The following is something I wrote one late night in my apartment. It has not been edited, except for a few minor spelling errors, for fear of losing the essence of the thought I was having at the time. It is no composition and may be hard to follow. That's ok. It does not necessarily define my belief about religion, but it is more food for thought. It is what I was thinking at the moment. All thoughts regarding the topic are welcome and even encouraged. It is good to work you mind every once in a while. Here it is, take it for what it is.....words on a screen.
What is religion? Religion in it’s most basic form consists of 4 components. A common belief in an idea, traditions, spirituality, history. These four components are often accompanied by some unifying source of knowledge that conveys the way you are supposed to act. Now, let’s break it down. “a common belief in an idea”, this is something that for many people is somewhat bendable. It is perfectly healthy and natural to constantly be questioning this idea. In fact, I feel sorry for those who accept it matter of fact and do not take the time to look further into what they are basing their whole belief system off of. This is where the “unifying source of knowledge” comes in. These books that some people base their belief system on and accept as the word of a higher power are all written by man. This is not to state that they do not have every possibility of being complete fact, it is just to say that many of the stories in these books date back to a time before written documentation. This means that many of these stories were passed down through word of mouth until someone decided to write them down. If you have ever played the ‘telephone’ game, you know that things that are passed through word of mouth are easily changed and misconstrued. This being my least favorite game to play with kids, it can actually teach a valuable lesson. Don’t believe everything you hear just because it was told to you. Many people believe in this philosophy, but they throw it out the window when it comes to religion. Now, that I have expressed that I don’t think ones beliefs should be set in stone, let’s move on to traditions. Tradition is one of the core and most important part of identifying to a religion. Your belief is something that exists within you, tradition is something that is on the outside that you use to express openly your identification to a group. It is still important to consider why you do what you do, but when it comes down to it, you do it because your people have been doing it that way for generations and it is a beautiful thing to be a part of something so withstanding. Tradition is the carrying on of culture for many years and possibly for eternity. I know I am going out of order, but the randomness of this coincides with the randomness of religion and of life. The next topic I want to touch on is history. The history of religions does not only rely on that unifying source of information, it includes anything from ‘way back when’ to the present. It often speaks of religious persecution and religious triumph. Here, by ‘religious’, I mean as a group of people. For many years people have been persecuted for having different beliefs, or different skin. The fact that a people has persevered past such iniquities and remain united, often through their traditions is something to be proud of. Finally, I want to discuss, possibly the simplest yet most confusing aspect of religion. This is spirituality. On one hand, I don’t even want to include it in the necessary aspects of religion because it is something that defers from person to person and it is something that is so personal that you can not really attribute it to a group of people. On the other hand it is completely necessary for someone to believe in “something other”, without just accepting the word somebody else told them. Spirituality is religion through experience. It can not be left out of the list of key components of religion because it is, in my opinion, the most important aspect. Without some kind of spirituality and experience of the world’s multiple layers, it does not even matter what you believe. It is through spirituality that love for religion is formed. Spirituality can never really be put into words. People try, but it is one of those things that someone could never read on paper and fully understand. Spirituality can be anything from someone’s artistic inspiration to someone’s drug induced epiphany to the feeling someone gets when they smell the ocean and listen to the waves. It can be experienced anywhere from this peaceful beach setting to the room full of mingling young adults. Someone can experience the height of their spirituality when connecting to many different kinds of people, or when connecting to one person on a special level, or when they are left alone in to the thoughts in their own head. Spirituality is something that is truly unique to each person. It can never be quantified, compared, or lumped into a group.
Ok, this is pretty off topic, but another thought I've been having. I have recently noticed the amount of friends that I have that have become religious. I feel this is good for them, if they feel it is right, but I have one question..... Why is there such a need to change your name? Does the name change simply signify a new part of your life? Does make you feel more jewish to have a jewish sounding name? Does is offend your parents, saying your name is not good enough? When you are looking for a new name, what are you looking for? What difference does a new name really mean?
I do not mean to offend, I am just curious. I may cynical, but I don't mean to. I am just trying to understand another way of thinking.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Fires!
I have been reading about the fires all over California, and specifically the Santiago Canyon fire. I send my thoughts of well being to everyone in the area. It is crazy to be so far away and knowing the fires are so close to home. (the definition of home is never finished)
I hope everyone stays safe! And if you need to be evacuated, just remember possessions are simply that, possessions. They can be replaced, but your health and your life can not.
