimeg Center of Arkhangai Aimeg which is in the Central Region. Tsetserleg is about a 10 hour drive from UB (give or take several hours depending on the road conditions, weather, breakdowns etc). From what the PC staff has told me it is really beautiful, with a river running through town and mountains on either side. I'm really excited to go there. I wanted to be sort of close to UB, because for pretty much any traveling you have to go through UB. Even in-country travel it's mostly all from UB. I am a little scared though, because I will be the only PCV in the Aimeg Center. There are about 4 other PCVs in the Aimeg out in Soums, two of which are M18s. So whenever they come into the Aimeg Center to restock on food they will come visit me. But I don't really have a site mate. That's good because it will force me to make friends with Mongolians, but it's a little scary at the same time. I'm used to having other Americans around me who I can talk to every day! I'm sure that it will mean my Mongolian will get really good, because I will have to communicate with my new Mongolian friends, so that is another definite plus.
As for the big news.... today the Peace Corps finally enlightened us as to where we will be spending the next two years! I will be working for RASP (Rural Agribusiness Support Program) which is run by Mercy Corps, funded by USDA, in Tsetserleg. Tsetserleg is the Aimeg Center of Arkhangai Aimeg which is in the Central Region. Tsetserleg is about a 10 hour drive from UB (give or take several hours depending on the road conditions, weather, breakdowns etc). From what the PC staff has told me it is really beautiful, with a river running through town and mountains on either side. I'm really excited to go there. I wanted to be sort of close to UB, because for pretty much any traveling you have to go through UB. Even in-country travel it's mostly all from UB. I am a little scared though, because I will be the only PCV in the Aimeg Center. There are about 4 other PCVs in the Aimeg out in Soums, two of which are M18s. So whenever they come into the Aimeg Center to restock on food they will come visit me. But I don't really have a site mate. That's good because it will force me to make friends with Mongolians, but it's a little scary at the same time. I'm used to having other Americans around me who I can talk to every day! I'm sure that it will mean my Mongolian will get really good, because I will have to communicate with my new Mongolian friends, so that is another definite plus.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Amarbaysgalant
Amarbayasgalant
Last Saturday we went to Amarbayasgalant, the Buddhist Monastery. It was about a 4 hour drive there, and we actually weren’t packed into the Mikr quite as tightly as I thought we would be… Naraa and two PCVs who are our culture trainers came along in a PC Land Cruiser, so a few of the trainees rode in the Land Cruiser. We still had four people to a seat though, which made for a bit of a sticky ride. It was brutally hot, and even with the windows open it was just hot air blowing on us and we were all sweating and sticking together. The part on the dirt road was the worst, because either we were breathing in clouds of dust or sweltering. We chose to breath in the dust. Amarbayasgalant is in the middle of a giant field, out in the middle of nowhere. There are some tourist Ger camps there, as well as some herders that live there, but there are almost no trees in the giant field. I don’t know how people live there during the summer. There was a small stream running through the field, and there was a grove of trees where we parked and ate our lunch. We hung out there for about two hours, because we had to wait until one of the Lamas could see us. Apparently it was a holy day and they were reading a big sutra, so he didn’t have very much time. The Lama who talked to us studied in Sweden, so his English was really good. We thought he was going to give us a tour, but since they were reading a sutra he could only talk to us for about 20 minutes. The temple was built in the 1730’s, by the Manchu Emperor. During Communism it was closed (obviously), and the Communists actually destroyed 10 of the original 37 temples and statues. I don’t think anyone is really sure why they didn’t destroy all of it, someone told me that they tried, but it wouldn’t burn. The temple was reopened in 1991, during Communism no one was allowed to even go to the temple, and it was basically a haven for horses during the summer. Horses would go in all the buildings for the shade; I can’t say that I blame them.
Outside the main building of the monastery there was a thing (for lack of a better term…) that is supposed to symbolize a rebirthing. You crawl in between two stones, then you have to stand up inside and turn around clockwise three times (three is a big number here, three times around the Ovoo, three shots of vodka) and then crawl out the other side between two stones. It was really hard! Which I guess is kind of the point…
Me Reborn!
My family finally came back from the Hudoo on Monday night. They brought a few interesting things with them… Monday night I saw part of an animal which I assumed to be a marmot sitting on the kitchen table, which some hot stones that were presumably inside it. I also saw what I assumed to be innards boiling on the stove, so needless to say, I hightailed it up to my room and went to bed. On Tuesday morning when I woke up some of it was in the fridge, and there was another plate of “meat” (aka fat, skin, bones and a tiny bit of meat) sitting on the window sill. That worried me a little. When I came home for lunch on Tuesday the power was off, apparently all of Sukhbaatar was without power for most of the day, it happens fairly regularly. So there was no hope of me getting much of anything for lunch. My Dad asked me if I wanted some Aireg. I thought he had said “Taireg,” which is the yogurt I am so fond of. I sort of heard the word Aireg, but it just didn’t make sense to me that he would want me to drink that in the middle of the day. So I said “Yes!” and sat down at the table, and there was a pot of white milky stuff that was sort of frozen, it had chunks of ice in it. So I commented that it was “hueten taireg” (cold yogurt), and he quickly corrected me and told me it was, in fact, Aireg. And then he pulled out the marmot. I have yet to figure out how to politely refuse when ordered to eat, especially when it is the only thing available to eat, and I’m hungry. Mongolians don’t usually say “will you eat” or “please eat” they say “eat.” It was the plate that was in the fridge, so at least it had been refrigerated most of the night… So my lunch was marmot and aireg, with a little aaruul (really really hard milk curd) thrown in for good measure. The aireg was different from the stuff my Dad pulled out the day we all learned to chop wood and cook, that aireg was clear and looked like vodka. This aireg was milky and tasted really sour. I think maybe it hadn’t fermented as long, but I really have no idea. The marmot was OK, it tasted really gamey, and I didn’t really eat much because I was gnawing on a bone, trying to avoid the fat and gristle. But for the rest of the day I did have a bit of the “Gehdis Mo” (Literal meaning: Stomach Bad), which is a PCT slang term for anything ranging from an upset stomach to mild food poisoning (compliments of Bagh 5, they get the Gehdis Mo out there a lot more than we do in Sukhbaatar proper).
Our miserable heat wave has finally broken (at least for the time being). We got a tiny little bit of rain on Sunday evening, but it was really just a tease. It didn’t even cool off the night, it was still hot as ever. And on Monday we got a little more rain, but it was still miserable and hot. Finally, on Tuesday we woke up to a mercifully cloudy sky, and it was cool. Then in the afternoon it started raining and just didn’t stop. I was actually COLD!!! It was delightful. Tuya told us that August 1st is when it starts to get cold, and she was pretty close.
Me, my Host Mom and sister
My Host Dad, brother and me
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