So we're off to Khovsgol this morning. It's raining and we have to walk to the bus stop. Annoying. I have packed very, very minimal clothes. I'm a bit worried.
I also have to leave my passport behind so I can get a Russian visa and am SUPER worried that my 'Alien Registration Card' won't be counted as official ID and I won't be allowed on the plane. Like SUPER dupEr worried. But it's that or not go to Russia - I'll do the best I can and if I have to, I'll have to come home and grab my passport.
My phone isn't working either so there will be no update on anything for the next week (I don't think).
So, have a lovely week - dad and I will also have a lovely week.... and we'll catch up in 7 days!
xox
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
My mum is amazing
Last night I picked my dad up from the airport. At 1:30am. Quite inconvenient, but totally worth it. My friend from work drove me to the airport and we timed it quite nicely – we arrived as he was getting off the plane. He was pooped, so we came home and went to bed.
Above: my dad in front of Chinggis at Sukhbaatar Square
Dad brought with him spoils from Australia. Granted I sent a list of desirables, but ALL my wishes came true. Above: a care package to trump all care packages. 1kg of Allens Retro Party mix; 2 packets of Cherry Ripes; thongs; cold and flu tablets; muesli bars; spices; a BIG jar of vegemite (omitted from the photo as it was already in the kitchen); vitamin E tablets; a BIG Cherry Ripe; a BIG Turkish Delight; sour worms and some amazing ‘Australia’ lollies.
My list was long and I thought it through a lot before I sent it, but I forgot the all-important potato peerler. My mum’s a pretty big potato eater and highly values a decent potato peeler. This peeler has been a part of our family for at leat 8 years I reckon and it’s still going strong. And strong it will stay – in Mongolia! Don’t worry mum, it’ll go to good use and I’ll bring it home safely. If Mongolians ate things OTHER than mutton and potatoes, I wouldn’t need a peeler.
I also got a pretty dress – which made me so happy. One of my favourites (okay, they’re all my favourites. But this one’s cute). And a jacket, a skirt, and my favourites – some new shirts. The right size, totally the right colour (only my mum would know what colour and style I want without asking)….. To be honest, it feels better than Christmas and it’s all a little overwhelming as we’re in SUCH a hurry to organise our camping trip and then the next camping trip after that and then the Russia trip after that………. I don’t get time to sit and play with my new stuff. I’ll put it in a pile and do that when I get back.
Above: A magazine fix, some delicious nut and LOT of home made beef jerky.
Dad had a sleep in this morning and I had great intentions. I was going to get to work, do a most-of-all-day day of work and then organise our trip to Russia and then grab the stuff we needed for camping and blah blah it didn’t happen. By the time I walked to the shops to get some bread and milk for dad, it was 10:30am (remembering bed time was around 2am the previous night). Then we had to have some coffee and went for a wander to the travel agent. In typical Mong style, the agent wasn’t particularly friendly but we were told to come back to talk to someone else later in the day. So dad and I went shopping for a little gas stove and other things. We ended up with a rich pile of spoils and helped an Israeli backpacker to boot. Dad got a new SUPER warm jacket from North Face or something like that. I got a spray jacket (in blue and pink – what more could you want), and two of those cool inflatable foam mattress things to take camping. We also ended up with a saucepan set that folds up all small, two little stools, a solar hot water shower and a torch/lamp.
Wandering around that much made us sleepy. I went back to the travel agent to see what could be done. I was super apprehensive – I mean, what’s a travel agent that you’ve already given one shot got to give you when you know the owner is Russian and the manager is Mongolian who speaks Russian. I don’t have anything against Russians, but usually the few that stayed behind post-Soviet era are a bit spiteful and resentful. This lady gave me the impression she was a little, maybe because I was in her waiting room sucking on an ice block (it was hot today!).
Qualms aside, after a bit of joking and sucking up, her true colours shone and she is great! She helped me SO much. Turns out you can get $45 bus ticket to Lake Baikal. No shit. You leave at 7:30am and arrive in the evening. The bus is comfortable apparently. It’s quicker and cheaper than the train. And you get to see the countryside. I’m sure my bum will get sore, but too bad. It’ll learn to get over it.
We’re getting accommodation for around $45/night. We’ll be going to Ulan Ude for a couple of nights and then catching the train to Irkutsk. From there we will take the CircumBaikal railway (Google it, you’ll be jealous) and also go across to Olkhon Island and stay a few nights. I get to go to the Limnological Museum (I’ll tell you what it means once I’ve been but it has rocks so I’m excited).
Lake Baikal is the oldest and deepest Lake in the world. 80% of the species in/around the Lake Baikal are endemic. I’m pretty excited. Hells yeah!!!!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Trial post from phone
In order to save my laptop from a sudden death in Khovsgol lake, falling from the jeep or being trampled by horses, I am attempting to blog via my amazing Android phone that I came to Mongolia with by default.
I'm heading to the gym while Sarah attempts to figure out our Russian problem. Turns out vladivostok is not in a volunteers budget. Nevermind. Maybe just Irkutsk and Ulan Ude.
I'm heading to the gym while Sarah attempts to figure out our Russian problem. Turns out vladivostok is not in a volunteers budget. Nevermind. Maybe just Irkutsk and Ulan Ude.
posted from Bloggeroid
Nothing's ever good enough....
That's not true. Just sometimes I feel like it. I have this awesome digital SLR camera that has everything I want on it (except a better ISO and aperture range and video camera), but I want a new one. That has the better ISO range, aperture range and a video camera.
