Twice last week and more since I've seen old men and women sitting one short benches on the sidewalk with a scale in front of them. One can weigh oneself for a hundred togrog (approximately $0.09), and people do pay to use the scale. Mongolians must always find a way to make money off their assets if they want to survive.
Chimgee, Cultural Heritage Program Coordinator at the Arts Council of Mongolia, told me this joke today:
Socialism, Communism and Capitalism were three friends hanging out together. Socialism offered to go out and get some drinks. Two hours passed before Socialism returned. When the other two asked what had happened, Socialism said, "First I bought a bottle of vodka but there was a long queue for the sausage."
Capitalism asked, "What's a queue?"
Communism asked, "What's a sausage?"
P.S. Please consider the Arts Council of Mongolia when you're doing your end-of-the-year giving. They work to "promote and advocate for the sustainable development of arts and the cultural heritage of Mongolia" (and have been very good to me, too). You can make a tax-exempt donation to them via their sister organization ACM-US. Send your contribution to ACM-US, 2025 23rd Ave East, Seattle, WA 98112 or visit the ACM-US website to make an online donation.
Last night a street kid stole my hat right off my head. I loved that hat. Yet all I could do was watch him run away with it. My hyperindividual-conditioned self thought, "Hey, that's mine." Allison reminded me that now he'll have a warm head for the night. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but of course she was right.
When I told Munkh-Amgalan this morning he said the kid would probably sell the hat. Street kids are all over the place right now and the chance of losing something to them increases in the winter since it's colder and they have no place to sleep or food to eat. Often they end up sleeping in open manholes or apartment stairwells. There's been plenty written on homeless kids in Mongolia; it's not a new story. However, other than the work of a few NGOs I'm not sure anything's being done about it.
For more information:
Homeless Children in Mongolia
Prevalence, Abuse and Exploitation of Street Children
"Out in the Cold: The Street Children of Mongolia"
"The Kids in Mongolia"
"The Children Under the Streets"
Since my last post about the theatre I have been back twice. Once to see the opera Chinggis Khan and another time to see the ballet Don Quixote. All kinds of people go to see opera and ballet at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. I tried to convey that in my other post, but I guess I missed the mark! Elderly, teenagers, hipsters, foreigners, country folk, etc. However, the cost of a ticket ranges from 3500 to 8000 togrog. This is roughly USD $3-7.25, which perhaps seems incredibly inexpensive to foreigners, but is, in Mongolian terms, a bit on the expensive side for "average" people to go to regularly.
Nearly everyone here has a cell phone. I didn't think I'd get one when I first arrived, but my contact at the American Center for Mongolian Studies pretty much said I had to. And it has proved to be incredibly helpful.
Incidentally, no one in Mongolia ever turns their cell phone off. The only time I've heard someone ask others to do so was at meditation at the FPMT Center last week. People answer phone calls in any and every setting. However, the hold their free hand over the phone and their mouth as they talk.
I found it very disturbing when my Mongolian teacher kept answering the phone during our lessons. He's stopped doing that now, even though I never complained. I guess he got the message from my body language or inadvertent facial expressions. (Consequently, we had a few days when he referred to me as "Queen Lisa". That was strange.)
To be continued...
I must go now to find the ingredients for the chili I plan to make for my family tonight.
P. S. I do read your comments, so please feel free to write about anything that comes to mind regarding these postings, particularly if it can add information or widen perspective. And it'd be great to have dialogue between readers here.
