Ramblin' in Mongolia

During my time here I have really tried to instill the idea of...

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:41:16 -0500

During my time here I have really tried to instill the idea of working smarter and not necessarily harder. Going off that, I’ll let my sitemate Stephanie sum up our final Peace Corps conference and reblog her post. She is an English teacher so she is able to end her service at the beginning of June shortly after school gets out. I must admit I’m a little jealous…

daphnejo:

Two weeks ago, the twenty-second group of Peace Corps Volunteers had its Closing-of-Service (COS) Conference, our last and final hurrah Peace Corps seminar together were we had time to reflect on these past two years and plan out our next big ventures as Returned Peace Corps Volunteers!

As seen above, we had ourselves a little photo shoot with one big group shot and pictures of each individual training site from our summer training in 2011. We made signs throwing shout-outs to those who weren’t able to make the conference for whatever reason. (also pictured, is one of the amazing PC Mongolia staffers, Muugi, who is becoming quite the yoga master after attending my school fitness club)

Blows my mind that we made it through, M22s! Proud of all y’all, going to miss you people and looking forward to seeing what crazy/awesome plans are next for everyone… 5 year reunion in 2018?? My vote is Fiji…

Mongolian Moment of the Day - May 21st 2013

Tue, 21 May 2013 20:46:13 -0500

I will never take plumbing for granted ever again. I am so tired of “assisting” toilets here in their sole responsibility of flushing waste. I don’t even challenge them with toilet paper and they still seem to want to work in reverse. Squat/drop toilets forever.

The normal progression of a conversation when I’m talking to a girl in the countryside that...

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:44:32 -0500

The normal progression of a conversation when I’m talking to a girl in the countryside that I’m interested in. I’m thinking I might have to make some changes when I get back to the United States later this year.

1) What is your name?

2) How old are you?

3) Are you married? (I ask this regardless of age)

4) Do you have any children? (I ask this regardless of marital status)

5) Do you want me to teach you some English? (This is where she tells me she is interested back or not)

Followed by any number of questions about her interests that you would probably only ask a 1st grader because of how stupid they sound or extremely honest (borderline blunt) remarks on what I think of her. I have NO filter whatsoever anymore.

My return to the dating world in America might include a drink or two being poured on my head. Really looking forward to it.

The Windy Windy Gobi I thought Chicago was windy. Then I moved...

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:07:25 -0500

The Windy Windy Gobi

I thought Chicago was windy. Then I moved to the Gobi. In Chicago if you walk down the wrong street you get nailed in the face with a cold wind you weren’t expecting and/or probably aren’t dressed for. However, in the Gobi, during the spring time, the wind is a constant and powerful force. No matter the day, it will be there. At night it calms down a bit but as soon as the sun is up it is howling across the steppe.

Most of the time the wind comes from the north in Mongolia. Geography quiz… north of Mongolia is what part of the world? Russia and more importantly Siberia. The wind is so powerful that many times the snow storms we get during the spring form in Siberia and are blown south all the way through Mongolia. The wind can be strong that it actually affects my thinking and actions. When I walk around town, I try to make sure there is a building or fence on my north side at all times. I have to clean my ger twice as much as winter during the spring time. Without fail, the dust and the dirt is blown into my home no matter what precautions I take.

The kicker that makes the Gobi wind so bad/strong is the dust/sand/dirt in the air. The air picks it all up and sends it everywhere. Wearing contacts is impossible and probably dangerous for eye health. I walk around rocking the sunglasses featured in the photo everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I even have ski goggles I wear sometimes on those especially bad days. Mongolians consider spring to be the harshest season. Animals are week from winter, meat is scarce (in comparison), people always say the are “tired” (I don’t understand this one), I would honestly take two winters rather than a spring on some days. The weather is also incredibly unpredictable. One day could be a sweaty 50 and the next is back near 0. Then 50 again and a snow storm the day after.

It is approaching the middle of May so spring will be over at the beginning of June. I’m down to my last 3 months as a PCV in Mongolia. Sometimes time has inched along and other times it has flown by. I’m sad to see the end this close but I sure as hell glad spring/the gobi wind is leaving my life for good.

