You Have To Have Friends

In an email I recieved a while ago a friend asked "Where are all the photos of your friends from Mongolia?".

I did reply I had made a number of new friends here but hadnt yet snaped any photos of them.

I find that living in a place like Mongolia or anywhere else in the world you need to have friends around you. I was so lucky to make some friends for life while in Indonesia and at times just like my friends and family back in Australia, I miss everyone very much.

Picture: Michelle, Dixi, Bernadette & Jillian

At a morning tea that was being held for Breast Cancer Awaress Month I was able to take some photos of a number of my friends I have made here, we where all laughing as a number of ladies had been asked the same question about their friends so now we have proof that we all do have friends here.

Even if I had to pay them money to have my photo taken with them, only joking..............

Picture: Bernadette & Jilly

A number of the ladies come from different parts of Australia so having other Aussies here is great. I have been able to meet new friends from Russia, England, Africa, Canada and America just to name a few countries.

Picture: Lisa, baby Jack, Michelle, Kaye & Jillian

Picture: Bernadette, Jilly & Betty

I am sure in my coming blogs you will get to meet more of the great friends I have made here as with out them Mongolia would be such a different place to live.

Faces Of Angles

Over the past couple of weeks I have been volunteering at one of the local christian orphanages called "Gerel The Children's Place". The ladies from the Boroo Gold Spousal Group have been volunteering at many locations around UB for quite some time. There are a number of places to choose from which have been approved by the company so I know the environment is safe to visit. In reading about the locations, Gerel seemed like a place where I could fit in helping out. Even though many of the ladies had told me about the different locations and what Gerel was like I wasn't too sure what to expect so I decided to go with some of the ladies on a visit to see if I would really fit in. I was a bit worried that I would find this place hard to visit spending time with the orphaned children.

Picture: Bernadette with some of the children

On my first visit I was shown up stairs to the two bedrooms where I found a number of children. I only had a few seconds to look around before some of the children ran up and hugged me. The children had gotten to know the other ladies so to them I didn't stand out of place and all they wanted was hugs and kisses. I couldn't believe the smiles on their faces. I could see the children ranged from two weeks old to five years of age. I think I counted 20 children in total. I was told there were a number of children down stairs having lessons.

I sat on the floor with the other ladies and we played with the children. I was amazed at how they wanted to sit on my lap. One boy gave me a kiss on the cheek, in turn I tickled him and he was in fits of laughter. There are a number of locals carers that work there, they take care of all the children, doing what parents would usually do. I found it interesting to watch the carers. So many children to dress and bath so play time isn't very high on the list but I could see that they do try most of the time. There are a number of things that I see I would do differently and find that it isn't my place to change things at times this can be hard. For example one of the children had a wet nappy and I told one of the expat ladies. She then felt the nappy and told me that they don't change nappies until it is really wet as the nappies are quite expensive and they want to get the most out of each one.

When morning tea was handed out there wasn't any room for waste. A dropped cake or two is dusted off and given out which wasn't even blinked out. No matter what the ages of the children they all eat the same thing, one of the younger children was given juice in her bottle where I would never had given Paige juice at the same age. All the children seem clean most of the time and happy so that's the best I can hope for.

Picture: Group of children who live at Gerel

After my first visit I decided that I could go back and help out and only after a few visits the children have gotten to know me and I them. I have found it hard to remember all the names and have decided that it doesn't matter as to give a hug is nameless. I have noticed the other expat ladies have their favorite children as do I, it is so hard not to have a favorite child as its just something that one child does you find cute or you seem to have a small connection with one of them. The little girl who has become my favorite is one that was found on the street by the police. She is about 4 years old, to me she looks two years old and when she was taken to Gerel she was just skin and bone, she couldn't even walk. Since the last couple of weeks I have seen her put on weight and take her first steps. With such a rough start to her life she has a sparkle in her eyes when she smiles and she likes to talk even though I cant understand her she talks to me anyway.

