Thursday, June 30, 2016

Momgolia Part 3: Assault with a Deadly Weapon

We returned to Chinggis from Dadal late on the 5th of June. On the morning of the 6th we relaxed and recovered from our long journey. Later that afternoon, we went out to town and did a little bit of souvenir shopping in some of the stores that sell Mongolian products. Linda was interested in some of the traditional Buddhist relics that Mongolians use: xадагs, prayer wheels, beads, etc. These could be easily bought in Chinggis at a much lower price than UB. After purchasing a number of goods to take home, Linda finished her day at the best restaurant in town, Negdelchin, enjoying Chinese that is similar to American Chinese.
Chinggis Town from the Steppe
The 7th marked another big adventure in the Momgolia chronicles. It was the day of the Хорхог. (Khorkhog—literally translates to poison garbage, but is actually one of the best dishes Mongolia has to offer. It consist a slaughtered goat or sheep that is pressure cooked using hot rocks in a large metal container.) Sally and I had long ago decided that one of the best ways for Linda to meet all of our coworkers was to through a traditional Mongolian party. In the weeks prior to her visit, I slowly transferred the responsibility of this party onto my English teachers who were excited to plan the details. Linda would provide the funds for the food and our teachers would do everything else. In a meeting with my teachers, we decided that the best way to give Linda a full cultural experience would be to buy a live goat to slaughter, prep and eat. I quickly vocalized to my teachers that I would love to be involved in the slaughter of said goat, because it seemed like a really awesome cultural experience.

On the morning of the 7th, I left Linda and Sally to help my teachers procure and prepare the food. I met some of my teachers at the school and in typical Mongolian fashion waited for about an hour for some other teachers. A couple of my English teachers took care of purchasing everything except the goat. While they did this I embarked on an adventure with one of my biology teachers (it was his family that the goat was to be bought from) and my one male English teacher, Цолмонбаатар (Tsolmonbaatar), who goes by Tommy for short.
Girl and Dog
We set off bouncing through the Mongolian steppe in a Prius on a quest for the family herds. Several times we actually stopped and a monocular was trained on the horizon. Eventually the family gers were found. It was obvious that this family was more nomadic and only stayed in a ger during the summer, since it lacked some of the articles of a more stationary dwelling. The first ger that we entered seemed to be dedicated to slaughtering livestock and cooking. An old shirtless Mongolian sat outside the ger with a wicked looking knife that he used to remove the skin of a sheep. Inside the ger, in the center of the room was a metal cauldron of not recently cooked гэдэс (Gidis—comprises of much of the internal organs of the abdominal/pelvic cavity: liver, stomach, intestine, colon, kidney ). The meat was cold, so I knew it had not been cooked that day. I could only hope that it had been prepared the day before, as I took a slice of small intestine and chewed quickly. One does not enter a traditional Mongolian countryside ger without sampling all of the food that is left for visitors. It is just part of the engrained culture of hospitality.

The second ger was more dedicated to family living. On the table inside the ger was a large bowl of “cream”. It is hard to describe this particular aspect of a Mongolian breakfast. It is sort of like butter, but not. I believe it is the thick cream that comes to the top of boiling milk, separated and eaten as a spread on bread with copious amounts of sugar. Once we had dined on this, we left the ger, climbed back into the Prius, and followed a herder on a motorcycle to where the family herds were grazing. The herder used the motorcycle to group the herd into one large circle. We got out of the car and took stations at a couple of the corners of the herd to help keep the livestock together.  The sheep and goats were not comfortable with our presence, but they still seemed to accept it as the natural course of events. Soon one of their number would be separated for imminent death.

Using a long stick with a rope attached to the end, the herder darted in amongst the fleeing sheep and tried to slip the rope around a goat’s neck. We had set aside about thirty dollars (60,000) of the fifty that were to be used for this event for the purpose of purchasing a goat. There was some debate between my biology teacher and the herder as to what size goat this would purchase. What was finally captured in the lasso was a smallish goat between one and two years of age. I helped my biology teacher grab the goat by the horns and drag it to the trunk of the Prius, where it was hog-tied and tossed unceremoniously into the wheel well.