Personal habits and customs I want to take with me to America, leave here in Mongolia, and get back upon my return

Thu, 09 May 2013 19:04:54 -0500

Over the past 2 years here in Mongolia, there are Mongolian actions, habits, and customs that I have picked up and American actions, habits, and customs that I have lost. Some of the Mongolian ones I want to take with me back to America and others I can’t wait to leave behind forever. (I hope) Likewise, there is also a list of American things I want to get back quickly so I’m not this weirdo unaware of American culture. Hopefully there will be a balance of the two and I will in fact be a better person because of the 2 years I spent learning about Mongolian culture. Some may be harder than others to leave/take back/and get back. Here is a rough draft of some hopes and dreams for the future in no particular order of importance.

Take

Keeping a cactus in the home and putting money in it. It just looks cool.
Bring a tiny present every time you visit someone’s home. How sweet is that custom?
Serving tea or a drink and a snack to every visitor in my home.
Never shaking someone’s hand when wearing a glove. Kinda like one should always shake someone’s hand while standing.
Peeing anywhere I feel like it at any moment of the day. This one might be tough.
What I like to call “the developing world squat”. Squat down on the back of your heels and get to work on something or get to work on nothing at all and just loiter.
Going off the squat… I prefer a squat toilet to a western toilet. This might be hard to take but it is simply more natural.
Not get upset if someone is in my “personal space.” Who cares if someone random person is standing really close to me/touching me? We are all just trying to be comfortable. Let it be.
Hanker-chiefs - There are few things more useful in winter.
Addressing older strangers with some form of respect. Here I say akhaa and egchee (older brother/sister). From living in the South, I know that a little Sir and Ma’am can go a long way if it is genuine.
Getting up every once and awhile to see the sunrise. It is an auspicious act here and make the whole day brighter.
Eating lots of red meat and dairy products. I don’t think there are two better food groups out there.
Vodka.

Leave

Slurping when drinking tea or eating soup. This one will take some awareness. It it second nature now.
Showing up announced at people’s homes with only a bar of chocolate and expecting to be fed dinner.
Looking at how much people take out when they are at the ATM. Mongolians do it and I admit I do it too.
Blowing snot rockets in the middle of the street.
Peer pressuring everyone to drink more. It is a Mongolian custom between men and I’m terrible at it.
Forming a big ring on the dance floor where one person at a time moves in and out of the center. I can’t wait to mingle.
Yelling the Mongolian equivalent of “Hey!” at people to get their attention.
All my pairs of long underwear.
Washing my calves, ankles, and feet before bed because they are covered in summer Gobi dirt, dust, and sand.
Requesting a restaurant to make my food without fat. Hopefully I won’t need to back in America.
Yelling “hey waitress!” whenever I want something in a restaurant.
How incredibly cheap I am now because of my low PC salary.

Get Back

Opening doors for people.
Not walking around like I’m a bus with a dozen blind spots and being courteous to other people’s body movement and location.
Wearing seat belts.
Knocking on doors before I enter.
Exercising in a gym and not on a playground.
Western table manners.
My old sense of hygiene for both personal matters and food. I won’t go into detail on this one so I don’t embarrass myself or any other PCVs.

If some of these habits I’m I want to leave here sound ridiculous or rude to you, that is fine. Many of them seemed ridiculous or rude to me at first too. Something that always bugs me is when I notice foreigners freak out if a Mongolian nudges them out of the way. They often exclaim “excuse me!” or “watch it!” However, moving someone out of your way here without an “excuse me” isn’t rude here. There is nothing malicious about a Mongolian bumping into you to get on the bus, enter a door, etc. You simply happened to be in their way. It isn’t part of the culture to be tiptoeing around other’s personal space or saying please for everything. Part of my job over the past 2 years has been sharing my culture with Mongolians as well as learning theirs. It will be a choice to bring some of it back.

