Something you need to know

Today I went to one of my student's summer homes about 30 km from UB. Naraa brought her niece and nephew. Their names were, literally, "Wednesday" and "Saturday". My host father's name is "Monday". Anyway, summer homes aren't what you'd imagine. Mostly they are brick and log shacks that have bars in the windows and big padlock on the door. Obviously Mongols don't want anyone except themselves entering their shacks and using them for shelter.

These shacks (ok, i'll be fair, some at least looked like nice two-story houses with a fresh coat of paint, the sort of family homestead you'd find in the Great Plains) -- these summer homes were scattered about in valleys. But when I say scattered, I really mean "cramped together in 50 foot by 50 foot square plots of fenced land."

My guidebook (which is 5 years out of date) tells me these summer homes were abandoned because nobody could afford them after the conversion to capitalism. Well, much has changed in 5 years. Most of the Mongolians I know have a "summer home" somewhere. And I didn't see hardly any shacks that looked abandoned. In fact, if you are employed at Mongolian National Radio and TV, you automatically get your own parcel of land out here, to do with as you please. Some build shacks, some sell their land, some let it sit.

I've been hearing from quite a few people who make the claim that poor Americans can "live like a king" in Mongolia (since Mongolians "supposedly" only make $100/year). I say, bullshit. Sure, things are cheaper, but that's because things are cheaply made, with cheap materials and cheap labor. If you'll put up with endless pollution, you can have very cheap electricity courtesy of the coal mines and coal power plants. Even scrupulous Kings would look elsewhere than the extreme environment of Mongolia to build their nest-egg. Somehow I still end up paying about $400/month to live in Mongolia, about the same as in the States.

Anway, my day was lovely. We hiked through a nice pine and birch forest. The Mongols chased after a chipmunk ("Look! A dog!" Bayunsun proclaimed). I saw about ten different varieties of mushrooms. As well as the largest anthill I've ever seen (about 5 feet high).

On the plus plus side, I engorged on as much fruit as I could eat. A few days ago I realized I hadn't eaten ANY fruits or vegetables or nuts in the past week. Such is the Mongolian diet. Yesterday I dined at a "vegetarian" restaurant and ate pickled vegetables and tofu. My regularity is coming back...ever so slowly.

Something you needed to know.