I hope everyone stays safe! And if you need to be evacuated, just remember possessions are simply that, possessions. They can be replaced, but your health and your life can not.
top left: that's arvaikheer (where I live) from the top of a nearby mountain.
top right: Dogs in the snow by the playground near my apartment
bottom left: snow is beautiful!
bottom right: I was waitin for TWO DAYS to see some kids playing in the snow!!! My friend told me I've been watching too many movies. I can understand that. You should should hear the things people have to say about LA, CA, and orange county!
Left: my 'spiritual rebirth' at the monastery. It really is like a rebirth, you just feel different knowing you fit in that tiny space. i crawled in there, stood up as much as I could, did three circles and crawled out of that tiny space you see there.
Right: That's what happens when you take a southern california girl out of the beach and into the snow. It may not look like it, but I'm actually warm.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
boring...
10-16-07
Life in Arvaikheer has been going pretty good. I am happy with my site placement and feel it leaves lots of room for movement. The people I work with are great. They really care about their work and seem like they would be very willing to get involved in the different things that I can conjure in my head. I often find my mind reeling with ideas of things to do…in due time…
I was sad to find out today that one of my coworkers will be going to the capital to study for four months.
I am sad to report that Tony (my dog) has had a rough time since I gave him to somebody else. I see him every once in a while, and feed him whenever I can.
Stoney (my cat) is doing good. He is a little crazy and is a lot of fun to watch. I bought him a mouse toy that he absolutely LOVES and his other favorite toy is a box that I received a package in. It is so entertaining to watch him jump in the box, jump out, grab the mouse, jump in, jump out, and repeat over and over again. I took a video, maybe I will post it one day. He’s such a sweet cat with interesting tendencies. I think he learned a few tricks from Tony….like biting. I’ve never known a cat to bite things the way he does. So, he can be a pain sometimes, but he usually provides good company.
Many people that I speak with ask about the weather…..so here it goes. If you read my other posts, you know that it snowed. I was soooo excited and it was beautiful! The days since then have been surprisingly warm and the snow is just about all melted. I have heard from some people that this is one of the longest falls they have had in a long time. Fine by me! According to Mongolians, I live in one of the warmest places in Mongolian, which is also ok with me. Of course, I must keep in my, it’s still Mongolian, and I will freeze my ass off come winter.
I have found myself becoming extra interested in reconnecting with people I haven’t talked to in a long time. I love hearing from old friends, family friends, and of course all my extended family, so keep the e-mails coming!!!
On that note, I miss you and love you all!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Life in Arvaikheer has been going pretty good. I am happy with my site placement and feel it leaves lots of room for movement. The people I work with are great. They really care about their work and seem like they would be very willing to get involved in the different things that I can conjure in my head. I often find my mind reeling with ideas of things to do…in due time…
I was sad to find out today that one of my coworkers will be going to the capital to study for four months.
I am sad to report that Tony (my dog) has had a rough time since I gave him to somebody else. I see him every once in a while, and feed him whenever I can.
Stoney (my cat) is doing good. He is a little crazy and is a lot of fun to watch. I bought him a mouse toy that he absolutely LOVES and his other favorite toy is a box that I received a package in. It is so entertaining to watch him jump in the box, jump out, grab the mouse, jump in, jump out, and repeat over and over again. I took a video, maybe I will post it one day. He’s such a sweet cat with interesting tendencies. I think he learned a few tricks from Tony….like biting. I’ve never known a cat to bite things the way he does. So, he can be a pain sometimes, but he usually provides good company.
Many people that I speak with ask about the weather…..so here it goes. If you read my other posts, you know that it snowed. I was soooo excited and it was beautiful! The days since then have been surprisingly warm and the snow is just about all melted. I have heard from some people that this is one of the longest falls they have had in a long time. Fine by me! According to Mongolians, I live in one of the warmest places in Mongolian, which is also ok with me. Of course, I must keep in my, it’s still Mongolian, and I will freeze my ass off come winter.
I have found myself becoming extra interested in reconnecting with people I haven’t talked to in a long time. I love hearing from old friends, family friends, and of course all my extended family, so keep the e-mails coming!!!
