Saying bad words are bad, umm kay.

April 25, 2009

We talked about how to make plurals at my lesson today. I was confused again. Making something plural is something that I’ve wondered about for a long time, so I was glad to learn it, but boy, it is confusing. There are about five different endings that you could possibly use, depending on what kind of word you are pluralising. Then, like almost everything else in Mongolian, you can sometimes use two or three different endings for the same word. Surprisingly, one of the endings is the simple “s,” like we use in English. Not surprising is that using the simple “s” ending is kind of rare.

This evening, I’d made plans to cook for Taivan and his family. Not long after my lesson, I met him at the Democratic Party’s main office. Among his many jobs, one of them is with the DP. I had been invited to hear the DP presidential candidate speak today, but it was at the same time as my lesson, so I couldn’t. I would have liked it, I think. I’m interested in politics in general. When we left, our first stop was at the grocery store where we bought lots of food. He was paying for everything, and wanted the real deal, so I got everything I could find that would be good in fajitas. After buying everything, the only thing we didn’t have was the Ranch dressing that I’d forgotten to bring with me. At his home, I immediately went to the kitchen, acquainted myself with where things were, then got to cooking. It was very helpful that he helped me cut things up. I’ve written before how my knife skills are kind of slow. He saw that quickly and offered to help. I was glad, since that made things go quicker. We were all slathering for fajitas. Unexpectedly, for a guy that brings in a good deal of money, his apartment is newer than mine, but about the same size and setup. We spread a table clothe on the floor and ate in the living/bedroom. As always, it was fun to be reaching across each other and waiting to get at whatever someone else was currently adding to their tortilla. I told them I’d cook pizza for them next time. They’re excited about that, since they’ve both been to America before and really like pizza.

When I left Taivan’s, I met some friends and went to a Korean restaurant. One of the guys is planning on quitting the Peace Corps on Monday, so it’s likely that I won’t ever see him again. (He said he was only planning to stay here as long as it benefited him, and it no longer benefits him.) We decided to have a little get together with him, one last time. Even though I’d just finished a full meal, I still ate a little bit. I really like Korean food. When we left there, we went to karaoke. It’s the same place that we went to before, where we had our own private room. The Mongolians that were with us were punching buttons and singing before we could even get settled. They aren’t the least bit self-conscious about bad singing, like a lot of Americans. As always, I didn’t sing the first note, but I enjoyed watching and hearing everyone else.

April 26, 2009

During today’s lesson, I learned how throwing a single letter in the middle of a sentence can replace an entire word that would go in a different place in the sentence. For example, instead of saying “my only sister,” you can say “sister L.” Or, to say something like “nothing,” “never,” “no one,” or some other negative, you can add “ch” after “thing,” “time,” or “one.” That was good to learn, cause those things are used in writing all the time.

On the way to my lesson yesterday, I saw a jeans store. I stopped in to check out the price and the quality and decided that I was going to buy a pair. It’s a Wrangler store that also sells Lee’s. I went back with money today and found a pair that I kind of liked for a price that I was willing to pay. Just like in the U.S., some of them costed close to $100. I found a pair of Lee’s for 58,500tg, that are almost too cool for me. They are the kind that look like they’ve already been wore and worn out, with holes in a couple places. I was sure to make sure that it only looked like holes and that there were sturdy patches on the backside. My waist is a size 34, but I always bought 36’s in the U.S., just cause I liked the way they fit. In the U.S., though, I had a lot more selection and usually bought my jeans from American Eagle or GAP. The 36 Lee’s I tried on didn’t fit like I wanted around my thighs, so I ended up buying 38’s. Oh, and they have a button-up fly. I really don’t care for that; but like I said, they costed the price that I was willing to pay.

When I got to the market, I found that I’d barely missed the meeker. Dang it! I was standing there with a couple other people from my town, trying to figure if I was going to have to stay in UB another day when another guy from our town came along, smiling. When asked, he told us that he had a car. How lucky! I was ready to go home, to my own apartment. Another good thing is that, unlike most people who have private cars, he didn’t charge us more than the meeker price. Usually, people with their own cars will charge at least 500tg more. Before I got in the car, I was sure to get some “boats” for the ride.

