Mongolian Permaculture: Day 2 – The Black Market

TOUGH MONGOLIAN KID

I like Mongolians …they enjoy sleeping in. Hawaiian-time, Mongolian-style…

Opening hours for most shops are 10am-ish until whenever, it is a lovely pace of life in the middle to the country’s largeset city.

We are staying within walking distance from the heart of the city, and there is a distinctly laid-back feel to the place. There are no street vendors hawking their wares in your face, or beggars clutching at your feet. No open stares or glares. No garish souvenir shops. By 1am the streets are quiet. And on Thursdays, they don’t serve beer. Or any alcohol, for that matter.

It seems that hardly anyone notices foreigners.

The mission for today is more research – get to a market to check out the produce, herbs and spices that are available. Our reconassaince yesterday to the local supermarket showed 100% of the fresh produce section imported from China ( and featuring Phillipine-grown bananas)… so it was off to the Naran Tuul, a.k.a. зах (pronounced: zach), a.k.a. ‘The Black Market’.

Think more Queen Victoria Market rather than shady underworld dealings; The Black Market of Ulanbaataar is a massive indoor / outdoor complex of two massive quondset hut-type warehouses surrounded by a sea of market stalls under tent cloth.

MONGOLIAN FISHING TACKLE

We walk past what seems like an acre of shoes, then an acre of rip-off designer tshirts, another acre of leather wallets, jackets and belts, we stumble onto a gem: Mongolian fishing tackle. Furry lures desiged to mimic small rodents feeding at the water’s edge, or perhaps swimming their way innocently to the other side of a Mongolian river… one the size of a puppy. Imagine the monsters that feed on these small mammals!

It is quite hot today, north of 26°C and the sun’s glare whitewashes everything. Modern Mongolians are in love with all things American, and we can’t find a single traditional-looking garment for sale, if they are present they are drowned in a sea od Addidas, Nike and G-STAR logos.

THEY LIKE THEIR VODKA...

A small group has gathered in one of these tent stalls, surrounding a birthday cake and cheerfully passing around shots of CHINGGIS vodka. A baby-faced Mongol with a tiger tattooed on his forearm is pouring the shots and laughing with each swig – it’s his birthday.

One of the women notice Rick and I enjoying the spectacle and motions for us to come join them; we shrug our shoulders and accept the invitation! The vodka is …less than smooth, but it goes down with a smile and Rick starts singing to the birthday boy. The rest of the group join in, and there we are, under a tent in the middle of the famous Black Market singing a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday – IN ENGLISH – with our newfound friends.

You know that part where we sing: “Happy Birthday, dear So-and-So”… well that was the best part… no idea what BirthdayBoy’s name is, so when in doubt …murmur:

“Happy Birth-day, dear murmurmurmurmurmur…

Happpy Birth-day, toooooooooooooooooooooo… youuuuuuuuuuuuu…

HIP-HIP:”

SUPERMARKET RECONAISSANCE

We have to search pretty hard to finally find Mongolian-grown produce: potatoes, turnips, a few carrots …slim pickings. Not that there isn’t fresh produce available; there are capsicums, tomatoes, cucmbers, more potatoes, asian greens, apples turning soft from age, quartered watermelon, bananas… all imported.

The research continues, we’ll be headed to the countryside in two days…

MONGOLIAN SELF-PORTRAIT

[ON A BOX OF FROZEN MEAT]

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 3 - OUCH

PERMACULTURISTS EXPLORE A CITY LOOKING DOWN

Our mission today:

• Natural History museum
• Fresh produce market
• Find composting worms
• Meet Programs Director at Mille’s expat Cafe
• Replace Matt’s stolen video camera

Somewhere between the Natural History Museum and our search for the Fresh Produce Market - actually within 500 meters of leaving another café where we stop in for a quick cold drink – my new toy, the HD Video camera I only just upgraded to, the tool for my primary function on this project …is plucked deftly from my backpack, never to be seen again.

We wouldn’t have known except that a bunch of street kids yelling after us for money were actually yelling at the stupid foreigner walking around the streets of Ulanbaataar with his backpack open.

I am livid, upset at myself for letting this happen, and running through all the things I coulda-should-woulda done differently, knowing even as I storm back to the café we just left to double-check if maybe, just maybe the camera is waiting for me , that it is long gone and hopefully will provide someone with enough money for a nice meal.

