Field Trip

So much to tell about the last two days! We travelled to a town about 5 hours east of here. As soon as you get about 15 minutes outside of town, you realize just how remote most of Mongolia is. Mile after mile of road, with no visible buildings, people, or animals. It’s a beautiful country in winter, and must be even more beautiful in summer when everything is green, instead of covered in snow. Along the way, you occasionally see a structure, or grazing animals (cattle, sheep, camels), and only a few other cars on the road. We did see two gentlemen on motorbikes, and decided they were the two bravest people in Mongolia. Temperature is about 0F, and there is still ice and snow on the roads!

When we reached the town, we were greeted at the entrance sign. It is a sign of welcome to greet people with milk tea at the entrance to your city. The team was waiting for us, and we all hopped out of the van, had our greeting by a person in full Mongolian dress, drank our sip of milk tea, and then returned to the van to continue into the town. After working in the office for a bit, we toured two schools. The students are all very well behaved, and very excited to meet visitors. The first school was for students 1st to 8th grade, and the second was a high school. Schools here are brightly colored and have a reasonable amount of resources for learning. Students learned all the normal subjects, and for the older students, classes in Russian, English, and German were available.

The arts are also very important here. Mongolians are very proud of their music, dance and art, and these things are taught in the schools. In both schools, students put on a presentation of what they learned. They played instruments, danced, and sang. They are all incredibly talented! One student played the traditional instrument called a matouqin or morinkohr (played with a bow on two strings). He did a wonderful job, and when he was finished, our hosts told us he is deaf. This instrument is not easy to play in tune, yet every pitch was exactly right! In each activity, whether dancing, singing or playing instruments, the music always reflects the importance of the horse in Mongolian life. From the music or dance, you get a mental picture of the Mongolians riding their horses across the open landscape. Each piece is performed in full, colorful dress as well. Students at both schools are incredibly talented!

Monday night, we stayed in a small hotel in town. Mostly cold water, no shower, but a nice bed and heat, so all was well. I do have to say that washing your face with cold water in Mongolia is a bit different than washing your face with cold water in Africa. That water here is REALLY cold!

Today we spent more time doing our office work and checks, and then we visited a herding family just outside the village. This is the family of one of our local co-workers. They live in a ger, with additional wooden structures to house their lifestock to try to protect them from the elements. This year is so cold and snowy that country-wide nearly 60% of the livestock have died. For this family alone, their herd has gone from 90 cows to 40 cows this winter. They are hoping they don’t lose any more. The weather is absolutely devastating to these people.

The herders move three times per year to allow their livestock to graze in different areas. They leave the animal structures behind, but pack up the ger and haul it to the next location. We’re told it takes about one hour to tear one down, and another hour to set it back up in its new location. The ger and household goods used to be transported by horse drawn cart, but now they are frequently transported by car or by car and trailer.

There are many customs for entering a ger. You always enter with your right foot first, then move clockwise into the ger (it’s a circular structure). You can sit on the left or right, but not at the head where the most senior member of the family sits. The stove sits in the middle of the ger. They burn many things in the stove as fuel. Today’s fuel was cow dung. I figured it would smell, but there was no odor inside the ger.

Our hosts were a woman from the office, her son and father, and her mother. Her mom was 88 years old. Mom had 12 children, all of whom are professionals. She says she has over 40 grandchildren, and doesn’t know how many great-grandchildren. The language barrier kept us from asking too many questions, but I can only imagine the stories she could tell!

For lunch we had steamed dumplings with meat (unsure what kind, but was probably either beef or horse), sour yogurt, curdled and dried milkfat, hard lard (incredibly hard), and some type of noodle dish, all washed down with milk tea. The milk-based items are made in the fall, and then kept and used all winter. They said the yogurt was made in August, and then is served until spring. I guess in such low temperatures, nothing spoils, so we ate it. For our western palates, we had to add some sugar to the yogurt, as it was a bit sour. After you finish your bowl of yogurt, it is customary to lick the inside of the bowl to clean it. I thought of all the kids at home that try this and get yelled at for bad manners. I finally found a place where it is good manners to literally lick your bowl clean!

More to share on our short field trip tomorrow!