After purchasing two sheep carcasses for his family and loading them on top of the goat, the biology teacher took us back to school where we met up with everyone else that was to come to the party and proceeded to the site of the khorkhog. This turned out to be a ger camp about 7km (4.37 miles) outside of town. The camp was owned by one of my teacher’s father. It consisted of a row of gers and a row of small wooden houses. We decided to cook the goat in the first ger, and proceeded to slaughter it there.
Site of the khorkhog
It turns out that the Mongolian method of slaughtering a goat is a two step process. My job would be to whack the goat between the horns with a heavy metal mallet. This step is used to kill or knock the goat unconscious and can be skipped when slaughtering sheep, because sheep are quieter and don’t scream the way goats do. The second step of the process is to slit the goat below the rib cage, reach inside the animal, and pinch the aorta causing quick death.
Taking off long-sleeved shirt pre-goat thumping
I approached the task of goat thumping with nervous enthusiasm. Sally and Linda watched from a distance. For me the act of slaughtering an animal to eat felt natural, I desired to have this experience to connect with death that surrounds the meat we eat. In America, we are so distant from the meat we eat. We rarely realize that the animal we are eating was once alive. There was also a touch of testosterone in this act. I wanted to kill to eat, because I was a man who had never done this. It was an act to prove to myself that I could and would.

One of the Mongolian men tasked with preparing the meat held the goat between his legs. I took up the metal mallet, grabbed hold of a horn, and prepared to swing. When I felt the aim was accurate, I brought the mallet down on the spot directly between the horns with what felt like a considerable amount of force. The goat screamed, but was not unconscious, so I quickly rapped it a second time into momentary silence. Caught up in the act, I prepped to strike it a third time, but Tommy, who was helping, waved me away. We flipped the goat onto its side and a Mongolian quickly slit it’s abdomen with a sharp knife. The animal was not dead or close to dead. It began to “meeeeeh” in a pitiful manner. Three of us held it on the ground with its mouth muffled to cut off the screams. The man with the knife reached inside the animal and pinched its aorta. After a minute or so, it was all over. The eye no longer responded.
Immediately after the assault
I had been so caught up in having this experience for myself that I had forgotten about my Mongolian friends. Many of them follow a Buddhist version of faith and hate to see an animal suffer. While the animal dies, a prayer is whispered under the breath of the killers, because all life is sacred even that which is to be eaten. To them it is a bad thing to strike the goat more than once, and also to not successfully knock it out. I stood up from my knees by the corpse of the animal I had assaulted and realized that many of the Mongolians where having trouble looking me in the eye. While I had not lacked bravery or persistence, I still had not done a good job. The fact that the animal had to suffer more than it needed left a bad taste in their mouths. They were not so much angry at me, as just saddened by the event. Fortunately, there was beer, and with a couple of beers and some vodka shots all was forgiven. For this is the cruel fact of life, is it not? All living beings must die, while we may hope to give the animal we kill a “good” death, the reality is that it is still death.

In retrospect, the event of assaulting the goat may uproot the lady in the wheelchair, as my most embarrassing blunder. The embarrassment comes not from bludgeoning the kill, that is to be expected, but from realizing that I had forgotten to take into account the cultural perspective of the people I work with.  I do not regret the experience of thumping the goat, only my lapse of cultural awareness. If the opportunity presented itself, I would do it again with better accuracy and more power. It takes a lot of power to knock out an animal that bangs heads with its fellows.

After the animal is slaughtered, the гэдэс is removed, and a blow torch is used to burn the hair off. Then the meat is cut into pieces and placed into a large pot with seasonings, potatoes, and carrots. Hot rocks are placed on and buried in the food to cook from within. Then the lid is sealed for an hour or so until all is cooked tenderly.
Meat and veggies going into the pot
While the meat was cooking, the party began to take off. There were the drinks that I have already mentioned as well as a ger dedicated to karaoke. Linda, Sally, Kyra, and Feebee quickly demonstrated their singing and dancing skills. Soon more of our teachers arrived, and Linda had the opportunity to meet all of the people that work directly with Sally and me.
Meal Ger
Karaoke Ger

