Spit Freezes Too

The internet has been out at my guest house since Friday, so I’m blaming that for my lack of blogging the past few days.

I want this blog to be about an interesting phenomenon that I noticed a couple of weeks ago when I first walked around Ulaanbaatar. Like other Asian countries (I’m looking at you China), many people here spit anytime and anywhere they feel like it. However, because it is so cold the spit freezes, and is therefore left on the sidewalk and pavement for all to see, (presumably for many months to come). I’ve become strangely fascinated by the frozen spit all over the place and have therefore photo-documented it to share with all of you. Please enjoy the pictures of frozen spit.

 

Love from the Receptionist

This post is dedicated to Augi (spelling?), the extremely nice and well-meaning receptionist at Habitat’s Mongolian headquarters. She sits at a desk 12 feet from me. 

For most of yesterday morning our boss was out of the office which I think gave Augi the license to come and talk with me for most of it. She speaks decent English, (at least I can usually get the gist of what she’s trying to say) but she is always wanting to practice and I’m more than happy to oblige because she’s kind of fun to talk to.

She seems to know a little bit about Mormons because she asked to confirm that I don’t drink tea or coffee. She was headed to the store to get some office supplies and asked if there was anything she could get me that I would drink. I told her I could drink any type of just fruit tea. So she bought black tea with lemon and strawberry flavoring, which of course is just normal tea with fruit flavoring. I feel kind of bad about this and haven’t told her that I can’t drink that either, I’ll probably just take a tea bag every few days and bring them home to my hostel where someone can drink it. 

Mid-morning she made the executive decision that the hostel I’m living at right now is not very good. I’m not sure where she got this idea because I am overall quite satisfied with my living arrangements. Nevertheless, Augi wants me to find somewhere better. First of all she would like me to move into her apartment starting in May when she and her husband and son will move to their summer house. I would live there with her 19 year old daughter for free. She thinks this is very important because I am a student and can’t afford very much and it will help her daughter with her English. I am actually not opposed to this idea and we’ll see how things work out. Then, without me realizing she got on the phone with a previous Habitat coordinator to ask about hostels (this was all in Mongolian at first so I had no idea what was going on until she handed me her mobile phone). The previous coordinator gave me a hostel name and the phone number. I looked up the website and Augi came over to my desk to look, then she asked if she could call, so she stood at my desk using the phone to call this other hostel. Eventually she gave the phone to me to talk to the lady who runs the new hostel and now I’m supposed to go take a look at it to check it out.

Then for lunch Augi invited me into the conference room so we could eat together. I had brought left over spaghetti to eat. Augi had, as usual brought a variety of things including some potato salad she made and gave me a plate of it. The potato salad was very good, lots of different things in it. But she was also eating some meat and she put a couple of pieces on my plate without me really wanting her to. It was some sort of cow’s stomach apparently and it made me a little sick. I couldn’t handle the outer membrane and didn’t eat that. But for 15 minutes I sat chewing the meat. There was no way I was going to handle eating the other piece so I said I was full and would eat it later and so put it in with my remaining spaghetti. This prompted Augi to put all the remaining meat in my plastic container. Not the best plan, but it did allow me to dispose of it when I got home and so didn’t have to hurt her feelings.

That was my day of Augi. I really like her and she has taken a definite interest in me which I appreciate.

Ok, I admit it, it's cold!

I normally wouldn't bother writing more than one post in a 24 hour period but I feel like wallowing in a little bit of pity. Today seems particularly cold. During my walk to work this morning it was especially chilly that I even put up my hood on top of my very warm hat (I don't normally like to do that because it cuts off my peripheral vision and I need all my wits about me when navigating the icy streets and traffic). But I could literally feel the metal in my earrings starting to freeze, so I put up the hood. On top of that it is even quite chilly in my office. I've already put on my scarf and gloves and I'm debating about whether I should put on my coat. Tomorrow I'm wearing 5 layers instead of 3.

 

My bright office. Unfortunately all those windows mean not so great insulation, though normally it is ok.

Funny? Not so much.

Right before I left I had a conversation with my mom that went something like this:

Mom: How come you haven’t made your blog funny? Isn’t it supposed to be funny?

Me: I don’t know. I’m not usually funny on purpose. It doesn’t have to be funny, it’s just supposed to update people on how I’m doing.