On that note, I miss you and love you all!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Mongolian Wedding
10-15-07
I am told one of my counterparts is having a wedding. I could have sworn he was already married, but apparently he’s not. We meet at the office to go to a house warming party and to the wedding. I definitely didn’t know what I was in for…
We drive outside of the main part of town and pull up to four small white houses that don’t seem to fit anywhere in Mongolia. Later, I find out they are the habitat for humanity houses. That’s a different topic. We walk into one of the houses and meet with one of my coworkers. This is the house warming. I’ve been to a house warming in Mongolia before, but it was NOTHING like this. We immediately start shoveling food into our mouths. First it’s the candy, next the salads, and then the soup. And when I thought I couldn’t fit anything else into my mouth I am presented with a small plate piled high with khorac (I don’t know how to spell it in English, but it is the Mongolian word for any fried mixture of things….ex eggs, meat, carrots, potatoes, cabbage) and rice. I eat a little and set it down on the table in front of me. At this point the drinking of airag and Mongolian vodka wine has begun. Then the bottles of vodka are cracked open. Mongolians have a very specific way of drinking. One person sits with airag, fills a bowl and passes it to someone in the room. The person takes the bowl drinks and when they are finished, hand it back to the server. He adds airag to the bowl and hands it to the next person. All the drinks were served this way. It started out slow, but before I knew it, I was in a whirlwind of Mongolian vodka wine, red wine, airag, and vodka; Shots and bowls being handed to me from every direction. I was praised for my airag drinking skills and knew when the vodka got to me they would not be so impressed. This went on for a while, everyone socializing and drinking, and offering the liquids to the sky. Drinking in Mongolia is much different than the states. You would never see someone in the states offer part of their drink to the sky in some spiritual movement. The closest we thing we have is ‘pour some out of the homies’, this is much different. Throughout the day, I was playing with my counterpart’s absolutely adorable little girl. There’s something about Mongolian children; they are all beautiful. She was asking me how to say different parts of the face and body in English, and then she’d run to her mother and tell her, who then would repeat it and you could really tell she was trying to remember it. She started playing with my earrings. I was wearing these really nice gold hoopy earrings that my mom gave me before I left for Israel. The little girl pointed to them and started screaming ‘black girl’ at me in Mongolian. All the adults in the room told her to be quite and gave her a discearning look, unsure if I could understand. She ran to her mom and said it one more time before listening to them. At first I was completely confused. It took me about ten minutes for me to realize that she has only seen black people through MTV and when she sees gold hoop earrings, she thinks only black girls wear them. Keep in mind that she is about 4 years old. We can discuss the effects of MTV on the rest of the world another day. There came a point where they filled a different bowl of airag and passed it around the room. This bowl was like a baton, whoever held the bowl made a speech and sang. As the bowl was passed back and forth between the server and each person in my room, the tears started to fall. There came a point where I looked around the room and there wasn’t a dry female eye, except mine of course. My counterpart explained that the women had spoken about her deceased father. I don’t know what she said, but it must have been emotional. The crying went on through about three speeches and three songs. The entire time, I was enjoying the songs and wishing that I had learned a song during training. I officially think learning a song needs to be a mandatory part of Peace Corps training in Mongolia. It comes in handy much more than you would think. I was nervous for the bowl to come to me, so I had arranged to have my director sing Ainee Shovod, (sp?) a well known and very popular song, that happens to be the only one I know the name of and perfect for the occasion. She agreed, but when the airag bowl was passed to me, she looked at me and told me to sing ‘yesterday’. I was a little confused, then she sang the first word and I joined her. We sang a little bit of the song, and the people in the room were pleased. I made her sing Ainee Shovod afterwards, that way I had a Mongolian song too. After people sang, my two adorable counterparts sang another little tune that is something they sing after someone sings well. In case you don’t know, it’s impossible for me to sing well, but I appreciated the gesture. After a lot of singing, we went next door to the wedding. There were many people sitting around a table eating and singing. Weddings in Mongolia are more like a social gathering where people eat and drink a lot. It is informal and held in the person’s home. Looking back, I think the whole experience was for the wedding. Most house warming parties are full of eating and maybe a little drinking, but every wedding has airag, vodka, and Mongolian vodka wine. It was definitely an interesting experience that I really have trouble putting into words. Mongolians are definitely some of the most friendly and hospitable people. Sitting in a room where I did not understand much of what was said, I never once felt alone, bored, or uncomfortable. Sure, there are the awkward moments that come up, but I have basically gotten used to being a little awkward from time to time and I find it more amusing than anything.
