Since I am also posting back logs, I will write inside of the post whether this post is from the current trip or previous one. For the duration of my trip, it will probably be current. Also, setting up a personal hotspot from my phone might have been the best idea EVER.
FROM DEC 12- DEC 14
I got very lucky on my flight from New York to Turkey, sitting next to a wonderful man, originally from Chandigarh, India and now residing in Toronto. He was heading home to India and for a family trip through Himachal, so we spent hours reminiscing about our favorite (and least favorite!) parts of life in India. We traded tips on the best places to go in Himachal and just had a wonderful ride. This also helped both of us conquer jetlag, because we didn't sleep for most of the flight.
At Ataturk Airport I made my way to my gate and it became very clear that there would be very few non-Mongolians on the flight. At our stop over in Kyrgystan, this number dwelled even further. In addition to the two or three Russians scattered across the plane, there was one family with four adorable blonde children, ranging from around 3 to around 14. Something about their clothing and speech made me a bit curious as to why an Australian family would be going to Ulaanbaatar in Winter. I ended up talking to the oldest daughter at the luggage carousel. The family travels a lot, it seems, but had been settled in UB for the past two years. When I asked what the parents did, she answered that they were on a language visa and very professionally evaded any request for details. As usual: Missionaries.
I got a pleasant surprise at the airport to find that I was being picked up by both my friend Enkhule and our friend and my host, Mungunu. We decided that I should get a SIM card immediately and stopped at the first Unitel shop we saw. No new sim cards. Well, that's fine. We went to the next Unitel shop. Yes, new sim cards, no mini card puncher. So then we went to another shop where they charged us to punch the card (we joked that the unitel shop keeper and the card puncher must be husband and wife, working a racket.) But 3g would have to wait. Welcome to Mongolia!
We made our way back to Mungunu's house where I was able to distribute the massive suitcase of gifts I had schlepped along. Later several members of his family came over to hang out. Really wonderful people, including a 13 year old neice named Bujinlham. Mungunu and Soyloo asked Bujinlham and I to babysit their 2 year old son, Duulag, the next morning. I thought this would be a great chance to practice Mongolian and agreed. By 8 PM, jetlag had gotten the better of me, and I collapsed on the bed they had made me.
I woke up at 5:30 to a very surreal scene: At some point in the night, Bujinlham and climbed in bed next to me, the lights from an LED christmas tree were flashing in my face from the living room, the shaman's altar was too our left and when I looked up I realized that all the shaman's ritual clothing and masks was directly above me. Welcome to Mongolia!
But it was time to face my fear. 5:30 AM, around -20 F outside, and I had to pee. I tried to wait it out, I really did. But before long, I knew I would have to face my fear. I bundled myself up, walked past the scary watch dog (who was tied up for my safety) and to the rickety outside with no light. I successfully relieved myself without freezing, falling in, or being eaten by a dog. I SURVIVED!
The next morning Mununu headed off to work, and Soyloo headed off to pick up the older child, a girl named Gunje. Bujinlham and I took turns taking care of Duulag and playing with him and coaching me in Mongolian. Nothing is better for learning Mongolian than a mongolian kid. In the afternoon, my friend Chuka stopped by, which was awesome. We made some travel plans for later.
In the evening, Enkhule, Bayra and Tudu all showed up so I distributed more gifts and we sat around talking, drinking a bit, and joking a lot. I helped peel potatoes and Soyloo made tums khuushuur, fried bread stuffed with milk-mashed potatoes. We dipped this in Thai sweet chili. It was one of the most delicious things. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I ate four.
We ended up staying awake until 3 AM and falling asleep scattered around the house on blankets and pillows. Some aspects of nomad culture are the same everywhere. Partway through the night, people changed positions, which led to a lot of jokes about Mungunu having a boyfriend and Soyloo needing a girlfriend now. Mungunu of course proceeded to play along and tease the man who had somehow ended up curled up next to him. This meant that I needed to snuggle up to Soyloo. :P
Since my Mongolian language teacher would have a meeting, we decided to head up a mountain to an oboo, or a mountain top cairn. We got all bundled up and headed up the mountain. At some point at the top, we all decided that it was more appropriate to have a snowball fight than visit the Oboo, so although the men took care of their duties, offering some vodka, we spent the rest of the time tackling each other and trying to get snow in each other's faces at -14 degrees.
