A few weeks ago, my school had a Saturday-long track and field competition. When I made the mistake of producing my camera from my pocket, it was deftly snatched (so that pictures of me with students could be taken, whether I wanted them to be or not.) Just about every event to which I bring my camera turns out this way. I suppose I am appreciative, as it means that I get to be in a few photos. It also gives me a great excuse for poor lensmanship.
I was supposed to participate in a footrace, but it was scheduled on the same day as a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first private hospital in Dornod province. The two were not initially supposed to conflict, but the race was delayed by more than three hours. This gave me the unique opportunity to change from the sweats in which I had jogged to my school to the full suit I had brought along in my backpack. This was accomplished in the elementary school’s gymnasium dressing room, while three female gym teachers, inquisitive and unabashed, observed the entire procedure. For about five minutes. This was despite many clearings of the throat and significant glances from me. Oh well, the Greek prefix “gymno” does mean naked after all… Alas, I achieved only boxers. The hospital pictures are the last two in this set.
Here are a variety of classroom pictures. Some are from my regular classes, some from my English clubs, and some from my lessons for teachers of other subjects. Also included are pictures of the English resource room at School 6, which I hope to replicate at my school during my time here, some cool Mongolian script which is written in such a way that it resembles the animal that it articulates, and a few class photos. Most of the ladies in the picture of me with 6 classy dames standing around me are my English-teaching counterparts.
I’ve tried to take some outdoor shots while here, but the desire to capture something significant has lead to a pretty pronounced dearth of Choibalsan photography. 0984 through 0989 are from a fishing trip that I took with my main counterpart, Jagaa’s, family just outside of town. Note the tile Mongolian flag next to the Hammer and Sickle on the side of the building next to my apartment in 0996. 1020-1026 are from our first severe dumping of snow, 1102-1141 are stray kids and stray dogs, and 1322 onwards are my newfound winter wonderland.
I recently had the spectacular opportunity to attend a wedding. Not just any Mongolian nuptial, but a Buryat one. The Buryats are an ethnic group that is mostly concentrated in Siberia, but also has a sizable population in Eastern Mongolia, particularly in Dornod province. The event was held in a Buryat-owned and run hotel, which had several family crests and traditional Buryat dels on display. Picture 1155 features a coworker of mine next to his family’s blazonry. They are the clan of the White Hog. Note the “r”-shaped design on the male mannequin in 1159. The embroidery there is unique to each clan. As to the ceremony, the bride (who is the social worker from my school) is in forest green with gold trim. The groom, who is employed as the technology teacher at the prestigious School number 1, is in a brown del with a gray cowboy hat. They can both be seen in 1189, 1196, 1205, and 1218. My powerful, generous, and kind director can be espied hugging the bride in 1227, and my main counterpart, Jagaa, is in lime green in 1271. The woman closest to the camera in 1201 and 1270 is Byamba, with whom I also work closely. She is simply a spectacular elementary school methodologist.
Fruit and vegetables were in abundant supply (quite the rarity here.) I singlehandedly ate all 20-25 mandarins on my table and the surrounding two tables, while an appreciative crowd murmuringly observed my ever-increasing peel pile. The entire rear haunch of an enormous sheep was served, and it is customary that everybody must take a bite of it in order to wish the new pair good luck in their relationship. It can be seen in 1163, 1183, and 1189. Lasagna is considered quite the foreign delicacy here in Choibalsan, and this Buryat hotel is the only place I know of that serves it. When I commented that mine (1210) looked like a bird, Jagaa retorted that hers, pictured in 1212, was then clearly a drunken bird. I convinced her to give it a thumbs-up for the camera.
Speaking of drunken, it was about this time that the vodka was decanted. And by “decanted” I am referring to a deluge. I was lucky to have Jagaa and my director sitting at my table and helping me get away with turning down a few shots because frankly, shit got pretty crazy. It was around this time that my camera, as per usual, was taken from me and passed from inebriated hand to inebriated hand. Abruptly, a rave started. Terrible Russian techno blared, and Mongolians of all ages leapt from their seats to dance. Alas, most of those pictures turned out too blurry to decipher. The remainder is posted below. All in all, it was a very good night.
We have been engaged in red ribbon-making for much of this week. World AIDS day, December 1st, is fast approaching. Our capable VSO health volunteers, Raj from India and Jay from the Philippines, have scheduled a bonanza of festivities, the likes of which shall not be seen again for many turnings of the Earth. There will be intensive training sessions for school health teachers, screenings of informational films, and a HIV/AIDS trivia competition among all the local secondary schools. I, for my part, am extremely excited to wear a cape and hand out red ribbons and condoms. To each his own…
And to top it all off, a few random pictures from my apartment. Enjoy the realistically-rendered rendition on the front of my PC cook book of Paul, our PCMO. Marvel at my bedspread, which my director enthusiastically told me had been taken from a kindergartener’s bed. Swoon at Amanda posing in a cap that she pilfered from Geoff. Gasp at the awful afflictions against which I have been supplied with curatives and remedies abounding. Ooh and ah at comely cooking, Lindsay with some impressively brackish laundry water, some of the best Beer Die throwing poise and distracting poses you have yet encountered, and general revelry abounding.
