As per usual I’ve slacked on my blogging duties and I’m much
overdue for an update about Mongolia, Moogi and me. My apologies, I hope this
post fulfills all your wildest dreams about what life is like here in the
tundra ;).
Lucky me celebrated new years stateside in the warmth of
family and the Florida sun, but back here in Erdenet there were ice sculptures
and ice slides to warm your soul. It must be the year of the Elephant because
here’s Dumbo welcoming 2013 a couple tusks shy, but still standing strong. (I do know there’s no year of the
elephant, and that looks nothing like Dumbo, but I have yet to understand why
I’ve found so many Elephant statues here in Erdenet and felt I needed to make
note of it. I have full respect and admiration for elephants, so nothing
against them, but why they’re sculpted here befuddles me). It’s the year of the
Dragon, btw.
I would have loved to see this ice art before kids added
their own crafty touch, but what I did see was preetty neat and here are some
of the photos I snapped before my fingers froze.
I loved the way the light reflected through the ice and I was
trying to capture the sunset through it before I got dragged into taking pictures
of kiddos going down the slides… which was much more entertaining anyway.
For a cultural note, the whole time I conversed, took
pictures, helped a girl put on her backpack and fix her gloves, not once did a
parent come to intervene or really make any note of me, quite frankly, I didn’t
see any parents except for those of children under 5.
Most children here are allowed to walk home after school and
are pretty darn independent (A lot of kids get cell phones by the age of 7 or
earlier – that's probably happening in the states now too) And as all children
do, they loved looking at the photos I took and would make me wait for them to
slide and then run over to see what they looked like. It’s fun what a camera
can bring to any situation.
Had I been in America, I probably would have been
suspiciously perceived and most definitely not surrounded by children wanting
me to take their photo, or offer me candy. These children don’t fear strangers,
and certainly not blonde ones who stick out in a crowd – even being covered
head to toe in winter gear. I love that about Mongolia; everyone looks out for
one another, especially children, and there isn’t that aspect of fear that we
find so much in the states. That isn’t to say that everyone here is a godsend
and will care for your child as their own sweet angel, but the sense of
community is still strong and I think that’s great.
Moogi had a wonderful holiday and became reunited with her
inner hudoo (countryside) dog. She stayed with a American/French family just
outside Erdenet with her buddy Baavka (Bear) in a huge hashaa (fenced in yard),
but she thought that wasn’t big enough and escaped to explore more of the hudoo
– I want to think she was trying to find her way home but she was most likely
just embracing her curiosity to explore, and wanting to eat all of the most
disgusting scraps a pup can find. Now, squeaky clean, she’s home and rolling on
her back for tummy rubs. What a lucky life that dog has.
Back in America, I probably had the most adverse reverse
cultural shock ever. I think I just was overwhelmed and I felt like I was trying
to hide under a turtle shell. I’ve lost my ability to converse coherently for
long periods of time, mainly due to the fact that English was all around and my
ears tuned into everything just because I could understand what people were
saying. It made it quite difficult for me to focus. Sorry if I seemed distant
or aloof, but my mind was overwhelmed!
Family photo in Florida, you can only imagine what Ian
did to elicit such a response in the rest of us ;).
I’m happy to back in Erdenet and my old routine, yoga
picked right back up, and we’re showing Star Wars in our English movie club.
Another culture note;
Sometimes for yes and no Mongolians just use sounds; tsuuuuu
- yes ksuuuu – no, very similar to the breathing noises Mr. Darth Vader in Star
Wars makes, therefore it is said that many Mongolians just think Darth Vader
is saying yes and no throughout the movie.
And I also just found out a factoid – Vader is actually
“father” in Dutch – who knew?!?
Best to all of you and hope you had a wonderful new years!
If you haven't already, check out my photo's on Flickr, click below:
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