Saturday's homemade buuz tempted me to cook and bake some more. So on Sunday I made buttermilk biscuits, apple crisp and tofu egg rolls (I made the egg roll wraps from scratch too!).
All turned out quite delicious. Side note on the word delicious: in Mongolia, people often ask me: "How's [insert name of whatever I'm eating]? Is it delicious?"
We've had to adjust our recipes a little because the food here is a little different and we can't find everything we used in Canada. Some spices are not readily available, neither is seafood and we haven't seen baking powder yet. If we really wanted them I think we could find just about everything here by looking a little harder but we would also find a higher price tag. There are many meals that used to be staple at the Aaron and MC household in Canada that have not made an appearance in our plates here. We expected this. We haven't made our famous refried bean rollups, pizza, curries and tacos for a long time now. We now often eat oven fries and fancy grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, rice and stir-fried vegetables with tofu, and cabbage salad.
The cheapest and most commonly available vegetables are cabbage, potatoes and carrots. I used to have a hard time going through a whole cabbage in Canada but here we go through one almost every week!
mc
Monday, October 30, 2006
Terelj - Saturday October 28th
On Saturday, we went to Terelj, one of Mongolia's more famous national parks, with newly-arrived VSO volunteers and two VSO employees. Terelj is not too far from Ulaanbaatar, about 50 kms or so. Ganbold drove us in the VSO jeep.
We spotted some camels on the side of the road just after entering the park and stopped to check them out. Two men were sitting near the camels waiting for people like us to stop and ask to ride the camels. Shelina, barely a week into her Mongolian adventure, decided to go for it.
After Shelina's camel ride we drove on and stopped at a tourist ger camp. All throughout Mongolia, there are tourist ger camps that rent out gers for Mongolians and foreigners alike. VSO had rented one for us for the day. Urnaa and Ganbold showed us how to make buuz, the Mongolian steamed dumplings. We made enough to feed an army.
Stomachs full, a little too full perhaps, Aaron and I set out to explore the surrounding hills. Terelj is rocky. The huge weather-worn rock formations are really beautiful. There was a bit more snow there than around Ulaanbaatar but only in the more shaded areas. Aaron and I climbed around trying to reach the top but never quite made it. We would have needed rock climbing equipment and well, rock climbing knowledge. We met up with the rest of the group near some yaks and climbed another face of the hill.
Then it was time to go home. We spent a quiet evening at home, a little too exhausted from our climb and the fresh air.
We spotted some camels on the side of the road just after entering the park and stopped to check them out. Two men were sitting near the camels waiting for people like us to stop and ask to ride the camels. Shelina, barely a week into her Mongolian adventure, decided to go for it.
After Shelina's camel ride we drove on and stopped at a tourist ger camp. All throughout Mongolia, there are tourist ger camps that rent out gers for Mongolians and foreigners alike. VSO had rented one for us for the day. Urnaa and Ganbold showed us how to make buuz, the Mongolian steamed dumplings. We made enough to feed an army.
Stomachs full, a little too full perhaps, Aaron and I set out to explore the surrounding hills. Terelj is rocky. The huge weather-worn rock formations are really beautiful. There was a bit more snow there than around Ulaanbaatar but only in the more shaded areas. Aaron and I climbed around trying to reach the top but never quite made it. We would have needed rock climbing equipment and well, rock climbing knowledge. We met up with the rest of the group near some yaks and climbed another face of the hill.
Then it was time to go home. We spent a quiet evening at home, a little too exhausted from our climb and the fresh air.
How many people can you squish into a microbus?
Including driver and the person who calls out the destination from the door and takes fares? 21.
Last weekend, a few of us visited a friend who lives 30 minutes away from the city centre and the best way to get there is by microbus. Microbuses are essentially minivans. They're privately owned but are usually licensed to operate as a public transportation vehicle. Take a minivan, add a few extra seats and sardine 21 people into it. A ride costs 300 tugriks or 30 cents.
Maija made us Earl Grey and we brought the usual victuals with us: chips, a swiss roll and various pastries. We went for a little walk in her neighbourhood and came face-to-face with huge cows also taking a stroll. They were so close I could have easily hugged a few of them. Instead I just stared into the one eye I could see and walked on.
mc
Last weekend, a few of us visited a friend who lives 30 minutes away from the city centre and the best way to get there is by microbus. Microbuses are essentially minivans. They're privately owned but are usually licensed to operate as a public transportation vehicle. Take a minivan, add a few extra seats and sardine 21 people into it. A ride costs 300 tugriks or 30 cents.
