Monday 29 November 2010

My last ride – frozen eyelashes, looking cool and fake babies......

Since I have been in Mongolia I have slowly but surely embraced horse riding. It is something I was so looking forward to doing, I love horses, and have felt a yearning to ride for a long time. Even as a small child I was fascinated by horses, and was actually kind of ‘in love’ with Pegasus – whom I felt was the ethereal embodiment of perfection, and with whom I felt a kind of affinity. (One might infer from this that I feel that I myself am an embodiment of perfection and this is not an erroneous assumption to make, but that’s a whole other story.)

Since I have always been confident and competent, and generally been good at new things I have tried, I felt pretty sure that I would take to horse riding very well, I am calm and intuitive, which I thought were good complimentary qualities to confidence and competence when it came to horse riding.

Unfortunately, it turns out that I am also full of shit, and that a horse is not something like a game or a skill that one can master by being clever, it’s a great big unpredictable beast with its own agenda and it doesn’t care how clever you are, it’ll do its own damn thing thank you very much, and it doesn’t care if it hurts you, or annoys you, or frightens you. Uh oh........

So – I blogged about my first riding experience in Mongolia a while back, in June, and you would have thought that would put me off, but another thing I am is tenacious....and so I kept taking every chance I could to go riding (and spent all my money in the process, oopsie) and made sure I went with people who were more experienced than me, and who cared about me, so I felt safe and secure in developing my own riding confidence.

And it paid off, as now I am so comfortable on a horse, and I am so sad that I will not be able to ride anymore, but my last ride was so amazing, that I feel like that will in some way assuage the pain of this loss.

We went off to steppe riders, me, Natalie, elide and Evelyn. When I looked at the weather online that morning it said -24c, which before living in Mongolia would have freaked me out – now it’s like, ‘only -24, no worries’. (Lower than -30 however, begins to get painful). When we arrived at the camp, we were all struck by the beauty and wonder of the snowy steppe. Miles of white, we felt swamped by the lack of horizon, the sky was white, the ground was white, it was like that scene in the matrix when they first ‘plug in’.



A cup of coffee in the ger and getting our chaps on, was all the time we wasted before heading t’ward the horses, short, stocky, furry creatures. Natalie is a very experienced rider, and I always feel more confident riding with her, she and I mounted first and raced off ahead.



One of the things I hate most, up there with carrying heavy things and adults speaking in baby voices, is waiting around aimlessly, so I was so grateful to just follow Nat, who was also obviously itching to get on out there.

It was just amazing, a little disconcerting at times, as the marmot holes were hidden by snow, so the horses often tripped, the first few times this was quite alarming, but I realised that I just had to – you guessed it, man up and deal widdit. Whenever it happened I still couldn’t help but gasp, but I didn’t feel the knot of panic I did the first few times. It’s not that I am a fraidy cat, I just really don’t like to be in pain, or, sooo much worse, to lose face.

Luckily the last time I came off a horse it was because I decided to jump ship, and managed an impressive stunt roll (cool). I didn’t fancy my chances of maintaining my dignity, or the use of my limbs, if I was thrown unexpectedly off a stumbling animal (not cool). And I looked so awesome galloping through the snowy steppe, in my (fake) Ray Bans with my hair billowing out behind me in the wind, cig in my lips like cool hand Luke, with all the poise and swagger of a seasoned cowboy but with the smouldering looks of a young gypsy girl.....that I couldn’t bear the thought of that perfect image being ruined by being my being killed or seriously injured.



As it turned out, I had no need to even worry, as I didn’t fall, in fact I won a race that Natalie started (and which I didn’t even want to be part of at first, as I was still preoccupied with the whole horse tripping over thing) but turned out my horse responded with more oomph to Natalie and the other guy’s shouts of “chuuu” than their own horses did – so all I had to do was sit tight and even managed to say, nonchalantly, as I thundered past them, “eat my snow dust, suckers”.

I had layered up so thoroughly in preparation for a sub zero trek, I wasn’t prepared for how warm I got riding. Luckily I had decided not to wear a helmet, so I could take off my hat and scarf with ease, and shoved them up my jumper. Which made a bump, which one of the Mongolian guys who was riding with us, Baysaa, decided was my ‘baby’. It was so funny, this light-hearted flirting, our feet touched as our horses passed, so I reached to touch his hand to dispel the bad luck, but he held on to my hand, and said in Mongolian, lets ride and hold hands, so I said Za, ok. And we rode for a little way together, holding hands and him singing a folk song for me. Then my scarf began to fall out of my jumper and he offered to put it inside his Deel, whence upon it became his ‘baby’.

We rode for maybe only 2 and a half, 3 hours, but it seemed a long long time, walking, trotting or galloping through all this white. It was snowing at first, small soft flakes that froze on my eyelashes and eyebrows and made me look a little like story book pictures of Jack Frost (the supernatural being, not the television detective) with my pointy nose and wild eyes. Then the snow stopped and the sky cleared and the beautiful blue contrasted the wondrous white so sharply it was breath taking. Sometimes the snow was so deep it went up almost to the horse’s thighs and it had a hard crust that made a satisfying crunch as the horses clopped through it.



By the time we got back to camp though, my feet were completely frozen, despite tights, thermal socks and legwarmers; they had gone totally numb below the knee. This is quite a weird feeling, I managed to get off the horse ok but walking down the hill to the Ger was like some kind of semi out of body experience....the top half of me was moving, but it just didn’t really know how this was happening.

Aaah, the warm ger, and the mutton stew, and the rice and the chilli sauce, and the stove and the chattering and then we wrap back up and head for the car and for UB and I leave the steppe behind me forever, and I feel sad, but my favourite Mongolian folk song is on the radio, the one Baysaa was singing for me, and I hum along and decide I will buy a CD for when I come back to UK and paint my mothers living room.....and that song will always remind me of this perfect day, so it isn’t lost, and even if I can’t ride anymore, as it’s so expensive in the UK, and I would have to relearn the whole thing with English horses (plus they are so much bigger so much further to fall so much more cool to lose...) I will always have this memory, like a snow globe in my own mind.

Nakedness, Mitts 'n' Gritts, and Muugii gets her bum out....

