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The Dogs of Hanhongor: Maxford and Long Dog

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Today I want to honor the memory of two of the best dogs in Hanhongor who are sadly no longer with us.

Maxford Munson

When I was a Peace Corps volunteer, my side kick was Nigel, “sack of wrenches,” cat. I never really thought about getting a dog because I knew I would not want to leave it behind when my service was completed, and I also figured that taking a cat and a dog back to America was too much at that time for me to handle. So it was fitting that a dog adopted me instead. Maxford Munson, or Max was left behind in Hanhongor by his owner when they moved  away one day in the spring of 2003. Being a sweet, gentle, and friendly dog his sad state of affairs caught my eyes-especially since he decided to move into my yard. I started feeding him once in awhile, and quickly everyone in town decided on my behalf that I had a dog. He would hang out in front of my house, and when I moved to my ger I had a cute little dog house made for him. He enjoyed keeping Nigel inline and was wonderfully patient when I decided his dreadlocks needed cutting off and his fur combed. Sadly, I lost him much too early in December of 2003 when someone took it upon himself to poison the majority of the dogs in town. Max was a very gentle soul and I like to think that Santiago is proud to carry his name as her middle name.

Long Dog

The other dog that I remember very fondly from my Peace Corps days was Long Dog. I never knew his real name, but I named him Long Dog due to his hilarious body shape.  While his legs were about 5 inches long, his body was a couple feet long giving him a sort of hyper furry dachshund look. The “long dog” breed is actually somewhat common in Mongolia and when we got Santiago I was hoping she would turn out to be a long dog. Maybe next time…

Мухар Шивэрт Ам

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Last Friday we went camping in the Gurvan Saikhan (Three Beauties) mountains with Darkhuu and her extended family.  We went to a valley area called Muhar Shivert Am (Мухар Шивэрт Ам) which is less visited than Yolin Am where we went to the Yak festival in May. Famous for its rocks that look like animals, it still had some winter ice left in the end of the canyon.

We arrived around 6 on Friday night and were warmly greeted by the park ranger who welcomed us to set up camp in her extra ger. Bayarlakh (her name is the infinitive form of the verb for being happy) was a very nice woman who spends her summers in a ger in that remote national park in the Gobi desert and her winters in Chicago.

After dropping off our stuff, the 15 of us (14 humans and 1 smelly dog) header up the canyon. We spotted lots of rocks that look like camels which you would expect in the Gobi,

but also saw eagles, lions, a snow leopard, and snake rocks. There was also a lot of stinging nettles (not fun) and kangaroo rats, voles, and  pygmy jerboas (lots of fun). Santiago’s attempts to catch them were hilarious, and she only managed to get one that was already dead. Brian and Santi hiked up to the valley ridge but the rest of us stayed in the canyon.

Three Beauties in the Three Beauties Mountains: Tungalag, Darkhuu, and Handamaa

At the end of the valley we found a bit of ice, some very fresh stream water, and Morin doing some rock modeling.

Here is almost everyone (Baatar and Uka were busy taking pictures).

Back row left to right:

Me, “Big” Tsend-Ayoush, Morin, Brian, and Darkhuu

From row left to right:

Zaya and Togoldor, “Small” Tsend-Ayoush, Tungalag and Ugana, and Handarmaa and Huslee

Brian and Morin

and Huslee saying her prayers

For dinner Brian and I had a fresh quinoa salad and fruit, and everyone else had mutton soup. After dinner we all played with glow in the dark necklaces that my friend Angie sent. Uka, Baatar, and Santiago slept in the tent, the two Tsendees slept in one of the cars, and the rest of us slept in the ger.

On Saturday we slept in, watched the sheep and goats go by, enjoyed fresh airag (horse’s milk) from a neighboring family, and just took in the refreshing mountain air. Brian and I visited a bit with Bayarlakh which was fun as we had never discussed the pros and cons of Costco with anyone in Mongolia before.

It was a great trip to the countryside with our family.

