Author Archive
Journals and Journeys
By Jane Lim, KF9 Mongolia
I am convinced that my borrower videos have been lost in the abyss which is the Kiva journal tab (it currently has 5224 unsearchable pages), so I had to find another platform for their airing. I.e., here!
Posting a video journal entry takes a considerable amount of work, and I thought I would lay the process out here so they will be more appreciated 
(I have also inserted one of my video journals here rather than below to pique your interest, so please click the “read more” button after you’re done watching!)
The people who borrow
By Jane Lim, KF9 Mongolia
Today my envy of other Kiva fellows faded because I finally, finally got to meet Kiva borrowers.
There is a certain sadness that most of these borrowers have. For some it’s buried deep beneath stoicism and the victories of subsequent success, but for others it’s brimming at the surface, and you get the feeling that one more slight push would send them into the chasm. When I take their photos, they never smile – and I’ve thought of asking them to, but I don’t want to if there’s nothing to smile about. The truth is, life has been hard for them.
where i went today: the Chingeltey ger district
excerpts pertaining to M
by Jane Lim, KF9 Mongolia
notable quotes from recent reads…
“Ulaanbaatar is possibly the coldest capital city in the world.“
- Michael Kohn, Lonely Planet Mongolia, p14
as a testament to the point above, it snowed on wednesday for the first time since summer… and it’s only early october.
“The Mongols loved competitions of all sorts, and they organized debates among rival religions the same way they organized wrestling matches… Their debate ranged back and forth… No side seemed to convince the other of anything. Finally, as the effects of the alcohol became stronger, the Christians gave up trying to persuade anyone with logical arguments, and resorted to singing. The Muslims, who did not sing, responded by loudly reciting the Koran in an effort to drown out the Christians, and the Buddhists retreated into silent meditation. At the end of the debate, unable to convert or kill one another, they concluded the way most Mongol celebrations concluded, with everyone simply too drunk to continue.”
– Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, p172-173
absolutely hilarious stuff.
The place between Russia and China
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.