I am told one of my counterparts is having a wedding. I could have sworn he was already married, but apparently he’s not. We meet at the office to go to a house warming party and to the wedding. I definitely didn’t know what I was in for…
We drive outside of the main part of town and pull up to four small white houses that don’t seem to fit anywhere in Mongolia. Later, I find out they are the habitat for humanity houses. That’s a different topic. We walk into one of the houses and meet with one of my coworkers. This is the house warming. I’ve been to a house warming in Mongolia before, but it was NOTHING like this. We immediately start shoveling food into our mouths. First it’s the candy, next the salads, and then the soup. And when I thought I couldn’t fit anything else into my mouth I am presented with a small plate piled high with khorac (I don’t know how to spell it in English, but it is the Mongolian word for any fried mixture of things….ex eggs, meat, carrots, potatoes, cabbage) and rice. I eat a little and set it down on the table in front of me. At this point the drinking of airag and Mongolian vodka wine has begun. Then the bottles of vodka are cracked open. Mongolians have a very specific way of drinking. One person sits with airag, fills a bowl and passes it to someone in the room. The person takes the bowl drinks and when they are finished, hand it back to the server. He adds airag to the bowl and hands it to the next person. All the drinks were served this way. It started out slow, but before I knew it, I was in a whirlwind of Mongolian vodka wine, red wine, airag, and vodka; Shots and bowls being handed to me from every direction. I was praised for my airag drinking skills and knew when the vodka got to me they would not be so impressed. This went on for a while, everyone socializing and drinking, and offering the liquids to the sky. Drinking in Mongolia is much different than the states. You would never see someone in the states offer part of their drink to the sky in some spiritual movement. The closest we thing we have is ‘pour some out of the homies’, this is much different. Throughout the day, I was playing with my counterpart’s absolutely adorable little girl. There’s something about Mongolian children; they are all beautiful. She was asking me how to say different parts of the face and body in English, and then she’d run to her mother and tell her, who then would repeat it and you could really tell she was trying to remember it. She started playing with my earrings. I was wearing these really nice gold hoopy earrings that my mom gave me before I left for Israel. The little girl pointed to them and started screaming ‘black girl’ at me in Mongolian. All the adults in the room told her to be quite and gave her a discearning look, unsure if I could understand. She ran to her mom and said it one more time before listening to them. At first I was completely confused. It took me about ten minutes for me to realize that she has only seen black people through MTV and when she sees gold hoop earrings, she thinks only black girls wear them. Keep in mind that she is about 4 years old. We can discuss the effects of MTV on the rest of the world another day. There came a point where they filled a different bowl of airag and passed it around the room. This bowl was like a baton, whoever held the bowl made a speech and sang. As the bowl was passed back and forth between the server and each person in my room, the tears started to fall. There came a point where I looked around the room and there wasn’t a dry female eye, except mine of course. My counterpart explained that the women had spoken about her deceased father. I don’t know what she said, but it must have been emotional. The crying went on through about three speeches and three songs. The entire time, I was enjoying the songs and wishing that I had learned a song during training. I officially think learning a song needs to be a mandatory part of Peace Corps training in Mongolia. It comes in handy much more than you would think. I was nervous for the bowl to come to me, so I had arranged to have my director sing Ainee Shovod, (sp?) a well known and very popular song, that happens to be the only one I know the name of and perfect for the occasion. She agreed, but when the airag bowl was passed to me, she looked at me and told me to sing ‘yesterday’. I was a little confused, then she sang the first word and I joined her. We sang a little bit of the song, and the people in the room were pleased. I made her sing Ainee Shovod afterwards, that way I had a Mongolian song too. After people sang, my two adorable counterparts sang another little tune that is something they sing after someone sings well. In case you don’t know, it’s impossible for me to sing well, but I appreciated the gesture. After a lot of singing, we went next door to the wedding. There were many people sitting around a table eating and singing. Weddings in Mongolia are more like a social gathering where people eat and drink a lot. It is informal and held in the person’s home. Looking back, I think the whole experience was for the wedding. Most house warming parties are full of eating and maybe a little drinking, but every wedding has airag, vodka, and Mongolian vodka wine. It was definitely an interesting experience that I really have trouble putting into words. Mongolians are definitely some of the most friendly and hospitable people. Sitting in a room where I did not understand much of what was said, I never once felt alone, bored, or uncomfortable. Sure, there are the awkward moments that come up, but I have basically gotten used to being a little awkward from time to time and I find it more amusing than anything.