Summer School

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The last week of July was Summer English School in Hanhongor. Held partly to appease the many parents of bored children in Hanhongor and partly because I wanted to try out some new lesson plan material, it grew from 9 to 16 students over the week and was a lot of fun. The students ranged in age from 9 to 45 and there was always at least two 1-5 year olds in the crowd to keep things exciting (i.e. Mongolian kids don’t wear diapers). We went over the basics like greetings, numbers, weather, time, and the alphabet, but we really focused on speaking. The most popular activities were counting practice while jumping rope,

student generated crossword puzzles,

and anything that involved smacking flascards with fly swatters.

In retrospect I should have offered a longer and less English focused summer camp as the kids were just starving for stimulation. Summer school reminded me just how much fun teaching can be when you have students who really want to learn-to the point of exhaustion!

The New Teacher Apartment Building

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One of the things about Mongolia that can make life a bit cheaper and easier is work housing. In the countryside it is not uncommon for government, hospital, and school employees to have the option to live in government housing for free or a nominal fee. The downside is that it is often in rundown buildings that used to be something else (the defunct veterinary hospital, anyone?) and with few amenities. For example, when I was a Peace Corps volunteer I lived in this building for one year with a bank teller and 4 teachers and their families.

Life was pretty hard given that when the power was out, which was most of the time, we had no lighting, no heating, and no way to cook. It is no wonder that I insisted on living in a ger my second year.

After I left town, the teachers were moved around every year or 2 to other defunct buildings including one of the old school buildings famous for its roof full of pigeon poop and the afore mentioned veterinary hospital. A few lucky souls got to live in the renovated community center but most of them were stuck in the old hospital with its camel sized doors which let in all the winter breezes. Hardly worth the cheap $3 a month rent.

Well, this summer, after two years of planning and raising government and private funds (from mining companies) one of the old student dorms was renovated. Here is one of the the old dorms (which was lived in by students up until 2 years ago)

And here, is the new teacher apartment building after it got bricks, wallpaper, new windows, and a roof.

It has 8, two room, and 1, one room apartments and is already festooned with all important satellite dishes. The inside changed from one giant wind sieve to something that looks more like it belongs in Ulaanbaatar.

Today was the official new housing party where the school director, governor, and representatives from the provincial counsel and the two donor companies spoke and cut the ribbon.

Lastly, the three teachers who had already moved in received their keys.

The teachers who are living in the new building have been teaching at my school since I first moved here 10 years ago and they have lived in horrible run down buildings, suffered from house fires, and in general had to live in places no one should live in. I wish them lots of luck and hope they don’t have to move for a very long time!

Running Water, Sort Of

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As you may know, we usually get our water from a well-like this

But one day, a few weeks ago, we were drawn from our ger by the sound of a rototiller being used over by the police officer’s/governor’s houses. They were digging a trench and after asking around a bit we learned it was for water pipes. What? Water pipes that bring water directly from the well without you having to lug your 40 liter canisters all around? Where do we sign up?

We got Darkhuu on the case and about a week later Brian found himself and Sainaa out in our neighbor’s yard struggling with the rototiller for the piping to our yard.

A lot of hard machine and hand digging later,

and we were ready to call in the pipe laying professionals: Brian, Bayarmagnai, our neighbor and the town electrician/carpenter, his wife Urantuya, his son Sainaa, the town governor Sainbuyan, his wife and 2 year-old son, and various other neighbors. It was a true community project.

Covering over the pipeline was quickly completed by Brian, and our new spigot guard was installed.

So we now have water in our yard as long as the ground is not frozen, it is either Wednesday or Sunday night between 6-8 p.m. (our well times), we can get the well key from our neighbor, and someone goes to the well to turn on the motor. It is not quite in-home running water but beggars can’t be choosers.

