Хар Зүрхий Хөх Нуур (Black Heart’s Blue Lake)

The mountain in the background is Black Heart with Blue Lake at it's slopes. 

In the year 1189, after an exciting childhood and a turbulent journey into manhood, Temuujin was awarded the title of Chinggis Khaan or king of the Mongols. Later in 1206-1208, Chinggis Khaan would declare himself leader of the people who lived in felt tents and start a campaign that would lead to the largest land empire the modern world has ever known. Chinggis Khaan is universally recognized as being one of the most important Mongolians in history. Along with conquering most of Asia, he can be attributed with opening up trade between nations, establishing the written Mongolian language, and… oh yeah, decimating (literally) a tenth of the world’s population.  

The man, The myth, The legend

Black Heart’s Blue Lake refers to the spot where the tribes of Mongolia elected Chinggis Khaan as their leader in 1189.  While it is difficult to archeologically pinpoint the location of such a historic event, there are certain documents that Mongolians use to chronicle Chinggis’ history. These documents reference a mountain that is called Black Heart with a lake beneath it called Blue Lake. Oral traditions and names of locations have led Mongolians to the belief with some level of accuracy that this historic location is at a scenic lake in western Khentii province, approximately 4 hours from where Sally and I live.

Khentii is recognized as one of the most historical provinces in Mongolia, because of its link to Chinggis Khaan’s homeland. Dadal soum (Reference the earlier Momgolia posts) is the recognized birthplace, Хөх Нуур (most Mongolians just call it blue lake for short) is the recognized place of coronation, and a mountain in the remote reaches of northern Khentii is recognized as his “burial” site (the exact location of the tomb is still unknown).

Chinggis' Totem

Traveling to Blue Lake has been a goal of mine for several months, so working with CPs, I arranged a mekr (15 passenger van) to take a group of people to the historic site last Saturday. We left early in the morning on Saturday and made the bumpy journey over bad roads. There were 13 of us not including the driver: 9 PCVs, and 4 teachers from my school.

As we left the paved road for 45kms of good old Mongolian dirt track, it became apparent why so many Mongolians speak so highly of the location. Grassy plains and bald rolling hills gave way to tree covered meadows and forested tracks. For us, who are so accustomed to open land, the trees were a pleasant change. Soon we found ourselves at the lake which was surrounded by ger camps and forest. On one side of the lake, the slopes of a large mountain met the water in a thin line of trees and boulders. Opposite of the mountain on a flat shoreline, the Mongolians had erected totems of a sort to Chinggis Khaan and his decedents.  The wooden carvings created a half-circle that faced away from the lake. All of the “recognized” children of Khaan looked toward a larger totem of the fonder of their dynasty. Flanked on either side of Chinggis Khaan were totems of his two “recognized” queens. Surrounding the kings and queens of Mongolia is a sparse forest of trees. The trees were a mix of larch and aspen, both of which were changing colors as Mongolian fall set in.

Some of the Kings of Mongolia

We only stayed at the lake for about four hours. During that time we wandered the forest surrounding the lake and found a geocache on Black Heart’s slopes. I had planned to do some mountain climbing, but Black Heart is a sacred mountain, so women are not allowed to summit it (consult a post from May titled “Foreign Language Competition and Birthday Stuff”). The sexism of these traditions sometimes takes the fun out of summiting a mountain, and I had no desire to do so if my wife and friends could not make the ascent as well.

Sally and I 

This is the first time that all of the PCVs of Khentii were able to get together, there are 6 of us who are starting our second year, and 2 new volunteers. 

As the wind changed and a cold Siberian breeze began to set in, we climbed back into the mekr and headed home feeling both revitalized on fresh air and exhausted from wind exposure. Overall, it was a very successful trip and a great opportunity for the PCVs of Khentii province to experience a celebrated site.

~Caleb   

The Most Important Job

(The following blog post, while discussing the nuances of politics in America, expresses no political preference toward parties or individuals)

One of the advantages of living in Mongolia right now is missing the American presidential election cycle. Sally and I have the option to vote from abroad, but we don’t have to pay attention to all of nastiness that happens during a political campaign. We don’t have to see every bit of drama, nor do we have to feel the personal assault that so often comes into a political conversation these days. There is no fear of offending family with different opinions, and no need to deal with the outright illogical and stupid arguments that appear during this time. As I have grown older and watched these elections play out, it feels like the level of senseless hate only increases. The reality is probably that it has always been there, and that these elections can bring out the best and worst aspects of our country.