Carrying khorkhog to meal ger
When the khorkhog was done, we gathered in another ger and dined on our feast. It was very good; however, I think I like sheep khorkhog better. Sometimes it is difficult to work around the skin that is left on the goat khorkhog. The party was merry and festive. After we had eaten our fill, the senior English teacher stood up to give a speech. Our Mongolian friends were excited and honored to meet Linda. They presented her with a gift of jewelry, with traditional Mongolian symbols weaved into the pendants of the rings and necklace. Linda accepted the gift admirably and was faced with the same problem that most foreigners have with Mongolian ear-rings. The studs are much thicker than western studs, but this is something that can be fixed stateside.
Finished product
Linda drinking the khorkhog sauce 
Linda getting jewelry 
The khorkhog concluded with a quick visit to the river where we waded in the cool waters. I was proud of Sally and I’s teachers for organizing such an fine party. It was really a grand time. I also really enjoyed being a part of the entire process from goat selection to eating. 
Friends and Family
On the 8th, we concluded our last day at Chinggis by wandering around and seeing some of the sites and statues. Both the museum and the monastery were closed, but it was still a nice trip. Later that evening we dined at home and prepared to return the next day to the metropolis of UB.


~Caleb 

Friday, June 24, 2016

Momgolia Part 2: Чингис Хот бас Дадал Сум (Chinggis Town and Dadal soum)

            The first few days in Chinggis were pleasant, albeit hot for Linda. After the rush and bustle of UB, it was really nice to slow down and just chill a little. The first night back, I cooked chicken fettuccine alfredo from scratch.

On Thursday, we were in no particular rush, so we wasted the morning away, went grocery shopping in the afternoon, and spent the evening enjoying pizza with our site mates. Linda had the unique experience of meeting so many of the people that make appearances in this blog. It was a pleasant evening with friends.
From Left: YeoWon, Kyra, Sally, Ophelia, Caleb, Linda
On Friday morning we went to Kyra’s school, so Linda could buy some handmade goods from the students and teachers at the vocational school. Linda found a number of nice wood carved/felt goods that were far cheaper and more meaningful than souvenirs bought at a store in UB. That evening we traveled to Sally’s CP Nyamka’s house for a traditional Mongolian dinner consisting of homemade tsuivan and Korean pork. It was also an opportunity to work out logistics for our trip to Dadal soum (soum refers to a small community usually with only a couple thousand people). Nyamka and her husband had agreed to provide transportation on this adventure.

Khentii Aimag is one of the most historical provinces in Mongolia. Dadal marks the supposed birthplace of Chinggis Khan. Dadal soum is located in the northeastern corner of Khentii. Mongolians all over the country as well as Chinese from what is sometimes referred to as inner Mongolia make the pilgrimage to this historic site to celebrate the most famous and infamous Mongolian. To travel to Dadal, one must take a sturdy vehicle 300 km (188 miles) north of Chinggis sometimes on dirt roads, sometimes with no roads. The trip is estimated to take anywhere from 6-10 hours based on road conditions, unexpected car problems, and just getting lost.

When we found out that Linda was coming to Mongolia, Sally and I decided that this was something we had to do with her. Knowing that this trip would be exhausting and difficult, we decided to do it at the half-way mark of Linda’s adventure with rest days on either end. There was also something poetic in her journey, since it starts at UB, becomes more rural with Chinggis Town, and finally complete remoteness and isolation in Dadal. Once she had seen the birthplace of Chinggis, her journey is one that slowly returns to civilization tracing the same route she had taken into some of the most sparsely populated ground on the planet.