The Dogs of Hanhongor: IP

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The first time we met IP was in February. I went outside to go to the bathroom and to my surprise there was a puppy sitting on our neighbor’s coal pile. She acted as if it was the most normal thing in the world for a dog to be doing on a freezing cold day but we were worried that she had gotten hurt getting up there. We decided that we would give her an hour and then if she was still there, we would deal with the issue. As it turned out, she had just been put there temporarily and was then moved to our neighbor’s mother’s house which is around the corner. Her I-don’t-care attitude and totally ridiculous hangout spot lead us to calling her Irreverant Pooch, or IP for short.

Sadly IP has a tough life with not enough love or food. She is often covered in mud and roams town in search of food, but still she remains a spirited little thing. The best thing about IP is that she is often found hanging out with her owner’s herd of goats. You never really get the feeling that she is herding them or even protecting them, but instead it is more like she thinks she is a goat. When we go out with Santi we often can see the goat herd in the distance. If you look hard you can usually see IP in the middle wagging her tail and chasing the kids. A dog’s life in Mongolia is not always easy but IP certainly tries to make the best of what she has.

Mongolian Names

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Дуудах нэрийг эцэг эх, Дуурсах алдрыг өөрөө олдог

“Parents will give a name to you, You will decide to make it famous”

On my way back home from the aimag last night, my driver started talking about a friend of his named Odbaatar which got me thinking once again about Mongolian names. Today many American parents want to give their children names that will set them apart, make them unique, and ensure that they won’t be one of 7 Sarah’s in their class (thanks Mom). Mongolians are way ahead of Americans in this. I had 92 students last year and only 3 kids shared a name-everyone else had a distinct name.

Brian and I have joked in the past that Mongolians are the original hippies, or perhaps extreme sci-fi fans. There is Solongo (rainbow), Narantsetseg (sunflower), Shinsar (new moon), Bolorstesteg (crystal flower), Zolzaya (lucky destiny), and Enkh-Amgalan (peaceful tranquility). Names can be super short Od (star), Ish (origin) and Yum (thing) as well as extremely long like Naimanzuunnandintsetseg (800 rare flowers) and Enebishtomortogoo (Not this, it’s a metal pot). Some names, at least to the American ear, are nice- Tuya (ray), Adiya (sun), and Bold (steel) and others are a bit out there- Muunokhoi (bad dog), Terbish (not that), and Nergui (no name).

Just like in America, names go in and out of fashion. People of my grandparents age often have shorter, Tibetan Buddhist based names. People born in the 40s and 50s sometimes have Russian inspired names (I know a Nadya and an Alexander), people my age tend to have two word names like Gerelzaya (Light beam), and children born today tend to have one word names or are often named after the family and friends of Chinggis Khan including Temujin (Chinggis’s childhood name), Borte (his wife), and Khubilai (his granson). Also, similar to Americans, some parents name all their kids with a theme such as including the same word in all the names- Monktsetseg (everlasting flower), Monkhchuluun (everlasting rock), Monkhbaatar (everlasting hero) etc, or with a topical theme like Tsas (snow), Boroo (rain), Salhi (wind), Shurag (storm), and Mondor (hail).

So back to old Odbaatar. If you read my post closely you would have figured out that his name means “star hero”. And Darkhuu? The tiny, sweet lady who is my second mother is no other than “gunpower son”.

Resource: http://mobile.inet.mn/shortArticle/?0xnbi27/48105

Omnogobi Naadam 2012

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On Sunday we went into town for the Omnogobi Naadam festival. The opening ceremony, along with archery, shagai, and running contests, were held in the city sports arena. The ceremony was well attended and quite toasty in the hot sun. Many people were dressed in their best including traditional Mongolian dells, hats, shirts, and dresses.

After an introduction by the aimag governor, various military and police brigades paraded around the arena, and then the real entertainment began.

The government went all out for Naadam and brought in the National Circus from Ulaanbaatar. There were trick horse riders, contortionists, juggles, and hoop dancers.

The aimag theater dancers also performed, and some very lucky kindergartners wearing camel costumes got to dance while Sarantuya, one of Mongolia’s top pop stars, sang.

