The Bananas take third place

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thursday, September 24, 2009

While waiting for Frank and A to arrive home this evening, I got a call from Frank. The big news? It seems that the Bananas took third place in today's "sports contest" at A's daycare.

Normally speaking, A is in the Mouse group at daycare. It seems that today was a special day, however. The Mice, Teddies and Elephants were divided into mixed-age teams: the Kiwis, Bananas, and Strawberries. These fruit-inspired teams competed in a variety of sports "contests" which included running around the room and several other activities which didn't quite translate.

It seems that A scored the Bananas' only point by tossing a ball into some kind of a box. See scoreboard at right.

A came home with a badge sewn to her shirt and a cookie with a "3" on it as a reward for her efforts.

I love this place.

This little piggy went to market

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Every weekend we have driver for 3 hours to accomplish the week's shopping. You may think that sounds quite doable but consider this: The main Nomin Supermarket has ground beef, but the one near our apartment does not. McVities ginger snaps are at the Nomin near our place, but not at the one that has ground beef. Our favorite Mongolian yogurt is usually available at all supermarkets--but not last week. Frank went to three stores trying to find it. Oats for oatmeal and granola can, for some reason, only be found at the Mercury market. But not 2 weeks ago: then, there was none.

Every week there is the "milk dilemma." What kind shall we buy? Russian? Polish? Mongolian? Perhaps a better question: what kind is available this week? Sorry, this week only Russian 3.5%, next week Polish 1.5%. The key factor? Be flexible.

Still, let it be said, there is a good variety of foods to be had, but one-stop shopping is not what we're talking about.

Shopping for meat is particularly intimidating for someone who grew up mostly in US supermarkets. There's 3 or 4 huge chunks of meat for sale on the counter. Which one shall I ask them to cut? How old is it? How much does it cost? What kind of animal is it? Slowly, I AM learning, but it is slow.

And every week as I head into the vegetable and meat section at Mercury Market, I say hello to my friend in the frozen foods case. I am not quite sure if he's for sale--or just part of the stall's decor.

The not so super market

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Just before the weather let loose yesterday with the season's first snowstorm, things came to a boil down in the courtyard over the new mini market that's going in on the first floor of our apartment complex.

It all started Friday evening when workers arrived to put up the plastic letters on the building. Neighbors gathered outside the new mini market and advised the guy not to put the letters up over the neighboring apartment, but he proceeded to ignore their advice. Later that evening there was some heated discussion about the placement of the letters, but finally everyone went home.

Early Saturday morning, I looked out to see a man on a ladder removing the top halves of the "SUPER" letters. (Apparently he didn't have the tools to get the whole thing down.) Later that morning when the removal was discovered, an argument broke out between the apartment owner and the store owner.

By 1:30pm, the snowstorm was raging but it was time to call in the apartment's security people to mediate the situation. By 2:30pm, there was a police car down in the courtyard.

At last, it seems the apartment owner's friends convinced him to take a ride with them--and avoid going for a drive with the police.

PS: Monday afternoon I came home to "Market." All traces of the "Super" were gone. But it will be wonderful to be able to buy some milk without walking 1.5 miles in the fierce Mongolian winter...

Sponge toss

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Okay, I'll admit it. I was dubious about the idea of our school's "Fall Fun Fair," which took place earlier today. I have never much liked carnival games and the sort. Nonetheless, I dutifully worked with my homeroom to prepare a game for the fair. They made a nice poster, filled water balloons with colored water, and brought in some darts.

"Pop Art"--get it?

And then, in a rush of school spirit, I even volunteered for a turn at the sponge toss--where kids pay to throw a wet sponge at their teachers.

But there were also dog walks, cake walks, and a nice assortment of other activities for kids of all ages.

Happily, I am a convert, at least for this low-tech, kid-friendly, version of a carnival. And I think my shrieking must have really brought in the customers for the sponge toss. And no, it didn't hurt--even when one 10 year-old managed to hit me twice on the face.

A tale of 20 boxes

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thursday, September 10, 2009

This afternoon, another miracle occurred: our boxes, bruised, battered, and filthy as they were, arrived. All 20 of them!

Many of you have already been regaled with my attempts to ship our stuff to Mongolia. Suffice it to say that the first company we called said that they couldn't help us because they didn't ship via the Panama Canal. Mongolia, via the Panama Canal? The second company wanted over $3000. For 20 boxes?? The 3rd company won our business--but then required that we send our shipment from Seattle to the port at Long Beach, California via Chicago. Chicago?!?