My colleagues wanted to do something special for me in my last week, and decided that a trip to the ‘саун’ was in order. So after work one day last week, Muugii, Soyol, Nurze and I all went for our special treat......I was told the саун was like a sauna, but I was still unsure what to expect (this being Mongolia afterall..) but the ladies were so lovely about it all that I decided I would just go along with whatever – which is generally the flow I have gone with though all my time here, drawing the line only at downing vodka shots at lunch time.

The саун turned out to be a communal bathing/pampering centre. And it was soooooo nice. We arrived and after some negotiations had been made by my colleagues with the staff our significantly bulky outdoor gear was taken from us. Through a door, we were led, into a kind of antechamber with lockers for clothes, we undressed - and they quickly noticed the tattoo on my shoulder that says ‘Mongolia’ in traditional Mongolian script. I had been anticipating some comments, and had had maybe a little trepidation as to how they would take this gesture.....but they seemed to really like it, and seemed genuinely pleased that I loved Mongolia so much I would have it inked onto my body!

It became clear quite quickly that Muugii had elected herself to be in charge of me, and once we were all towelled up she ushered me into a shower wet room. It was a slightly odd set up, an L shaped room, in the shorter part, three showers, with some nice shampoo and body wash, in the longer part, two ‘bed/table’s covered in Clingfilm, past these, the steam room.

There were a couple of other ladies pottering around, naked, and two or three ‘attendants’ (for want of a better word). We four all showered and washed our hair together, having deposited our towels at the door. Muugii, Soyol and Nurze made no bones about checking out my naked body. In fact, Muugii, who had obviously initially been trying to play it cool, gave up on any attempt at feigning disinterest and indicated that I should lift up my arms and turn around for them. They chattered and giggled and pointed at my waist and bottom, admiringly. Mongolian women, it seems, in general, do not really ‘go in’ at the waist, and they tend to have sweet little sloping bottoms, rather than a big round booty like what I got. I think they found my skin tone interesting too. Luckily I am no prude and they were so obviously just genuinely curious and unabashedly pleased with the opportunity to see a naked white girl that I didn’t mind at all, and in fact had my own natural curiosity, only I was a lot more subtle in how I went about making my observations!

Once the ‘inspection’ had finished, and our hair was washed, we took turns to sit in little stools, on the little sheet of plastic we had each been given for “underrr yourrr bum!” and an attendant gave each of us a perfunctory head massage while she put some kind of thick conditioner in our hair, which was then covered with a shower cap.

At this point we were ready to go to sit in the steam room, a tiny little cubicle with four seats, it was so funny, as the steam was coming out of a tube underneath Muugii’s seat, and much hilarity followed as we gestured and intimated that Muugii’s bottom was in fact the actual source of the steam; “thank you Muugii!” I understood in Mongolian and I just laughed along with them.

From the steam room we went back and forward form the showers a few times, and then took turns to lie on a plastic covered table and be exfoliated by a girl with mitts and grits. I don’t think I have even washed myself so thoroughly! I felt a bit like a child, and a bit like a princess. And actually a bit like an object, but not necessarily in a bad way. There was something sort of competently mechanical about the detached methodical manner in which I was scrubbed that was actually quite reassuring – and removed even the chance of self consciousness.

There is something very nice about communal bathing I think. My friends and I have often washed together, nothing remotely erotic or weird about it, just companionable and relaxed. A group of women can really unwind and indulge in the peculiarities of their gender; vanity, comparison, gossip, co-operation (you wash my back I will wash yours) etc, when bathing together.

After the scrub I was steered back to the shower, and it was indicated that I should wash off the hair treatment. As I was about to turn around to do this however, I felt a hand on my shoulder gently push me back the other way, and I realised the scrub girl with the mitt was washing my back.  Now that's what I cal service.

When we were all as clean as clean could be, we reclaimed our towels and left the wet room. In the next room, a row of lovely big fat soft massage beds beckoned invitingly. As I made myself comfortable, I was brought a cup of green tea and once I had finished and was putting my cup down, an attendant came silently up behind me and whispered that I should lie down on my front. And thence began a lovely relaxing wonderful massage. I have had two or three massages in Mongolia, and all of them have been incredibly painful, and being a qualified masseuse myself, I have even been a bit concerned about some of the quite frankly brutal techniques they have used. But this particular one was lovely, although I realised how horribly knotty and tense and tender my shoulders have become here.

All too soon it was time to turn over, and one by one my hands were picked up, massaged, and then painted with hot paraffin wax which quickly cooled and hardened slightly, and my hands wrapped in plastic for the duration of the facial treatment, which consisted of mainly massage, but then a facemask was applied and then we were left for 20 minutes, sooo relaxed and comfortable, I nearly fell asleep, I think one or two people there actually did, as there was the gentle sound of snoring coming from somewhere, but I was so floaty and floppy I didn’t really register, perhaps I did fall asleep....

I was so sorry when it was all over, but I felt so good, so chilled, so CLEAN! But once Muugii mentioned dinner I realised that I was also very hungry. We walked a short distance to a Chinese restaurant, where I let them order, saying, truthfully, that I would eat anything at all on the menu. It was a lovely meal, and even though they kept forgetting to include me in the conversation, I was very content, and Muggii did make a real effort to express things to me in English.

By the time we finished our meal we were the last people in the restaurant, which was a very god thing as it turned out.....

Muugii had undone the clasp of her skirt as she ate, to ease the pressure on her full stomach. However, she then forgot she had done this, and so when she stood up to leave the table her skirt fell down around her ankles, causing her to screech and grab for it, as the rest of us all exploded into hysterics at this fantastically slapstick vision; when someone doesnt have enough hands to cover their front and behind and retrieve their fallen garment all at the same time, the resulting manic flapping is always hilarious, and inevitably leads to the entire debacle lasting a few more comical seconds.

So, relaxed and clean and well fed, and superbly entertained, I flicked through my dictionary (tired of repeating “goy bain” – this is lovely) for a new way of expressing my pleasure and gratitude, and found it, бүрэн төгс ‘completely perfect’.

Which was exactly how I felt my evening had been.

my farewell quiz, two mongolian babies and vodka for lunch

Aaah, life in UB, the pace never lets up, the madness never subsides, the pavements are slippery icy, the stray dogs have gone all fluffy, which gives them a cute appearance that belies their true rabid mentality.

