Mongolia Update #5

Thursday, April 22
Today when we were coming back for lunch, we had an interesting experience. When we were getting ready to cross the street, the two cars going each direction slammed on their brakes, tires squealing, in order for us to cross the street. Muugii said, “Interesting, very interesting. They would never have done that for a Mongolian. They don’t want to hit a foreigner!”
One thing that I have noticed pretty much everywhere I have been (outside of the USA) is that staring is not rude. Tonight as we were walking home, a young girl about 8 turned around and was blatantly staring. I could just hear her little brain thinking, “Those girls look strange!” I usually just smile, wave and keep on going. In America, we get used to seeing people from all different ethnicities. Pretty much everyone that is in Mongolia, is Mongolian!

Fun Fact of the Day: There are approximately 40,000 Christian believers in Mongolia. (Population is 3.5 million.)
Mongolian Word of the Day: more (pronounced mord)—means “cat”

Friday, April 23
Today was a busy day at the clinic. A lady from Lithuania brought in her Bengal cat because he was not chewing its food. He was BEAUTIFUL and just the sweetest natured cat (my type—he acted like a dog!). Her family (husband and 2 kids) just moved to Mongolia this past fall. Meg and Otka did a dental on the cat and it definitely had some lesions in the mouth that would make it sore enough where he wouldn’t want to chew. Then Karen and Aagie repaired a femur fracture on a dog. And every kennel in the clinic was occupied with either dogs for grooming or in being treated for parvo/distemper. It seemed like we just ran around like chickens with our heads cut off!
Tonight we went to the Moonstone concert. It is an event that showcases all the special things about Mongolian culture. There were traditional Mongolian dances, a contortionist, throat singing (you should youtube this), and various instruments that are unique to this country. I really enjoyed the traditional folk dance and the contortionist. She was crazy flexible and so strong.
After the concert, we had dinner with the Ballengers. It was so nice to have an American type meal and just to be in someone’s home, rather than eating out. We looked at pictures of their family. They have 2 sons and 1 daughter. The middle son and daughter moved with them to Mongolia in 2004. We stayed up really late visiting with them and then Richard walked us back to our apartment.

Fun Fact of the Day: The Nadam is a huge event that happens once a year in Mongolia. There are many different events, but the highlights are horse racing (5-7 year old boys and girls that race their horses over 15-32 km depending on the age of the horse), archery and wrestling.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Chi bol saikhan zaluu—means “You are a handsome boy.”

Saturday, April 24
Today we went to Terilj (pronounced Teril-ish), their National Park. It was definitely a cold day—about 20 degrees and snow flurries, but we didn’t let that stop us. Tseku (pronounced Se-ku), the cleaner for the small animal clinic, and Enchimeg (pronounced Inch-meg), one of the accountants, were our Mongolian “guides”. Tseku is Kazak, which is the most western province (ironically, or not, closest to Kazakhstan). The predominate religion there is Islam. She has been a believer for 3 years and one of her younger sisters is too. Her grandmother is Muslim. Enchimeg is from a province about 200km from Ulaanbaatar. She just finished studying abroad in South Korea for her masters in IT.
The first thing we did was drive out to see the GIANORMOUS Chengis Khan statue. Now, they had told us it was big, but I didn’t think it would be THAT big!!! Supposedly you can go up a bunch of stairs and then walk out onto his mane, but with the cold and the wind, I took a rain check on that! The Mongolians were super excited to see the statue—as it was their first time. Have I mentioned that they LOVE Chengis Khan???
Then we moved onto Terilj. We mostly drove through the park which was very mountainous and absolutely beautiful. I cannot even imagine how beautiful it is in the summertime. We ate a picnic lunch in the van. Enchimeg had come prepared with hot water, coffee and hot chocolate. She taught us that in the countryside, they fold the packet up and use it as a spoon. We saw this huge rock that looks like a turtle—no lie! Then came the highlight of my day . . . I got to ride a camel—and one with 2 humps at that! It was about like riding a draft horse without stirrups, but the 2 humps provided a perfect little support so you felt pretty stable. I must have made it look so fun that Kellie, Meg, Tseku and Enchimeg all decided to give it a go! I asked Ganba, our driver, if he wanted to ride and he said no. When I enquired further, I found out that he road a camel in the military when he worked as border patrol. He decided three years of camel riding was enough for a lifetime!
We had to search high and low for a bathroom and what we ended up using was a squatty potty. Just a bit of advice: if you ever have to go, make sure you check all your pockets before you go. You will not want to go after any valuables if they accidentally get dropped in! (and no I did not learn that from experience!)

Fun Fact of the Day: The only place in the world that has Bactrian (2-humped) camels is Mongolia and they are endangered.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Chi bol hoorhon—means “You are beautiful.”