The place between Russia and China
12 October 2009
by Jane Lim, KF9, Mongolia
here’s where i’m at:
i wanted to write a before and after just so you can hear my drawn breath of anticipation / trepidation in between…
before: 9:30am EST on Friday, Oct 9th
i realize no one knows a lot about Mongolia… therefore i can make up absolutely anything and people will believe me. haha
case in point. (some of the following are actually true)
- there is a mongolian mythical creature called the Mongolian Death Worm which is purportedly found in the Gobi Desert, grows up to 5 ft long, and spews sulfuric acid which makes it deadly to men
- Genghis Khan’s father wasn’t his mother’s first husband
- mongolians historically have been nomads, and hence do not farm; therefore amongst many other things their vegetables are made-in-china
- there is another mongolian mythical creature in the Kharyagas lake which is roughly equivalent to the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland
- there is a Louis Vuitton store in the capital
- there still exists barter trade in Mongolia. I am for instance, trying to use xx units of xxx as currency. (am not revealing exactly what because i don’t want it to devalue. j/k)
turning to more mundane matters, in the next 35 hours starting at 4:30pm EST i will take 3 flights, have 2 layovers, be in 4 airports (Boston>LA>Seoul>Mongolia), before arriving in Ulaanbataar.
hopefully it’ll go like clockwork.
after: roughly 3pm on Sunday, October 11th (Mongolian time is exactly 12 hours ahead of EST)
Landing in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
time to be a Kiva fellow.
Entry Filed under: All, KF9 (Kiva Fellows 9th Class), Mongolia. .
8 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
RSS - Posts
1. ALEX | 12 October 2009 at 20:44
Love the video! It was like being in the plane seat next to you and arriving in Mongolia the exact same time you did! Keep the humor coming through and through! I won’t be in Vietnam until Dec. /ALEX
2. charmaine | 13 October 2009 at 00:44
Look forward to following your adventures in Mongolia. Loved the little known facts (at least to me) and the video! Best wishes.
3. howard | 13 October 2009 at 04:59
Thanx for putting Mongolia “on the map” and for the “fun facts’ (are any NOT true?) and the landing video. All made Mongolia just a little more real. By the way “Sulfuric Acid Breath” doesn’t sound like a good choice for a household pet.
4. tinke21 | 13 October 2009 at 17:45
no. 3 is 90% correct – most but not all vegetables are imported; no. 4 is completely untrue; no. 6 is highly debatable. haha
no.s 1, 2 and 5 are all true tho
5. Tamara | 13 October 2009 at 17:57
Can’t wait to read your blog!
6. Jan & John, KivaFriends | 14 October 2009 at 11:55
my goodness, it looks so brown and dry and yet there is all that water lying about… thanks for taking us there, jan
7. Darren | 14 October 2009 at 13:22
Cat food is not currency!
8. Avani | 19 October 2009 at 14:14
Hello Mongo!
Jane,
Was missing your wit and luscious sarcasm, until you began posting. Keep it up!