I was supposed to participate in a footrace, but it was scheduled on the same day as a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first private hospital in Dornod province. The two were not initially supposed to conflict, but the race was delayed by more than three hours. This gave me the unique opportunity to change from the sweats in which I had jogged to my school to the full suit I had brought along in my backpack. This was accomplished in the elementary school’s gymnasium dressing room, while three female gym teachers, inquisitive and unabashed, observed the entire procedure. For about five minutes. This was despite many clearings of the throat and significant glances from me. Oh well, the Greek prefix “gymno” does mean naked after all… Alas, I achieved only boxers. The hospital pictures are the last two in this set.
Here are a variety of classroom pictures. Some are from my regular classes, some from my English clubs, and some from my lessons for teachers of other subjects. Also included are pictures of the English resource room at School 6, which I hope to replicate at my school during my time here, some cool Mongolian script which is written in such a way that it resembles the animal that it articulates, and a few class photos. Most of the ladies in the picture of me with 6 classy dames standing around me are my English-teaching counterparts.
I’ve tried to take some outdoor shots while here, but the desire to capture something significant has lead to a pretty pronounced dearth of Choibalsan photography. 0984 through 0989 are from a fishing trip that I took with my main counterpart, Jagaa’s, family just outside of town. Note the tile Mongolian flag next to the Hammer and Sickle on the side of the building next to my apartment in 0996. 1020-1026 are from our first severe dumping of snow, 1102-1141 are stray kids and stray dogs, and 1322 onwards are my newfound winter wonderland.
I recently had the spectacular opportunity to attend a wedding. Not just any Mongolian nuptial, but a Buryat one. The Buryats are an ethnic group that is mostly concentrated in Siberia, but also has a sizable population in Eastern Mongolia, particularly in Dornod province. The event was held in a Buryat-owned and run hotel, which had several family crests and traditional Buryat dels on display. Picture 1155 features a coworker of mine next to his family’s blazonry. They are the clan of the White Hog. Note the “r”-shaped design on the male mannequin in 1159. The embroidery there is unique to each clan. As to the ceremony, the bride (who is the social worker from my school) is in forest green with gold trim. The groom, who is employed as the technology teacher at the prestigious School number 1, is in a brown del with a gray cowboy hat. They can both be seen in 1189, 1196, 1205, and 1218. My powerful, generous, and kind director can be espied hugging the bride in 1227, and my main counterpart, Jagaa, is in lime green in 1271. The woman closest to the camera in 1201 and 1270 is Byamba, with whom I also work closely. She is simply a spectacular elementary school methodologist.
Fruit and vegetables were in abundant supply (quite the rarity here.) I singlehandedly ate all 20-25 mandarins on my table and the surrounding two tables, while an appreciative crowd murmuringly observed my ever-increasing peel pile. The entire rear haunch of an enormous sheep was served, and it is customary that everybody must take a bite of it in order to wish the new pair good luck in their relationship. It can be seen in 1163, 1183, and 1189. Lasagna is considered quite the foreign delicacy here in Choibalsan, and this Buryat hotel is the only place I know of that serves it. When I commented that mine (1210) looked like a bird, Jagaa retorted that hers, pictured in 1212, was then clearly a drunken bird. I convinced her to give it a thumbs-up for the camera.
Speaking of drunken, it was about this time that the vodka was decanted. And by “decanted” I am referring to a deluge. I was lucky to have Jagaa and my director sitting at my table and helping me get away with turning down a few shots because frankly, shit got pretty crazy. It was around this time that my camera, as per usual, was taken from me and passed from inebriated hand to inebriated hand. Abruptly, a rave started. Terrible Russian techno blared, and Mongolians of all ages leapt from their seats to dance. Alas, most of those pictures turned out too blurry to decipher. The remainder is posted below. All in all, it was a very good night.
We have been engaged in red ribbon-making for much of this week. World AIDS day, December 1st, is fast approaching. Our capable VSO health volunteers, Raj from India and Jay from the Philippines, have scheduled a bonanza of festivities, the likes of which shall not be seen again for many turnings of the Earth. There will be intensive training sessions for school health teachers, screenings of informational films, and a HIV/AIDS trivia competition among all the local secondary schools. I, for my part, am extremely excited to wear a cape and hand out red ribbons and condoms. To each his own…
And to top it all off, a few random pictures from my apartment. Enjoy the realistically-rendered rendition on the front of my PC cook book of Paul, our PCMO. Marvel at my bedspread, which my director enthusiastically told me had been taken from a kindergartener’s bed. Swoon at Amanda posing in a cap that she pilfered from Geoff. Gasp at the awful afflictions against which I have been supplied with curatives and remedies abounding. Ooh and ah at comely cooking, Lindsay with some impressively brackish laundry water, some of the best Beer Die throwing poise and distracting poses you have yet encountered, and general revelry abounding.