Random and Interesting things about Mongolia and Mongolian culture

Sat, 04 May 2013 21:48:56 -0500

There are so many crazy and random things about Mongolia that I find fascinating. I wanted to share them. I got many of these facts from a Mongolia guidebook and soaked up other’s from personal experiences.

Mongolia has 13 horses for every citizen.
Mongolians were the first to use the term “hurray.” It was their battle cry and it still done today a formal events.
With a population of 3.5 million, more ethnic Mongolians live outside of Mongolia than inside. About 4 million live in the Inner Mongolian state of China and about 1 million live in Russia.
Mongolia has the world’s lowest population density. Just 5 people per square mile. The U.S. has 88.
Mongolian’s tend to only have one name. They differentiate from other people by using their father’s first name as a “last” name. This means people’s “last” name changes with each generation. There is no family name that is passed down.
Mongolian wrestling jackets are open chested so no sneaky women can participate in wrestling competitions and embarrass their male counterparts.
The top sumo wrestler in the world is Mongolian.
Mongolians consumer 26 liters of alcohol per person per year. Of that, only 1 liter is beer. Vodka and fermented mares milk make up the rest.
More on Mongolian’s love for alcohol… When Ogedei Khan’s (Chinggis’s son and successor) health deteriorated, his doctors advised him to halve the number of alcoholic drinks he had per day. He obliged them, but not before he doubled the size of all his cups.
The tradition of dipping one’s right ring finger in vodka and flicking it in the air prior to drinking started centuries ago when the silver on one’s ring would change color if the vodka was poisoned.
Mongolians hunt wolves for many reasons. Wolves prey on herds of goat and sheeps, Mongolian men believe that killing a wolf will give them power and luck, and many parts of a wolves body hold spiritual and curative properties.
Mongolia is home to the only truly wild horse. Here they are called takhi but are known as Przewalski’s horse around the world.
Mongolia still has outbreaks of the bubonic or “black” plague. Mongolian’s hunt marmots for their fatty meat and hides and sometimes the flea’s on the marmot pass the plague to humans. However, as long as your aren’t handling a recently killed and un-skinned marmot, you have nothing to fear. The meat is perfectly safe as well.
After a horse race or wrestling tournament it is a mad-dash to get a bit of the wining horse/wrestler’s sweat on your hand. It will give you luck.

Group photo of the M22/M23 Mandalgobi PCV crew. I’m going...

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:00:49 -0500

Group photo of the M22/M23 Mandalgobi PCV crew. I’m going to miss everyone here in a couple of months.

I addressed whether I would be taking my dog Gobi home in a...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:58:20 -0500

I addressed whether I would be taking my dog Gobi home in a roundabout way in a recent post but wanted to do it again. For various reasons, it is best that Gobi stays in Mongolia. She already has a family that looks after her and expressed interest in keeping Gobi before I asked them to. She will get less belly rubs but most of her life will go unchanged. I’ll miss her like crazy but I know this is the best decision for both of us. For now I’ll just enjoy my last few months with her.

Mongolian Moment of the Day - April 26th, 2013

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:04:17 -0500

At the photoshop an old countryside man with no money just payed for his ID photos with a can of beer. The payment was accepted with only a small laugh. What an amazing country I’m living in.

Hi, I'm about to graduate college and have been contemplating joining the peace corps in a year or two. I know that ultimately the decision comes down to me, but I've been reading you blog for about a year (since I first got interested in the Peace Corps) and was wondering whether you (and your site mates) would join the Peace Corps again now that you are at the end of your service? Why or why not? Also are you going to get to take Gobi home with you?

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:05:52 -0500

Hello! Thank you for your message and thank you for following my blog. I think it is great that your are contemplating joining the PC in a year or two. I would love to answer all your questions.