So I had my 'leaving do' on thursday, as friday was a public holiday.  I decided to do a pub quiz, as 1, I love the quiz, 2, my leaving do from the UK was a pub quiz so there's some cosmic symettry in there, and 3, I dont like just getting a bunch of people into a pub to just stand around drinking - I like a 'point' to a party.

Anyway, it was a great success, it was so sweet, the guys who wrote the quiz made the first round answers all start with a letter of my name, an accrostick, i think it is called. Anyway, it was a really fun evening, even though my team didnt win! Which I blame on the fact that as it was my 'do' everyone wanted to buy me a drink, so I wasnt perhps quite as clear headed as I usually am for the quiz.........

Friday was the holiday, but I had arranged to meet my colleagues to go and visit our previous colleague who left in july to have twins.  I have been in Mongolia for ten months, and so why I thought, when they said, "lets meet at 12" that any one would actually be there at 12, I dont know, must be the innate brittish nurse time keeper in me.

So I slip and slide my way to meet them at the hospital, texting my friend to complain that I am too tired for this, I go over a particularly slippery bit of pavement (er, why, in a place that is covered in ice for 6 months of the year would you make most of the pavements smooth as marble???? its tantamount to premeditated assault I tell you.) I scream - my legs come out from under me - my phone goes flying into a snow drift - some teenagers laugh at me - and my arm smacks into a random bt of metal.  Nice.

So I get to the hospital, 12:00.  I wait.  I wait.  I wait. 12:40 one of my colleagues arrives and we go up to the office where I messa round on the internet.  eventually, over the course of the next 40 mins or so others arrive and much faffing and flapping ensues. We then go to the supermarket where they spend 20 minutes deciding what nappies to buy.........have you ever been hungover in a supermarket in a gaggle of about 15 mongolian women who are all talking fast and loud and shrill and non stop? Dont try it, you wont like it, trust me on this.

So then we get a taxi, I am put in the front, there is no seat belt, there is ice on the road, we are going v fast.  I stop counting the near misses and remind myself that squeezing my eyes shut will only make my wrinkles worse, so just man up and deal widdit.

Get to Tserma's house, and it v nice, in the ger district, very sweetly decorated and furnished.  we sit on low stools around a low table, filled with dishes of food, I am sitting between motherly Nurze, who very sweetly finds me the peices of meat that are өхгуи (have no fat) and Muugii, who speaks a little english, and every now and again thinks to try and include me by telling me a little of what the conversations are about, and who has my back when the milk tea comes out telling our hosts I dont drink milk as I am allergic. (this is my ploy to avoid dodgy dairy in asia without causing offence).

I am more interested in the twin baby girls, sooooooooo cute, and little and fat and mongolian.  I didnt bring my camera!  So I only have my own memories, but they were cute.  I think there was just me and this one other youngish nurse, who didnt have children, so we were the broody ones, and she was being a right baby hogger, much to my chagrin.

My heart sank when the vodka was brought out, as even though i will drink it with ice and tonic, shooting it, is pretty much the exact opposite of my bag. Every time we toasted I just touched it to my lips in a show of cameraderie, and each time Tserma's husband would top it up a little more, even though I adnt actually drunk any.  Muugii was telling me, katereeen, when you drink, must *knock back action* - I just laughed and pretended not to understand.... and then the red wine came out. 

One thng I have found hard in Monoglia i the winter, is not how cold it is outside, -20 and below is fine with me, I actually enjoy it, for short periods at a time... what is most difficult is how freakin hot it is INSIDE.  heating balsting away, and no ventilation, this is one of my all time worse combinations (people doing baby voices and keeping me waiting is another, fruit in savoury dishes another, and the wearing of green and red is one of the most heinous,  but all that is by the by).

Anyway, so this room is like a furnace, airless and full of chattering women, who seem to be getting shriller by the second, and all they say to me is drrrink drrink! So I smile and sip at my wine, and gaze at the babies, and try to remember what I know about heat exhaustion, and wonder how long we will be here for, and when the baby hogger will let me have a hold of the cuter twin, and whether its just my ovaries being sneaky, or whether it really would be a great idea to have a baby of my own, and why did I forget my camera, and will being this hot damage my internal organs........and so on until suddenly we are all traipsing out, much hugging and smelling, into the blessed blessed cold, and a breath of fresh coal smog.

We get taxi's and I am inthe front again but this time I have my colleagues 6 year old son on my lap, which for me is great, he falls asleep and I get to cuddle him for ages. We have to change taxi's in the middle of the journey though as one begins to fall apart as we drive along the frozen roads.

I will miss the freedom of taxi's here, you flag one so easily, you can put as many people as you like in there, "tin of fish" my mongolian friend calls it (sardines). 

I will miss the cute kids.

I will miss the lovely hospitality, and the kindness and thoughtfulnes.

I will NOT MISS VODKA FOR LUNCH!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 16 November 2010

root canal, domesticity, and I forgot the other thing

So - I went to the dentist..........

I had been given the telephone number of a Korean dentist, who spoke perfect english, and who was very suave and charming. I almost found myself fawning.  Almost.

He Xrayed my tooth (as has been done several times before, by every dentist I go to telling them about the pain.  As a healthcare professional, I recognise very well the look on the face that accompanies their glance at my Xray, it says "you're faking/imagining/hawking for drugs).  Of course there was nothing to see, tho my friend Yadma who had come to hold my hand said she saw the Xray and I had very beautiful inner teeth.  So it wasnt all bad.

Anyway, he says, no cracks, no holes, but a very very deep filling.  In fact, its more filling than tooth.  (in my head at this point I see Alec Guiness as Obi Wan Kenobi's ghost telling Luke about Darth Vader, "he's more machine than man now" in that fabulous singysongy voice that I put on to make my sister laugh so hard she cant breathe). ANYWAY - upshot is he wants to drill it out, and refill.  I am carried along by the suave, and by trying not to laugh at the alec guiness thing, and so i dont even look to see if the needles are clean, oops.

So he injects me, and i numb up, and he drills and i dont like it, but its more painless than any dentist i ever saw in the UK (every time I go to the dentist in the Uk I need to take a "time out" - seriously, I dont know what is wrong with me, I just hate having a strange man's fingers filling my mouth and sticking thing in it that hurt).  He puts in a temp filling, and says, if the pain continues, come back on tuesday and he will do root canal. 

