Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

It has taken me almost two weeks to get my bearings and really experience Ulaanbaatar. That is why I have not posted for a while.

Ulaanbaatar is quite a unique city undergoing a period of rapid change and development. The result is great disparity – between the newly wealthy Mongolians living in brand new apartment buildings and the poorest who have moved from the countryside with just their ger loaded on a truck, trying to make a new start for themselves; between the thick pollution of a city that relies on coal for 95% of its energy needs and the beautifully green rolling hills and mountains that are the city’s backdrop; between the markedly Russian influences that dominates most of the time and the occasional Buddhist monastery, which is often the only reminder that Mongolia is in fact part of Asia.

My apartment building is one of 4 structures to be built in a complex called “Crystal Town.” It is less than a year old. The second structure is almost complete but the sound of construction is my constant companion at home. I live on the 15th floor, the highest in the building. The apartment is furnished very nicely but consists of only a bedroom, bathroom and a kitchen/living room. I sleep on the couch. Of course the Mongolian hospitality ensured that she offered me her bedroom, but there was no way I was going to accept. It is a wonderful place, but it is tough having no space of my own. Every day I get sheets from the closet, make my bed and go to sleep on the couch. In the morning, I put my bed-sheets away, take my large backpacking bag from the closet, take out my clothes for the day and then store it back in the closet. During the day, there is no trace that I live there. It requires me to be very organized with my possessions, something I haven’t been concerned about for a very long time.

My hosts name is Nadmid, though she tells me to call her Nadiya. She speaks very very little English. From what I have inferred, she is the CEO of a shopping center. Her work schedule is confusing to me, and I never know if she will go to work that day or not. She has a daughter who works in the same office building as me. Her daughter has two sons. The older is about 12 years old and he is the best English speaker by far in the house. We bonded fast as he loves my ipod games and I gave him and his brother Stanford tshirts. Nadiya also has a son, Chinzo. He is also her driver and arrives in the morning to take me and her to work most days. He speaks little English but is becoming a good friend. He has taken me under his wing, like a little sister. Together we have gone to see a movie, went to a monastery, visited the Natural History Museum, went to a pub to watch Netherlands vs Slovakia, drove to a tourist ger camp, and climbed a large hill to see a wonderful view of the city. Chinzo has a friend who lived in Chicago for 8 years who has also been brought along on some of these adventures to serve as a translator and another buddy to hang out with.

I have also been making friends of my own. There are 5 interns working at MonAme. They are all very nice and we are having a great time together. We have gone out at night a few times after work and have been united with a group called the Mongolian Young Leaders. One of these is a 22 yr old Mongolian man, Munji, who graduated from USC and is now living in Mongolia with his wife (I believe she went to Berkeley) and their 2 year old son. They are incredible and have been showing us around and giving us advice on what to do in Mongolia. We have also through this group met up with a Canadian and American who work with Munji. Just last night we celebrated the Canadian’s birthday together. It has been great fun and it is awesome to have friends to go out with and travel with.

All the people we have met have been very nice. Mongolian women are very liberal and wear shockingly short mini-skirts and sun dresses. They also generally marry at about 20 yrs old and begin having kids right away. One of the interns, Astasia, lives with a host who is 32, divorced and has a 12 yr old son. As she puts it, “All the good Mongolian men are married.” By good, we think she means educated (usually outside of Mongolia), with ambition and good looks. It is true that it is rare to meet someone over 22 who is unmarried or without kids.

Ulaanbaatar is generally pretty safe during the day, as long as you don’t carry a lot of important stuff with you. The scariest part is crossing the street. Cars in Mongolia have been imported from Europe, China, and the US. Thus, some have steering wheels on the left, while others are on the right. Drivers have no respect for pedestrians and it appears that their goal is to either pass the car in front of them or follow directly behind. This means that there street lights have almost no importance to them. I feel like I should say a prayer every time I cross the street. It is just as scary being in a car. I would say that Mongolian drivers are similar to Indonesian drivers – they are insane – they make lane changes when there isn’t space, they park their cars where ever they want, and I have even seen some drive on the “sidewalk” to get ahead of other cars.

Speaking of sidewalks, there are few. They are more like strips of rubble along side the streets. There is no paving or uniform surface and they are rarely at an even level. I don’t understand how Mongolian women wear high heel shoes. There are all sorts of pot holes and pipes sticking up through the sidewalk, and even open manholes. It is here along the side of the street where there is more trash than imaginable. There is no good system for dealing with urban waste in Mongolia. Garbage cans in the city are few and far between. Instead there are piles of trash. Everywhere.

I walk home from work every day. It is about 2 miles. Nadiya wanted me to be picked up from work, but I like the freedom of walking as my schedule is not very well-defined, and I enjoy exploring the city and stretching my legs. It feels safe during the daytime and the directions are pretty straight-forward. I walk towards a big tower and when I see the Louis Vuitton store I turn right. Then I walk about a mile and a half and turn left. I often get catcalls from people driving by, but never anything hostile or unfriendly so it is easy to ignore.

More to come soon on Mongolian food. It is an interesting enough topic to deserve its own post.