As I approach the end of my service I can honestly say that I would most definitely join the Peace Corps again. In fact, I would very much like to do the Peace Corps again someday (possible). Overall, this whole Peace Corps thing is filled with insane high and lows for most people. Kind of like a roller-coaster of emotions. I have this lucky ability to always see the positive in things so most of my time here has been nothing but that… POSITIVE. I have grown into a more patient, loving, honest, hard working, appreciative, happy, confident, and peaceful person. The PC experience is going to make you a better person. Of that I am sure. Not everyone enjoys it, but I feel confident speaking for many others when I say most don’t regret it and come at a better individual. I would say the majority of people who join but don’t enjoy it or quit do so because it is HARD. It is hard to be away from the ones you love for 2+ years. It is hard to move to a foreign land where you don’t know the language, the food is strange (or worse bad in your eyes), you are often sick with strange bugs, everyone stares at you, you often feel like you an outsider and you are going crazy, etc etc etc. But is is beautiful and awesome in its own special way. I would not call those negative parts to service though. That is just part of the experience. There could be what I would consider negatives to joining the PC but it completely depends on your personal situation in life and your personality. It probably isn’t the best step in a business career or if you know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life. It can be a stepping stone for many many things (so I have been told) but there are other ways to get international working experience and make money while you are doing it (as my ex-pat friends in UB unknowingly remind me of). Joining the PC needs to be a decision that you alone make. It sounds like you know that.

It took me a long long time to decide what what best for both Gobi and I. After consulting shamans and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) alike, I have decided to leave Gobi here with the family that I live with in my hashaa/fenced compound. I came to this decision for a couple of reasons. When I got Gobi I hoped for the best but planned for the worst. I hoped she would come home with me but planned for her to stay. I didn’t spoil her, trained her to respect human’s personal space, fed her a normal hashaa dog’s diet, and kept her outside all year long. Doing so has prepared her very well to function and live very well like a Mongolian dog. However, that is exactly what she has become and a Mongolian dog would not do well in America. She is wary of strangers, fights other dogs that come near or inside our hashaa, is protective, barks all night with all the other dogs if she so chooses, and has never had a meal of something that isn’t some combination of rice, organs and meat (often raw), bones, or noodles. Basically, I think the transition to life in America will be very hard and not fair on her. I have no idea what my future in America will hold and I don’t think she is the kind of dog that would do well with frequent change or spending most of the day inside. I then looked at her situation now. She has a family that already feeds her, likes her, and values the role she has in my hashaa My landlord uses her to guard all of the car and truck equipment my he leaves out when he is working on his failing truck. Which is everyday. The little girls who run around my hashaa all summer don’t like her chasing them but they all play a wonderful (albeit confusing to Gobi) game of hide and seek/tag with her. She is also a wonderful garbage disposal for all of us. I’m sure she will miss me but I know she has a family that already looks after her and that makes me okay with the decision to leave her here.

Please let me know if you have any more questions about joining the PC. Feel free to email me at cbenov@gmail.com

Mongolian Moment of the Day - April 23rd 2013

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:14:06 -0500

Last night I had my second dream where I was speaking Mongolian (as far as I can remember) as opposed to the many I have had where people are speaking Mongolian me. In my first one I distinctly remember tell a smart ass boy to shut up and go away. In my second one last night I asked someone if I had used a certain suffix correctly in my last sentence. I’ll call that improvement.

How a PCV puts it gently.

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:50:11 -0500

How a PCV puts it gently.:

Another satirical but often incredibly accurate blog that dives into the mindset and problems of Peace Corps Volunteers around the world.

Mongolian superstitions continued

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:14:23 -0500

You have probably already heard me talk about customs like not stepping on the threshold of a ger door or always accepting and passing things with your right hand. However, there seems to be an unlimited number of superstitions. That or they are just messing with the foreigner.

Not all Mongolians follow or believe in these customs and superstitions. Some people in Ulaanbaatar might haven’t even heard of some of the them. Beliefs are most definitely stronger in the countryside. However, all and all, I have never been around so much superstition talk in my life. Some seem to be more important than others but they are all practiced enough that I have noticed them or been alerted that I have transgressed on a custom.