At these words my world goes into slow motion, like in the movies, I say "what" in a voice that sounds like I left half my palate at home,more like "ghuhut" and i watch his lips as he says again

"rooooooooooot caaanaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllll"

I dont even know what it is, but it sounds so heinous that the muscle under my eye is twtching, but my britishness is irrepressible - "LOVELY!" i profess brightly, "how wonderful.  When can we do it, tuesday?  Splendid, I cant wait, awfully jolly of you to fit me in, what, i say, wont that be a gas.  well, orf i go, back in a couple of days.  toodle pip."

Suddenly I am bertie wooster, and suddenly my world has collapsed.  I cant have root canal, i will die.  probably, maybe, highly likely at the very least.  I cant NOT do anything because i will die, probably.  So I stop trying to make a decision and just curse my rotten luck and my even more rottener crappy teeth, and my maxillo facial neural pathways, if it wasnt for them all would be fine and I wouldnt feel like something with claws was burrowing into my jaw using my tooth nerve as a hand rail.

So - thats today, five hours til root canal.  I feel kind of sick, although (v naughty I know, shhh dont tell the BMA) a friend of mine has given me a little something designed to help hysterical housewives, so I am planning to pop this little blue about 30 mins before drill commencement and I hope this will subdue me somewhat.

It is -15 outside, I have strted wearing thermals, I forgot that I actually like them, mine, like all of my clothes, are skin tight - and I feel snug and serene in them, its like a full body hug from silk and lambs wool (no messing about with viscose darling).

I actually want it to get colder now.  I wont have long to wait, its getting into the -20s at night now.

righto - I have heard tell of an american in the hospital, and I am going forth to investigate.

bayarte

Friday 12 November 2010

What -15 feels like. And how I am a walking cliche.

Aaah, winter is upon us, the ice is creeping over the pavements like a subtle spill of slippery slidiness.  The temperature is into the double figures of minusness.  The snow falls are frequent tho not prolonged.

The snow is nice, tiny mini flakes, cascading from the everpresent sky coming to gently dance upon my eye lashes like so many baby ballerina butterflies brushing my cheeks with soft coldness that is a sweet remedy to the razor sharp wind that boxes my ears and stings my nostrils.

my toes are cold, but all else is fine, i pull my thick tights up high to my middle and wear my wool mix skirt often so i feel like a character in a story set in a girls boarding school in yorkshire circa 1905.

The air is changeable, sometimes so full of coal smog that I become instead a character form a Dickens novel, living in London in the 19th century and wracked with consumption.

my tooth aches, it woke me ast night frm a dream about going camping and forgetting my sleeping bag and being in a bad mood and walking with andrew and carping on about it then narrowly avoiding being hit by a car and andrew laughing at my misfortune, then awake, and pain.

So I am going to go to the dentist.  We shall see how this goes.  I am pretty hardcore in almost every way, I do martial arts, I have tattoos, I ride horses, I climb rocks and trees and anything with footholds that looks like it has somehting fun at the top of it, I have laid out dead bodies, I have restrained mad men, I have seen some things, and yet - and yet, how utterly banal that I am incapable of dealing with a trip to the dentist. 

How embarrassingly NORMAL. 

I shall of course report on the events of the visit as and when.

The sleep deprivation and resulting caffeine overdose is to blame for the jerken sprangling of this post.

Friday 5 November 2010

the pub quiz is dead, long live the pub quiz

its true, the pub quiz is no more.  Sad times.

In the last month I have been busy busy.  I have been involved in designing a trianing day for the interpreters, as vso state they cant offer a very high salary to interpreters, so they cant get such a high standard of interpreters.  So we decided to make a group to try and maximise the efficacy of interpreters, by providing creative training to help them work to their full potential.

It went very very well, and all the interpreters gave very good feedback, so that was a buzz.  Short lived as it turned out as things went sour when the volunteers, interpreters and vso staff had a big tangle about how and how much the interpreters get paid. 

anyway, I have also been going to the theatre as much as possible, went to see the russian ballet do Romeo and Juliet, which was absolutley stunning, exquisite. I have also been to see two Mongolain Ballets, which are great, wonderful costumes and a really interesting interpretation of ballet.  Next I am going to see 'La Boheme' and the magic flute.

Once a week a group of us have a film night, where I come over to Nicks at 6pm and start cooking a vegge pasta dish, others arrive and we watch obscure films and discuss them with hilarity.

I went the other day to see a performance done by a group of expats, a theatre group who put on "the fantasticks", it was hilarious, tho perhaps not always intentionally.....

work ticks along nicely, now instead of the nurses coming to me, I now go to the departments, and give informal lessons on the wards, and everyone seems much happier with this arrangement.

anyway - i am being muchly distracted by poeple talking to me....so now just going to post a load of photos from charleine's visit.  these are her photos, and I think they are wonderful, she is an artist and her website is http://www.charleineb.com/

coloured garages in Erdenet

me and uya in erdenet

hiking up the hill in erdenet

funland in erdenet

the black market - felt for gers

horse skulls in erdenet

bed factory security guards ger

lunch with the twins, I dont look so impressed but I was just tired, I actually love mongolian food...
horrid tricksy horse

the view from Zaisan

pollution defence

fabric stall at teh market

monument at erdenet

my beauties

lady and her ger

the main square in erdenet

more photos as and when I collate them.

Friday 22 October 2010

The post-apocalyptic Fun Fair and the curious incident of the peace corps in the night time

za za za, I am trying to collate my brain cells to write a 15 minute lesson on Cardiac Surgery Nursing, which is hard, as that is realy just 7minutes of me talking, taking interpretation into account, and what on earth can one say in 7 minutes? 

So, I am defering this task, to upload the photos I took in the fun fair in UB.  It is so funny, it is set in the "childrens park" which was closed until the 1st of september.  It has a collection of rides of dubious safety, and is part building site.  Being there felt like being in some strange dream, but a couple of the rides were really fun.







The big wheel is not working, and I dont think I would have gone on it even if it was.  Health and Safety is not a concern for mongolians..... It is generally not a huge concern for me, but being in a metal contrption that is help together by elastic bands and scotch tape was a step too far even for me.

