Pix From Naadam Trip

Jason and Nara chillin' on the Stupa w/Galsa Our Driver

Rabbits Cabbage

That's Wild Rhubarb in My Hand.  How Do I Know?  I Ate Some!

"Indian" Strawberries

Camp Naadam '09

We Built A Spirit Protector

Nay Sayers Enjoying the Fruits of Our Labor 

Naadam

  I tried asking my students but they couldn't offer a clear story.  Apparently the Mongolians have been celebrating the Naadam festival every year since the time of Chinngis Khaan but the modern ceremony commemorates the establishment of Mongolia as an independent state.  Back in 1921 Sukhbaatar (translation: axe-hero) lead 600 mounted Mongols to battle against an army of Chinese infantry and routed their oppressors for a glorious victory!  Now every July 11th-13th the Mongolians gather with family and friends either in the national stadium or out in the countryside to eat Hosher (some kind of deep fried meat pocket) and watch the "three manly sports" horse racing, archery and wrestling.

  Not one for crowds I high tailed it out of town with some teacher buddies for a nice weekend of camping, my first camping trip since coming here.  After a brief stay at our drivers summer home, where his family fed us Hosher and Vodka, we took off for the woods to make our camp.  We set up in a birch forest which was quite beautiful.  Afterwards we trekked up the surrounding bluffs to see what we could see.  A funky sort of mountain shrub with an array of petal like capsules that turned out to be succulent and edible.  Some wild rhubarb clinging for dear life to the scrubby mountain side.  In a partially wooded area some wild "indian" strawberries.  Its always a pleasure to find wild edibles, even if not enough to satisfy the stomach they remind the palette of times before we were born when we depended on such sustenance.

  Back at camp we set about making fire, always necessary whilst camping.  Nay sayers in the group claimed we would fail due to wet conditions, but Jason and I had no ears for their vile lies.  We set about collecting dead wood that remained upon standing trees.  In wet conditions one cannot rely on deadfall as the moist ground soaks this wood thoroughly, but dead branches exposed to air offer hope.  We laid pine cones at the base of our fire pit and spread birch bark on top of that for kindling.  After that we built our tinder up teepee style to form a mass of fuel with plenty of aeration.  In no time at all the birch bark took fire (by lighter dammit.  No time to form a bow-drill) and our wet wood was soon ablaze.  Conveniently there was enough dead wood to keep us warm through our nights stay.  I skewered sausage slices on a stick and cooked them, serving them with butter crackers and raw onion.  A bag of hard boiled eggs amongst other simple delights sustained us for the night.

  At one point this drunkard stumbled into our camp and offered us money if we let him run off with the women for drinks and god knows what else was on the sick bastards mind.  It was very awkward because the man stayed a long time trying feebly to communicate and ineffectively "helping" with  the fire by dumping an overly large pile of wood on our flames.  I really wanted to maim him but I don't want to get deported so a held my bastard temper.  Eventually some un-uniformed police officers showed up.  They were after him but that was unclear at first, they circled our camp in what seemed like a menacing fashion and called one of the our  Mongolian companions (a lady) over for a private conversation.  Sketchy.  Fortunately this turned out to our benefit as they soon booted the man out of our camp.  Its nice being on the right side of police decisions for once.

  I woke up worthless with a massive hangover and a stomach full of unwanted bile.  I don't think I've ever been sick in a more pleasant place.  Plans to hike the ridge were scrapped for long naps in the sun and drizzle.  Eventually we packed up and headed back to the crib to await the arrival of our driver.  The family had left so we made about cleaning the place.  Only one problem, we ran out of water.  The neighbors saw me trying to collect rain off the roof with my cup and invited me over.  They tried to feed me weird parts of sheep like ear and hoof but I selected the red bean salad instead.  Its always awkward turning down hospitality but seriously folks, sheep ear?  WTF?

  All in all a pleasant trip for sure.  Check out the pix above and for gods sake, write back dammit!

FoodBlog

Damn.  I just realized it's been almost a month since I last posted.  Sorry folks.

  My cousin Roxanne was asking about the food situation here in Ulaanbaatar (UB) so I figured I'd dedicate a post to the subject.  When I first moved here I had problems finding an acceptable source of vegetables which kinda freaked me out.  Apparently Mongolians have been living on a meat heavy diet for several generations and their breed has developed a tolerance for meat that others such as myself don't posses.  I think this might have something to do with the scarcity of arable land.  They have a saying here "Grass for cows, meat for humans."  I believe that around here it must be true.  The sparse vegetation that clings to life on the steppe is not suitable for human consumption, so they employ the use of ruminates who are in turn slaughtered for their valuable fat and protein.  In order to acquire the appropriate vitamins from this diet one would need to consume a great deal of meat which may in turn account for Mongolians tremendous appetite.  I don't know.  Just speculatin'.

  Anyhow, back to the veggies.  The few stores that I did know of had their veggies wrapped in shrink wrap which scares the $h!t out of me so I tend to steer clear of that.  I was also warned of the fruit vendors who set out their wares on the sidewalks.  Allegedly their food comes directly from China which would account for the cheapness.  Mongolians would  have you believe that the Chinese are a cruel race of baby slaughtering, dog eating barbarians who are incapable of producing anything good, particularly vegetables.  Another more reliable source told me that the Chinese production machine has to feed billions so the food system is corrupted with gross pesticides etc. whilst Mongol soil is completely untainted.  Seriously though, pesticides and the like have never been introduced so the soil here is more organic then anything in America.

  Well, I've finally found a store that sells trustworthy vegetables so I'm breathing more freely now.  I've been making salads and a lot of stir fry to balance out a previous diet that was heavy on meat and junk snacks.  I was elated to find an abundance of Lambsquarters growing in the area.  Lambsquarters or Goosefoot is a cousin of spinach but grows as a weed.  You can find it almost anywhere in the world, growing in empty lots and "disturbed soils" (what does that mean?  All the edible plants books mention disturbed soils but to me it means nothing.)  Here in UB nobody puts forth any effort to eradicate weeds so Goosefoot is thriving rampantly.  

  In twenty short minutes I'm able to harvest enough plants to feed me for a week.  I usually find a healthy looking plant and pluck it from the stem leaving the root buried in the soil.  This allows it an opportunity to grow back.  I then take these trimmings home, pluck off the leaves, rinse them and dry them on a towel in open air.  Once dry they are ready to eat or can be refrigerated for later.

  Today I'm making a reduction from the remaining stems and using this to boil my potato.  I'm hoping this will inoculate my potato with the rich deposits of iron, vitamin B-12, phosphorous and whatever else.  All I know is: this stuff taste awesome, its free and its rich in vitamins and minerals.  Don't believe me?  Look it up yer damn self.  Peace! 

http://www.prodigalgardens.info/june%20weblog.htm#Lambsquarters

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.