OxyMongol

Back from Mongolia, evidence of the trip still lingers on--grubby fingernails with dirt-polished cuticles, socks stained from the ankle up with dry brown earth, a pink Chinggis Khan shirt that reflects the great conqueror's lighter side and love for women, a hankering for mutton surrounded by a corona of fat that my childhood pets would dream about as they waited under the dinner table, and also some great memories.


Mongolia was great. Mongolia was interesting. Mongolia, land of extremes. Mongolia was intense. Mongolia, jeez...umm....where do I begin? Those are just a couple responses I have come up with so far when asked "How was Mongolia?" Questions along those lines are just plain sinister and impossible to answer. That is why I choose to answer in the form of oxymora (plural for oxymoron), which helps to show that there are rarely absolutes when describing something, especially a country. Here are a few I have come up with: Mongolia is pretty ugly; Mongolia was almost exactly what I expected and exactly opposite of what I had in mind; My working vacation in Mongolia was awesome.


Mongolia is pretty ugly.

Yes, that's right. In some regards, it is so ugly that it is beautiful. Mongolia is roughly the size of Alaska, but we only saw an area about the size of Vermont. Thus, I don't have much to base this statement on. Just the endless brown hills, sparkling like sequined prom dresses from thousands of windblown, broken vodka bottles. The cities were a sight for sore eyes to realize that there are more sorrowful sights out there.

Yes, Mongolia was pretty ugly. However, parts of Mongolia were absolutely gorgeous. We went to a traditional ger (round Mongolian tent) camp in a semi-mountainous area to do some horseback riding and hiking. The area was green with grasses and trees! Trees are about as common as drinkable water in Mongolia. They should consider participating in Arbor Day, at least in the area we were working in.


Mongolia was almost exactly what I expected and exactly opposite of what I had in mind.

• Genghis (aka Chinggis) Khan was emblazoned on everything from beer to streets to the international airport.
  
• It's not easy being green in Mongolia. The temperature dips to -10 degrees Celsius at night and skyrocket to nearly 30 C during the day. The harsh environment leaves everything brown until summertime. Exception: the scenery can also be white with snow, as we found out while working amongst flurries.
  
• I ate more mutton than one could ever count in a sleepless night.
• The Mongolian people were as friendly a people as I could ever imagine. Their good-humor and straight-forwardness were definitely refreshing compared to the shy people of Japan.
• If the Mongolian Empire basically spread the known world, in the end, why did they choose to settle in Mongolia? They could have the pick of the litter. Why choose a place with 0.3% arable land, harsh winters, hot summers, and limited natural resources? That still baffles me.
  

My working vacation in Mongolia was awesome.

Through the sweat, chills, intestinal grumblings, a bout with food poisoning, and weather, we managed to almost complete 4 houses. We learned the Mongolian words for cement, trowel, and water very quickly as most of our time was devoted to the masonry side of the construction process. Some great houses were constructed and even better relationships. The families we worked with were constantly cheerful and happy to be working side-by-side with some funny looking foreigners. My group worked on a house with three generations of men--Grandpa (we actually called him that, and in a couple days he understood what it meant), his son Sambo, and Sambo's sons Dirtchiem and Oka.

It was amazing to work in Mongolia, among the herds of horses and sheep. The shadow-spotted mountains offered great backdrops for 5 minute breaks and seeing what the weather was bringing. The families were very grateful for all our help and although they couldn't tell us that, you could see it in the way their eyes twinkled and lips curled.