SNOW!!!
10-12-07
Yesterday, I was lying in bed, counting the minutes until I really needed to get up. My cat was trying to convince me it was time by walking on my chest, playing with my draw string and meowing incessantly. Then, I got a text message. It read "It’s snowing, what a beautiful day". I immediately jumped out of bed, quickly slipped on a jacket and put on my crocks (of all shoes) ran downstairs and walked outside. The snow was falling and there was white barely covering the ground. I decided I wanted my camera. I ran upstairs, tested all the batteries I have, until I found some that would give me enough juice for a few pictures. I only got a couple pictures in before my camera completely died on me. As my toes started to freeze, I went back inside and began to get ready for work. I found myself taking longer than usual due to my constant staring outside at the snow. Finally, I was ready for work and started my walk. I walked to work, completely amazed by the snow. It’s such a funny feeling! Totally different than going to the mountains. I live in the snow. I have never lived in a place where it would snow, and on this day I found it very difficult to dress for work. I had no idea what to where!!! I walked to work and surprisingly didn’t freeze my ass off. Upon arriving at work, I continued to stair out the window. It just kept coming. I would go outside every once in a while just to see how deep it was and to enjoy it while it was falling out of the sky. It was so beautiful!!! I arranged to borrow my friend’s camera so I could take pictures of my first snowy day. After lunch, I walked into my work and we skipped the English lesson to drink airag, and eat boodz and araal. I made sure to leave work early so I could take lots of pictures before the sky grew dark. People definitely looked at me, thinking I was a tourist. Even my peace corps friends thought it was funny that I wanted to take pictures and play in the snow. This is what happens when you take a southern California girl and stick her in Mongolia….
Yesterday, I was lying in bed, counting the minutes until I really needed to get up. My cat was trying to convince me it was time by walking on my chest, playing with my draw string and meowing incessantly. Then, I got a text message. It read "It’s snowing, what a beautiful day". I immediately jumped out of bed, quickly slipped on a jacket and put on my crocks (of all shoes) ran downstairs and walked outside. The snow was falling and there was white barely covering the ground. I decided I wanted my camera. I ran upstairs, tested all the batteries I have, until I found some that would give me enough juice for a few pictures. I only got a couple pictures in before my camera completely died on me. As my toes started to freeze, I went back inside and began to get ready for work. I found myself taking longer than usual due to my constant staring outside at the snow. Finally, I was ready for work and started my walk. I walked to work, completely amazed by the snow. It’s such a funny feeling! Totally different than going to the mountains. I live in the snow. I have never lived in a place where it would snow, and on this day I found it very difficult to dress for work. I had no idea what to where!!! I walked to work and surprisingly didn’t freeze my ass off. Upon arriving at work, I continued to stair out the window. It just kept coming. I would go outside every once in a while just to see how deep it was and to enjoy it while it was falling out of the sky. It was so beautiful!!! I arranged to borrow my friend’s camera so I could take pictures of my first snowy day. After lunch, I walked into my work and we skipped the English lesson to drink airag, and eat boodz and araal. I made sure to leave work early so I could take lots of pictures before the sky grew dark. People definitely looked at me, thinking I was a tourist. Even my peace corps friends thought it was funny that I wanted to take pictures and play in the snow. This is what happens when you take a southern California girl and stick her in Mongolia….
Ulaanbataar
10-5-07
I had a conference in UB (Ulaanbataar) last week. Upon having the knowledge that I will be traveling to the city, my mind automatically starts forming a list of all the things I want to buy while I’m there. I was a little nervous knowing this would be my first time traveling in Mongolia on my own. I boarded the bus at 8am after it was completely packed with containers of airag. Immediately, I could pick out the people who would be staring at me the whole ride probably thinking "where are you from? Why are you here?, etc…" all the normal questions.
