Musings on the Election

Yesterday was the Presidential Election in Mongolia. President is, naturally, a big deal, though not quite as big as in the United States because Mongolia also has a Prime Minister. Mongolia also has eight active political parties, and there were three main candidates in this election: the incumbent (Democratic Party), the main challenger (a former wrestler, forget his party), and the female candidate from the Mongolian People's Party (which was the socialist party and hence the leading party during the socialist period).

The campaign season here lasts only a month, and the posters and rallies were relatively subdued and civil (again compared to the U.S.) Here's a look at Monday's (and the only) presidential debate, where you can see all three candidates. The current President Elbegdorj shows up about 3 minutes.



I thought the timing system was interesting (no rebuttals, not that any of the candidates really directly talked about their opponents), and there was also a sign language interpreter. I still haven't found anyone who knows whether Mongolian sign language is a domestic language or if it's an adaptation of Russian sign language or what, and I haven't managed to ask the only deaf Mongolian person I know (he's an artist that comes into the office infrequently and always asks to borrow my pen).

Anyways, another interesting feature of the Mongolian election system is if no candidate wins over 50% of the vote, they hold a run-off election a week later. Though there aren't really any systematic polls run by the government, anecdotally most people felt that Elbegdorj would be re-elected but that a run-off might be necessary. Bat-Erdene, the former wrestler and current Member of Parliament, was seen as the second strongest contender. Udval, the female MPP candidate, was considered too closely linked to former President Enkhbayar, who is still in prison on charges of corruption. Some people felt Udval's candidacy was attempting to follow South Korea's example of electing a female president, and her campaign used a lot of "mother" imagery which was interesting. In the end though, Elbegdorj was elected for his second (and final) four-year term. The democratic party also has the majority in parliament currently, so hopefully the next years will be very productive. We shall see...

Things that make me smile

I have two favorite security guards in my office building, and I particularly love the way one of them draws out the word goodbye "bayaaaaar-taiiiii". we're pretty tight, me and him, talking about the weather sometimes, how many people are still working in the office, etc.

this totoro picture on seoul street. on days when it rains, the rain run-off pours down the drainage spout directly over him, and it looks like totoro is using his umbrella. it melts my heart, just a bit.

the penguin statues by the weather center building that i pass whenever i walk over by the national museum.

opening my second-to-last jar of four cheese pasta sauce. tonight, i shall feast!

and speaking of feasting, this friday i will host a dinner for my co-workers. i have the menu all planned, the meat purchased and cut (many thanks to my friend), and my coworker will come over a little early with wine glasses and serving spoons to help :)

other things i love...my leather belt, that i have yet to take a picture of (will work on that)

the T. bataar museum, and it's fantastic(ly unfinished) website


and of course, my friends. new and old, near and far, pictured and not pictured, i am thankful for them.

today marks one month exactly until i return to the u.s. i can't believe how much has happened in the past nine, and i know this last month will be a blur of ACM happenings as I finish out my research work, as well as seeing a whirlwind of people and the accompanying eating and laughing and living. I'm not sure what all will happen, but I trust that the day knows :)

Easy Listening

My friend and I recently went to the music store to pick up a mix of folk and contemporary music. I was particularly excited to score the latest album by my favorite Mongolian band, A Sound.
So far, this is my favorite song of the new album: Lullaby



I also scored a copy of "A Tribute to the Beatles", a cover album where different artists translated famous Beatles songs into Mongolian. Here's A Sound's cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"



The Beatles are very popular in Mongolia, there's the famous Beatles statue just south of the State Department Store (that I've somehow neglected to get a picture of? will do soon) and I've even come across a "Beatles Club" NGO in my research.


Jazz is also very popular in modern Mongolian music, and I saw two different compilation albums from various artists. Besides Arga Bileg, the ethnojazz band that *fingers crossed* while be playing in Bloomington this September, I also really like the piano duo Kush & Oyuka.




And for your last sampling of Mongolian contemporary pop/rock, I recently discovered the band "Shar Airag" (which translates to "beer"), and their new single "Shine ogloo" ("new morning") reminds me a little of a Mongolian Jason Mraz, an interesting dynamic.

Ballet in Mongolia

Last week was the culminating of several months of discussion and planning- the Stars of American Ballet two night performance in Ulaanbaatar. It was a beautiful, frantic, awkward, awesome experience (beautiful= seeing the final ballet itself performed by top performers of the New York City Ballet, frantic- ever-changing timetables and cutting all the gels for the lights, awkward- my uncomfortable tulle skirt and trying to interact with professional ballet dancers, awesome= getting a behind the scenes look at putting together a ballet performance), but ballet has a very long history in Mongolia.

