Mongolian Kitsch

24June2008

YHH June 29 Program

Posted by JonHaley

This is the major event my younger brother is organizing in South India. See India Post. I’ve been helping out with media and computer work. The links are yhh.futureindia {at symbol} yahoo.com and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqw1VG9Wxyg.

10June2008

It’s a Wrap!

Posted by JonHaley

I’ve been back in Canada for a few days now, but I thought I should put on a closer post before everything gets mixed up again. (I’m still waiting for some photos from my Gobi trip, which I’ll post as soon as I can!) I don’t want to be too boring so I’ll just sum up the experience in general and make a few points about some key stuff.

This was definitely one of the bigger things I’ve done in my life and it will leave an impression for quite a while I’m sure. The experience for me was nearly all positive and I believe I was able to achieve pretty much everything I hoped to achieve in terms of getting outside my bubble of North American pseudo-reality, becoming immersed in a culture and language much different from my own, and doing something positive for the benefit of many Mongolians.

The overseas volunteering concept is definitely not perfect. I’ve seen first hand how it can be inefficient, condescending, and just plain wasteful. I’ve also seen many of the other manifestations of international aid and development and how completely off the wall they can be. So while acknowledging the faults of overseas specialist volunteering, i.e. VSO, I’m still a firm believer that it does many positive things and produces generally good results overall. I’d definitely like to volunteer again with VSO or another group in the future. After I’ve gained some experience working in Canada as an engineer for a few years, I’ll be in a better position to share my expertise in another country (maybe not in Mongolia again though). I also encourage anyone else who may be interested to consider it as well.

In terms of the cultural exchange that I experienced, it will take me a while before I can step on someone’s foot and not have a knee-jerk reaction to immediately shake their hand, or to point with one finger instead of my whole arm and give something to someone without supporting my right hand at the elbow, or the many other customs I picked up. Learning Mongolian, a language about as far removed in origin from English as possible, and achieving some level of rudimentary communication was one of the most worthwhile things I did out there. Even though I was never able to have an actual in depth conversation with anybody, I was at least able to connect with a few people in their own language and have communication occur at some level. Also the friends I made there both foreign and Mongolian had a huge impact on my life and world-view. I’ve learn all sorts of the things about Mongolians, but also about English, Scottish, Dutch, Filipino, Kenyan, Australian, and Japanese people.

The only thing for sure about Mongolia is that it is changing too quickly to be able to say anything for sure about it. In the nine months I was there, the changes to the city landscape, political landscape, and international makeup have been very noticeable. If I come back in a few years, I’m sure it will be a very different country. The saddest part about that is it is becoming just like everywhere else. How many capital cities around the world have neither a Starbucks nor a single American fast food chain? UB is likely one of the dying few. How many countries have a large nomadic population, with pockets of people living a traditional lifestyle nearly unchanged for thousands of years? Unfortunately, not even Mongolian herder families are immune to the forces of capitalism, globalization, and climate change, and eventually they too will have to adapt and change to fit into the “modern world”.

Never again will I be able to wonder about Mongolia, the word will no longer conjure up images of ice fields, mean-ass dudes on horses, or an endless vacant wasteland. I now have seen enough to know these stereotypes are seriously outdated and wrong, and I hope anyone who has read this blog or at least looked at the pictures will have changed their views as well. The only way to actually understand and get a feeling for this country, however, is to visit it. I would encourage anybody who has any interest, to visit as soon as possible, before it is too late!

Here are my top 10 Mongolian experiences in no particular order:

• My first day in the country, driving out to a ger camp in Terelj National park and being thoroughly happy to have chosen Mongolian (over The Gambia, my second choice).
• Sharing a very awkward elevator ride during Tsaagan Sar (lunar new year) with an old lady, two frozen solid sheep carcasses and a dog.
• The rush and exhilaration of defying the odds and arriving at work in the morning during the winter, avoiding the homicidal drivers, the ice patches, the -30C weather, the thick smog, the huge open holes in the sidewalk and the blinding sunlight.
• The novelty of having my nose hair and eyelashes frozen together and my scarf and hat caked in frost after only a short walk outside.
• Seeing an “Eagle Festival” complete with fox hunting, rabbit sacrifice, and a rousing match of Goat Polo.
• Climbing and sliding down the huge, perfectly uniform sand dunes of the Khogoryn Els in the Gobi Dessert.
• Partying it up with my roommates and Mongolian friends during our Halloween, Christmas, and St. Patrick’s Day parties. Plus, the bizarre stuff that always goes down at UB night clubs, including contortionist shows, Cwalk faceoffs, and huge circle dances to really bad Russian techno music.
• Coming across a herd of 1000 yaks and over 4000 sheep and goats in the middle of the vast steppe. They were being herded across Mongolia by 4 people on horse back and two dogs for 60 days.
• My short trips to India and China for giving me a lot of extra context and perspective to fit into my Mongolian experience, and being amazing in their own right.
• Arguing with taxi drivers, ordering food at the guanz, cracking lame jokes with some oldsters who had stopped me on the street, trying to impress girls, and making connections with Mongolians whenever they were available.

Thanks for reading!