In a country where the average wage is around $3,600AUS/year, I am walking around with electronic equipment worth approximately 2 ½ years’ wages. It would have paid to be a little more aware… at least it is something that is replacable.

Never fear, travel insurance is here, and so it is not a total loss; Rick has already gone into damage-control and is exploring options as we walk to Millie’s to meet Michelle.

Some painful lessons learned today, but nothing irreplacable lost. As Bek told me gently over dinner, after ribbing me all afternoon about what-kind-of-cameraman-loses-his-camera-on-the-first-day:

“Mongolians say if you buy someone tea for one thousand Tugrik, then two thousand Tugrik will come back to you.”
-Mongolian saying-

Meanwhile, Rick and Kat have managed to secure a handful of compost worms from an Aussie nurse working with another NGO who managed to bring some to the country in her boot. They are hilarious to watch wandering the streets of Ulanbaataar, attracting bewildered stares as they stop every block or so to pore over plants growing out of cracks in the pavement while a long-haired hapa boy [or as Rick called my mixed ethnicity the other day: Hybrid Vigour …I like ;) ] takes photos of them staring at weeds.

One time Rick narrowly avoids disaster – I have no idea how – by avoiding a faceplant, broken arm, or worse, being run over by a car as he trips over a street curb while looking up at some trees… I watch as he analyzes the whole thing in slow motion on the way down to the pavement: “I am falling …no cars coming, that is a good thing …don’t want to break my arm …so don’t put my hands out …protect my face …roll with it …**SPRAINED WRIST** - **OUCH!!!** …Phew, that could have been worse…”

The rest of the day is a success, The Program Director offers up her camera ad Bek helps me get tapes, then drives me all over Ulanbaataar to show me his hometown. We meet his wife Maka and its off to ceck on thir brand-new apartment still under construction, pass by the giant buddha statue in the rich part of town, swing past the college aparment Bek lived in during his studies, and finish the day off with BiBimBap stonepots at their favorite Korean take-away restaurant.


Plants Identified in UB so far:

• Dock
• Plantaine [roundleafed variety / ribwort]
• Wild Thyme
• Wild Chives
• Mint Varieties
• Southernwood
• Queen Anne’s
• Seabuckthorn
• Currant Varieties
• Chinese Poplar

Mongolian Permaculture: Day 1 – Ulanbaataar

PAYING RESPECTS TO CHINGGIS KHAN

Three Permaculturists’ faces - Rick, Kat and Matt - are pressed against a passenger jet window, peering out to the landscape below – Mongolia.

We could be looking at the topographical satellite photos from GoogleMaps except for the dull roar of jet engines: muted browns fading in to green veins following erosion gullies down hillsides and gullies, dirt tracks crisss-crossing the map rolling out mile by mile below.

It is a surreal feeling, after so many months of preparation and research and brainstorming and daydreaming of this place, to know that in twenty minutes we will be walking the same ground that Genghis Khan tread a millenia ago.

…am I still daydreaming?

Started reading the landscape from 10,000 feet on our final descent. Flew over the low mountain range that borders Ulanbaataar to the north, over plateaus fuzzy with conifer forests, erosion gullys tinged with green winding their way to an unseen river.

Discovered the unseen riverbed, wide and winding, snaking its way out of the capitol city. Deep channels cut into the wide rockbeds, weaving in and out of itself past the blacktop highway and ger encampments on the outskirts of town.

Caught a climpse of the Trans-Siberian Railway chugging along its long steel path.

Realized that what we thought were living hedges are actually woodframe and corrugated iron fencing.

Startled some cattle grazing on the dry river beds on our final approach.

Spotted a steel ‘mega-yurt’ as we taxied down the runway – is it a sports stadium?

Held our breath until our bags were the last to flop onto the baggage claim conveyor belt. Picked up by Bek’s friend ‘Dok’ and his hard companion/driver ‘Ingktor’.

Survived the drive back to the city center through ‘suburbs’ being created before our eyes. It seems like roads are being created ad-hoc by fencelines of new houses; feels like driving through a major construction site miles long; looks like many of the houses are being built by the owners… Untidy but no urban rubbish piling up. Stark contrast to the soul-less, build-a-box, monotony of tract home developments back home.