Picture: Bernadette's favorite little girl at Gerel

It is hard to imagine how someone could abandon their child, but this type of thing I am told isn't looked down on here in Mongolia. If a mother remarries and the new father doesn't want the children some mothers will just shut the door to the children or drop them off at one of the orphanages. There is also the families that can not afford to care for their children due to no money. What ever the case it is so sad to hear about and now having seen some of these children it really breaks my heart. I am told that the children who come to Gerel are the lucky ones. I cant get over how many children there are that need help. I am glad that there are a number of other places that are here in Mongolia that helps children and families.

I know I cant change the world but I am so glad I have a chance to help out in some small way, I have even taken some of Paige's old clothes in to give as I have noticed that all the children share the same clothes depending on the sizes, there is no room to have own clothes or shoes, all the children have to share everything. I must admit it is nice to see Paige's old clothes being used.

Pictures: One little girl being sad & little boy with smile on his face

If you would like to read more about Gerel the website is www.childrensplacemongolia.org

There are many other organisations that help the Mongolian children in many ways if you would like to read more go to the following websites as I know the ladies who are spending time at these places and tell me of what a good job is being done.

www.lotuschild.org

www.cncf.org

A Man Of History, Genghis Khan

Living in Mongolia I have noticed how the people here are very proud of their countries history and especially Genghis Khan also known as Chinggis Khan. Not knowing much about this person I decided to find out more.

Everywhere you go around town Genghis Khans face can be seen on advertising , souvenirs, beer bottles and even on the side of a mountain. At the moment a monument is being built just out of town which is really impressive size.

Picture: Monument being built of Genghis Khan, Paige and Ben standing

bottom left of photo to give an idea of the size of monument

Here is some information I found on the internet and thought I would share on my blog.

Genghis Khan or Temüjin by birth name, as a Mongol political and military leader or Khan (Ruler) who united the Mongol tribes and founded the Mongol Empire , the largest contiguous empire in world history. Born to the name Temüjin in the Borjigin clan, he forged a powerful army based on merit to become one of the most significant and successful military leaders in history.
While his image in some regions of the world has traditionally been that of a ruthless and bloodthirsty conqueror, Genghis Khan is an iconic and beloved figure in Mongolia, where he is seen as the father of the Mongol Nation. Before becoming a Khan, Temüjin eliminated and united many of the nomadic tribes of north East Asia and Central Asia under a social identity as the "Mongols."
Genghis Khan was born between 1150 and 1160. In his early childhood, he learned how to ride a horse. Later when he was six years old, he was allowed to participate in hunting expeditions with his clan/tribe. At around the age of nine, his tribal leader father was poisoned and he and his household were driven away by his clan that thought he was too young to rule. Taught by his mother, he became leader of his family and learned how to care for and protect others which would later be important for controlling an empire.
In the middle of his life when he was in his 40s or 50s, after creating the Mongol nation, Genghis Khan set out on conquests and defeated the Jin Dynasty. He learned much from the Chinese including siege warfare. He also used diplomacy. However, in the case of the Khwarezmi Empire, diplomacy failed, and he resolved the situation with warfare. Through these means, Genghis Khan created one of the most powerful empires in history. Starting with the invasion of Western Xia and Jin Dynasty in northern China and consolidating through numerous conquests including the Khwarezmid Empire in Persia, Mongol rule across the Eurasian landmass radically altered the demography and geopolitics of these areas. The Mongol Empire ended up ruling, or at least briefly conquering, large parts of modern day China, Mongolia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, South Korea, North Korea, and Kuwait.

Genghis Khan died in 1227 for reasons that remain unclear. One legend has it that a funeral cortege conveyed Chinggis's body to northeastern Mongolia and buried 40 virgins and 40 horses with him. According to this legend, the grave was stamped down by the horses' hooves as a means of hiding the location of his tomb.
There is a second possibility, however, that Chinggis's body was simply allowed to lie were it fell. At this time in their history, the Mongols had not yet developed a tomb culture; in fact, they would only develop a tomb culture after they'd had greater contact with the Chinese and the Persians. Thus, Chinggis's body may have been left to be consumed by the animals.

