Bonding over Chinggis, becoming a pick-pocket victim, getting lost on the UB bus system and meeting the former Prime Minister of Mongolia. Much has happened since I arrived in UB a week and a half ago and I apologize for my poor correspondence as of late. The first week was action packed with orientation, over the weekend we moved in with our UB host families and this week was our first section of classes. SIT has kept me busy, busy, busy.
There are five other students in my program: Sam, Brandon, Nathan, Kara and Britt. All of us are from the States and I think all of us are juniors. We started out in Anuujin Hotel in central UB about a half hour walk from our school. It was nice all being together and there was a nice pub across the street (they like to call bars pubs here) which meant for some lovely evenings testing out Mongolia's brews. I think the general consensus lays with Khar Khorin. We had a number of informative introductions to the city and the program which unfortunately has kept us too busy to explore on our own. A lot of us are antsy to get out and about.
We visited Narantuul, literally the black market, last week as part of our orientation. It's a few acres of endless stalls and tents selling everything from Cucci bags and Adidoos shoes to sofas, chainsaws, Changhong satellite dishes, fabrics, bike parts, kitchen supplies, meat, dairy in addition to some hairstyling and nail painting service shops. It's a pick-pocketer's dream with crowded aisles, lots of money coming in and out and quite a few foreigners. I had put a pack of cards in my back pocket to see if anyone would take it, but no luck. I'm going to keep trying though. Our visit was not without purpose. We were given 1000 Tugrik (about 75 cents), an hour and a half and asked to buy something that would be useful in our countryside visit. A lot harder than sounds. I spent and hour and fifteen minutes perusing all the sections and getting lost. I finally ended up with a MacGyver-esque needle and thread which was well-received. We're going back later in the week to get riding boots for our trip to the countryside next Wednesday for our first rural homestay.
Last week we all ventured through central UB to Mobicom to buy some cell phones for our stay. When we got to Mobicom I took off my pack to find my bag open and wallet gone. I may have escaped Narantuul, but I was a target on the streets and they outsmarted me. Needless to say, I didn't get my phone that day and rushed home to start calling my bank and canceling accounts. B of A said they could express ship me a new ATM card, but when I gave them my address here in Mongolia they rejected it. Street names here are obsolete. Mongolian directions are by proximity: next the Laos Embassy, near Sukhbaatar Square, etc. Thus, the postal system has to rely entirely on P.O. Boxes. Well B of A doesn't approve of P.O. Boxes, so I had them send it to my house in WA and my parents will send it here. I'm eagerly and frugally awaiting it's arrival.
Our UB hometay started Saturday. I'm living with a family in the fourth district about 10 kilometers from my school. My father, Tomorbaatar, is a doctor of traditional medicine. My mother, Ariuna, works has his assistant in his clinic. My sister, Odko, is 17 and will be studying international business in Australia come October. Very friendly, very helpful and they feed me well! I may be missing those leafy greens, but what Mongolia lacks in vegetative variety they make up in quantity!
I take a bus to and from school everyday. The UB bus system is rather ridiculous as far as I can tell. Market economy ideologies have carried over to the bus system and they really enforce efficiency. Forget the word bus, I ride to school in a clown car. I can take the five or the thirteen route, but the only confirmed stops are where I get on and where I get off. If the bus gets stuck in traffic or it can't turn left it will spontaneously take a detour. Yesterday the driver literally jumped the curb, did a number of three point turns and went back to the main road skipping three stops. My first day riding the bus I ended up taking the wrong one home. I was rushing out of the UB Hotel (the best wireless in UB) and jumped the first bus with the number five pasted to its window. But apparently there's more than one five route and I got on the wrong one. When we were approaching my neighborhood and it was supposed to turn left it kept on trucking. I got off about 3 kilometers from where I wanted to be and had to flag a taxi for the rest of my ride.
Today we visited the government building in UB and met with the former Prime Minister R. Amarjargal. We talked with him about Mongolia's economy, the effects of the global economic crisis on Mongolia and mining interests. Then we got a tour of the government building. We got to see the Parliament room and a number of works of art. I'll elaborate later.
A week from today we'll be heading up to Hosvgol Aimag (province) for our first country-side homestay. We'll be there for two weeks and will be back mid-September. I've been restraining my typically snap-happy habits to try and adjust this week. When I go to a knew place everything seems worthy of a picture and my snap-happy habit takes on plague-like symptoms. I've desensitized myself a little to my new environment and have learned a little about keeping my beloved Nikon out of some particularly eager hands. I'm hoping for my first real photo outing this weekend and will post some pictures soon. I'll also be taking my camera to Hovsgol for as long as my batteries last, so expect some new photos after that. I've taken a lot of video, but I've only uploaded a few so far. I'll get working on that as well.
Mongolia is incredible so far! Despite the bumpy landing, this semester is taking off. I'll keep posting.
Bayaritai!
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