Not long ago, I was speaking about American politics with an Australian. He mentioned how closely many Australians are watching the American election cycle. When I asked him why, he brought forth a point that often falls to the back of my mind regarding presidents. He said, “We watch your elections very closely, because your president is the manifested leader of the free world. What he or she decides regarding foreign policy and relationships is oftentimes the decision that the rest of us must go with for better or worse.” For weeks the phrase “leader of the free world” continued to bounce around my head.

During our term of service in Mongolia, it is vital that we do not express political or religious opinions to the people we serve, because we are loose representatives of the United States government serving in a foreign country. It is rather easy to avoid these topics with Mongolians, because it is not the America that they see or think of. I am much more likely to enter into a conversation regarding sports or pop stars than political candidates. Mongolia’s foreign policy is usually dealing with trade agreements regarding exports and imports, and efforts to improve its rapidly weakening currency. In the grand scheme of the world and everyone in it, Mongolia’s interactions are relatively small. 

Meanwhile, an Australian who lives almost as far from American as it is possible to live is concerned about our election cycle because of the world-wide impact our president has. I can’t help but think he should be concerned, not because of the quality of candidates alone, but because foreign policy is not often very high on the list of reasons for why an American voter makes his/her choice. As an American living abroad, this is terrifying!

Being on the outside looking in offers a complete change of perspective that many Americans never see. From where I am sitting, the world seems like an enormous place; traveling 7,000 miles from home did not make it any smaller. Our country is huge and powerful, there is no question about that, but we are only a small portion of this world we live in, about 4% of the population. So 96% of the world is not part of this place we call America, yet they are intimately influenced by this 4%. Sometimes the influences are small, like Ohio State sweaters I have seen here. Other times, the influence is gigantic, like a population that deals with collateral death on an intimate level from drones manipulated a world away. 

Whatever the case, there is no question that every time America stands up, yawns, and stretches its arms the rest of the world feels it. In this global world, it is important to become more aware of how our movements impact the rest of the world. The power and wealth that we yield is not infinite, especially when the other 96% are rapidly aspiring toward a better quality of life that includes the luxuries we take for granted. It becomes increasingly more important that we are aware of our movements as a country. We must be careful that in stretching our arms we don’t knock someone else out of their chair, because everyone else at the table is watching.

So, the question that must be asked when voting for a presidential candidate is, who do we want to lead the free world? Who can represent us to the rest of the world in a manner that is dignified and respectful? Sure as Americans, we understand that the President yields a limited power, that foreign policy doesn’t fall on this person’s shoulders alone, but we must still recognize this person’s role as perceived our representative and leader at the global table, a table that becomes more crowded and intimate as the global influences of technology and communication break down barriers. We stand in an age when the raw power of our country is not enough to control this table. It is vital that the nuances of good diplomacy are practiced in our worldwide interactions.

As I watch America from so far away, I am convinced that this role and responsibility as our representative to the rest of the world is the most important job of the American president, and I ask that before you make your vote, seriously consider who you want to represent our great country to the rest of the world.

~Caleb  

The Last First Day of School (09/06/16)

September 1^st marks the first day of school in Mongolia. Students and parents arrive early in the morning for the opening ceremony where school and government officials make speeches to christen the new year and a select number of students sing songs or dance for the event. At the end of the ceremony, it is time to ring the ceremonial bell of the first day of school, so a few of the youngest and newest students in first grade enter the building ringing a small hand bell with enthusiasm and frankly… cuteness. Everyone else piles into the building and the year kicks off.

This being the beginning of our second year, Sally and I were more accustomed to what would happen, and everyone else is more accustomed to us. Last year, I was a novelty and was asked to give a speech as a new foreign teacher. This year, people are happy to see me and ask how my summer went, but I am no longer a novelty but rather a fixture.

Sally and I are both optimistic about starting the year and prepared to push as many successful projects as possible. One of the biggest lessons of our MST seminar was moderate realistic enthusiasm for the coming year. Now that we know the schedule and culture and have an appreciation for the difficulties of getting things done, we are more prepared to make changes in a way that might be meaningful and long-lasting.

A row of eagles on a fence line in the countryside outside of our town.

This year I plan to try a number of new ideas for teaching life skills and clubs.  Working at the summer camps this year helped me realize yet again what great kids Mongolian children are. It can often be challenging capacity building with adults, so this year I want to spend most of my time working with the youth in an effort to build their life skills and leadership capacity. The youth can be a real joy to work with. They are excited and can sometimes get more from interactions with PCVs than adults do. I will expand more on my individual projects in another post.