Yesterday, on my way to meet Taivan, I walked by a book vendor that I always see. I always walk by slowly to see if there is anything that catches my eye. He lays his books out along the corner of a building, and on the wall he had a humongous map of Mongolia. He’d had it marked down to 5,000tg, from 8,000tg and wasn’t willing to do any kind of haggling. At about 3ft x 6ft, that was a good deal, so I bought one. I taped it to the wall in my living/bedroom when I got home. Man, that thing is big! It’s an old map, from 1992, but it’s still cool.

My cable was finally fixed Friday, after being off for about a month. When I talked to the cable guy a few weeks ago, he told me that someone had cut the cable in my building, and he was going to fix it that day. True to Mongolian style, it wasn’t fixed that day. Tonight was the first time I’ve watched TV in almost a month. I had all the channels memorised before, but now they are all different. Since he determines all that stuff in his office, at the main reception box, I don’t know what that has to do with the cable that was cut in my building. While watching the news, I learned about the current Pig Flu Scare that is going on in the world. According to the articles that I’ve read, a flu pandemic can hardly ever be successfully predicted, but I hope you take care of yourself. Take all the precautions you can.

April 27, 2009

“I’m Khalkh! I’m a real Mongolian!” That what I heard one of my friends say this last weekend. She was just being silly while talking to another Mongolian girl, but when I heard her say that, I stopped and looked at her. When I asked her to clarify, she repeated the same thing. I told her that, yes, she was a real Mongolian, but so were the other ethnic Mongolians that aren’t Khalkh. Just cause there aren’t as many of them doesn’t mean they aren’t real Mongolians. When she tried to argue with me, I said, “That’s the same as me telling my friend that has Korean parents that he’s not a real American, because he isn’t white. Or, even worse, it’s like telling one of my black friends that they aren’t a real American, because they aren’t white.” She said, “That’s different, cause American people came from a different place before living in America.” I said, “Okay, well, in that case, you’re not a real Mongolian, because no matter how long ago it was, Mongolians came from somewhere else before settling in Mongolia.” She didn’t have anything to say to that. I really dislike racism; even the subtle kind. I’m sure it’s because I’m from the outside looking in, but I notice it here in Mongolia more than I ever have before. Whenever I see or hear it, I try to do my best to say something, with the hopes that every little bit helps. It’s a tough job, though.

The following story is copied from a friend’s blog.

A Mongolian Children's Folk Tale
Once upon a time there were four animal friends walking in the forest. A wolf, a fox, a hedgehog, and a rabbit. Suddenly, they found a bottle of vodka in the middle of the road! However, they thought that the bottle was too small to share amongst the four of them, so they decided that whoever got drunk the quickest would be allowed to drink the entire bottle their self.

"I get drunk after just one taste of vodka," said the wolf.
"I get drunk after just one smell of vodka," said the fox.
"I get drunk after just one look at vodka," said the hedgehog.
"I get drunk after just hearing about vodka," slurred the rabbit.

So the rabbit won and got to drink the entire bottle of vodka by himself. THE END.

This evening, just as I was finishing my dinner, washing clothes, and watching a movie, Tsegii knocked on my door. Cool, I thought, I always enjoy her company. That is, until one of the high school students followed her in. I knew there had to be some kind of reason that I wasn’t going to really care for. Sure enough, I was right. It’s getting to be the end of the school year, so they are all preparing for upcoming tests. He had a notebook full of English questions and he wanted me to help him with it. He told me that his test is tomorrow. Dang it! The first thing I said was, “What’s up, man?” In Mongolian, he said, “Huh?” In English, I said, “What is your name?” In Mongolian, he said, “Huh?” I saw where this was going, and I wanted no part of it. In Mongolian, I asked him what he wanted and he told me that he wanted the answers. I sat down next to him with the notebook and started on number 1. He didn’t understand a single word. The sentence said something about a photographer and that “reminded” him that he was supposed to have his picture taken at school – at that exact moment. He left and didn’t take his notebook. Tsegii and I started going through it, and I used it as a lesson for her. The boy was supposed to come right back but didn’t. After 30 minutes, I asked his teacher if he had a test tomorrow and why he was asking me for help. She said that he did not have a test and that he was not in class this morning when she gave them the answers. I immediately took the notebook from Tsegii and told her that we were not going to do it for him, since he should be asking his friends for the answers; especially since he wasn’t even here to learn anything. To make it even worse, some of the sentences were grammatically incorrect; and some of them didn’t have the right answer. That really made me mad. It’s almost 11 now, and he still hasn’t shown up. Grr!