Mom: Well why don’t you talk about when you first heard about going to Mongolia?

Me: You mean how I came home and burst into tears as soon as my roommate came to talk to me?

Mom: Yeah, that’s funny!

I’m not sure why me crying is funny, but apparently my mom thinks it is. Turns out my tears were for nothing because living here is not so bad. They have pretty much anything a Westerner could ask for. Including giant jars of Nutella and Dunkin Donuts Coffee (if I drank coffee, you better believe I would buy Dunkin's coffee).

The Same in Every Language

I was going to write a post summing up my weekend but I'll do that later. Now I just want to digress and say how much I freaking love church! More than any geographical location in the world, going to church makes me feel like I'm home. Today I had the opportunity to go to church in Mongolia for the first time. I had found the church last week but had missed all the meetings (oops). I was grateful that the building was in fact clearly marked so I knew where I was going at least (unlike China where the first week I had to follow someone in a la Harry Potter trying to get on the Hogwarts Express for the first time). I didn't really understand a word of what was said today but I was so happy to be there, to partake of the sacrament, and to feel the spirit. Relief Society was just like it is everywhere: flowers on the table, good news minute shared, plugging for visiting teaching, and we went over time 10 minutes. It felt good to be home.

A Good Day

Today was a good day. Not that I've been miserable or anything, far from it, but today was the best day I've had since leaving the US. Today was my first full day of work and it has gotten me very excited.

What made today awesome:

• I survived walking to work in -39F weather this morning.
• I spent an hour and a half talking with my boss about everything I'm going to be doing for HFH Mongolia (which is kind of scary since I don't know how to do half of it but I'll figure it out somehow).
• I had lunch with my co-workers in the conference room. I didn't understand any of the conversation that took place in Mongolian, but it was fun to be with them and Mongolian is a beautiful language to listen to. Half the time it sounds like what they're saying is an important secret, which makes me want to know what it means all the more. 
• My office is warm and bright. It is a nice place to spend my day.
• All of the food I've had in Mongolia so far has been delicious.
• I survived the walk home in -31F weather.

It was a good day. 

Here are a couple of pictures I took of myself while walking home yesterday. I took the one on the bottom to show the small part of my hair that did not get put under my hat and so it frosted after being outside for 3 minutes.

Back to Beijing

On Monday, after only being in Mongolia for 1.75 days, I went back to China. For some unbeknownst reason I had to leave the country in order to get a Mongolia work visa. So back I went to Beijing, the nearest Mongolian embassy. I was not exactly thrilled to have to leave Ulaanbaatar so quickly without really getting a chance to settle in yet and though I like Beijing, I didn’t really have any desire to go there again, especially in January. Oh well.

The trip overall was ok. There were some frustrating experiences dealing with the Mongolian embassy and then a bank where I had to pay the visa fees, but otherwise things went smoothly. I did a lot of walking around because I had time to kill and no real agenda. It was really fun tobe back in China where I feel very comfortable.

(Being a solo tourist means a lot of self-portraits.)

I’m very happy to be back in Ulaanbaatar though, despite the 40 degree temperature difference.

Some initial observations

1. People in Ulaanbaatar jay-walk everywhere. They are constantly walking in front of cars, behind cars, in-between cars. I’m pretty sure they’d just climb right over top of the cars if there wasn’t enough room in between them.

2. Mongolians are not as short as I had anticipated. This is a good thing.

3. I do not stand out as much as I did in China, which is a relief. I don’t know if it is because 95% of my body is covered, they are used to Westerners, or I am in fact not that interesting. No matter the reason, I’m happy about it.

4. I should have invested in waterproof mascara before coming. When walking around outside, ice forms on my eyelashes and smudges my mascara around my eyes.

From Boston to Mongolia

This is a catch-up post about what has happened between the time I left Boston until my arrival in Ulaanbaatar.

I spent a week at home in California with my mom and had a wonderful time. We went out to eat, went to the movies, ran errands, and relaxed. It was so nice in fact I didn’t want to leave. The only hitch during my week of relaxation and preparation was a call from my future boss at 2am on Sunday night. He wanted to me to change my flight plans (4 days before leaving) to stay in Beijing to get my Mongolian visa. After some ill attempts I kept my same itinerary but got a visa to enter China and a separate flight to go to China the next week for a few days. Other than that, time at home was fantastic.