His sons and grandsons controlled the empire after his death and the empire grew and endured for over 150 years.

Picture: Genghis Khan's picture has been put on the side of a mountain that can be seen from the city.

Putting Up A Ger & What Is Inside

While we where away in the country side we were able to help put up a ger. I have seen many gers and had wondered how they were put up so I found this process very interesting. Let me tell you a little bit about the histroy of this traditional Mongolian house.

The Mongolian Ger also known as a "yurt" is an amazing heritage of the nomadic style of life, which has been transformed into the present form and design since three thousand years. The Mongolian ger has always been an important part of the nomads' life as a dwelling and living space. In Chinggis Khan's time gers where even put up on carts and drawn by cows and camels without demolition the gers when moving.

With each season the nomadic people will move their gers to different locations for better feeding grounds for their live stock. No matter which location a ger is moved to the custom of setting the door of the ger is always facing south as it is related to the wind blowing from the north in all parts of Mongolia.

There is also a number of rules which guests should follow in a ger.

DO: Leave all weapons outside, take at least a little of any food or drink offered, if offered vodka use the ring finger to flick a small amount to the sky, wind and the earth before drinking, always move around the ger in a clockwise direction, remove gloves before shaking hands and remove your hat before entering the ger.

DO Not: Step on the threshold, touch or learn on the bagana, point your feet at the hearth, put rubbish on the fire, bring sharp objects close to the fire, sit with your back to the altar, whistle (ghosts will come), write in red pen, step over anyone, particularly older people, point a knife at anyone and sit with your feet in front either kneel or sit crossed legged.

A ger will usually take about one hour to put up and the steps are always done in the same order and when the ger is being moved then the same steps are followed backwards.

Step 1: The walls are pull out and held up so they can be tied together.

Step 2: The door is then tied to walls of the ger

Step 3: The toono is the top point of the ger, it helps keep the round shape of the ger. It is put up supported by the two props, bagana. The two props are also know as a male and female part of the ger as when you have guests in a ger the males sit on the male side and females sit on the female side.

Step 4: The wooden sticks known as the uni joins to the toono and the walls. The wooden sticks go into the sockets that surround ans support the toono. The end of the wooden stick that attaches to the wall part has a leather loop that attaches to the wall part of the ger.

Step 5: The internal cover and tsavag is place on the ger.

Step 6: The tuurga is now placed on the walls and roof which is made from felt.

Step 7: A plastic sheet is then placed over the felt to help protect from moisture. This is a modern day step that is used to help protect the ger.

Step 8: A white cotton cover is then placed over the plastic to help also protect the felt and improve the look of the ger from the outside. At this stage a light sized person climbs on top of the ger to help position this cover.

Step 9: An outer canvas cover is then placed over the cotton cover to also help for protection of the ger.

Step 10: Three ropes usually made from horse hair or modern day materials is tied around these covers to help hold the covers in place.

Step 11 the final step : The Urkh which is a square cover made of felt or canvas is placed on the top of the toono and tied down. This urke is used to let light into the ger or keep out the wind depending on the season.

A ger can be decorated in many different ways. A common way is by using paint as seen in the below pictures.

The following pictures are an example what a ger might look like in side. These pictures where of a small ger set up as a musuem at the camp we stayed out on the trip to the country side.

Weekend In The Mongolian Country Side

On the week end we travelled out of town to a place called Terelj which is about 70km north east of Ulaanbaatar. A three day trip was planned using a company called Nomadic Expeditions which included a driver, bus and guide. Going away for the weekend was a way of giving us a taste of Mongolian life including staying in a traditional house called 'Gers'. In Mongolian Ger is pronounced 'Gair'.