There was one point in the trip when I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I often see my life as a movie, here’s the scene:
A small Mongolian bus packed with people. There’s jugs of airag and luggage filling the isle, so whenever the bus stops people climb over the luggage and each other to get out. The bus is a little cold due to the open windows, letting in the dust from outside. The landscape is that of beautiful fall in Mongolia, mostly brown hills, and frequently passing hearders with their animals. People are bobbing up and down with the bumps of the unpaved road. In the front of the bus, there is a row of five people facing everyone else. One Mongolian man keeps his eyes fixed on the only white girl on the bus, who is seated only a few rows in front of him. She sits silently, obviously by herself. She puts down her headphones for the first time in the trip and reaches into her purse. She pulls out a book, "Genghis Kahn: the making of the modern world", of course. So this girl sits in the bus packed with Mongolians, the only white girl, completely oblivious to the fact. She is concentrated on getting to her destination and passing the time as best as she can. She sits reading about Chingis and the history of the land and the people that she finds herself immersed in. The bus bumps, she looks up from her book, looks out the window, looks at the man that has been starring at her since they boarded the bus, looks back down at the book in her hand and can’t help but smile at the cliché she has just created.
After about 10 hours of mostly offroading, and one lunch break, we pulled into the "Dragon Center", which is the main bus station in UB. Why it’s called that? I don’t know. It’s a pretty intimidating name for a parking lot. About 5 taxi drivers wanted to take me all at once. After discussing the price with them, I got in a "taxi", which is really just a car and made my way towards the guesthouse where I planned to stay. I’m really not good at getting around big cities, but I was lucky to have someone on the phone telling me how to get where I needed to go. After checking in, I met up with some of the other peace corps volunteers. The next few days were filled with delicious food, spending lots of money, going to bars, my conference, visiting with friends, and wandering around the city. It was nice to see the people that I trained with and to discuss our sites and our jobs. It was also comforting that EVERYONE’S Mongolian has gotten worse…if possible. UB is an interesting place. I found myself in restaurants trying to squeeze by with my Mongolian, only to realize that I didn’t have to. There are so many foreigners that pass through UB that being foreign is not weird there and you don’t experience people practicing the only English they know (hi) on you. I was actually amazed by the amount of people that knew really good English. All the people in Arvaikheer that "know English" say they studied in UB, but something must have went wrong, because the people I encountered in UB really do know English.
After a while, UB gets tiring due to walking all over the place trying to gather the things you’ve been dreaming about. For me, once I got there, my list of things I wanted to get went out the window. I had my mind on three things, good food, beans, and movies. These were all things with a purpose. I wanted to eat non-mongolian food and was SUPER excited when I was able to get a chicken Caesar salad, delicious Indian food, close to real pizza, and many other things I can not get anywhere else in Mongolia. I wanted to get beans for their nutrition value. In Arvaikheer I don’t cook meat at my home because I do not have a refrigerator. Technically, I could buy single portions of meat from the market, but I don’t know how much that would be and the meat market is pretty intimidating in itself. I only eat meat when I go out to eat or when all the Americans get together on Fridays to cook dinner. And, finally, Movies are an absolute necessity around here. There is a place where you can purchase bootleg DVDs for equivalent to about $1.50 US dollars. Of course, I am not using American money, so it is a little different, but they are still very cheap. Basically, one movie is just under the price of a beer. They also let you view them to make sure they are a good copy. I should have paid more attention while I was there, but after sifting through all the movies to find ones I was interested in, my patience level was pretty low. Anyway, I bought 3 movies which will serve to be a very good investment.
After being in UB for about 4 days, I was more than ready to head home. It was funny because I was talking to someone online and I said, "I just wanna go home" and I realized I had to clarify, "…to Arvaikheer".
In the past, I have discussed with people the meaning of the word "home". The way I see it, ‘home’ is where my things are. It’s where I don’t have to live out of a bag. Arvaikheer is my home for the next two years. I still refer to anywhere in California, or even the U.S. as ‘home’, but it is a different meaning. This meaning of home is of a place that I am familiar with and know the language.