8June2008

In-In-In-India

Posted by JonHaley

From May 7^th to May 18^th I went to India mainly to visit my younger brother, Manoj and see what he was doing. It was a ridiculously short trip and I didn’t make it very far from the medium sized city of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (South India, a few hundred km from Chennai/Madras) where my bro is living. The experience in general was so thoroughly different and intense to anything I had seen before, I’m still having a hard time figuring out what actually happen. Obviously, it was also the complete diametrical opposite of Mongolia in everyway, which probably added to the shock. I didn’t get to see too much of the famous landmarks, etc., but I do feel like I got a pretty genuine India experience, including the people, the environment, the food etc. It was definitely a good introduction and gives my something to build on should I ever go back (fairly likely).

In order to explain why I went out there and what I was mostly doing, I need to explain that Manoj, my brother, was born in this area of India and lived there for the first six years of his life before being adopted by our family and moving to Canada. He’s now back there working with a “micro-NGO” called Youth Helping Hands, promoting and developing musical and other artistic talents amongst the children in Coimbatore’s numerous orphanages. YHH was started and is run by a young man named Arun, who grew up in the same orphanage as my brother and is the same age. Arun has just finished up at the local music college specializing in drumming and singing, and, being a orphan himself, decided a good way to help other orphans would be to showcase their artistic talents in large talent shows. This kills many birds with one large stone: it promotes the children to develop their talents, gives them confidence and self-esteem, brings this often neglected and shunned part of the community into the public eye, helps raise funds for the orphanages, provides good entertainment to the community, and gives Arun and his fellow musicians a chance to promote their own band to a larger audience. So, Arun, who has already held a smaller event like this in February, is working with my brother to put on a very ambitious concert, featuring 6 hours of entertainment, several hundred orphans, and celebrities and dignitaries from the community. They hope to attract several thousand people and raise quite a bit of cash for their cause. I’ll be helping out with multimedia and fundraising in Canada, and maybe some web development for them in the future, so I’ll definitely post some details on this later on.

This big event is scheduled to take place on the 29^th of June, so most of my time in India was spent shadowing my brother and Arun as they made the rounds to different orphanages in the area and had meeting with sponsors and donors. This exposed me to quite a bit of the poverty and social issues in the area, which was pretty intense. Most of the orphanages were struggling to put food on the table and get medicines for the children, but were getting by through the heroic efforts of a few completely selfless people, who seemed to have fallen into the responsibility. It was definitely awkward for me, as a white dude on vacation to be visiting these places, but hopefully I can bring the experience home and help make the issues more visible.

I did make it out of the city for two days to see a bit of the mountainous country side where a huge amount of tea is grown. Our destinations were the tourist towns of Coonoor and Ooty, set in the mountain valleys and featuring many gardens and other attractions of interest mainly to Indian tourists. The highlights were speeding through the mountain roads listening to extremely load Tamil music (which is pretty good!) looking at the intense green, lush scenery; walking through the gardens (hence far too many pictures of flowers), and hanging out with some of Manoj’s friends.

Other interesting stuff that I’ll remember for a long, long time include:

• Speeding through the crazy-busy streets of Coimbatore on the back on motorcycle with no helmet and a complete disregard for any sort of safety or traffic regulations.
• Getting tips on full-hand eating from a few of the guys. I had been timidly picking at the food (mostly flat breads or rice with sauces, and nearly all really good) with three fingers, before being strongly remonstrated and shown the different techniques for eating India food with your hand.
• Standing still for 30 seconds in any location and being swarmed with people wanting pictures, to shake my hand and ask my name, or to hold their babies.
• The unbelievable low-impact, sustainable life style of the people and far-sightedness of the government. There was almost exclusive use of solar hot water heating and electric fan cooling, most people don’t have appliances or personal transport and everything is shared. The city government is also introducing a policy banning high density plastics, most plastic bags, and vinyl sign boards.
• The nearly complete mono-culture of that area of India. I was the only foreigner from outside of India in the town of 500,000, and it was difficult to find a Chinese or even a North Indian restaurant to eat at. Even in Mongolia in most places you can find quite a number of western or other foods and influences.

As a side note I got to spend a half day in Beijing on the way home, as I had quite a long layover. The contrast between Delhi (of which I was only able to see the area near the airport) and Beijing was like night and day. Having been in Beijing for a few weeks in December, I was an expert at getting around the city on the metro and I took a few walks through the free part of the Forbidden City and another park nearby. The city was very sombre due the earthquakes, but was still a nice change over place to hang out in between India and Mongolia.

[Show as slideshow]

6May2008

Wrapping Up Work

Posted by JonHaley

“Whoa that’s awesome Jon, you’re going to write about how you spend all your time sitting at a desk staring at a computer while rarely updating the photos and posts with cool stuff about Mongolia, which is really why I am here”.

Well believe me I don’t do it as often as other people, and to be honest the rest of my time is mainly spent in strange Mongolia bars and discos, or reading at home.

Anyways that’s about to end as this is my last month and I’ve got lots of great stuff planned. I would like to mention, however, two projects that I’ve recently completed, that I’m sort of proud of, and let you know that I’ve wrapped up my work out here and am feeling pretty good about it. Read the rest of this entry »

15April2008

French Graffiti/Mongol Wrestling

Posted by JonHaley

Keepin’er fresh! If not always consistent or relevant. I’ve only got another month and a half out here so I’ll forgo any formality and start throwing up a bunch of random posts as they happen. Here’s two:

Read the rest of this entry »