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Mongolia: People Among Treasures To Be Found In Mongolia
By Bob Chilmonik
The News-Press
Fort Myers, Fla.
September 29, 2007
My wife Cheryl and I spent a week in eastern Mongolia this summer visiting our daughter, Kim, who is a volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps.
We spent several days in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, visiting local museums and cultural centers, and we spent several days in the village where Kim lives and works as a language instructor in the local school.
Kim graduated from Cape Coral High School in 2003, and graduated from Florida State University in 2006. She joined the Peace Corps in June 2006. She traveled to Mongolia and lived with a host family for several months, learning the culture and taking language classes. This year she taught English to fourth- and eighth-graders in a two-story school that encompasses kindergarten through grade 12.
Mongolia prides itself on a 97.8 percent literacy rate and has been recognized worldwide for this outstanding achievement.
Living and working in her Mongolian village is challenging and rewarding. Kim lives in a ger, which is a round tent-like structure with a stove for burning dung during the cold (-25 degrees) winter days. Dung is used for fuel because it is plentiful, and wood is almost non-existent in this part of Mongolia, which is on the steppe of the Gobi desert. Potablewater is scarce and must be carried from a well for cooking and drinking. A bath house, however, is available for showers for 50 cents (U.S.), and it proved to be clean, well maintained and welcomed after a long day of exploring. Electricity is available at certain times of the day.
The high point of the trip was the bus ride from the capital to Kim's village. It took approximately 10 hours over paved and unpaved roads to reach her site. The buses were Russian manufactured and built strong to withstand the unpaved roads and dusty conditions. The bus broke down once, and the driver and his assistant expertly handled repairs on the spot with no outside help; it appears this is a common occurrence. Restrooms are rare on the bus route, so one must carefully redefine his or her modesty standards to enjoy the adventure.
Upon arrival we were welcomed by school leaders and Kim's "hasha" family, which are Kim's parents away from home, with excitement since we were the first Peace Corps family to visit this site. Her family had set up a ger with electricity and treated us to milk, tea, candy, food and vodka. They introduced us to Mongolian horse racing, which demonstrated the superb riding skills of the young Mongolian participants. The unique part of the horse race is that viewers drove beside the horses in jeeps, cars, and motorcycles.
Our hosts cooked sheep by placing hot rocks in a metal container and steaming the meat until it was well done. This was combined with a vegetable dish, vodka and sweets. Mongolians really enjoy candy.
We also had the opportunity to visit other family members who treated us to milk, tea and refreshments. We visited an archaeological site that appeared to be untouched, as pottery and arrowheads were visible on the ground.
We enjoyed our stay in Mongolia and found the people to be sociable and friendly, with a good sense of humor. There appeared to be no animosity toward Americans, and we felt welcomed throughout the country. While in the capital near the end of our trip, we had the opportunity to meet other Peace Corps volunteers, and we can assure you that the level of dedication to their mission should make all Americans proud. We met volunteers from California, Ohio, and Illinois and they all shared a singular trait: enthusiasm for their jobs.
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