If you write letters or numbers in the dirt wipe it out after you are finished. Never play games in the dirt
Pour liquid into a cup so that it fills and spins clockwise
Don’t pour from a kettle with no top
Put ash on the forehead/nose of children to protect them from ghosts at night
Keep your stove area clean and don’t throw trash in your fire or the fire spirits will get angry.
Walking under any beams. I have even seen people walk backwards through the beam and then around to counteract any bad luck they received. Kinda like a superstition of walking under ladders?
Along the same lines, walking under a clothes line brings bad luck to one’s destiny and especially so for men.
There are a few urine and breast milk medicinal beliefs that strongly goes against our Western culture…. If you have a sore throat or toothache, gargling with your mother’s urine can bring relief. Also the urine of a 2-3 year old boy has many currative properties. Breast milk is believed to heal eye illnesses as well.
Don’t throw keys to anyone. Really don’t thrown anything to anybody. You throw things to dogs not to people.
Something good will happen to you if your top eyelid twitches. If your bottom eyelid twitches you will cry.
Some people say that you will get a gift from someone if your palm itches. Others think you will get slapped soon.
If your right ear rings, that means people are talking good things about you. If your left ear rings, that means people are talking poorly about you.
When walking with something never let a pole, bench, immovable object, etc come in between the two of you. This signifies there will be trouble between the two of you and your relationship won’t last.

mongoliasuz: My hashaa family preparing to butcher a...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:03:48 -0500

mongoliasuz:

My hashaa family preparing to butcher a sheep.

The two posts below are by a friend of mine living in a soum in Khovsgol with pictures of one of the most important aspects to Mongolian life… Butchering and eating animals

mongoliasuz: I went out into my hashaa one day to discover a...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:03:31 -0500

mongoliasuz:

I went out into my hashaa one day to discover a yak being slaughtered and butchered by the neighbors.

Hahahahaha, I know exactly how you feel about learning a new language! Especially with difficult languages like Chinese, I also feel like the only way to really learn and become comfortable with a new language is through making mistakes. Plus, there are always funny moments :) congratulations on your progress, Corey~~

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:31:51 -0500

Thank you for the message! I’m hoping to start learning Mandarin upon my return to the states. I figured a little bit more useful and there will be a interesting culture and group of people I can practice with. No less challenging though!

The most important part of learning a language - Making mistakes

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:45:00 -0500

Over the years, many different ways of language learning have been said to be the most effective. Nowadays, most experts agree that full immersion is the best and fastest way to learn a language. I didn’t have a choice at what kind of approach I wanted to learn Mongolian at. I moved here knowing not much more than the alphabet and a few general tourist phrases. Over my time here, I have changed strategies on how to best learn Mongolian many times over and my general outlook on language learning has changed just as many. There is one aspect to my language learning that hasn’t changed. This is my ability and need to make mistakes. With little formal training, I listen and repeat what I hear, fixing my grammar and pronunciation mistakes along the way.

I view myself as somewhat of a small child in Mongolia when it comes to language. Hopefully I am older than 5 in this regard but I’m really not sure. I’m actually pretty proud of my “language age” because many volunteers seem to be stuck at 1.5 or so. I try and emphasize to Mongolians that the best way to learn English is to practice speaking with me; regardless of all the mistakes they are bound to make. Many people here studied English in school but have had little or no practice speaking and listening. This has left a lot of people scared to try out the grammar and phrases they might know but aren’t confident using. I have experienced the opposite situation. I try and remind them that is okay to laugh at yourself and okay with sounding like a fool. In particular, I find it hilarious when I use the wrong word for the situation. I have been told my accent is pretty good so I can only imagine what I must sound like to a Mongolian. Here comes along some American who is speaking Mongolian with decent grammar and pronunciation saying completely crazy things in a 100% serious face. Here is a list of some of my favorites:

