Trip to Zaisan

Only four showed up.

Giant Gold Buddha

Vicious Looking Tiger Thing

Try as he might, he can't pry apart stone

I asked Zaya to fight the Tiger.  She gets an "E" for effort.

You don't scare me!

Here's some abstract sculpture that I can get into.

WWII Monument at Zaisan

The Ill Mosaic

Zaisan

Yesterday my students took me out to Zaisan hill on the outskirts of ULN.  Its this rad spot where many families go to hang out and feel great about being Mongolian.  At the bottom of the hill is this giant gold Buddha and some other Buddhist stuff like a great drum, a great bell and some ill sculptures.  It was pretty rad.

  On top of the hill is this massive monument to the Mongolian effort in  WWII.  There's this tank that was part of a battalion that traced a path from Moscow to Berlin in a two year period from '43-45.  There's also this giant rotunda with this mosaic frieze that depicts the history of Mongolia from their revolution and independence from China all the way through WWII and into modern Socialism.  The monument was built in the eighties so theirs no mention of Mongolian democracy.  Maybe that can be the subject of the next great public art piece.  Once again this monument was all rendered in that Soviet Contructivist/propaganda style that I'm so fond of.  Lovin' the art here, sho 'nuf.

  Later the students took me to the river where they showed me how awful I am at skipping stones.  Some people never learn.  All in all  a nice relaxing weekend.  Next week should be easy as two of my classes I'm  giving tests.  Hopefully I can get out to the countryside next weekend.  Stay in touch and please comment.  I feel  like this blog is becoming a one sided conversation.

Countryside

I've been having problems with formating these posts with photos so I think from now on I 'm going to just write in one post and follow it up with a post of just photos and maybe some brief descriptions.  Ok?...hello....?  anyybody there....?

  Riiiight.  Its been a while since I've posted.  Thats because I've been swamped with work.  Last weekend was pretty gnarly.  I had this bitchin' headache and no medicine on Thursday night (this is 6/11, mind you) so I went to class completely unsuited to teach.  I told my childrens class about my problem, bless their little hellion hearts, they actually were agreeable for once.  They were quiet and obedient, telling each other to shut up when one got too loud.  Even quietly doing their homework and insisting I "sleep, teacher, sleep!" whenever I ventured to raise and eyelid.  Unbelievable.

  The plan was to catch the train immediately after class with my friend Erca and head to his girlfriends' parents home in a town called Mandal.  I was still hurtin' from sleep deprivation but there was no way I was going to turn down an opportunity to see the countryside, I'd been cooped up in this damn city for too long!  So I got on this old reminant of the Soviet empire for three hours of uncomfortable riding.  I felt bad for my host as I was non too lively but damn I was tired.  He fed me some horse meat sausage which didn't agree with my stomach and I passed out.  Later we hiked to the house we were staying at.  I collapsed into the bed they offered me but, tired as I was, it took a long time before I could actually fall asleep.  Something about sleeping in a new space always puts me a little on edge.

  The next morning we slept in and woke up to a breakfast of beef stew.  I couldn't  believe it.  This is the kind of meal I like to eat for dinner in winter when I'm ready to be warm, full and sleepy.  Beef stew for breakfast.  Ooof.  Too heavy to start the day.  

  My host and I ventured out to begin our tour of the country side.  I requested a hike in some trees so we made off towards a promising mountain off in the distance.  I swear it looked closer but the more we walked the farther away it got.  We climbed one hill thinking it would yield our goal across the next valley only to find another hill and valley beyond.  This happened five times.  Our relentless march was strained further by a merciless sun.  A buzzard circled over head, surely awaiting our eventual collapse.  God was not with him on this day.  Along the way we saw a fox trotting in the distance, a hare scared from his hidey hole and a wee lizard darting through the tall grasses beneath our feet.  I saw my first dung beetle, rolling a ball of shit, sho nuff.  In a gopher hole I saw the body of a snake slithering around the corner.

  Storm clouds rolled over the steppe as we hiked, catching up to us just as we reached the crest of our destination.  We estimated it a 15km trek out after which I was already cashed.  We layed low a bit as the storm swept around us, just kissing us with a misty breeze.  Thunder echoed across the valley but the lightning never came close.  Still would've been wise to seek low ground.  Oh, well.  The hike back was outlandishly long, and my damnable flat feet were screaming as we returned.  Once again to bed and a long easy sleep afterward.

  More beef stew for breakfast, delicious but so inappropriate.  We jumped on ancient mountain bikes and b-lined for the river.  I've ridden trails before but this was the first time I've ever really ridden totally cross country.  The river was a completely different climate.  With richer, wetter soil the land was actually bright green as opposed to the dry brown of the steppe.  We came across some ranchers who let me ride one of their horses a bit.  It felt really small and cramped, totally unergonomical.  I think I'll stick to the western horses thank you.

  Later we climbed another rocky hill that afforded some sweet views of the valley below.  Apparently Mandal is one of the few towns that is experiencing any luck with agriculture so they're really developing farming practices out here.

  A grueling train ride at three in the morning returned me to my post.  A few short hours of fitful sleep and then its back  to work.  Monday was rough as I was suffering the triple threat of sleep deprivation, dehydration, and probable malnutrition.  I need some spinach and some sleep.  Peace out!     

Third World Squalor

I suppose I outta apologize.  My last few posts have been rather negative.  Still my stay here has been less then pleasant so far.  The other night I came home from a night of drinking with friends (fellow teachers mostly) only to break my key in the lock, effectively leaving myself locked out for the night and my neighbors locked in!  Lame!  Fortunately my friend let me crash on his floor but the next day was stressful as I tried to arrange for a lock smith with communication hurdles plaguing my progress.   I finally got into my apartment with minutes to spare as I had planned to meet my students at the Natural History Museum.  I wasn't going to stand them up for any reason.

  It was nice to spend the day with students outside of class.  We got to know each other a bit more and they learned new vocabulary and such as I explained certain things in English.  They learned that my name and "petrified" share the same base so in one room they turned to me and said "Hey teacher, we found some of your wood."  Ha!  Clever students.

  I have two classes at this time.  One adult class and a children's class.  I have a problem with patience  which the kids test at every moment.  I never asked to be a baby sitter, yet I feel that is essentially what I am doing with them.  Bogus!  My adult class is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  They're very attentive, they participate and are a lot easier to communicate with.  And what's more they take me out to the museums.   Much nicer then children.