On Thursday, my mother dropped me off unceremoniously (as is our custom) at the curb of LAX and wished me safe travels and luck. I was armed with two very large suitcases and a bag of Del Taco burritos (my favorit

e travel food). The check in line for Air China was short, but very slow. The security line was long but pretty quick. I felt a little lost and vulnerable having surrendered my US cell phone before I left and was doubly annoyed at LAX for not having free wireless in the terminal I was in. My flight from LA to Beijing was about 13 hours long and could not have gone more smoothly (minus the turbulence in the middle which was quite fun). I had a window seat and no one sitting next to me,

so I really lucked out. After a beverage and meal service, ending around 1:30am California time, I took an Ambien and slept quite soundly. Never have 13 hours gone by more quickly.

The Beijing airport was very nice. I got to spend a long 8 hours there (6 for my layover and an additional 2 because my flight was delayed). The flight from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar was a quick 2.5 hours. They sky was clear and I was able to see the countryside for the whole flight, everything was covered in snow.

I was picked up from the airport by Chinbat, a friend of someone who works in the Habitat office. Chinbat had lived in the US for 10 years, so we chatted in English all the way to my hostel. The hostel that I will be staying in for the foreseeable future looks scary from the outside, but it quite nice inside. I have my own room and there is a shared kitchen, living room area, and bathroom.

On Sunday, my first full day I walked around for a couple of hours in the city. So it was in fact warm enough for me to walk around for that long, although when I did come back my legs were red and tingly from being out so long in -5F. Ulaanbaatar is not exactly a beautiful city, but the sun was shining and there were lots of people out and about so I’m excited to get to know it better.

Since you asked....

When I tell someone that I'm moving to Mongolia, the range of knowledge people possess about the country is as vast as the Gobi desert that makes up the southern part of Mongolia. A few individuals do not know where it is located, let alone the climate or anything else. I am not one to judge however, considering I knew very little about it up until a google blitz a few months ago when I heard this is where I would probably be going. So to help educate everyone a litte about the place I'm moving, this post will be about some basic information about Mongolia (information taken mostly from the Wikpedia page and the Lonely Planet Travel page).

Mongolia is a land locked country in-between Russia to the north and China to the south.

The population is about 2.5 million people.

95% of the people speak Mongolian.

Mongolia has an extreme continental climate. Winters are long and bitterly cold and summers are short. It has very low humidity and an average of 260 sunny days every year, earning the name of the "Land of Blue Sky." Average temperatures in January range from -5 F to -40 F, while the temperatures in July are 72 F to 52F.

Ulaanbaatar is the capitol city with over a million people living there (about half of the country's total population). It is the world's coldest capital and has some of the worst air pollution during the winter.

Since the fall of communism, Ulaanbaatar (and Mongolia) has been developing rapidly. People have been moving in large numbers to the capitol and living in ger (yurt) communities on 3 sides of the city.

Fun fact: There is a ratio of 13:1 horses to people.

These are just some basic facts about Mongolia. Since I'm not there yet, I cannot add any firsthand experiences. Please comment if you have any questions or would like to correct me on any of my facts.

Off on another adventure...

Well, here I go again. I am about to take on the status of 'ex-pat' for the fourth time in my life. I'm excited, a little nervous, and a little sad to be leaving the wonderful life and amazing friends I have in Boston.

I am moving to Mongolia to complete an internship with Habitat for Humanity Mongolia. I am in my last semester earning my Master's degree in Social Work from Boston College. My concentration is Global Practice, hence the international internship requirement. My internship is set to last 6 months, mid January to mid July. I will be living in the capital Ulaanbaatar and my official job title is "Resource Development and Communications Associate."

It has been very exciting the past few months anticipating and getting ready to move abroad again. A great camaraderie developed between me and my fellow globetrotting classmates. I could never have survived the past few semesters without them and I wish them all luck and success as we go off to different corners of the world.

The 2012 group of Global Practice students at the GSSW with the locations of where we're going.

One of my grand plans is to update this blog regularly while I am in Mongolia as a way to keep friends and family informed and to stay in touch with everyone home and abroad. Let's hope I actually do it.