Oh, I went to  party the other day, and it was ok, but strange to see so many new faces, and missing my old pals, and realsing suddenly that I am one of the veterans now!  I was just leaving when a scrummage occurred, one of the hosts had discovered a pair of amorous peace corps in her bedroom, and was throwing them out of the party, I had to restrain myself from chanting "jerry jerry jerry" as the americaness of it all was utterly hilarious.

Today the office is quiet, which is so nice, and my colleagues seem to have remembered who I am and what I am doing here.  Yesterday I gave a breif (30mins) talk on the Nursing Process and Holistic, evidence based Nursing Practice, to the entire nursing staff, about 250 people.  It actually went really well, and I was especially impressed with Zolo.  I only saw a handful of people asleep in the audience, and they clapped at the end, and today my colleagues were very nice about it, and want me to do one every two weeks! Yaanaa.

So I will probably stop doing my Chingeltei lectures, and focus on the hospital for now, I think I may be bailing out of Mongolia soon, earlier than planned.....so I want to make sure I leave with a whole lot of information collated efficiently for the hospital, so the nurses can access it after I have gone home.

sigh.

Wednesday 20 October 2010

the night train, the hypnoscreen and three dramatic characters

Hi - so, wow, I didnt realise it had been a whole month since the last post.  Since then, I have had my friend C staying - visiting from Paris for 2 weeks.  her first couple of days I had to work, and let her sleep off ehr jet lag, and in the evenings we ate beef stew and drank red wine and created the perfect itinerary for her stay.

We decided to take advantage of how long she was here for to do a kind of minibreak.  We decided to spend three days in Erdenet, which is proudly touted as Mongolia's Third Largest City.  Mongolia only has three cities.  I have a Mongolian friend here in UB who's family live in Erdenet, and she was going ot be visiting that weekend too, so we were very excited, and were not disappointed.

We travelled up on the night train, as this was the cheapest form of transport, and meant we didnt waste a whole day travelling.  It was cool, the same soviet train as I went to Selenge in.  I didnt sleep much, as I was engrossed in my book, and also kept awake by the snoring and farting of my fellow passengers, but I was very restful, on the top bunk, being rocked by the train.  There was a seatbelt that I tried to strap myself in with, but in true Mongolian style, it of course didnt work, so I was mildly concerned that I could be thrown out of my little nest, especially since stopping suddnly is quite a strong mongolian trait....

However, we arrived in Erdenet unscathed, but pretty sleepy, we got poked and prodded out of bed about half an hour before we stopped, but the surly train attentant.  One thing I will NOT miss form Mongolia is the constant prodding.  Please do not touch me, I am British. 

We stood looking bewildered for a while, as the train statoin is outside the city, but deflected the "taxi!" calls, and opted intead to get on a bus we saw.  I asked people on it if it went to erdenet, and they said yes, but seemed very bemused.  I thought it was just because they didnt see so many foreigners, but soon relaised that all the passengers of the bus were young women who were dressed very similarly....and then the bus stopped at a school nd everyone got off - a haa.

Uya rang and told us to get a taxi to her family home, where her sisters would look after us.  This we did and soon found ourselves drinking sudete (salty milk tea) and talking about Justin Beiber (the girls were 17, very cute, very sweet, but with questionable music taste).


After a hearty lunch of boiled mutton spine, me and C passed out the sofa's, both having mad dreams.  We were so done in that that evening we just found a hotel, and hung out eating bread and cheese and chatting til we fell asleep.

next day we met up with Uya, and went with her to visit her parents bed factory.  It was so cute.  A higgldy piggldy collection of ramshackle buildings, with a security guard living on site, in a ger, which we went into too.  Unfortunately, I had neglected to charge my camera battery, so after taking the one picture above, which is C and N at the apartment, my camera went byebye, and I am waiting for C to put hers up online so I ca steal them for le blogge.

So we watched the menfolk building wooden bed frames, very nice workmanship, and the then to another building, to see women putting the mattresses together, first compiling a plethora of springs, then upholstering them.

It was interesting to see how they worked, quiet, serious, the place seemed an unorganised mess, but there was also a strong sense of process about it.

After the factory we headed to the black market, which was nicer than the one in UB by a huge long shot.  the stuff was much better quality, there were much less people, who were much less pushy, and the atmosphere was super chilled, rather than frenetically tense.  I bought a bag and a pair of plimsolls,

after more wandering and a visit to the 'funfair' where we took a ride ont he big wheel, which was very big, and had no security features, so quite terrifying, C and I went to get a pizza while Uya went to have family time.  then we met up again at a bar later that night, and went on to a night club.  the club was seemingly quite fancy, the light show was the usual seizure inducing dazzlefest, and the music was the usual cringy R&B, and the clientelle were actually a lot less pretentious than the UB lot.  Nice place, I thought, til I went to the toilet.... two squat holes, with swinging doors were the unisex loos.  one of the doors had a big panel missing, the other didnt shut properly, or lock.  nice.  People were barging in and out constantly, smoking heavily, and chatting loudly, and the space was tiny, but my bladder was protesting, so I squeezed my way through the puffing gibbering crowd, and went for the squat.  I could hold the door shut while I peed, but as soon as I let go to pull up me bricks, the door was flung open, by a girl who had seen me go in there, seen my hand holding the door shut, yet who still thought it would be ok to walk in and trample over me.

This is another thing I will never understand, the mongolian delusion that two solid objects can occupy the same space at the same time.

Anyway, the club was fun, we danced, and were 'chatted up' by a group of giggly young men (never understand giggly men, it is all wrong in my opinion, and freaks me out - are you a 9 year old girl or are you a MAN?)

The next day me and C were up early ish to go for a wee hike in the hills, which was ace, the fresh air, the views, and then we were invited into a ger by a very sweet lady called muugii, who offered us aruul, and spoke to us in the broken english she had taught herself from a book, she had a hilarious little booklet called "american idioms" which contained some funny little colloquialisms.

back to the flat for salty tea and watchig "dance your ass off" which even dubbed in mongolian is probbly the BEST reality show I ever saw, fatties dancing to lose weight, performing, getting judged, getting weighed and crying.  aaah, bliss.

