going to uvurkhangai for tsagaan sar

a colleague at work offered the trip to me at noontime, thursday before tsagaan sar. tsagaan sar is the mongolian lunar new year and this was happening on the coming sunday. it was like a spur of the moment invitation but having come to know how mongolians plan, that was but natural. i did not agree to it right away but told him i will have to decide after lunch. it seemed a very good chance to visit the countryside down south and see how local folks celebrate their new year, aside from the fact that it was also going to be a free (costless) holiday since i will be riding with them. so i agreed.

we left after 11 in the morning. the city roads were heavy with traffic because everyone seemed to be going out to their hometowns/aimags. we dropped by a grocery store to buy some food for the trip. there were ox tongue, sausage, bread, water and juice. we have brought some milk tea (suuta chai) in the car. it was sunny and cold. there was a light pouring of snow but it did not go on very long.

we had lunch inside the car as we drove through the snow landscape of the countryside. about 66 kilometers outside the capital, and at 1:30 pm when our car engine stopped. we just had a full tank right after the city proper so it must not be the fuel. the battery was working. but the car just won't start again. to call for assistance, my colleague had to walk to the nearby hill to get some signal for his mobile phone. it was getting cold and we tried going inside some gers (it happened that there were some around). i was told that they serve paid meals and truly once inside, we saw them slicing meat. i saw how they get water by bringing in some ice in sacks and thawing them by the stove. they served us milk tea and my colleague seemed to have observed my hesitancy of having one, so he advised me just to sip a bit. we did not stay very long although i must admit it was a lot warmer inside the ger. we went back to the car.

to kill the time, we started playing cards and eating some more. i introduced a card game we used to do in high school during trips: hide one card, distribute the rest and come up with pairs. the one who will end up with no pair loses. we did several rounds. then we dozed off as well.

our 'rescue' came about past 4. tried to fix and decided to tow the car back to the city. it was not very long while going back when the other car started overheating. we just had to stop again. it was colder this time since it was already late afternoon. not soon after my colleague and the mechanics started drinking vodka which we have brought a box of it. i was offered and felt obliged to accept. after three rounds i had to beg off. my legs were freezing cold. i was afraid that instead of the alcohol warming my body, it would eventually make it numb that there would be no way of telling the difference between the cold and alcohol. we started walking outside to have some circulation but to no avail i felt even colder that i have to go back inside the other car. it was getting dark.

there were two cars (my colleague's friend and the repair guys) that came and it was already dark. we immediately transferred to the car taking us back to the city. a lot warmer yet i thought i was beginning to feel the freezing cold from my legs creeping up. i really felt terribly cold.

we left the other guys to tow the other two cars. we started driving back towards ulaanbaatar. after one and a half hours of travel, we arrived. i was back in my apartment. with the warm interiors, it felt so good to be back home. the visit to uverhangai can wait...

getting locked out

this was the second time it happened among my volunteer friends.

we have agreed that i visit her for the evening to watch a dvd movie. she was in my block earlier and called if i can already meet her. i was in the gym at that time, and said i will just meet her later in her flat. as i was finishing with my workout, another volunteer called if i can meet with him as well, since he was in my neighborhood for some food shopping. i extended the invitation to him and asked him if he would like to join me and the other volunteer. he agreed to just meet me in front of the state department store so we can go together to where she was staying. along the way we got some drinks.

she met us downstairs by the main entrance since we did not know the security code to the gate. we went up and as she pulled down the doorknob to her door, she started to realize she cannot open it just like that since this kind of doors are set to be manually opened from the inside, and with a key from the outside. and that she did not have her keys with her. then we tried our luck with our own keys which might work on her door (which was very remote to happen). now the doorman has to be sought if he has a spare key to the flat. he did not speak nor understand english but we were able to communicate the state of our predicament. he came up with us to validate (i guessed) his understanding of what we were talking about. he did not also have the key. he went down (we reckoned that he was going to find a way to get a spare key). as we were left, we began wrestling with the door.

i called my mongolian translator and referred to him the situation (asked him in particular to talk to the doorman, and what the doorman said). this time the doorman had a phone number which we tried calling but unreachable at that time. my translator advised us to just call a locksmith and so we did. however, when the locksmith arrived, the doorman has told us not to proceed because they (he and another building staff) were able to contact the landlord and that he will be coming soon. we were asked though to reimburse the locksmith for his taxi fare.

the landlord was an old, short, and a very relaxed man. we introduced ourselves (of course, we did not live there so he did not know us). now my friend was just too happy and relieved to have seen again the interiors of the flat. she checked where her keys were. and at the end of the night, she made sure, the key was placed near the main door so she would not miss it when she goes out.

well, we still got to watch a film, had a few drinks. but, what a night...

