Uraa! for Mongolia’s newest hero, Naidan Tuvshinbayar.  On Wednesday, he won Mongolia’s first ever gold medal. 100 kg men’s judo. Here’s a photo of Tuvshinbayar with his gold: WIsh I had photos of the match, but here’s Tuvshinbayar against a South Korean guy in 2002. From Ulaanbaatar to Dornod, celebrations erupted. Even the president and prime minister (looking [...]

Choibalsan city has experienced a bit of a renaissance in foreigners’ eyes. The 2005 Lonely Planet Mongolia describes Choibalsan as a “charmless aimag capital,” a “poor city with a high unemployment rate” which looks like it has “undergone an earthquake.” Our aimag (province) of Dornod suffers no better, merely getting a mention as the “least [...]

To get from Ulaanbaatar to the shores of Khovsgol, you can go with a tour group. You can board a plane for most of the 700 kilometers. Or you can wheedle, argue, flirt, sing, drink, giggle, and spine-crunch your way through public transportation. Tuya and I opted for the latter option. Our fellow travelers fashioned their [...]

In the north of Mongolia lies the turquoise pearl of Lake Khovsgol. It runs one hundred miles long and holds 1% of the world’s fresh water. Mongolians don’t call it a lake, however; they refer to Khovsgol as Dalai Eej, or Mother Ocean. You can see ten, twenty feet down with perfect clarity. You can ride or [...]

When my friend Cass first got her kitten, we decided to name her “Omheezaya.” Zaya means “destiny.” Many women, and a few men, bear this sonorous word in their names. But Omhee? That means “putrid” or “smelly.” So why would we name the cat “Putrid Destiny?” In Mongolia, if a child has suffered sickness or bad luck, [...]

In a testament to Mongolians’ eager participation in elections, during the July 2000 parliamentary election, officials in some rural areas rode on horseback, carrying ballot boxes from ger to ger, some of which served as official polling stations. (From the aforementioned PCV Politics guide.) June 29, 2008 — Will we see poll boxes in gers? Not [...]

That’s the name of our latest class. Credit for the title goes to Doug, one of my three awesome co-teachers, who agree that we must subject our 65 students to a crash course on Mongolian political cartoons. This summer, I’ve returned to Darkhan. I’m training our new volunteers in cross-culture and community development. We geeks feel [...]

The next batch of Mongolia volunteers have received their invitations. Yaaaaaaay! In honor of pre-service training, let me post a funny Naadam photo from last summer. That’s me guzzling the airag, Ulaaka doing bunny ears, Chris LP, Margaret, and Brie.

Thank you, Temur, for translating a bit of the Ahan Dvvsin Duu: Tertee Moskvagiin tsetserlegees Orosyn hus duulna Tergel sartai dornoos orgen Sibir duulna The Russian birch sings from a Moscow park Wide Siberia sings from the East where there is full moon And Temur also offered this interesting comment. Javkhlan is from Uvs which is the reddest aimag in MGL. The MPRP gets [...]

What a weird music video. It’s about the Eternal Friendship of Russia and Mongolia — still a big hit today! Ahan dvvsiin duu means “big brother little brother song.” Javhlan (the young dude) is our biggest star. If you listen to it, “oros” means russian and “Moskvagiin tsetserlegees” means “We come from a Russian kindergarten” [...]