That night we all came home, drank tea and sat by the wood stove, ate rice and beef stew and just talked until around 11 when we collapsed from exhaustion, just as scattered around the house as always.
FROM DEC 12- DEC 14
I got very lucky on my flight from New York to Turkey, sitting next to a wonderful man, originally from Chandigarh, India and now residing in Toronto. He was heading home to India and for a family trip through Himachal, so we spent hours reminiscing about our favorite (and least favorite!) parts of life in India. We traded tips on the best places to go in Himachal and just had a wonderful ride. This also helped both of us conquer jetlag, because we didn't sleep for most of the flight.
At Ataturk Airport I made my way to my gate and it became very clear that there would be very few non-Mongolians on the flight. At our stop over in Kyrgystan, this number dwelled even further. In addition to the two or three Russians scattered across the plane, there was one family with four adorable blonde children, ranging from around 3 to around 14. Something about their clothing and speech made me a bit curious as to why an Australian family would be going to Ulaanbaatar in Winter. I ended up talking to the oldest daughter at the luggage carousel. The family travels a lot, it seems, but had been settled in UB for the past two years. When I asked what the parents did, she answered that they were on a language visa and very professionally evaded any request for details. As usual: Missionaries.
I got a pleasant surprise at the airport to find that I was being picked up by both my friend Enkhule and our friend and my host, Mungunu. We decided that I should get a SIM card immediately and stopped at the first Unitel shop we saw. No new sim cards. Well, that's fine. We went to the next Unitel shop. Yes, new sim cards, no mini card puncher. So then we went to another shop where they charged us to punch the card (we joked that the unitel shop keeper and the card puncher must be husband and wife, working a racket.) But 3g would have to wait. Welcome to Mongolia!
We made our way back to Mungunu's house where I was able to distribute the massive suitcase of gifts I had schlepped along. Later several members of his family came over to hang out. Really wonderful people, including a 13 year old neice named Bujinlham. Mungunu and Soyloo asked Bujinlham and I to babysit their 2 year old son, Duulag, the next morning. I thought this would be a great chance to practice Mongolian and agreed. By 8 PM, jetlag had gotten the better of me, and I collapsed on the bed they had made me.
I woke up at 5:30 to a very surreal scene: At some point in the night, Bujinlham and climbed in bed next to me, the lights from an LED christmas tree were flashing in my face from the living room, the shaman's altar was too our left and when I looked up I realized that all the shaman's ritual clothing and masks was directly above me. Welcome to Mongolia!
But it was time to face my fear. 5:30 AM, around -20 F outside, and I had to pee. I tried to wait it out, I really did. But before long, I knew I would have to face my fear. I bundled myself up, walked past the scary watch dog (who was tied up for my safety) and to the rickety outside with no light. I successfully relieved myself without freezing, falling in, or being eaten by a dog. I SURVIVED!
The next morning Mununu headed off to work, and Soyloo headed off to pick up the older child, a girl named Gunje. Bujinlham and I took turns taking care of Duulag and playing with him and coaching me in Mongolian. Nothing is better for learning Mongolian than a mongolian kid. In the afternoon, my friend Chuka stopped by, which was awesome. We made some travel plans for later.
In the evening, Enkhule, Bayra and Tudu all showed up so I distributed more gifts and we sat around talking, drinking a bit, and joking a lot. I helped peel potatoes and Soyloo made tums khuushuur, fried bread stuffed with milk-mashed potatoes. We dipped this in Thai sweet chili. It was one of the most delicious things. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I ate four.
We ended up staying awake until 3 AM and falling asleep scattered around the house on blankets and pillows. Some aspects of nomad culture are the same everywhere. Partway through the night, people changed positions, which led to a lot of jokes about Mungunu having a boyfriend and Soyloo needing a girlfriend now. Mungunu of course proceeded to play along and tease the man who had somehow ended up curled up next to him. This meant that I needed to snuggle up to Soyloo. :P
Since my Mongolian language teacher would have a meeting, we decided to head up a mountain to an oboo, or a mountain top cairn. We got all bundled up and headed up the mountain. At some point at the top, we all decided that it was more appropriate to have a snowball fight than visit the Oboo, so although the men took care of their duties, offering some vodka, we spent the rest of the time tackling each other and trying to get snow in each other's faces at -14 degrees.
That night we all came home, drank tea and sat by the wood stove, ate rice and beef stew and just talked until around 11 when we collapsed from exhaustion, just as scattered around the house as always.
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