Picture: Two of the Gers at the camp

Not knowing what to expect in the level of comfort and cleanness we pack sheets, pillow cases, changes of clothes and snacks as the main meals where going to be supplied. Friday morning before heading out of town we visited the Gandan Monastery and the Natural History Museum which has a large amount of dinosaurs skeletons and fossil's.

Picture: Paige chasing birds at the Gandan Monastery

Besides Ben, Paige and myself, along for the trip was Mike and Betty with their three kids also Ian and Jilly. Ben works with Ian and Mike who just like us haven't been in Mongolia very long. The drive out of town took us about one and a half hours to reach the "Terelj Lodge" where we where staying. On the way out we stopped to see one of the locals with his camels and eagle which where by the side of the road. The eagle is used for hunting and it wasn't until I got to hold it on my arm that I realised at how big and heavy this bird was. I must admit I was a little scared as the claws were just so big and it took both of my arms to hold the eagle up. I was a little scared as I thought that even if this eagle was trained it still could of caused some injury if it got mad so not knowing how the eagle would react I only held it for a short time.

Picture: Local boy with eagle and camels

Picture: Bernadette holding eagle

One of the traditions here in Mongolia is when you travel you always stop to walk around a blessing spot three times and place a rock on the mound of the other rocks to bless yourself for a safe journey which we all did in the sprite of tradition.

Picture: Blessing spot for travellers

After arriving at the camp we had lunch in a Ger which had been set up as a dinning room. The lodge had a main building with a large dinning room and bathroom facilities off to the the side of it. On either side of the main building were a number of Gers. The landscape around the area was just stunning which is apart of the Gorkhi Terelj National Park. Being the end of winter the area is still brown looking but still picturesque. After lunch we were shown to our Gers to settle in. Our Ger had three beds around the edges of the the inside of it and in the middle there was a small pot belly stove which is used to heat the Ger in cold weather. We found later on in the night it came in quite handy as the weather did drop in temperature. The staff even will come in of a night to add wood to the fire while you sleep if you want them to. The first night we opted to do this ourselves but the second night we had one of the staff members do this once for us. The wood is very fast burning as it is pine so the fire does go out very quickly.

Picture: Paige riding a horse with local horseman

In the afternoon we went horse riding to see Turtle Rock. The horses looked a bit under feed but we where told that being at the end of winter they always look like this and will soon start to get fatter with the green grass. The ride went for about two hours and on the way back Paige even went with one of the local horseman for the ride home. We learnt that "Cho Cho" is the word to make the horses go faster. Once we finished riding we where invited into the horseman's Ger. We where told that they had just moved here a couple of days ago for the summer. The Mongolians who still travel in Gers will move three or four times a year to better feeding grounds for their animals.

Picture: Turtle Rock

Dinner was spent in the dinning room of the lodge before we headed off to sleep for the night.

Picture: View from the Ger we stayed in

Waking up in the morning to the sights and sounds around us was a little different to what we are used to in UB. From the Ger door you could see another camp across the valley and the cows and horses roamed freely around the Gers. Ben took a walk up one of the hills and being a bit steep Paige and I stayed behind to chase the cows around. After breakfast we spent the morning watching and helping putting up a Ger in the camp. It was very interesting to see a Ger go up from start to finish. Each part of the Ger has to be put up in the right order or it wont stay standing. (I will go into more detail of how this is done in a different blog entry as its quite a long process). In the afternoon we visited the Temple of Heaven which is set on a hillside in another valley. The view at the top was well worth the climb.

Picture: View from the Temple of Heaven

In the evening we had a lesson in a Ger Museum at the camp which covered some of the Mongolian words and the different types of items you may find in a traditional Ger. I wasn't to keen on the Mongolian words and how you say them but I found seeing the different items that where in the Ger very interesting to find out more about them. The next day we headed back to the city. It was a great weekend away to experience a touch of the real Mongolian life style. We would like to do this again in the Summer and Winter times to get a different look at the area in the different seasons. Paige had a wonderful time playing with Mike's children and also loved horse riding.

Picture: Bernadette, Paige and Ben standing in front of a Ger