Maija made us Earl Grey and we brought the usual victuals with us: chips, a swiss roll and various pastries. We went for a little walk in her neighbourhood and came face-to-face with huge cows also taking a stroll. They were so close I could have easily hugged a few of them. Instead I just stared into the one eye I could see and walked on.
mc
Sunday, October 22, 2006
snow
It snowed Friday night and we woke up to a white city the next morning. Not much, barely a centimetre, if that even. The snow has since melted in the city but it is clinging to the surrounding hills. I feel like I'm in a alpine village. It's really pretty.
See Venita's reply to my post on Tokyo's weather.
See Venita's reply to my post on Tokyo's weather.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Outdoor gym
There is an outdoor gym just outside our flat in Ulaanbaatar. It's often busy in the morning or after school. The gym equipment is quite interesting....Russian made I think.
-AA
Chinese for dinner
The VSO Volunteers had their last supper together and we grabbed the above vid. It's not that exciting besides the cool us of the Lazy Susan.
-AA
Saturday, October 14, 2006
The sounds and smells of Mongolia
The car horn
In Ulaanbaatar the sound of the car horn is omnipresent. I've heard the honks of New Yorkers and Parisians but this is nothing like it. In Mongolia, the car horn is an expression of the driver's personality. The drivers will rig their car horns to sound like a lullaby, like an oncoming train or like personal outrage. Drivers love their horns and will use them at every opportunity. Night rush hour is a symphony.
The sh-sh-ch
My favourite sound in Mongolia is the sh-sh-ch sound that Mongolians make in conversation. Sometimes a Mongolian's voice will soften and my ears cannot hear beyond the sh-sh-ch-sh. I don't know yet what words they're saying but it's soothing.
The singing army
One night last week, Aaron and I went to bed early. I fell asleep promptly but Aaron was still awake when he heard distant singing outside. The singing got closer and louder until it woke me up and we rushed to the window to see what was going on (Aaron rushed, I stumbled around for a few seconds feeling the shelf for my glasses then finally joined him at the window). About 50 men were marching up our side street in perfect unison both in step and in tune. Their voices were strong, loud, beautiful and were reverberating on the building walls. They marched out of our sight but we could still hear them minutes later. Who were they? A singing army? Singing, marching roadworkers?
The meat and dairy products
Sometimes, Mongolia smells of dairy products. It's the salty milk tea boiling, the yogourt and cheese fermenting. A quick meal for Mongolians consists of a bowl of salty milk tea with meat dumplings.
Sometimes, Mongolia smells of meat. Mutton, beef, horse. If you bite into a dumpling, watch out for the hot, fatty juices that spray out. Get these juices on your jeans and you'll smell Mongolia for days on end.
The wild flowers
In the summer, the countryside smells of wild flowers and fragrant herbs. It's really pleasant to walk around and smell the tangy sage smells and the different flowers.
The coal and wood fires
In the cooler months of the year, homes not connected to the city's centralized heating grid use coal and wood to heat their homes (both felt and wood homes). The ger districts, Mongolia's equivalent of suburbia, go on for kilometres in most directions around the city. These districts have no large buildings, just felt homes, wooden homes, kilometres of wood fencing and hundreds of dogs perpetually barking. Ulaanbaatar lies in a valley and the smoke will often hover over the city. The coal and wood smoke smell is not a bad smell it's just different from the wood fires of Canada. I don't think the coal fumes are the healthiest ones to be inhaling.
mc
In Ulaanbaatar the sound of the car horn is omnipresent. I've heard the honks of New Yorkers and Parisians but this is nothing like it. In Mongolia, the car horn is an expression of the driver's personality. The drivers will rig their car horns to sound like a lullaby, like an oncoming train or like personal outrage. Drivers love their horns and will use them at every opportunity. Night rush hour is a symphony.
The sh-sh-ch
My favourite sound in Mongolia is the sh-sh-ch sound that Mongolians make in conversation. Sometimes a Mongolian's voice will soften and my ears cannot hear beyond the sh-sh-ch-sh. I don't know yet what words they're saying but it's soothing.
The singing army
One night last week, Aaron and I went to bed early. I fell asleep promptly but Aaron was still awake when he heard distant singing outside. The singing got closer and louder until it woke me up and we rushed to the window to see what was going on (Aaron rushed, I stumbled around for a few seconds feeling the shelf for my glasses then finally joined him at the window). About 50 men were marching up our side street in perfect unison both in step and in tune. Their voices were strong, loud, beautiful and were reverberating on the building walls. They marched out of our sight but we could still hear them minutes later. Who were they? A singing army? Singing, marching roadworkers?
The meat and dairy products
Sometimes, Mongolia smells of dairy products. It's the salty milk tea boiling, the yogourt and cheese fermenting. A quick meal for Mongolians consists of a bowl of salty milk tea with meat dumplings.
Sometimes, Mongolia smells of meat. Mutton, beef, horse. If you bite into a dumpling, watch out for the hot, fatty juices that spray out. Get these juices on your jeans and you'll smell Mongolia for days on end.