I also have an amazing little laptop that I did heaps of research on and got the perfect one for Mongolia and my job. It is great, but now I'm too scared to take it anywhere and I want to buy a netbook to take away on field trips with me. Which is silly.
Our microwave's broken too. One day the door just stopped working... It's a bugger because I'd made a lot of ready-to-go-in-the--microwave dinners. Now I'll have to 'stir fry' soup with rice and spagbol (although I imagine the mutton spag bol will be there a while).
When it rains at home, you get wet from the rain. In Mongolia (UB particularly), you get wet not from the rain above (it's hardly rain), you get wet from cars driving past you and driving through puddles just to SPLOOSH you with all the water they possibly can. Most do it on purpose. Sometimes it's unavoidable.
I watched 10000BC last night. I can safely say it's one of the worst movies I've ever watched.
We've got moths eating our clothes. Annoying! All my good clothes are getting holes in them. I thought it was the washing machine, or the hard water, or the strong washing powder. But it's not. It's moths. And I can't find mothballs. I'm sure I've seen them somewhere. I'll have to have a proper look. And if I have to get those stinky ones, so be it. I'll just wear extra perfume.
The Australian government sent some safety/security people too. It was great. I mean, they'll do nothing to help us here now (it's for future people), but it makes you feel like they're doing something. My Mongolian friend met them and said quietly 'oh wow, I can't believe they've come to make sure your work is safe. If was overseas I know that the Mongolian government would never care'. She also said one of the security guys was sexy. The 'sexy' one was also my favourite - mainly because his fiance's father is someone high up in Arrow and we talked CSG and it made me so happy. He was actually interested and he had some interesting stuff to say. Ahhhhhhh nothing like a good rock talk.
I'm suppose to be reading my journal articles. All those ones I downloaded in December last year. Yup, it's June. They're not very exciting, and they all are saying the same thing:
I also have an amazing little laptop that I did heaps of research on and got the perfect one for Mongolia and my job. It is great, but now I'm too scared to take it anywhere and I want to buy a netbook to take away on field trips with me. Which is silly.
Our microwave's broken too. One day the door just stopped working... It's a bugger because I'd made a lot of ready-to-go-in-the--microwave dinners. Now I'll have to 'stir fry' soup with rice and spagbol (although I imagine the mutton spag bol will be there a while).
When it rains at home, you get wet from the rain. In Mongolia (UB particularly), you get wet not from the rain above (it's hardly rain), you get wet from cars driving past you and driving through puddles just to SPLOOSH you with all the water they possibly can. Most do it on purpose. Sometimes it's unavoidable.
I watched 10000BC last night. I can safely say it's one of the worst movies I've ever watched.
We've got moths eating our clothes. Annoying! All my good clothes are getting holes in them. I thought it was the washing machine, or the hard water, or the strong washing powder. But it's not. It's moths. And I can't find mothballs. I'm sure I've seen them somewhere. I'll have to have a proper look. And if I have to get those stinky ones, so be it. I'll just wear extra perfume.
The Australian government sent some safety/security people too. It was great. I mean, they'll do nothing to help us here now (it's for future people), but it makes you feel like they're doing something. My Mongolian friend met them and said quietly 'oh wow, I can't believe they've come to make sure your work is safe. If was overseas I know that the Mongolian government would never care'. She also said one of the security guys was sexy. The 'sexy' one was also my favourite - mainly because his fiance's father is someone high up in Arrow and we talked CSG and it made me so happy. He was actually interested and he had some interesting stuff to say. Ahhhhhhh nothing like a good rock talk.
I'm suppose to be reading my journal articles. All those ones I downloaded in December last year. Yup, it's June. They're not very exciting, and they all are saying the same thing:
Mongolia is having trouble post-Soviet era
Mongolia has thin, highly degraded soils
Mongolia doesn't know the best way to manage soils
Mongolia has a 80% inhospitable environment
Day one of Selenge field trip
We met a herder group shearing their sheep, visited an ancient Dalai Lama temple and travelled a LOT!
A school dormitory in Orkhon province
Two videos – I haven’t got around to the rest yet! Dad’s arriving tonight – I’m so excited!
I forgot to mention I got a hair cut on the weekend. I’d been to this beauty salon a few times and they were nice and I trusted them. Now I don’t. My hair has stupid shitty layers that are shorter than I have ever had before and I’ve got my mullet haircut back. I’m SO angry. The lady that owns the joint speaks english (she lived in the US for 5 years) and translated – and told her hairdresser I only wanted 2cm off my hair, a ‘trim’. Then he hacked it with those stupid ‘thinning’ scissors because he said my hair was ‘too damaged’ which is bullshit because my hair is super healthy. So the shorter bits of hair have gone boofy and now I have to grow it back over another two bloody years. I cried in the shower when I got home. Bloody idiot shitty hairdresser.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Feeling (a lot) guilty
Three photos:
1. me in front of the sign at work (Ministry of Finance)
2. The parcel I got from Ashleigh Webb when I got back from the field
3. Playing jenga at a house party
So why am I feeling guilty?
Next month – that would be the month of July – I will be at work doing work for only two days. The rest will be spent playing with reindeer, going on work holidays with everyone in our office, going to Russia (Lake Baikal and Vladivostok) and playing during Nadaam.
I don’t feel like I deserve it. I haven’t worked for any of it.
Dad gets here on Thursday, which I am so excited about it. And then the fun starts. 1.5months of totally hectic, overlapping days of field trips, work holidays, public holidays, personal holidays…….
It’s really weird. I totally, totally appreciate it all.
Monday, June 20, 2011
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