Out of Mongolia

Many are cold, but few are frozen 
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August 5, 2009

A Young Mongolian Contortionist

 

I hope she marries my boy someday

Right outside our office building, I saw a young girl in an extraordinary position: standing on her hands, upside down, her legs arching backwards over her head, and her feet resting on a bench. A young contortionist in training, practicing under the guidance of her grandmother. It was much more stimulating than the coffee I had planned to drink.

The grandmother spoke Russian, so I was able to talk to her. She let me take a picture and make a video.

I never expected to see something like this by the office. How lucky I am. Mongolia is an amazing place.

 

 

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Filed under  //   Contortionist   Extreme   Mongolia  

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March 13, 2009

Minister of Finance of Mongolia

Speaking right this moment. Tweeting about it on @pakdave.

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Filed under  //   @pakdave   Crisis   Minister   Mongolia   World Bank  

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December 23, 2008

Pollution for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

The winter air in Ulaanbaatar is hard to imagine. It is basically a thick blanket of smoke spewing out from the stoves of thousands of people living in gers, which are traditional Mongolian homes made from wooden frames covered in felt. Raw coal is the main fuel, since it is much cheaper than wood. Traffic and power plants play their part too, but it's the smoke from the gers that makes breathing such a challenge at this time of year.

Half a million people in the city live in the ger districts. They are mostly poor; recent migrants from the countryside in search of better lives. The poorest cannot even afford coal, and burn whatever they get their hands on.  Even garbage and old tires. Just think of what's going into the air.

Ulaanbaatar in May (top) and December (bottom)

From a distance, you can see a yellow-brown band smothering the city. Above it, the sky is clear and you can see the mountains and a bright, blue sky. But within the band, everything is swallowed in toxic darkness. Driving into it fills you with dread.

You can't blame people for trying to keep warm in winter. But what a price. Breathing that stuff 24/7 has got to be tough, especially for children. I wonder what the long-term health consequences will be. Not good, I'm afraid.

Fortunately, the issue is getting a lot of attention now. Improving the quality of life in Ulaanbaatar is a pillar of the World Bank's strategy for 2008-11, and dealing with pollution is a part of it. Let's hope it works.

The high price of electricity

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Filed under  //   Gers   Mongolia   Pollution   Smoke   Ulaanbaatar  

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December 18, 2008

She is Absolutely Beautiful

Right now my wife is flying to New York.  I'm tracking the flight online, and so far it seems to be on time. I'm in Mongolia, the kids are in Kiev (with their grandparents) and she's somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. What a crazy family.

I miss them. The fridge is empty, and the house is quiet. I've been looking at their photos on the laptop, and miss them even more. I just found this one of me and my wife, taken with the small lens of a Nokia N73 in Jakarta last year.

The picture is grainy, but I think she is absolutely beautiful.

My girl

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Filed under  //   Babe   Love   Mongolia   New York   Sexy Momma   Ukraine  

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December 14, 2008

Let Me Freeze Again to Death

The Cold Song rings in my head a lot these days, especially when it's -20º or below outside.  It was written by Henry Purcell in his 1691 opera, King Arthur. I don't know the storyline of the opera or how the song fits in. But I do know that the most moving, dramatic rendition of the Cold Song was sung by Klaus Nomi in 1982, shortly before he died of AIDS. 

What Power art thou, who from below,
Hast made me rise, unwillingly and slow,
From beds of everlasting snow?

I was introduced to Klaus Nomi in by Kim, a beautiful chambermaid in London, shortly after his death.  Nomi sang everything from pop to opera to songs from the Wizard of Oz.  Madeline Bocaro's blog (which is where the picture below comes from) is an interesting read for anyone curious about his life. I love how she describes him as "an elfin creature in exquisite makeup." I don't know if he ever came to Mongolia, but in my mind, he must have experienced it at some level.


See'st thou not how stiff, and wondrous old,
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold,

Both Henry Purcell and Klaus Nomi died in their thirties from wasting diseases, tuberculosis in Purcell's case. It is easy to imagine how the last two lines from the Cold Song might relate to their final, hopeless, moments of life. But to me, they also relate to breathing the frozen, toxic air that blankets Ulaanbaatar in winter.


I can scarcely move or draw my breath,
Let me, let me, freeze again to death.

Klaus Nomi, possibly in Ulaanbaatar

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Filed under  //   AIDS   Cold   Cold Song   Klaus Nomi   Mongolia   Purcell  

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December 10, 2008

Why I Would Suck at Being a Space Colonist

I'm an adaptable guy. I've lived in a lot of wild places, among people from vastly different cultures. In some places, I lived without heat, water, or electricity. So you'd think I'd be an ideal candidate for colonizing new planets, where conditions would be vastly different from those on Earth. But Mongolia has taught me a lesson: I would actually suck at being a space colonist.


Mongolia is the closest I'll ever be to living on an alien planet. Conditions here are extreme. This morning, it was a body-numbing -27º, so cold that your sinuses crack when you inhale. In winter, the air in Ulaanbaatar is toxic, not unlike the atmosphere of Jupiter. And it's either light or dark most of the time, depending on the time of year: right now we only get about eight or nine hours of daylight.

I say No to colonizing other planets

I am not adapting well to these conditions. I don't sleep well in summer, when it's light from 4am to 11pm, and in winter I hardly dare to breathe. I have to wear so many layers of clothing that I can't find my cell phone before the caller gives up. I just hate that.

Conditions on other planets would probably be more extreme. What if there were two suns, and it never got dark? Or if the sky was the wrong color? Of if there were a whole bunch of moons, orbiting irregularly?  I don't think I could handle it.

So I've had to readjust my entire sense of identity. I am not adaptable. I dream of living within 1000 km of the equator, where it gets light and dark at the same time all year round, and the temperature almost never changes. Heat? Humidity? Bring it on! Your skin never dries out and you don't need a jacket. Or Chapstick. Ever.

Space colonization? No thanks! Good thing I never had the choice.

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Filed under  //   Alien   Cold   Colonization   Extreme   Humor   Mongolia   Planet   Space  

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