But, two months later, the boxes have arrived: all of A's books & toys, winter clothes for us, a huge jar of peanut butter, all my spices, baking pans, a year's worth of vitamins, and a really random assortment of other stuff. More than enough to make us feel at home.

The Iron

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Monday, September 7, 2009

Finally we did it. Not only did we manage to purchase an ironing board yesterday (which barely, barely fit into our car), but miracle of miracles, we even bought an iron. The next time you go out to purchase a small home appliance, I beg you to think of us.

First of all, irons (and ironing boards) are outrageously expensive here. Or outrageously cheap, depending on where you buy them. One colleague bought her iron several weeks ago at the so-called "Black Market." It cost her about $3. The downside, however, was that she later realized that its cord is approximately 4 feet long. Have you ever tried to iron with a 4-foot cord? Having borrowed her iron, I can now honestly say that I don't recommend it.

At any rate, after much searching, I found a somewhat reasonably priced iron at a large department store downtown. I marched up to what I thought was the cashier, and that's when things got complicated. First, it seems, I needed to go to another floor to pay for the iron--and no, I couldn't take the iron with me. Apparently I was just viewing a "sample" iron. The actual iron was to be picked up (or so I understood) on the first floor.

Meanwhile, Frank and A were waiting for me at the car. I called Frank and assured him that I had now paid for the iron and would be picking it up on my way out of the store. Just a minute, I promised him.

When I located the electronics pick-up window, I thought that my quarry was finally within reach. But first the "dumbwaiter" had to be activated to retrieve my purchase from the 5th floor. And then. And then the fellow at the counter proceeded to carefully unpack my iron and test it. Once he had showed me that that the iron was, indeed, getting hot, I was asked to sign a copy of my "guarantee." Not only do we know have an iron, but a 6-month guarantee as well.

Mission accomplished.

Folk Rock in unexpected places

Khustain Nuruu National Park, Mongolia
Sunday, September 6, 2009

Just returned home from three lovely days at Khustai National Park, home of the famous wild Mongolian horses. We had one day of sunshine, one day of clouds, and one day of freezing temperatures. And three days of wind. Khustai is a spectacularly beautiful place, and we even got to see two of the wild Przewalski horses. But the real surprise for us campers was a folk rock group that showed up and offered to give us and the students a free impromptu concert.

It was hauntingly beautiful music, but quite modern, too. And yes, that unearthly sound is throat singing. ("Domog" (ДОМОГ) is the name of the group.)


And here's another clip if you liked the first one:

Your second Mongolian lesson

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, September 6, 2009

The thing about learning to read Mongolian is this: first you have to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. And then you have to realize that the Cyrillic alphabet does NOT do a good job of representing the sounds of the Mongolian language.

Before we arrived in Mongolia, Frank eagerly tackled this task of learning the (modified) Cyrillic alphabet. But this time, it was I who lagged behind.

The real problem is this: when you look at the letters, they all look so familiar. But that is the problem of so-called "false friends."

To get started, try remembering the following:

The letter Р is an "r" sound

The letter И is an "i" sound

The letter C is an "s" sound

The letter Л is an "l" sound

The letter У is a "u" sound

The letter H is an "n" sound

Okay, time to test your knowledge! What does the picture at right say?

"Crystal Town"

But here's the bad thing: that's just an English word that's been "spelled" phonetically in Mongolian. You still need to learn some real Mongolian words. Maybe another day...

Your first Mongolian lesson

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Sunday, September 6, 2009

Taxi cabs are ubiquitous in this city--but even more than that, everyone stops to give rides for a small fee. One day we got a ride home from a doctor who had just completed 12 years of medical training in Japan. (I found myself hoping he was not in the taxi business full time). Without a car, it quickly became obvious to us that we'd be spending a lot of time in cabs--though we have since hired a part-time driver to help us get around UB.

Getting into a taxi in our first days here was particularly unnerving because 1) most of the taxi drivers don't speak English 2) we don't speak Mongolian and 3) our apartment is located in such a new part of the city that many taxi drivers don't even know where it is.

Fortunately, however, one of our first taxi drivers here in UB offered us an impromptu Mongolian lesson--the kind which did not need any translation. So, here it is--all you need to know to get you started in Ulaanbaatar:

Ba-ruun--go right
Zuun--go left
Chigerai--straight ahead
Zogs!--stop!

But, of course, none of this is helpful if you yourself do not know where you are going...