After the longest 10 hours bus ride of my life, I arrived back in Arvaikheer. It was this bus ride where I learned the importance of getting up early to get a ticket for a good seat the day before departure. I went at about 11 am the day before I left UB and got the last available seat on the bus. It makes sense that it was definitely the worst seat on the bus. By the time I got home, I was excited to get off that bus and get to see my animals.
My dog literally doubled in size over the course of those 4 days!!! After realizing that he’s going to be a huge dog and watching him chew at my walls, my feet, and my phone, I made the tough decision to find him a new home. I knew I had to get rid of him, but I couldn’t just put him back on the street where I found him. He came to work with me and ended up going home with ‘the driver’ (I don’t know what his job is). Tony (my dog) is going to be given to Zorgoo’s (that’s his name) brother and is going to become a khudoo (coutryside) dog. Yesterday, I went home for lunch, only to find Tony waiting at my door. At first I was confused, but it only took me a minute to realize I had given the dog to a Mongolian, which means he will always be outdoors now. I brought him in for food, he played with the cat, and then he started to get rowdy. I made him go outside when I left. At first I thought he was going to walk with me to work, but he stopped at the end of the stairwell. I was hoping he wouldn’t be there when I got home last night. He was. He ran down to meet me and started walking up the stairs with me. I can’t help it, I got a soft spot for the little beast, and I was going to take him in for the night. He got distracted by some people walking down the stairs and followed them out. He disappeared after that. I am at work now. I wonder if he’ll be there when I go for lunch. We’ll see…..
Ok, so that’s what’s been going on over here. Sorry to say, nothing real exciting. Mostly my days just consist of going to work. However, I have found that I actually enjoy work. I like the things that I work on, and on the days that there isn’t much to do (today), I still don’t mind being here. I have had a cold since I got back from UB. In California, with the slightest hint of illness, and I would call in sick to work. Here, I had things that I had to get done and was eager to do. I came in to work, did what I needed to and left a little early.
I had a conference in UB (Ulaanbataar) last week. Upon having the knowledge that I will be traveling to the city, my mind automatically starts forming a list of all the things I want to buy while I’m there. I was a little nervous knowing this would be my first time traveling in Mongolia on my own. I boarded the bus at 8am after it was completely packed with containers of airag. Immediately, I could pick out the people who would be staring at me the whole ride probably thinking "where are you from? Why are you here?, etc…" all the normal questions.
There was one point in the trip when I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I often see my life as a movie, here’s the scene:
A small Mongolian bus packed with people. There’s jugs of airag and luggage filling the isle, so whenever the bus stops people climb over the luggage and each other to get out. The bus is a little cold due to the open windows, letting in the dust from outside. The landscape is that of beautiful fall in Mongolia, mostly brown hills, and frequently passing hearders with their animals. People are bobbing up and down with the bumps of the unpaved road. In the front of the bus, there is a row of five people facing everyone else. One Mongolian man keeps his eyes fixed on the only white girl on the bus, who is seated only a few rows in front of him. She sits silently, obviously by herself. She puts down her headphones for the first time in the trip and reaches into her purse. She pulls out a book, "Genghis Kahn: the making of the modern world", of course. So this girl sits in the bus packed with Mongolians, the only white girl, completely oblivious to the fact. She is concentrated on getting to her destination and passing the time as best as she can. She sits reading about Chingis and the history of the land and the people that she finds herself immersed in. The bus bumps, she looks up from her book, looks out the window, looks at the man that has been starring at her since they boarded the bus, looks back down at the book in her hand and can’t help but smile at the cliché she has just created.
After about 10 hours of mostly offroading, and one lunch break, we pulled into the "Dragon Center", which is the main bus station in UB. Why it’s called that? I don’t know. It’s a pretty intimidating name for a parking lot. About 5 taxi drivers wanted to take me all at once. After discussing the price with them, I got in a "taxi", which is really just a car and made my way towards the guesthouse where I planned to stay. I’m really not good at getting around big cities, but I was lucky to have someone on the phone telling me how to get where I needed to go. After checking in, I met up with some of the other peace corps volunteers. The next few days were filled with delicious food, spending lots of money, going to bars, my conference, visiting with friends, and wandering around the city. It was nice to see the people that I trained with and to discuss our sites and our jobs. It was also comforting that EVERYONE’S Mongolian has gotten worse…if possible. UB is an interesting place. I found myself in restaurants trying to squeeze by with my Mongolian, only to realize that I didn’t have to. There are so many foreigners that pass through UB that being foreign is not weird there and you don’t experience people practicing the only English they know (hi) on you. I was actually amazed by the amount of people that knew really good English. All the people in Arvaikheer that "know English" say they studied in UB, but something must have went wrong, because the people I encountered in UB really do know English.