Last weekend, Sally and I traveled a few kilometers out of town to a small ger camp for a back to school party with her teachers. This being the first true Mongolian party of the new school year, we quickly found ourselves celebrating in an inebriating style. The party consisted of games between teachers, never ending vodka bottles, dancing, Mongolian BBQ (goat khorkhog explained in many other posts), walking away to escape never ending vodka bottles, exasperated exclamations of wonderment on how much vodka there was, high-spirited “stumbling” basketball, leaving the meal table to make friends with stray dogs by way of Mongolian BBQ, and finally an early escape with our neighbor who, tired of waiting on our driver who kept getting dragged back into the party, called her sober husband who delivered us home before sundown. You know, usual party in the countryside stuff.    

Now a word on the weather. Mongolia is different than America in that the hottest month really seems to be July. August was cooler with days that dropped into the 70s. Now as we enter September, the regular temperature seems to be mid-sixties to mid-seventies. Overall this past summer has not been as hot as last summer. The year of the monkey is said to be the coldest of Chinese years with the worst winters. The coolness of this September is a relief and a little frightening. I had a dream not long ago, where I was convinced that the winter was actually mid-way through and the challenges of the cold were half way done. Then I woke up realizing that it was only September and that the hardships of winter had not even begun. I left me feeling… disturbed and awed. 

Over the summer, Sally and I took on the annual permanent responsibility of a cat. This time last year we were cat sitting this same animal for a PCV friend who was going to adopt him. After a month or so with the cute juvenile, it went to live in a small soum in Khentii for the winter. At the end of spring, our friend decided that he could no longer take the responsibility of an animal, so we jumped at the opportunity to adopt the cat that goes by the name of Mission (his fitting namesake being a star wars character).

Mission is a great cat with almost no bad habits or annoying tendencies, aside from the occasional trashcan diving. He even plays a variety of games with us including fetch, tag, and tug-of-war. If it weren’t for his catlike ambivalence, I would be convinced he’s a dog. Being a Mongolian cat, he is without some of the comforts that American cats get. His litter is just dirt that I dig out of a neighborhood dirt-pile, and his food is mostly cheap sausage and whatever other meat we happen to have. He also does not have the option of going outside because of the dangers of stray dogs, pigs, enormous eagles, and malevolent humans, but he seems like a happy cat.

Sally and I recognize that we will probably not be able to take him back to America, so we are hoping he becomes a traveling Peace Corps cat, a comfort to lonely volunteers in the winter. We may already have a new owner lined up for next spring, so Mission the traveling PC cat can spread his love to someone else who needs it.

~Caleb

Mid-Service Training (MST)

After our vacation in Ulaanbaatar, the summer seemed to rapidly draw to a conclusion. The last event of the summer was in the last week of August in the form of MST, one of three Peace Corps seminars that happen during service. This seminar is unique because it occurs in the middle of service around one year after we swore in. It is surreal to realize that Sally and I have been in Mongolia for 15 months with only 11 more months left in our service. Where has the time gone?!? A year from now, we will be back in America.

Хос Хад (Twin Boulders) the namesake of our resort

The site of this year’s MST was in Terelj National Forest about 50 km outside of UB.  The area is incredibly scenic with a picturesque forest, huge sandstone boulders, and large mountains with rocky overlooks. Peace Corps usually does a good job of treating its volunteers to some comfort at these seminars, so we found ourselves in a quaint resort that was half hotel and half ger camp. Sally and I opted to stay in a hotel room where we had to comforts of running water and heated floors.

One of the best aspects of these seminars is getting to see all of the people in our cohort who survived the summer of PST last year and the harsh winter. When we came to Mongolia so long ago, there were about 75 people in our cohort. Now the number has dropped to somewhere in the low sixties. Something that always surprises me about our cohort is what a great group of people they are. Being naturally introverted, I expect to dislike a number of my fellow PCVs, but the reality is that at this stage of the game there aren’t any bad people. Everyone is dedicated to the service of others and committed to Mongolia. I have jokingly said that the most annoying aspect of PCVs is that they are too nice, so that even when you want to dislike someone you have no basis for it and are forced to confront yourself instead.  

View from a cliff face on a nearby mountain

So while the cornerstone of our MST is important PC workshops and seminars, the reality is that we got to spend a lot of time with friends catching up and hanging out. Sally finally went horseback riding. I went hiking and bouldering. We both enjoyed seeing so many of our friends again.  MST offered an opportunity to realize yet again that every problem and difficulty that we have in Mongolia is experienced almost equally among everyone in our cohort. Living and serving in a foreign country can be incredibly difficult, but this reminds us that we are not alone. (Although it is a lot easier for Sally and me since we have each other.)  

After a few days of the revitalizing seminar, we returned back to site in plenty of time for the first day of school with the brutal realization that this is our last first day of school in Mongolia.

~Caleb