Here's an excellent summary of ballet's significance in Mongolia, put together by a journalist I know for Eurasianet



This year the State Opera and Ballet Theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary, so it's been a good year in Mongolia for ballet.

And finally, a group shot of the ACM ladies.

Scale and Scope

This past weekend I took the train down to Sainshand to visit Khamriin Hiid, a spiritual landscape centered around the figure of Danzanravjaa (the Lama of the Gobi). My friends and I came prepared with rice, juniper, incense sticks, hadags (prayer cloths), milk, and vodka to make offerings at the various sites and to ask for blessings for ourselves and our loved ones. I had visited the area in 2007 and seen the Danzanravjaa Museum, but it was a real pleasure to experience the train again (very comfortable sleeping, rocked to sleep by the clack of the wheels on the tracks) and to get to know the landscape and the traditions better.

While telling my family about it, I realized it's very difficult to talk about the scope of the landscape in Mongolia and travelling. A lot of sightseeing in Mongolia isn't looking at "sites", it's just experiencing nature- land under the big blue sky. And because it's such a geographically large country, there's a lot to experience.

I made a map of the locations (outside of UB) that I've visited this spring- Terelj National Park (and the nearby Chinggis Khan Statue Complex/Tsonjin Boldog and the 13th Century Camp), Amarbayasgalant Monastery in Selenge Province, and Sainshand and Khamriin Hiid in Dornogovi Province.

(modified from this map: http://www.vidiani.com/maps/maps_of_asia/maps_of_mongolia/large_detailed_administrative_map_of_mongolia.jpg)


Heading south or north from UB is certainly a sizeable trip, but to head east or west is even longer- one reason why I've only been as far as Kharkhorum and that was only once. Overall I'm pleased with the amount (and expense) of travel I've taken here, and who knows- I'm still here for five more weeks and another opportunity might turn up. But for now, I'm glad to be back at my apartment in UB.

trauma goldfish

with the advent of summer, more and more people I know have been arriving to Mongolia and more and more activities are happening at work. this all combines to mean that it can be impossible to plan ahead more than 12 hours, at least with any certainty you'll be able to keep plans as promised.

pre-mongolia teresa would find this incredibly stressful. if i would plan something in the evening back in the u.s. i would want at least a day's notice to shift around my meal plans, clothing selection, and work load. here, it's just part of life. i would like to think i'm becoming more easy-going, more zen...i somehow doubt that that is true though.

there's been a lot of really wonderful events recently and i've done a poor job of writing them up for the blog. here's just a few:


Two weeks ago I connected up again with the University of Culture and Arts, my official sponsor, to discuss how my research has gone and to work on my exit letter. In some ways it feels like 9 months has gone very fast, and it felt great to look at my "final" reports and see how much data I have collected. I also got to go to a concert by famous Inner Mongolian singer Urna



Last week I said goodbye to most of my Fulbright group, said hello to new and old friends from Indiana University, saw Star Trek Into Darkness (fantastic), and did several staff interviews.

Friday and Saturday, however, probably deserve posts all of their own.

Friday in short form: a successful trip to the black market, a delicious lunch of Indian food at Hazara (curried eggplant and garlic naan is my new favorite there), and a lazy afternoon with friends back at my apartment eating cherry crisp and looking at maps. I'm too lazy to take and upload pictures now, but I am greatly pleased with the embossed leather belt and blue and silver jacket I bought.


Saturday was my first and probably only trip to Amarbayasgalant, and it was a crazy, hectic, awesome, successful day. When I got in the delica van that morning, I had no idea that I'd be doing my community survey that day and have only four hours to accomplish it. With only one initial form and no presents, not even the clipboard I brought back specially from the U.S. for this, I still got the data I needed and got to see a part of Mongolia I've never seen before. Selenge aimag is the north of Mongolia and gets a higher amount of precipitation than most areas, so the grass is lush and some of the steppe had been tilled into fields.





This week is the Stars of the American Ballet tour in Mongolia, and then this weekend I'm planning to go to Sainshand with friends to revisit the Danzanravjaa Museum and Khamriin Hiid (the monastery and energy center). I'm sure it will also be a rollercoaster, but it should be good times.