We had a slap up korean meal before finding a car to drive us back to UB.  The drive back was long and a bit scary at times.  Mongolians drive as if they really truly do want to kill themselves, their passengers, and everyone else on the road. We have been told never to be driven at night, and I was a bit nervous as after it got dark at around 8pm it got pretty hairy.  We passed a big accident as well, which added ot the fretfulness.  But we made it back in one peice, and spent the rest of the week exploring UB, museus, markets, monuments, the fun fair in UB, aving a dinner party, doing the pub quiz (and losing, and the pub has closed down, so what am i going ot do now?!?!), going to the cinema, and the theatre to see a mongolain opera called "three dramatic characters" which was ace, such a spectacle.  Didnt think much of most of the singing, but the costumes were amazing, and the last scenes was a wedding party, which had dancing and wrestling, a wonderful show.

We went out on C's last night to kareoke, well, we werent going to go, but we got convinced, and were so glad we went.  Loads of people were there, a big ex-pat crowd for the leaving do of an AYAD, and we were all singing awy happily.  then there was a power cut, and the music stopped, but we were undeterred, and all kept singing, in the dark, all together, which was so funny and happy.

Not so funny and happy when we had to get up at 4.30am after getting to bed at 3am, to put C on her plane!

So, now life is back to kind of normal, back at work, back to living alone again.  We had the interpreters training, that I helped design, and we got very god feedback from that, and our training materials are going to be duplicated and used in other areas, so that is nice.

I had to cancel my Chingeltei lecture today as a doctor at the hospital wants to hang out with me this afternoon, so i am a little nervous about that, as they alwasy seem to misunderstand my role, and start asking me diagnostic questions, which I cant answer, so then they lok disappointed and I die a little inside.

Photos to follow in next post.

Oh yeah, the hypnoscreen - did I ever mention it before?  Its a huge screen in the centre of town that shows adverts and stuff, and showed the world cup matches when it was on.  it freaks me out a bit, especially the other day I walked past it at dusk, and the light it emitted was so eerie and hypnotic.

it is getting colder here, down to -12 at night, but still around 8 or 9 during the day, and super hot inside as the government has turned the heating on.

so back to hypo/hyperthermia seesaw.  What FUN!

Sunday 19 September 2010

dancing geese, daylight robbery, and falling off a horse

Soooo, whats been happening.......

Well, UB has been the usual crazy noisy dust bucket it always is, thought the weather has been nice still, slowly dropping, during the day it was still sunny in the 20's, but every evening got that bit colder. Its coats and proper shoes time now.  But what a scorching summer, I am almost looking forward to the chill, though I must remember to set aside an extra ten minutes for getting dressed in the morning.

So last weekend I went to the CIRCUS!  It was a much anticipated event, there was a buzz about it in the city.  Mongolians LOVE spectacle, pomp and ceremony, and it was hard no tot get caught up in the excitement as we took our places in line, clutching our tickets, which were not cheap at 8000₮ but came gaudily decorated with photos of the many wonders that were in store for us, acrobats, clowns (eurgh), bears and - er - geese.....

Our glee was soon quashed though; the main doors of the circus opened, and we braced ourselves for a forward surge as people pushed to get in and get seats, but none came, some mongolian was being spoken at the front, and the crowd visibly sagged and began to disperse.  what??

Luckily one of our mongolian colleagues was in the queue, and had spotted us, she came over to tll us that since the animals for the circus had been detained at the border, the show was being postponed.... yeah, so, thats several hours by car away, yet you let us all stand around until 5 minutes before the show was due to start, for what? hoping for a miracle?

Anyway, our tickets were good for the next day, so 24 hours later there we were agian and this time it was the real deal.  And what a show.  First there was a gang of acrobats in the most bizarre costumes doing crazy tricks with a jump rope, then hula girls, contortionists, dancing geese - yes, DANCING GEESE! They were amazing, my new crush (shh, dont tell camels).  Then trapeze artists, and then some truly terrifying stunts done by young men, seesaws and sticks, cant explain it, but it gave me conniptions.  Then a strong man, who my word, was STRONG.  All this was interspersed with clowns who I wont talk about as I dont agree with clowns.

Then, the finale....the moment I later felt deeply ashamed of looking forward to so much....the bears.  It was awful.  the poor poor bears.  I had got so excited at teh thought of seeing a real one in real life, that I spared no thought for the reality of the situation.  It was just painful to watch.  There were three bears, and their fear, distaste, discomfort and sheer despair were palpable.  the mongolians whooped and cheered, waving their glow sticks with wild abandon, us westerners sat aghast, hands over mouths, horrified at what we were witnessing.

Anyway, I wont go on about it, suffice it to say that I am now a campaigner for getting performing bears banned.

So, the next day was a scorcher, and I was strolling through town in my floaty dress, one last time to wear it.  Now, I am usually hyper alert about my belonings, I cant afford ot lose anything, and I am deeply attached to my things, however, while crossing a busy road, my attention was more on not getting run over than it was about guarding my bag, and having just been to a shop, stupidly, my wallet was at the top of the bag, well, not for long it wasnt, as a little artful dodger went and nicked it.  I felt him do it, but as I turned around and grabbed him he made a hulabaloo, in hindsigh I realise this was to distract me form the fact that he was swiftly passing my wallet to his colleague, twisty, so no matter how much I shouted at him and shook him and pinched him that was it, my wallet, and all the money I had - gone.

So that fair took the wind out of my sails I tell you.  I was heading for an energy crash anyway, and have spent the last week being ill, flopping around incapable of doing anyhting but feel sorry for myself.  In the midst of the misery was a ray of light in the form of a skype with home, meeting my newest nephew for the first time, a gorgeous scrumptious, beautiful baby boy, who made me want to stick my face into the internet to eat him all up.

I even missed the quiz, THAT is how ill i was.

So, today is sunday, and I was convinced by friends to come along on a horseriding trip, country air to blow away the bug.  It was good, bu u u u t ... i was given the most psychotic horse, and the most annoying saddle and stirrups.

the stirrups were tied together under the horse, so i had no ease of movement, and right form the get go I could feel that this horse was mental.  He bolted almost as soon as we set off.  Now, I am cool with galloping, since my first foray with riding here I have done a lot more and got very confident on a horse, so I wasnt worried, until I realsied that the horse was not runnin gfor pleasure or exercise, it was properly bolting.  I also realised that my feet had become stuck in the stirrups, so if he tried ot throw me I was in deep trouble....and I ALSO realised that he didnt care how hard I pulle don the reins, he was not stopping, and he didnt seem to be looking where he was going, so one trip on a marmot hole or loose stone, of which there are multitudes, and I was going to be cut into a rather easy two peice jigsaw....