We left for Dadal Saturday afternoon. Our journey was beautiful. Khentii is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. The land is full of rolling green mountains and long flat grasslands. Herds of cattle, horses, sheep, and goats wander peacefully through the pastures. The air is fresh and pure, and it is so clear that one can see for insurmountable distances in all directions. The only signs of human habitation are the occasional gers that dot the landscape.
On the road to Dadal. View while fixing a flat tire.
7 hours into the ride to Dadal
It was also a difficult journey. Nyamka’s husband was an excellent driver, but he could not control the unforgiving roads. Similar to being on a boat in rough seas, one must focus often on the horizon in order to avoid car sickness. A sharp rock gave us a flat about 200 km (125 miles) into the journey. This delayed our trip, because we had to stop at the next soum in order to find a tire repair shop.
Ducks on the Onon River just outside of Dadal
The last 50 km (31 miles) of our journey was awe-inspiring. It was around 9pm, and we had been in the car for 8 hours. The day had been cold and uncharacteristically cloudy leading to a beautiful sunset that seemed to last forever. As we neared Dadal, the landscape changed. Trees were suddenly visible. The road weaved through dense valleys of shrubs. Suddenly the dirt road became a large concrete bridge that crossed the Onon river. Around 10:30pm, after the sun had set we arrived utterly exhausted at a ger camp in Dadal. 
Sunset on the Onon River
Linda, Sally, Nyamka, and Nyamka's husband
Saturday morning was an opportunity to site-see in the small village that Mongolians everywhere revere. There was a small pond by our camp. Sally had wanted to feed the ducks, but that seemed unlikely, so she settled on feeding the Mongolian “ducks”.
Sally feeding the "Ducks"
Linda, Sally, and a duck outside the ger we slept in.
Elaborate post inside the ger
Linda investigating the ger stove.
Our camp also had a massive rock depiction of Chinggis and a dense pine forest that Sally and I spent some time relishing. It is hard for us to equate our sometimes dusty and beak town with the natural beauty of north Khentii.
Sally and Linda next to monument of Chinggis Khan
Trees!!!
Downtown Dadal, we are the only vehicle on the street
Linda feels satisfied after her first adventure with a squat-toilet.
Nyamka and her husband joined us around 10am and together we went to the sacred Овоо (awaah--sacred site located on the top of a mountain) that is the celebrated monument to Chinggis Khan’s birth. The овоо was on top of a hill on the outskirts of town that was surrounded by immensely beautiful scenery. Far to the north, we could see the mountains that mark the Mongolian/Russian border. Linda and Sally took the opportunity to tie Хадаг (hadik are ceremonial scarfs) to the овоо in remembrance of loved ones. Tying a хадаг to a sacred site is a common tradition in Mongolia to celebrate loved ones who have passed on or to say prayers or wishes for the future.
View from the овоо, the mountains to the right are the Russian border. "I can see Russia from my back yard!"
The Овоо that celebrates Chinggis Khan's birth. 
After the sacred birth place, we traveled to a spring not far from town. We each drank from the holy spring and anointed our heads with its water. A sign near the spring proclaimed the safety of the water with detailed water testing reports.
Anointment at the Sacred spring
Sally at the sacred spring

In the distance is Russia. 
We left Dadal around 1pm, and set off toward home. The return journey was equally if not more beautiful than the first. It was a typical Mongolian day with warm sunshine and clear skies. We stopped in the second soum (our 300 km (188 miles) journey traveled through three villages of maybe 2000 individuals) around 6pm for roadside Mongolian stir-fry. We ordered the egg and bell pepper stir-fry to split three ways. In Mongolia this means that there was egg or pepper with copious amounts of fried mutton and fat.
Gate marking the entrance to Dadal Soum. Nyamka's husband, Sally, Linda, Nyamka. 
Returning home around 10pm, we retired to the comfort of our apartment. The journey, while difficult and fast, was an amazing way to capture the life and spirit of Mongolia in a way that a tourist would never get to experience. 

~Caleb 

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Momgolia Part 1: Ulaanbaatar and Terelj National Forest


"Welcome" spelled out on the side of a hill on our way to Terelj
It seems like there is a season for PCV parents to visit in Mongolia. It’s now. May and June are the months to come. Luckily, I was one of those PCVs who got a visit! My mom, Caleb, and I have been planning her visit for many months. In the beginning, we christened it “Momgolia.”

Mom and Caleb in Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar next to Chinggis Khan 
On Saturday May 28th, Caleb and I woke up in Chinggis Hot and headed for the bus station. At this time, Mom had already been on the plane from Atlanta to Seoul, Korea for about six hours. Caleb and I took our six hour bus ride to the capitol city and checked into our hostel. At this point, Mom was still in the air. Eventually, she landed in Seoul, had a few hour layover, and flew from Seoul to UB. We picked her up at the Chinggis Khan International Airport around midnight.