April 28, 2009

Yay!! Today, we got an email talking about the results of the Living Allowance Survey that we filled out a couple months ago concerning Peace Corps/Mongolia. In order for anything to be taken into account by Washington, D.C. (the people who set our salary), at least 75% of PCVs had to fill it out and turn it in. Over 90% of us did so, which is almost unheard of in the Peace Corps. As a result, two things will change, as of May 1, 2009. The base pay will increase to 196,400tg, and all PCVs will be paid the same, no matter where they are in the country! Before, people living in UB were paid the most, due to highest prices; people in so-called “special aimag centres” were paid more, due to high prices; and people in the countryside were paid the least, due to the lowest prices. Even though people in the countryside had often complained about having to pay as much as people in UB, in some cases, due to the distance from everything else, it didn’t matter until these surveys were filled out and Washington, D.C. could see it officially. That will be awesome for them, since that will be about 40,000tg more for them, per month. It means 21,000tg more for me, per month. I can definitely use it.

Last night, I was talking to a buddy and he told me about the awesome French fries that he’d made. That reminded me that I hadn’t eaten any good fries in a long time. Since I’d never made any before, I thought I’d give it a try tonight. I looked up a recipe for a simple batter, then got to cutting up potatoes and onions. It didn’t take long to make and fry them all. While I was in the fridge, I saw my bacon and was reminded of an article I read a while back talking about some place in the U.S. that batters and deep-fries strips of bacon and thought I’d try it. I mixed together a lot of catsup and mayo, got some Ranch, then sat down to my dinner. It was yummy, greasy goodness. I’m sure I’ll regret all the grease tomorrow, but until then, it was totally worth it.

April 29, 2009

Those of you that know me well know that I have worn a hemp necklace almost every day for the last 10+ years. I wear it partly just because I think it’s cool, but a big reason is because I am a strong supporter for the legalisation of hemp in the U.S. Because of my interest in this subject, I have just finished reading a book called The Emperor Wears No Clothes, by Jack Herer. This is a very informative book that details all the uses of hemp (e.g., clothe, fuel, food, medicine, reversing the greenhouse effect, etc., etc.) and the “conspiracy” of the government to maintain its illegality. If this piques your interest, go to your nearest library and pick up a copy. It’s a very enlightening look about the history of the U.S. and its politics concerning hemp.

May 1, 2009

This evening, Shuree and four of her students came from UB to my home. I’ve been telling them for quite some time about all the good food that I cook and they’ve always get excited just hearing about it. I’ve always told them that they are more than welcome to visit me and I’ll cook for them. They finally decided that they would come today. Originally, they were to leave UB at 5. Since they are Mongolian, it was 6:45 before they left, which put them here around 8:30. When they arrived, the five women came in and got settled in right at the same time I put the first pizza in the oven. As soon as the first one came out, I put the second one in. After cooling, that first pizza was quickly eaten. Only because they are girls (I think) and they don’t eat as much as the same number of guys, two pizzas were all they needed. I’d prepared enough dough for four pizzas but didn’t need it all. You know what that means: I will get to eat pizza at least two days in the coming week! I’m looking forward to that.

They didn’t stay very long before they left, but I’ve been up late tonight, doing random things. I hope you are good. Write when you can/want. I always like hearing from you. Take care.

P.S. Mom was nice (brave?) enough to point out a spelling/grammar mistake that I’d made last week. I was sure to fix it immediately. If you happen to see anything like that in any of my postings, please let me know. I really dislike those kinds of things.