“Sheep” meat and “human” meat can sound very familiar to the untrained ear. When I first got here, I said “I like to eat human meat” many many times before I corrected my pronunciation. Pretty funny to see people freak out about that.
The first time I went on a trip away from Dundgobi I need somebody to feed my dog. I looked in the dictionary for feed and then asked my fence family to feed my dog. I remember my fence family being very confused. I continued using this word a few more times until I learned the medical word for breast…хөх. I had been asking my fence mom to хөхуулэх my dog. хөх (breast) уул (to cause or make happen) эх (verb suffix). Aka I had been asking her to breastfeed my dog while I was away. Classic.
I have asked people before чи надад таалагддаг уу? (Literally translated in English as you-me-like-?). In my brain i interpret this as “Do you like me?” However, whenever I ask the question people would always respond with “I don’t know” or “Why are you asking yourself if you like me?” Evidently, it turns out I have been asking myself if I like the person I am talking to. This turns into a back and forth conversation of us repeating the same question to each other. The correct way is to ask ъи чамд таалагддаг уу? (Literally in English I-you-like? Or to our English ears “Do I like you?”) There are some things that just don’t translate from Mongolian into English literally. No matter how you rearrange the words in the sentence there is no way for it to make sense. The languages are just too different.

There have been so many instances of me blurting out incorrect words, ie “What are you (some grossly incorrect verb for the situation)?? Who knows how many mistakes I currently make to this day but don’t yet know I sound like an idiot. One thing is for certain though; I will continue to laugh out loud at myself whenever I can. It makes me feel sane.

Hi Corey! I've been following your blog for a while because my boyfriend and I are planning a move to Mongolia after we finish grad school. Right now we're looking for ways to get there. The Peace Corp is out for us because we live in Germany, but I was wondering: in your time in Mongolia, have you run into any foreign workers who are based with programs other than the Peace Corp? And if so, what programs are they with? Thanks very much! --Tina

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:53:00 -0500

Hi Tina thank you for following me! I’m very happy you are planning a move to Mongolia. In Mongolia I know of PCVs, Korean volunteers and Japanese volunteers, working around the countryside. There are Australian volunteers working in UB. If none of these fit your nationality, I would look into jobs in Ulaanbaatar. There are a large number of varying fields that would love to hire experienced foreigners. Look and see what companies in your area or work have business in Mongolia and look for open positions. I don’t know of any other programs per say, but there is a growing number of expats living and working in Ulaanbaatar. If living in the countryside is your goal, you would most likely have to look into teaching English. I must be honest I haven’t a clue where you would start but it can be done! I have met random people in the countryside just living or teaching but to my knowledge they are there independently and not affiliated with an organization. Email me at cbenov@gmail.com and we can talk more. Good luck!

P.S. A friend of mine saw this post and emailed me saying he knows of a school in Darkhan looking for native speaking German teachers. Can this be you??? Email me and I’m sure I can help you guys somehow.

my thoughts. my adventures. my life.: April Fools!

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:37:18 -0500

my thoughts. my adventures. my life.: April Fools! :

annagiang821:

If you followed this link from my facebook status, APRIL FOOLS!

Now, I know you’re curious about my restroom business, so I made this special blog for those of you have asked me how it all works…warning* these pictures may be disturbing and I suggest you not read on if you’re going to complain or…

Funny post by my site mate Anna! Important information though.

Mongolian Moment of the Day - March 28th, 2013

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:50:56 -0500

Yesterday I was talking with my friend Bayaraa. He mentioned he could fix a broken “straight to tv” video game thing I have that plays pacman, space invaders, etc. I brought it by his place later that day and he got to work. First he solders the loose wire that was causing the problems. Then he strips open the cord of an old phone charger with the same number of voltage as 4AA batteries (6 volts by the way) and attaches the wires to the place where the current flows from the batteries to the game. Now when I want to play I can just plug in the phone charger into a nearby outlet. In a country of low electricity costs and poor quality and expensive batteries, this is ingenious. Just as a bonus, I can also stick in batteries and keep it unplugged if I’m low on outlets. I told him how clever/smart he was to think of that. He responded by telling me he wasn’t smart, just Mongolian.

How many of you out there in America could have come up with that phone charger trick? Here in Mongolia, everyone seems to be a capable handyman. Fixing things rather than throwing them out or calling someone to fix it for you is an ability we are losing in America. The rising prices of plumbing or car repair is proof to that.

What can you learn or take from this little story? Open up that box of old phone chargers you have lying around and start matching the voltage with toys/appliances in your home. Batteries aren’t doing the world any favors and are expensive. Ditch em.