After a while, UB gets tiring due to walking all over the place trying to gather the things you’ve been dreaming about. For me, once I got there, my list of things I wanted to get went out the window. I had my mind on three things, good food, beans, and movies. These were all things with a purpose. I wanted to eat non-mongolian food and was SUPER excited when I was able to get a chicken Caesar salad, delicious Indian food, close to real pizza, and many other things I can not get anywhere else in Mongolia. I wanted to get beans for their nutrition value. In Arvaikheer I don’t cook meat at my home because I do not have a refrigerator. Technically, I could buy single portions of meat from the market, but I don’t know how much that would be and the meat market is pretty intimidating in itself. I only eat meat when I go out to eat or when all the Americans get together on Fridays to cook dinner. And, finally, Movies are an absolute necessity around here. There is a place where you can purchase bootleg DVDs for equivalent to about $1.50 US dollars. Of course, I am not using American money, so it is a little different, but they are still very cheap. Basically, one movie is just under the price of a beer. They also let you view them to make sure they are a good copy. I should have paid more attention while I was there, but after sifting through all the movies to find ones I was interested in, my patience level was pretty low. Anyway, I bought 3 movies which will serve to be a very good investment.
After being in UB for about 4 days, I was more than ready to head home. It was funny because I was talking to someone online and I said, "I just wanna go home" and I realized I had to clarify, "…to Arvaikheer".
In the past, I have discussed with people the meaning of the word "home". The way I see it, ‘home’ is where my things are. It’s where I don’t have to live out of a bag. Arvaikheer is my home for the next two years. I still refer to anywhere in California, or even the U.S. as ‘home’, but it is a different meaning. This meaning of home is of a place that I am familiar with and know the language.
After the longest 10 hours bus ride of my life, I arrived back in Arvaikheer. It was this bus ride where I learned the importance of getting up early to get a ticket for a good seat the day before departure. I went at about 11 am the day before I left UB and got the last available seat on the bus. It makes sense that it was definitely the worst seat on the bus. By the time I got home, I was excited to get off that bus and get to see my animals.
My dog literally doubled in size over the course of those 4 days!!! After realizing that he’s going to be a huge dog and watching him chew at my walls, my feet, and my phone, I made the tough decision to find him a new home. I knew I had to get rid of him, but I couldn’t just put him back on the street where I found him. He came to work with me and ended up going home with ‘the driver’ (I don’t know what his job is). Tony (my dog) is going to be given to Zorgoo’s (that’s his name) brother and is going to become a khudoo (coutryside) dog. Yesterday, I went home for lunch, only to find Tony waiting at my door. At first I was confused, but it only took me a minute to realize I had given the dog to a Mongolian, which means he will always be outdoors now. I brought him in for food, he played with the cat, and then he started to get rowdy. I made him go outside when I left. At first I thought he was going to walk with me to work, but he stopped at the end of the stairwell. I was hoping he wouldn’t be there when I got home last night. He was. He ran down to meet me and started walking up the stairs with me. I can’t help it, I got a soft spot for the little beast, and I was going to take him in for the night. He got distracted by some people walking down the stairs and followed them out. He disappeared after that. I am at work now. I wonder if he’ll be there when I go for lunch. We’ll see…..
Ok, so that’s what’s been going on over here. Sorry to say, nothing real exciting. Mostly my days just consist of going to work. However, I have found that I actually enjoy work. I like the things that I work on, and on the days that there isn’t much to do (today), I still don’t mind being here. I have had a cold since I got back from UB. In California, with the slightest hint of illness, and I would call in sick to work. Here, I had things that I had to get done and was eager to do. I came in to work, did what I needed to and left a little early.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
snow!
I know I need to do some serious writing on this. I promise, it's coming soon. Today it is snowing!!! It's sooo exciting! I live in a place where it snows!!!
I want to post pictures but blogspot is too slow and they won't load. sorry, i tried
I want to post pictures but blogspot is too slow and they won't load. sorry, i tried
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