After the ceremony, the wrestling started and we wandered out to the square in front of the stadium. The square, complete with a wonderful horse statue and jumbo tron, is new and was packed with people eating ice cream, playing games, and riding bicycles. The tall buildings surrounding the square almost make Dalanzadgad look like a real city.

In the afternoon, we got a ride out to the horse race area with my school director. While we missed the actual race we did get the see the winning horses. Our neighbor Tomorbaatar’s horse came in 4th place in one race, and we got to congratulate him and hang out with the horse.

The road to the horse racing area was paved and it was amazing to see all the cars speeding away after the race.

Brian went home in the afternoon to take care of Santi, but I stayed. In the evening Darkhuu, other various relatives of hers, and I went back to the square for fireworks, more ice cream, to see the rock band Hurd, and to visit with friends. Some little girls befriended me and wanted me to rent a tandem bike with them but I politely declined. I think they mainly asked me because I could ride a bike and they couldn’t, but it was still very sweet. We saw lots of people we knew and the weather was wonderful.

Hurd, one of Mongolia’s first, and best, rock bands.

Our neighbor Mandakh, his wife Tuya, and son Perenlei. He works as a driver in a coal mine, she works at the local hospital, and Perenlei will be studying mining at college in the fall.

Darkhuu’s niece Zaiya, he husband Baatar, and their children Huslai and Togoldor.

The Dogs of Hanhongor: BBT

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Hanhongor is blessed with having a lot of very memorable and cute pooches. Over the next few months I hope to highlight some of the best, both past and present.

Our first guest is Bottle Brush Tail, or BBT, as we affectionately call him. His real name is Bombolei which is also a great doggy name, but in our eyes he’s still BBT.

Why is he called BBT you ask? Well check him out:

I think his tail must have gotten broken at some point in his life because he is unable to put it down. It is always sticking straight up. Perhaps this perpetual state of bravery has gone to his head because not only does nothing, including other pooches, seem to scare him, but he acts like the whole town is his home/urinal. At work at school? Look at your window to see BBT peeing on the monkey bars. Over at the bank for a little business? BBT is also there doing his business. Heading out to the outhouse? BBT is just leaving your yard after decorating the outside of the outhouse for you.

About the only place BBT is hardly ever seen is in his yard behind our house. When he is in the neighborhood, though, we know because Santiago is infatuated with him. Whenever she sees him, she barks, runs straight at him, and then circles him crying like a little girl puppy. BBT is a cool dog, though, and rarely takes notice of her. He just pees and moves on leaving us to console poor, broken hearted, Santiago. Love is cruel for pooches here in the Gobi.

Coming soon: Irreverent Pooch “The goat dog.”

How to Waterproof a Ger

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After several strong rain storms proved that our ger was far from waterproof, we bought some plastic sheeting in the aimag, invited some wonderfully helpful friends over, and waterproofed our ger.

First Darhuu removed the canvas cover,

leaving a felt covered ger behind.

Brian then removed the top level of roof felt,

and both layers of felt walls.

I wish our ger always had this much light!

After the walls, the last layer of roof felt came off. Here is Enkhjargal, our little neighbor, checking out our enlarged sky light.

Since our roof was off, Darhuu and I took the opportunity to clean all the roof poles. We removed the poles one at a time, washed them, dried them, and then put them back. We took spring cleaning to a whole new level!

Finally, it was time to put our house back together. First on, was the newly washed ceiling cotton which had gotten stained from rain leaks.

Next, with the wonderful help of 6 school workers and neighbors, the first layer of roof felt went on,

then the two layers of wall felt,

the second layer of roof felt, and finally the plastic sheeting which will hopefully keep it from raining inside the next time a storm comes.

The last step was putting the ropes back around the canvas to keep the ger together. There was so much muscle put into that step that the poles in the middle of our ger still don’t touch the ground!

Thanks for the help everyone. Here’s to no more leaking!