Kitten glamor shots

So, I adopted a kitten.  He's pretty glamorous.  He's also in need of a name.  Suggestions?

Before September ends

While it may appear that this blog has been derelict in its mission to keep interested parties updated on goings-on, adventures, and happenings here in Mongolia, it has simply been on an unintentional hiatus while I was conducting archaeological fieldwork.  But I could not let September pass without at least a brief post.

Archaeological fieldwork:

We went to Middle Earth Bulgan aimag in order to map the Xiongnu/Hunnu cemetery which my collaborators and I hope to start excavating next summer and to survey the surrounding areas for prehistoric herder campsites.

I hate it when I take a photo, only to realize I forgot to take off the One Ring.

Updates from the recent past

Last Tuesday, August 13th, my Mongolian language professor organized a day-long party in the countryside just south of Ulaanbaatar.  After crawling out of Ulaanbaatar traffic, we rendez-voused around a stupa in the hills, giving us a chance to admire a view mercifully free of urban sprawl:

Sunday outing to Terelj

This past Sunday my friend Saruul organized a small outing to Princess Temple (Гүнжийн хийд) in Terelj Park an hour or so east of Ulaanbaatar.

The temple itself is situated on a hillside at a valley's end:

View from the climb with Turtle Rock off in the middle distance

Here, have some art!

It’s been a busy week since I last updated.  As a reward for your patience and to buy me time to write up the adventures that take a little more analysis, let me lay some Mongolian art on you.

First up, street art of Ulaanbaatar!

Girl with skateboard, archway immediately west of the National University of Mongolia's central building

A summer morning's walk through central UB

Morning is the ideal time for sight-seeing and wandering around Ulaanbaatar.  Yesterday morning was the first bright sunrise after several rainy days, promising a hazy, hot afternoon under the blazing Mongolian sun.  In the course of taking care of various bureaucratic and logistical matters, I snapped the following photos starting with a view of the financial district from Sukhbaatar Square:

Brief notes after the first week in Ulaanbaatar

- Squeezed in the ultimate frequent traveler’s workout at Beijing International Airport by carrying over 150 lbs of luggage through multiple security check-points and between terminals via shuttle, then realizing 90 minutes before check-in closes that you’ve forgotten a duffel in the baggage claim at the first terminal, which is only accessible by shuttle bus or train (but since the train ticket machines are not actually working, I had to hand-carry a 50-lb duffel along with several other items while sprinting through both terminals)

- Left Mongolian Immigration after arrival at the airport without getting the necessary stamps in my passport, necessitating a rather nerve-wracking trip back there in order to legally stay in the country

- Bought үxрийн нүд (gooseberries, I think?) and айраг (fermented mare’s milk) fresh from the countryside at Mercury Mart, perhaps my favorite place in UB to buy foodstuffs.  The үxрийн нүд turn out to be ideal pancake ingredients but айраг is definitely better when drunk in the countryside from a proper bowl, not straight out of a repurposed plastic water bottle

- Found the only ceramics studio in Ulaanbaatar open to anyone aside from professional artists and finding out that there are pottery courses available every month for either hand-building or the wheel

- Attended a demonstration against stress harassment and sexual violence organized by Young Women for Change, a Mongolian feminist organization, just south of the State Department Store.  Organizers and supporters waived hand-made signs in English and Mongolian for the bevy of media representatives in attendance

- Visited the temporary exhibition on Tarbosaurus bataar, the dinosaur skeleton illegally taken from Mongolia and successfully repatriated only recently after a dramatic international legal battle

- Made arguably the best purchase I will make all year:

 

Five Beatrix Potter stories in both English and Mongolian!  Purchased on my first shopping trip to the State Department Store, the oldest catch-all shopping center in downtown Ulaanbaatar, I couldn't ask for a better way to start improving my vocabulary.  Who wouldn't want to learn how to talk about Tom Kitten getting too fat for his jacket or Jemima Puddleduck wearing a shawl and poke bonnet in Mongolian?

Disclaimer

This is a personal blog.  This site is not an official Fulbright Program site nor is it affiliated with any institution of higher learning or academic research. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations, or any university or institute.