The wild flowers
In the summer, the countryside smells of wild flowers and fragrant herbs. It's really pleasant to walk around and smell the tangy sage smells and the different flowers.
The coal and wood fires
In the cooler months of the year, homes not connected to the city's centralized heating grid use coal and wood to heat their homes (both felt and wood homes). The ger districts, Mongolia's equivalent of suburbia, go on for kilometres in most directions around the city. These districts have no large buildings, just felt homes, wooden homes, kilometres of wood fencing and hundreds of dogs perpetually barking. Ulaanbaatar lies in a valley and the smoke will often hover over the city. The coal and wood smoke smell is not a bad smell it's just different from the wood fires of Canada. I don't think the coal fumes are the healthiest ones to be inhaling.
mc
Yes, we are finally working.
Aaron and I have been working for three weeks now. It feels like forever already. I found a job as an English teacher in one of the local universities. I teach the future doctors and accountants of Mongolia. So far, it's kept me entertained. I think I keep the students entertained too. They don't quite know what to make of this Canadian woman who covers herself in chalk and mimicks actions and animals to make up for her poor Mongolian language abilities.
Aaron's been pretty busy. He'll post something soon.
Aaron's been pretty busy. He'll post something soon.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Mongolian TV
We have a small TV in our apartment with some 40 channels. There's a bunch of Mongolian channels which are pretty undistinguishable from one another as of yet. The highlights in programming include news, talk shows (not the trashy kind), a big brotherish reality show and dubbed Desperate Housewives. There's also one or two all-music video channels. I love the videos. They usually follow a storyline with girls upset with boys or vice-versa.
We had BBC News for a while but then it just disappeared. Channels strangely move around on our TV. We also have a knowledge network in English and a Chinese movie channel that subtitles instead of dubs over English. Then there's a few random Korean, Chinese and Russian channels. Korean soaps are big here. Russian MTV is annoying.
When there's a power outage, the TV resets itself and we have to reprogram it. That's usually when channels go missing or move around. And that's when the TV reverts to black and white. For the first few weeks, we thought we had a black-and-white TV. Then we noticed the channel and volume graphics on the TV were green.
This was MC's inventory of her TV channels. Thanks and good night.
We had BBC News for a while but then it just disappeared. Channels strangely move around on our TV. We also have a knowledge network in English and a Chinese movie channel that subtitles instead of dubs over English. Then there's a few random Korean, Chinese and Russian channels. Korean soaps are big here. Russian MTV is annoying.
When there's a power outage, the TV resets itself and we have to reprogram it. That's usually when channels go missing or move around. And that's when the TV reverts to black and white. For the first few weeks, we thought we had a black-and-white TV. Then we noticed the channel and volume graphics on the TV were green.
This was MC's inventory of her TV channels. Thanks and good night.
Uuchlarai!
Step on someone's foot here and you'll find yourself shaking hands with the person you just stepped on and saying sorry, uuchlarai!
Monday, October 02, 2006
What, we have to work?
Well today is the start of the second week at my job. Marie-Claude has been working at a school (forget the name off-hand) since last Wednesday. She is teaching English to 17 year olds and was also hired for 'International Relations'. I don't think she has any idea what that is, but I'll let her add her own posts about that.
Thus far I have had little time at my job. I don't actually have a desk/office so I when I am at work we generally go on field trips. The trips are a little strange actually. Well, the first one not so much. On Tuesday last week I went with my translator (Tuya - who happens to be a Gynecologist), a head doctor and my two counter parts, to a Hospital that is more advanced with IT infrastructure in UB. We all piled into an Isuzu Trooper (same model of truck as my parents have) and headed off to the hospital. The
My second field trip consisted of Tuya (my translator) and me getting a ride in the ambulance to the fifth main building of the Chingeltei Health Unit. It is over 2 KM from the other cluster of four buildings. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it hooked up to any type of WAN yet. But that's why they pay me the big bucks. Just a second, I'm volunteering!
-AA
Thus far I have had little time at my job. I don't actually have a desk/office so I when I am at work we generally go on field trips. The trips are a little strange actually. Well, the first one not so much. On Tuesday last week I went with my translator (Tuya - who happens to be a Gynecologist), a head doctor and my two counter parts, to a Hospital that is more advanced with IT infrastructure in UB. We all piled into an Isuzu Trooper (same model of truck as my parents have) and headed off to the hospital. The
My second field trip consisted of Tuya (my translator) and me getting a ride in the ambulance to the fifth main building of the Chingeltei Health Unit. It is over 2 KM from the other cluster of four buildings. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it hooked up to any type of WAN yet. But that's why they pay me the big bucks. Just a second, I'm volunteering!
-AA
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