The Beatles are popular in Mongolia. This is Mom and I at a monument in UB. 
The first day, we took it easy and explored the city a bit. Mom adjusted to the time change immediately and didn’t feel any jetlag at all during the two weeks she was here.

The other side of the monument
The next day, we had a tour booked to go to Terelj National Forest. This is a popular destination for both tourists and Mongolians. There are many ger camps to stay overnight, but we decided to just do a day trip, especially since it is only about an hour or hour and a half away from UB.

Caleb, Mom, and I at her first "owoo," a sacred place for prayers
Mom and I checking out the yaks on the way to Terelj
 Our driver and guide were really nice. We stopped several times along the way to take pictures, like when we passed a herd of yak and again at a cave high up in a rocky cliff. Terelj was so refreshing after living in the steppe. There were so many trees and mountains and such. We hung out at “Turtle Rock” for a while and ate some delicious American snacks Mom brought with her.

Caleb and I in a cave
Mom posing with a rock in front of Turtle Rock in Terelj
The highlight of the day was camel riding. Yep, we finally did it. These camels didn’t seem as happy as other camels we’ve met, but still. We rode those suckers. The experience is a little difficult to describe. There wasn’t really a saddle; there was just this felt blanket thing thrown between the two humps. We just had to squeeze the camel with our legs for balance and hang on to the hump in front of us. The most exciting part was getting on and off. The camel guy got the camels to sit down. We got on. Then, the camels stood up. Can you imagine a camel going from sitting to standing? It’s a little awkward, and we were on its back when it happened. We rode about 20-30 minutes, which was enough we thought, and then we dismounted just as awkwardly as we got on.

Caleb getting ready to ride

Mom right as her camel was standing up
Caleb riding a camel
Mom and I riding camels
After riding camels, we went to a group of gers not too far away where we had khorkhog (Mongolian barbeque). The family that lived there and ran the khorkhog service had recently been blessed with new puppies! After we ate, our guide asked the family to show us the puppies, and we held some very cute, very little puppies.  

Eating khorkhog in Terelj

Mom with a little puppy
After lunch, we headed to a nearby monastery that was nestled in a mountain with many, many steps. It was pleasant to see, and the views from the mountain monasteries are always incredible.

The Terelj Monastery from a distance 
Mom and I on our way to the top

The view from halfway up the mountain
Then we drove around Terelj a bit longer before heading back to UB. We stopped on the way back to see a few birds of prey. It was a good day.

My trying to have a conversation with an Eagle Owl and being ignored
Mom and a Golden Eagle, checking each other out
Back in the city the next day, we explored more, ate a lot of good food (Mom had Korean food and loved it!), and went to a Buddhist monastery museum in the city, called Choijin Lama Temple.

Caleb and Mom at the Choijin Lama Temple in UB. Behind it is the Blue Sky building, several blocks away.
Mom outside one of the buildings at the Choijin Lama Temple
Indian food in UB at Namaste 
Korean food at Saribol in UB
On June 1st, we booked our neighbor’s taxi to take us to Chinggis Hot. On the way, we stopped at the Chinggis Khan statue and museum. We spent a good hour there, exploring the museum, seeing the statue, and taking pictures.

Caleb and I standing on the observation deck
Mom showing some love to Chinggis's horse from a distance
Mom and I trying on Mongolian deels in the museum at the statue
We also stopped about an hour and a half out of Chinggis to visit Dylan, one of our Khentii PCVs. We wanted Mom to have the opportunity to see several gers during her time here, so she was able to see Dylan’s ger and also meet one of the volunteers we interact with regularly. We were in Dylan’s soum for about an hour.

Dylan, Caleb, and I outside of Dylan's ger
About an hour out of Chinggis, we got a flat tire. Our driver/neighbor expertly and efficiently changed it. It was nice to finally make it back home. Our normal six hour bus ride had turned into a ten hour taxi ride due to all the stops we made. It was a long travel day.

"Chinggis Hot"
Mom, Caleb, and I standing in front of the gateway into our city
This covers the first four days of Mom’s two week visit. There will be more to follow!


~Sally