2006 in retrospect: arrival in UB

as we got out of the airport, the cool summer breeze gave me a little chill despite the very sunny weather. it was already late summer.

we got on a toyota land cruiser. we were told that the trip going downtown would take about 20 minutes. inside the car, i started looking around - and truly, what can be bluer than mongolia's infinite stretch of blue skies? it was quite a contrast seeing the green steppes on a background of blue, so still and peaceful. we passed by small communities - with ger tents and wooden houses. ulaanbaatar was really dry and seemed dusty.

we went first to the program office where we met the accountant and who gave us our allowance for the month. we were asked if we wanted to leave our passports and other valuables, which the staff then recommended for security reasons. we were taken for a brief tour of the rooms and offices. the office was located in a three-floor building with a basement. there were also other foreign organizations who occupied.

we were treated to our first mongolian meal. it was in an english-named restaurant. i ordered a greek salad and fish. it was quite a lot. the fish came with rice and side salad as well. after lunch which was actually midafternoon already, we headed for the hostel where we will be staying for the next five weeks while doing our in country training.

the hostel was located near the state department store. it was right down in the city center. our flat was on the first floor. there were two rooms with double-deck beds, and i was the only man. i shared the room with three female volunteers - a french, a finnish, and an english. the other room had five (i think) ladies - one filipino, and four british. also everyone had just arrived earlier during the day. we got introduced to each other. my volunteer life in mongolia has just begun.

2006 in retrospect: first trip to mongolia

i was traveling to mongolia with an older lady volunteer from central philippines. it was her first time to leave the country.

our cathay pacific plane left manila at midday. that was after going through the early traffic congestions in the metropolis, the long cue for the airline check-in counter, and the usual intimidating interrogation of the philippine immigration officers. not so long a trip to look forward to because there were two airport stops before mongolia. i have always preferred several short flights than one for many hours. although this one just so happened because the south korean route was fully booked.

arrived on time at the new HK airport. stayed for a couple of hours at the airport, just wandered around. we flew via dragon air to beijing this time. we were in beijing at 9 pm - it was a late arrival. also, it was a new in-transit system for me - we had to get out of the airport and again get inside it. that meant we had to fill out arrival and departure cards (which were in chinese). by the time we reached the check in counter for ulaanbaatar, it was 1 minute before the flight and nobody was at the counter (closed!). with the aid of a chinese guy, we went to the airline office which was already closed. i did not worry but i was upset to have missed the connecting flight to mongolia. i have never spent a night in china, and had taken only short tours around cities near macau. now the same guy offered a hotel stay nearby. i spoke very little mandarin but was able to understand him and vice versa (with bits of english of course). we were picked up by a van and traveled about 10 minutes. it was past ten o'clock. upon reaching the hotel, i had to call the country manager in mongolia to inform her of our delay and that we will be arriving the next day. it was a relief to have spoken to her and she was very reassuring everything will be fine.

woke up early and had my first bath in china. left the chinese hotel at around 6 am. had tuna sandwich for breakfast at the airport. we boarded a MIAT (mongolian airline) flight for ulaanbaatar. the inflight meal was quite a treat. aside from the generous serving of wine, we were served haagen dazs ice cream for dessert.

as we got nearer to ulaanbaatar, there was this feeling of anticipated excitement in me. i have seen pictures of the landscape and people through the internet but this time, i just cannot wait to see what mongolia is like.

our plane landed at noontime. we had to wait for our luggage and we were the last ones to check out. unfortunately, they were not on our flight so we had to report to the information counter about it. and there we met our welcoming party - a program support officer and the logistics manager/driver who were already worried since it seemed to them everyone on the flight had already gone out and we were nowhere to be seen. a report form was filled out (in cyrillic scripts) for the missing luggage. now we were ready to leave for the city of ulaanbaatar.

new year's eve 2006

new year in mongolia is not as noisy and as smoky as in the philippines. although noise-making has become a universal tradition to greet the new year. for mongolians they decor their houses with tinsels and christmas trees for the sake of kids. for the fun of it i guess. for the new year they prepare potato salad, some cakes and champagne. most young people would be out partying in the discos and pubs. usually in ulaanbaatar, a concert is held at sukhbaatar square during new year's eve. a fireworks display takes place at midnight.

as in the philippines, my filipino friend's child in UB also lit his sparklers to meet the new year.

i baked some curried empanada. it was my first time to do baking in mongolia. when it was done though, i decided to call them baked boodz (the famous mongolian steamed dumplings). they were very pale and just looked like distant cousins of the empanadas at home.

i was invited by a filipino family to spend the NY eve with them. the wife prepared lasagna, baked ham strips, baked chicken legs, brazo de mercedes, lengua, chocolate marble and carrot cakes (and steamed rice, of course!).

we played some filipino songs. and since it was sunday, i put on some oldies music too. (usually in the philippines, the radio stations play 'ancient' tunes on sundays). later we had some music DVDs on TV (Shakira, Blue and others).

another filipino and his mongolian friend joined us as well. a dutch colleague also came later. the host served red wine, champagne and beer.

it is a tradition for families in the philippines to gather for a midnight meal during new year's eve (and Christmas eve as well). so at 11 later, we started feasting on the preparations of our host.

another year has just passed. and another year has set in. new year, new wishes, new dreams. life goes on...