Just call me Alaska

Here's the second post in the three-part series on the delivery of planters to my participating herder families in the countryside.

The second site I went back to was my eastern Ondorkhaan site in Khentii aimag. You may remember my slightly less enthusiastic post about my first trip out there. The people living around Ondorkhaan tended to be a bit more suspicious of me, and I picked up a sort of unfriendly vibe. So I was a bit nervous in bringing the gardens out to this group and worried about their reactions.

In the morning Chingerel and I hired another driver from the streets of UB, packed up the car, and headed off. Halfway to Ondorkhaan our driver Davaa turns to me with a confused look on his face and says in Mongolian: "Is your name really Alaska?" Haha! It turns out the pronounciation of my name in Mongolian, "Alayks", sounds a lot like a popular ice cream called "Alyaska". We all had a good chuckle once that was sorted out.

When we arrived in Ondorkhaan we called up Ganbaa, the driver I hired for our first trip. Although he lives in a haashaa (fenced in yard) in town, and he had asked if his family could have a garden as well so I said sure. We met up with his family, helped set up his garden, and he showed us the road to where the other families were living.

Again, I didn't need to be nervous! The families had all warmed up considerably since I first met them. I last visited this site in April, so it was a little trickier to find all the families since more of them had moved, but we found them in the end. See some photos!

I let the families decide where and how to put their gardens up. This family had a wagon caravan/trailer they use to move. So we put the gardens up on either side of it, so it drapes over like a saddle bag.

Herder kids are really strong. This little guy scooped up this lamb, nearly the size of himself, in one arm and posed with his bean plant in the other. Probably one of my favorite photos of all of them!

This family had found an orphaned foal a few days before. It was the cutest little thing, wandering around after us, nickering at us, flopping down to sleep next to their yurt, and tolerating lots of petting. When the time came for the garden photo it following it's 'herd' into the frame and the kids held it for the photo.

Gardens hanging from a shed.

An old couple with their nomadic garden. Another family looks after their animals (they're retired) so their gardens could be set lower than other families'. 

I got a few nice pictures of Demoiselle cranes!

Making the gardens together. 

Chingerel was cooing over this little filly even worse than me!

Stink-plant

It's been a long time since I last posted, but I come back to blogging with some exciting stories and cool photos :)

So the end of May saw me operating in a sort of methodically frantic manner to finish all the planters. I may not have learned to not bite off more than I can chew yet... anyways I was spending about 12 hours a day on the gardens, but I did manage to finish them all in the end! Here is what they look like fully assembled with a wooden frame:

 

I also planted some seeds so I would have seedlings to take out to my participants.

Some radish and turnip seedlings

With about 25 of these planters ready to go to my first site, I met my friend and translator Chingerel bright and early to arrange transportation the Mongolian way; flagging down passing cars on the street and asking if they'd be willing to cram the planters, seedlings, me, Chingerel, our supplies, and themself in their car and drive 5-7 hours outside the city over crumbling roads and paths that are little more than tire tracks through meadows and over mountains to find herders who may or may not have moved and who may or may not have cell phone coverage where they live. However, as this is Mongolia, drivers weren't too hard to find.

We set off to Arvaikheer, my third site, first. Since I didn't know quite what to expect when delivering the gardens I decided it would be best to go to the most recently visited.

I needn't have been nervous though because every single family was delighted by the arrival of their "nomadic" gardens. They thought they were cool! And to my surprise they readily strapped them up to the sides of their gers or hung them on the outside walls of their animal shelters and sheds. The best were the family with kids. I gave each kid a cup and let them choose a bean seed. My semester teaching kindergarten has given me a knack for getting kids excited about stuff that's not all that exciting on its own. So I turned planting beans into a game and by the end of it they were thrilled and convinced they'd gotten something between a new pet and a new toy. The big smiles on their faces made the whole thing worth it!

Garden on a ger! How cool is that?? Also note: Mongolians don't like to smile for photos, hence why everyone looks stony-faced and glum. They were just smiling mere minutes before!

This family decided to attach their gardens to their animal shelter. Most nomads' winter places have a permanent 3-walled barn structure to protect their animals.

All the littles ones with their bean-cups!

This family lived way over the mountains in the middle of nowhere (middle of nowhere for a nomad means even more the middle of nowhere than for the rest of us). They were so excited to see us that they insisted on having a good long chat, feeding us a meal, letting me ride their horses, and then taking pictures with their 1 year old daughter. Like most countryside Mongolian kids she will probably learn to ride at about the same time she learns to walk.

Attaching a garden.

On the way back we stopped at this lovely little marsh on the side of the road that was full of bird life. Many species of migratory water birds had made it their home for the summer. I saw a nice collection of cranes, geese, ducks, swans, and a stork!

And finally, I finish this post with an amusing story. At one family's place we drove up to their ger and upon opening the car doors were greeted with a wonderful herbal smell. A sort of minty-thyme scent carried on the warm wind. It smelled so fresh and nice! The herb was covering the ground and I picked a piece and asked Chingerel what it was. She promptly asked the herders, who sort of chuckled a little and then Chingerel explained that "the locals call it stink-plant"!

More blog posts will come soon about my second and third trips to deliver gardens :) Bayartai!