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Published: August 27th 2011
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Coming back from Western Mongolia to arrive again in UB – we traveled overland across Mongolia and took about 2 weeks to do the trip. More adventure and possibly just a bit too much time in the Furgan. But, the interaction with local folks, families, and herders was awesome and made up for this. Of course there was continued exploration of rivers and we had some good “paddle” time as well. Pat and I quite enjoyed being in the ducky (inflatable kayak) together. About half way through our trip, we rendezvoused with an American guy, Colin that we had met in UB – he is another kayaker – and a budding filmmaker as well. He and Pat have lots in common and he was a good travel companion. Our driver was once again Bek, who is really a stand up good guy. I took on responsibility of “cook”. On one of our river adventures, as usual, we had a small crowd of locals gathering around us – watching the tourists and the strange river apparatus – and this time, Colin had his camera out and was doing some filming – which we nicknamed the process as “Hollywood”, which Bek and local
herders alike got a big kick out of. A local 17 year old girl came up to me and said “sister, can I please ride in your boat with you?” She was really sweet – I told her that she could ride in the double ducky with Pat later on, as I did not want to be responsible for her through the rapids. Needless to say, later that day, I swam in one of the rapids. All was o.k. though. The girl’s family was super sweet and they befriended us for the next couple of days, after Pat took her down the river. She loved it. In our experiences with families and individuals we had many opportunities to be hosted in different homes – and had our fill of locally made arruul and airag (these are dairy products – arruul is a dried sort of cheese or curd and airag is fermented mare’s milk – mildly alcoholic) and the most delicious yogurt I’ve ever had. We also had plenty of opportunities to return the hospitality at our campsites as there always seemed to visits from herders and other individuals.
English Camp at Steppe Eco-Lodge
I just returned to UB
a few days ago after being in Eastern Mongolia in the countryside to teach English for 2 weeks at an English language summer camp to both Mongolian and Russian/Buryat children. The project was a collaboration of a Mongolian and a Russian organization as sort of a cultural exchange and helps to connect Russian Buryat children with their Mongolian ancestry and traditions – and obviously learn English as well. They needed some native English speakers as teachers – so there was myself and a guy from Kenya in addition to a Mongolian teacher and a Russian teacher. This in of itself was a great multi-cultural experience. It was an awesome experience for me, and I think the children had a great time as well – they were incredibly sweet and appreciative, as was evidenced by the thoughtful and sweet cards they made for me at the end of the session. These kids really touched my heart. Time at the camp was filled with such activities as playing games, conducting English lessons, conversing, morning exercises (which I often did yoga with the kids teaching them such poses as “mountain pose” as we stood at the top of a small mountain, “eagle pose”,
and “warrior pose” – given that the area of Mongolia we were in is considered to be the land of Chingghis Khan this seemed appropriate as well), eating, facilitating a drama competition (teachers had our own drama of a funny Japanese tragedy), a bit of horseback riding, and finding and picking up some of the coolest rocks and crystals ever. The kids seemed to be into it – and I certainly was as well. I think it was a mutually beneficial deal for all involved. The bit of money that I earned as well certainly didn’t hurt either – and I think it’s going to good use by buying a traditional piece of Mongolian ger furniture from a friend of Pat’s here in UB who runs a ger factory. I met with him yesterday and the piece of furniture will be made here and shipped to the U.S. The traditional ger furniture is usually brightly painted with such colors as red and orange, which just happen to be some of my favorite colors. It will be a treat to go home to!
3 months is a bit longer than I intended to stay in Mongolia, but I feel that
I have a good understanding of many different facets of life here and Mongolia has certainly touched me. Spending time in a country where life is so intensely difficult for folks at times (in particular the nomadic herders, who are the majority here and if one bad year kills many of their herd, it is completely devastating) – it’s hard to not get frustrated at how worked up many folks (and I am probably guilty of this too) in the west get over seemingly silly and unimportant material things. In particular the blatantly gross amounts of money that some people spend on things like cars, clothing, etc. is difficult to fathom after spending 3 months in a place like Mongolia. But, that is our culture and I suppose it’s all relative to a degree. I just wish that more folks in the States could have a healthier perspective and a greater awareness about these things.
So – today is Saturday, August 27 and there is an international peace festival that Mongolia is hosting that is being held today in Sukhbataar Square. My understanding is that it is a peace festival for all peoples who are descendants of the Hun.
Apparently, Joe Biden was just here in UB as well – interesting. So, we will shortly be headed to this festival and then continuing to wrap up last minute details here before we fly out on Monday to Delhi for continued adventure in India.
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