Through divine intervention or runnign out of puff, he finally came to a halt, and cursing I began to try to free my feet.  I managed ot get one out, but it had been stuck so tight, and I had such little leeway, that as i pulle dit out, the final release resulted in a kick back into the horses side, which sent him off again - oh f*ck.

That time was ok too, as he got distracted by a water hole, and I was able ot gently free my other foot.  The rest of the gang caught up, and I complained to the horse man, who undid the rope that had been tying my stirrups together, and, as it turned out, pre-emptively saving my life.

So, after that it was much more comfortable, and my horse seemed content to walk with the herd, which was really cool, being on the steppe, in the sunshine, with a cool breeze in my hair, atop a horse, amid many horses, this is how I love to ride.

Closer to home, with the camp in sight, horsie stopped to graze, and I saw this as my chance to put my jacket back on, having taken it off earlier while we were in the midday sun.  I was moving as gently as possible, and seriously, I have made far more jerky or sudden movements on a horse before, but this one must have sensed I wasnt hodling on properly, and took his chance to bolt again.  And this time he threw me.  It is a funny feeling, realising you are about ot fall off a horse that is galloping - for a split second I considered making the effort to stay on, but to be honest by now I was sick of this recalcitrant beast, and was glad of the excuse to jump ship. 

So jump/fall I did, like, according to eyewitnesses, a stunt woman (curtsy).  horse streaking of into the distance, I was glad I wasnt still on it.  Up I bounced, lit a rollie, and reassured my fellow riders of my physical integrity.

The horse man brought the horse back, and back I got on it, and this time kept him on a tight rein and led him back to the tether.  But that was me, knackered, and pissed off.  So after a hearty lunch in the chill wind, I wasnt reeeeally up for another ride, but I got a different horse, which was nuts in a different way, and had a wee trot for a bit, but my heart wasnt in it, so when th horse decided it had had enough, I didnt argue.

So, here I sit, bruised, thinking of having a beer this evening and then going home for an early night with one of the movies I downloaded.  Bayarte.

Thursday 9 September 2010

four meetings and a party

I am meeting'ed out man.  New VSO vols have arrived, and in addition to the ICT working group meeting, the VolCom meeting, and the Health Programme meeting (5 hours long, starting at 9am on a saturday - WTF!!) I also had an Interpreters Wrking Group meeting. 

We also had a big party to welcome the new volunteers, to what I assure them wil be the most random year of their life, if they make it out alive, and to network with other people in UB.

I cant be bothered to go into it, and bore you with the details, but the Health Programme meeting was really good, and very positive, I was very vocal and attentive, despite the meeting being help the morning after the party, and at parties I tend to dance til 4am, and this one was no exception....

Anyway, the interpreters meeting was also very good, I had a hard time with Zolo at teh beginning, as neither of us knew how to manage the dyamic of volunteer and interpreter, so we learned things the hard way, and I was determined to make sure other people didnt have to.  So I am designing a couple of trianing tools, and have roped Zolo into helping me.

I am starting my proper lectures again tomorrow, after a summer of paperwork, audits and holidays.  I am actually looking forward ot getting bakc into it - especially since getting the translations of my evaluation forms from my las tlot, which included such heartwarming statements as

"After the lessons I organised group training twice.  The nurses were very interested.  It is good if Catherine continues her lessons."

"I have got new information"

"The lessons were interesting, I learned many things that I did not know.  Thank you Catherine.  Thank you Zolo"

woo hoo - I dont need to crawl home a snivelling failure after all.  Something is getting through, and now I am more experienced and imprvingin my teaching, and Zolo is pretty much an expert now on all things nursey, and I have got some kudos in the hospital, things can only get better - right?!?!!

anyway, more importantly than development work - I have a big spot on my cheek, and very dry skin.  This is not acceptable, face masks are making some difference, but with all the dust and crap in the air, I am fighting a losing battle, and now I actually look my real age, its pretty tragic.  Face creams here are stupidly expensive, so I am giving myself inner monologue therapy about getting wrinkles, and how not to have a nervous breakdown about it.....

Most of my pub quiz team has now gone, or quit (you know who you are.....I dont care if you found my competetive approach unnerving.....no one likes a quitter!) so I am gradually rebuilding it, and I think we may emerge a stronger crew.....we have representatives of mongolia, canada, america, and europe.  We have a range of ages and experiences, and I think tonight we are in with a chance of winning, although while it used to be JAG American, and Patio who were our main rivals, the new vso's have formed a formidable team aswell, so it will be a tense battle tonight.

Wish me luck!

Monday 30 August 2010

a candlelit quiz, galloping through the steppe, and the best breakfast ever.

Over the last couple of weeks I have had a right old time of it.  The days after the music festival I took very easy, as I was so tired after the excitement of having Kate to visit, and staying up late so much.  I went with my good friend (now sadly departed, back tot he USA, sad face) to see "Salt" - I think my discernment about films is eroding out here, I just love going to the cinema so much that even this utter drivel I was entertained by, it was a fun watch, but ultimately frivolous, convoluted, and ridiculous.  Sorry Angelina, but I dont rate you one bit as an actress.

Anyway, so for the following week I was just staying in, eating healthy, going to bed early and generally being very quiet.  Went to the pub quiz on thursday and lost at the TIE BREAKER! Such a disappointment.

I even had a quiet weekend!  Although on the sunday I went to play scrabble and have dinner with my elderly friend George, and then I went off to the airport to meet the new VSO vols.

Then from Monday things got fun again..... My friend Naomi came over from JApan where she lives, and we had a really fun week together, all the phots that illustrate this fun time were taken by her.  I have given up on my camera.

