Last week we had our first days of weather above freezing. It was madness in the streets: people were walking around without hats or gloves, all the stray animals were out frolicking and basking, kids were running around screaming, people were playing basketball in their t-shirts, and I was sweating away in my long underwear and L.L. Bean down coat. Spring is here! Unfortunately, spring in Mongolia is a time of icy winds, snow, and dust storms, so the warmer weather is a small blessing. Still, it's nice to feel the warmth of the sun again!
This Saturday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day. My roommate Holly is a big St. Patrick's Day fan, and so we went all out. We organized a potluck in our tiny apartment and invited about 15 people over. We spent the whole day arranging our furniture, decorating the place with sparkly foam shamrocks, and cooking up a storm of Irish food. We ended up making soda bread, Irish stew, colcannon (mashed potatoes with cabbage, milk, onions, and butter), cabbage and bacon, and a sort of desserty baked apple dish (probably not Irish, but still tasty). Luckily the main ingredients in Irish food are potatoes, cabbage, and meat, all of which are readily available in Mongolia! People brought lots of goodies including shepherd's pie, carrot salad, pizza, pineapple upside-down cake, juice, soda, and Irish coffee! It was all delicious and we had a good time! Then afterwards we headed out to one of the few Irish pubs in UB for an obligatory Guinness and mingling with other reveling foreigners. Overall a fun night!
The funny thing about St. Patrick's Day is that it's really difficult to explain to Mongolians. Part of that is that most Americans don't really have a reason to celebrate it themselves and it's pretty much just an excuse for a party. Some Mongolians were knowledgeable though... "Ahh, the foreigners' drinking holiday" they told me. Some people equated it to Tsagaan Sar, which I suppose with the special food and drinks, it is sort of similar to.
In addition to St. Patrick's Day, I've been preparing for my first research trip! I think it's going to happen next weekend, and I will update everyone on how it goes. I'm still trying to get a translator, finalize transportation, get a workspace at my university, and polish my interviews, but I think it will all just come together by next weekend. That generally tends to be how it works in Mongolia.
Until next time!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Finding a lab, getting business cards
Well the weeks are flying by! I can't believe I've been in Mongolia for 2 whole months already!
These days I am buckling down to work on my research. I met my official advisor for the first time, Dr. Ariunsuren. She seems like a very capable woman who gets things done through a mixture of competence, no-nonsense, and possibly a little intimidation. I'm just glad she's on my side. She also introduced me to her boss, Uuganbayar, the head of the biology department, who is working on introducing me to HIS boss, and eventually the director of the school. I'm working my way up the food chain and hopefully that will help me get things done that I need for my research. My pet project right now is finding a lab/work space to conduct my mad scientist experiments in. All I need is a spare room with outlets, tables, a window, lights, a door that locks, and access to a source of running water, but nothing is that simple in Mongolia. However, it looks like the Ag school might actually have this sort of space available! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well and I will be able to use that space to build a prototype garden.
Before the garden making starts, I will be doing interviews in the countryside with nomadic herders, as I did during SIT for my Independent Study Project and eventual thesis. I just met with Ana, the latest, and last, Fulbrighter to arrive this year in Mongolia. She is going to do water quality testing around mining sites. We are going to be doing some pilot countryside trips together as soon as next week to each get some initial data and build some momentum for later research. We will be going to either Darkhan or Northern Khentii. I am really looking forward to doing my research in Northern Khentii, in summer it's the most beautiful part of Mongolia!
Besides preparing for research, I also finally got myself some snazzy business cards! Wooo my first set of business cards! I spent about 2 hours in a little kiosk filled with printers chatting to the guy in my limited Mongolian and his limited English and designing them. I basically let him design it and commented on things when they needed to be changed. But I think it worked out pretty well and he even managed to translate "Nomadic Gardens" into acceptable Mongolian! One side of the card is English and the other is Mongolian. See the photo!
That's all for now!
These days I am buckling down to work on my research. I met my official advisor for the first time, Dr. Ariunsuren. She seems like a very capable woman who gets things done through a mixture of competence, no-nonsense, and possibly a little intimidation. I'm just glad she's on my side. She also introduced me to her boss, Uuganbayar, the head of the biology department, who is working on introducing me to HIS boss, and eventually the director of the school. I'm working my way up the food chain and hopefully that will help me get things done that I need for my research. My pet project right now is finding a lab/work space to conduct my mad scientist experiments in. All I need is a spare room with outlets, tables, a window, lights, a door that locks, and access to a source of running water, but nothing is that simple in Mongolia. However, it looks like the Ag school might actually have this sort of space available! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well and I will be able to use that space to build a prototype garden.
Before the garden making starts, I will be doing interviews in the countryside with nomadic herders, as I did during SIT for my Independent Study Project and eventual thesis. I just met with Ana, the latest, and last, Fulbrighter to arrive this year in Mongolia. She is going to do water quality testing around mining sites. We are going to be doing some pilot countryside trips together as soon as next week to each get some initial data and build some momentum for later research. We will be going to either Darkhan or Northern Khentii. I am really looking forward to doing my research in Northern Khentii, in summer it's the most beautiful part of Mongolia!
Besides preparing for research, I also finally got myself some snazzy business cards! Wooo my first set of business cards! I spent about 2 hours in a little kiosk filled with printers chatting to the guy in my limited Mongolian and his limited English and designing them. I basically let him design it and commented on things when they needed to be changed. But I think it worked out pretty well and he even managed to translate "Nomadic Gardens" into acceptable Mongolian! One side of the card is English and the other is Mongolian. See the photo!
Monday, March 5, 2012
What else I'm doing besides going to New Year's parties
Since most of my posts have been about what a great time I've been having in Mongolia you may be wondering if I've actually started doing any research... the answer is yes! Networking is one of the most important parts of research in Mongolia. You never know who you may meet who will know someone who can help you out, who is an expert in your subject, or who knows a good driver, guide, or translator. By hanging out with Mongolians, Fulbrighters, Peace Corps volunteers, English teachers, AYADs (Australian Fulbright/Peace Corps sort of thing) and lots of other people I've found out about some good garden projects and initiatives to follow up on. Now that Tsagaan Sar is over and the craziness has subsided I will be turning on my friendliest self and trying to find out more about these projects and get going with my own. Among other things I need to find a good lab/workshop space.
Also, I found some amazing how-to videos on YouTube on how to make hanging gardens out of old plastic bottles and bags. The idea is marketed for urbanites trying to garden indoors without using a lot of space, but I think this might be an awesome thing to apply to nomads and try on the steppe! Check out this video here of what they look like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugc71yhAfV0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf2jW05TEwU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdjUZnGkm60&feature=related
Also, I found some amazing how-to videos on YouTube on how to make hanging gardens out of old plastic bottles and bags. The idea is marketed for urbanites trying to garden indoors without using a lot of space, but I think this might be an awesome thing to apply to nomads and try on the steppe! Check out this video here of what they look like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugc71yhAfV0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf2jW05TEwU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdjUZnGkm60&feature=related
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