Flickr link

I thought I'd just post a link to all my Flickr sets. This page should be updated automatically. With the uploading tool I'll be able to put up more photos at a time. Enjoy.

Smile and Naadam

Hope you enjoy the new town pictures below. This past week was Tsetserleg's Naadam. In case you're not familiar with it, Naadam is the annual festival of the three manly sports ie wrestling, horseracing and archery. I'm always surprised how laid back the Mongols are about Naadam. They come out to watch it the first day and on TV from UB, but by the second day you're just as likely to "Europe people" as Nasaa would say. Anyway, it was good to see Naadam in a new aimag and I missed the crush of people in town for the UB's Naadam. The city seems oddly deserted now. Guess it's because most of the banks and government offices are closed. As per usual, follow the picture to picture to the gallery.


We also took some visiting tourists to the mythical cave bar located in a nearby ger camp. You really have to see it to appreciate the glorious ambiance. Hope the pictures do it justice. It was definitely worth the trek up the valley to get to it. Hopefully the kareoke is working next time we go. Follow picture the the gallery.

Our Town

Hey gang. I know it's been a while since I rapped at ya, but I've been hella busy. I'm still working on that catalog which I have to finish right after I get back from China. I'm leaving on Sunday for Beijing and most likely going to Shanghai as well. Hopefully there are no surprises there. I'm looking forward to experiencing socialism again, but I also want to distribute some literature the Chinese might not be familiar with. I'll be back on the 24th so expect some pictures. Speaking of pictures, I'm using the Flickr uploading tool now so I put up several new galleries. This post's title refers to my site, Tsetserleg, which means garden and does not refer to an anatomical preference. Click on the picture to find your way to the gallery. I'll put up another posts with more links soon.

This isn't actually an aerial photo, but it gives a good view of the place. My friend Mike and I climbed a big hill to get a look at the town's cell phone tower and found an old graveyard behind it. I got some pictures of that and some of the towns wildlife. We also got pictures of our very own windows background. The place looks a lot better now than it did when some of the town pictures were taken. We've had a lot of rain lately so everything's really green. I put up some Nadaam pictures too. I'll link to those in another post.

Welcome to Fungolia

We went to the airport last Monday night to greet/scare the new trainees (they aren't volunteers until swearing in). First we all met at a UB volunteer's apartment to drink, eat pizza, and make signs. I did more of the first two. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.







A good time was had by all. We got to talk to a few of them before they left the airport, because there was almost 60 of them and they came on two planes. There was even a girl from Tallahassee who went to FSU. Wierd.

*Update-Check out this Flickr gallery for even more arrival pictures.

I celebrate his entire catalog

Sorry this is the first update in a while, but I've been really sick and really busy. I was in UB for 10 days this month. First I had my yearly check up then another business volunteer and I put on a catalog development workshop. The new Mercy Corps advisor saw a catalog from a similar NGO here in Mongolia and wants us to make one. We invited the best English speakers from the aimag offices and taught they about layout, Photoshop, and Pagemaker.

I made these little pictures for a memo that was translated and sent out also. I wanted to explain how to photograph priducts using background paper. All those photoshoots with my dad finally paid off. I'm feeling a lot better and going into the city again next Thursday for one last exam. I'll stay in until Tuesday morning to greet the new trainees at the airport. Then I have to come back and go on a four day trip to the countryside to take pictures and gather information for the catalog. After that I have to put the catalog together and go back to UB to get it printed and attend our biannual meeting the last week in June. It's going to be a busy month.

I'll post some pictures from the airport and maybe some stuff from the catalog later. Gotta go.

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

Spring is a really weird time to be here in Mongolia. It can be warm one day, then windy and cold the next. First there were dust storms caused by high winds and lack of vegetation. And starting this week, we've had our first precipitation in months. During the winter you can count on it being clear and cold. It's been snowing almost non-stop for three days now and it looks like a traditional winter back in the states. Once the sun comes out things should turn green fast. I've kind of forgotten what grass looks like.

In addition to (and maybe because of) the snow, the town has been without running water all week. People who live in the ger districts don't really notice, but value my sink and toilet. A water truck showed up outside yesterday. I hope he comes back. Enkhee says the water might come back tomorrow. I'm not sure if something actually broke or if they're just doing maintenance. There is plenty of drinking water around. Every store sells bottled water although I rarely see Mongols buying it. I also put some water from the truck through my distiller. If the water's not back tomorrow, I might make my first trip to a well. Here's hoping I don't fall in.

UPDATE: The water came on around 12 last night and the weather is clearing up. Doin' fine.

Sports

I was back in UB at the end of last month to meet with a satellite internet company about my community project. I’m still waiting on an estimate for service, but I might be coming to you for donations. Peace Corps has a system where we can make a free web page for solicitations and I have a (regular?) readership already. One of the benefits of being in UB during the week is the Thursday night pub quiz at Dave’s. I can get my full English breakfast, answer trivia questions, and feel like I’m in…south Florida or any other place British people live. So far, I’m two for two and should start demanding a free beer from teammates. I think naming the first woman in space and knowing all the major party presidential runners-up since 1948 put us over the top. Although, an insidious pictionary round almost did us in. No one on my team knew what snake+plane+tent meant. Luckily, I guessed our other two in under a minute so we still won.









Last week, Nasaa invited me to another athletic event that was slightly more…athletic. The schools, banks, government, and offices were all playing volleyball against each other. My office wasn’t competing, so I sat in the cheering section. Here’s Nasaa, lucky number seven, serving and making a save. I didn’t get a picture of the bruises she had on her arm afterwards. She’s very sensitive.









My big boss is coming out from UB next week with our dairy expert and a consultant. Hopefully, we can finally put this market plan to bed and I can move on. I want to start working on a web site and catalogs for our Tsetserleg clients and then do the ones on the soums. If it turns out well, I’ll have something to show people at the June meeting and have an excuse to visit other offices. I have to see more of the country before next winter.