So, she arrived on the monday evening, and as part of her travel package, she had a free night in the Byangol hotel, so we decided to sneak me in too.  She arived on Monday evening, and we went for a slap up meal and cocktails before trundling home to chat until we fell asleep.  The next morning I was so super excited to go and have a BUFFET BREAKFAST.  Surely one of the most amazing things imaginable.  OK, so breakfast is my favourite meal, taking time over breakfast, and eating a lot for breakfast is totally my bag.  I also like a varied breakfast. I was in seventh heaven.  Omlette, sausage, rice, fruit, rolls, jam, chilli sauce, mushrooms, coffee, juice, stir fried vegetables, ham, cheese, I had it all. 

the week was spent wandering round the city, looking at museums, markets, finding authentic mongolian cuisine and me making my debut as co-presenter on "strolling through the decades", a radio show that was sadly cancelled last week, helping film for voice box tv, the english language tv show shown on mongolian national television (which i have been on 3 times now, ahem).  We then spent the weekend at a riding camp in the countryside, galloping through the rolling steppe, stopping for a bowl of yoghurt in an old lady's ger, chasing the cows when they tried ot eat her washing, eating hearty grub and watching marmots bounce around.  All of this activity is now documented below in picture form.....

in the museum, we later saw one of these birds on the steppe!



owls in the museum, they make me think of me and my sister when we were young.



a display ger in a shopping centre....




me standing atmospherically by window in shopping centre


Some modern/traditional mongolians
Zolo and I running to lunch through thte rainGerUs riding through the steppe!Me "filming" (nb, this consisted of pressing a button.sleeping in the ger, i am not a "morning person"..my living room...me the radio star, video killed me....
inside old lady's gernewly wedsfilming from a different angle..ger campmy kitchenyou can see a couple of my students this time!laundry munching cooscanteen we often go for lunch intuftel, one of my favourite mongolian meals





the old lady in the ger
Sorry the photos are all out of order, it was an absolute nightmare trying to upload them, for some reason.

Anyway, Naomi left at 4am on the mondya morning, and i had ot go back to work - then my other friends came back from their travels in Urhangei, for some hastily put together supper, as I had to dash out for a leaving do.
We managed to have a quiet night in watching "Rachel getting married" which we took great pleasure in making fun of pretty much all the over inflated characters.  But all agreed that even thought the characters and actors were pretty wack, the film itself was well made and told an interesting story.
Weds another leaving do.  Thursday the PUB QUIZ, the last one for my dear friend Michelle (she who has recently returned to the USA).  It was a special one, as there was a power cut, so we did the quiz in candle light.  very atmospheric.  And then we WON!  Such a glorious victory.

This weekend, I went with two friends to Terelj, just to hang out in the countryside.  I got sunburned, and climbed some rocks.  I also got an early night, but was not impressed to be woken early early but kids playing football, kicking the ball against the side of our ger.

It is getting cold at nights now, and despite the warmish weather, we all know that Winter is on its way.  I have got so much new stuff for my flat, what with all these people leaving and donating stuf they cant/dont want to take with them, but because of the incessant leaving do's and welcome parties i am barely in my flat!

So - as August ends, I look forward to a quieter September, although I have a friend coming for 2 weeks at the end of september, so who knows when I shall manage to catch up on my beauty sleep.....

Monday 9 August 2010

Thats not James, its James!

Wowee, what a week.  I had some days off as I had  friend come to visit me from the UK for a week.  I had to work some of it and as she is also a nurse she came to see me "in action".  Here are a couple of photos, from my lecture at Chingeltei FGP, and me in my training room at the hospital, looking very much like a GEEK!




When I wasnt having to work, I managed to take my friend out to the countryside, where she took some great photos, which I have shamelessly stolen.


This is an Airag stall, Airag s the fermented mare's milk.  A big bowl of it cost 2000₮ and we shared it, passing the bowl around, sipping and grimacing.  Airag is hard to describe, it is like tangy liquid yoghurt, it tastes kind of furry, a bit like desicated coconut, only sharp and also like sour milk....it is an aquired taste to say the least.  To me it tastes a bit "wrong" but I still wanted to drink it....

More camels, because, let face it, you cant have too many pictures of camels, they are the most wondrous beasts imaginable.



LOOK at it!  Its like a donkey only better!  I love them!

dude with a bird, he said it was just four months old....not sure how accurate that is, but it is definately a young;un.

me climbing up a rock

katie and I atop rock

mongoliaaaaaaa

birdie flying

Gollum? No - me squeezing through a crevice!

So, that was the trip to the country, it was really nice, although I did have to chuck a hissy fit that morning, seems to be happening more and more, I think it is jsut the hormones..?! Or maybe I really am just a bit of a highly strung madam.

Katie also took some good shots of the area where I live,

sleeping tramp

Ger district

me by my apartment block
So - that was Katies visit in a nutshell, walking, talking, eating, drinking, riding various animals, etc.

The day she left, I went to a music festival in the countryside, with my friends.  It was ace, at firt the weather was so nice, and the setting was stunning,


There was just one stage, a few food vans and a beer van, and about 400 people we guessed.  It was a very relaxed atmosphere, and the music was on the whole pretty good.


(spot the crusty)
It is quite funny, the mongolians, when watching a band, do not dance.  They stand solemnly still watching intently.  It was just us foreigners that were bopping away.
So, we drank beer and ate kebabs and danced and wandered and sat and talked and laughed, and watched the "Mongolian Choppers", the neo nazi's, on big motorbikes, dressed in full nazi regalia.  It would have been scary if it wasnt so ridiculous.  Plus they were jut not threatening, when it started raining we were all crammed in a tent together, and the nazi's were fine, they mostly just pretended not to see us,  but then there was one drunk and a skunk one who came and shook our hands!



I heard people talking about the fact that there was going to be a British act playing, and then I heard someone saying that James was playing.  Now, there is a band called 'James' and I got well excited thinking it was them, but when I looked up to the stage I saw this guy James up there.  I exclaimed, "thats not James, its JAMES!" to the hilarity of my companions.

So, that was the festie, by about 9pm we had kind of had enough, and then it started POURING with rain, as it has been doing quite often lately.
We commandeered a bus to take us back to UB, a bedraggled but cheerful crew

oh, yeah, so I have been complaining about the intense heat, but I take it all back now it is getting chilly....and keeps raining..........

Ok, enough for now, this week I will be working on more lectures, and proposals for measures to improve patient safety, and stuff.  New VSO's arrive over the weekend, then my other friend is coming from Japan to visit, so there will be another long absence and then another photo-filled post, so watch this space.