Accosted by roadside billboards all the way into the city; MontBlanc Pens are heavily targeting new arrivals to Chinggis Khan International Airport??

Saw an interesting billboard talking about a German-Mongolian eco-village development being built. Is Wunderbar, ja?

Dropped bags at ‘Happiness Hotel’, changed out of the tshirt I’d been wearing for the last twenty hours, then piled back into the 4WD to drive to…

…theAid Agency's Mongolia Head Offices. 500m around the corner.

Toured the offices and met with The Country Director for briefing on the agency's current Mongolia projects.

Lunch at Modern Nomads, a touristy indoor/outdoor bistro on the main road in Ulanbaataar with Bek, Food Security Director and my fellow PDC Graduate [SCPI November 2009] and his boss The Programs Director to catch up and get briefed on our project. Tradtional Mongolian food: mutton dumplings, meat and flat noodles in broth, and milk tea.

Back to the Happiness Hotel for a cold shower [no hot water on the fifth floor!] and a cat nap. Full sunlight at 5pm, sun doesn’t set until about 10pm this time of year.

Wandered the streets of Ulanbataar and watched Rick play hilarious charades to ask for some thrush relief cream at the chemist [how does the pharmacist interpret his crazy dance as ‘he needs erectile dysfunction pills’ to finally understand ‘I have an itch’] …LoL

Explored a Mongolian supermarket. ‘Fresh’ produce is a relative concept; mouldy garlic, vacuum-packed imported ears of corn, sprouted potatoes, softening apples… huge variety of meat products available though.

Visited the CitySquare and stumbled across a US Marine brass band alternating musical sets with the Mongolian National Army band. ….Twenty hours on two airplanes, halfway across the road to one of the most ancient cities and cultures only to hear ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ being played at the feet of a two-story statue of Ghengis Khan. Not sure how good I feel about that…

Bought preserved plums from an old lady roadside vendor with windblown cheeks and smiling eyes who made sure I counted the change she gave me to make sure she had done me right.

Looked for a vegetarian restaurant for Kat, who has been reintroducing herself to meat for six months in preparation for this trip. No such luck; all two vegetarian restaurants in the city were closed… so, off to a Korean BBQ: Kimchee Stew + Kimchee Pork + Beef Bulgogi + Iced Tea = T20,000 [Tugrik]. Or, a little less than $20AUS.

A little street girl broke our hearts as she walked up to our table and tried to sell us baby wipes and cigarettes for T2,000. She looked straight into our eyes and silently pleaded - 10,000 times better than any look Antonio Banderas’ Puss-In-Boots could give in Shrek. None of us smoke, or need baby wipes, and so I take my shot of concrete to harden up and say no. She is skilled though, and renegotiates deftly with us for 2/3 of the plate of pork. The waitresses smile warmly as they watch the entire exchange, and wordlessly hand her a plastic bag to collect her meal, which could probably feed 2 or 3 mouths tonight.

Silent, poised and dignified, she disappears into the night.

READING THE URBAN LANDSCAPE FOR CLUES

of birds and fish and heaven

so...

i learned something today
i learned something about the bird

the bird represents
bridging heaven and earth
the bird goes between both
and is the manifestation
of walking / flying
in both worlds
at the same time

of course we fly
of course we choose the birds
to represent our love

our paths brought us here
right here right now
we learn that we can walk in bliss,
heaven on earth...

right now
its all around us
when we wake up to it
and have the eyes to see
new eyes to see
or maybe...

we remember our old eyes
so that we can see
what we already knew

its like the simple truth that Alex and Jade talk about
the child-like wonder and joy

...heaven on earth...

the big secret
that's staring us all right in our faces

but like fish...
who don't realize they are in water...
because its all around them

so many of us don't realize
we are already in heaven...

...we've been here all along...



- May 5th, 2010; Conversations with theLight -


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2010. Here I am, at the dawn of a new decade …indeed, perhaps the dawn of a new age for mankind… I am so honored to be alive at this period in consciousness: the quickening, the awakening, the apocolypse, the enlightenment of humanity - whatever you want to call it.

Mine is a soul who has been here before, who has walked this physical plane before many times, as angel and archangel, as creator and destroyer, healer and warrior, scholar and bard, champion and vanquished, the fallen and the risen… and always, as student.

If change is the only constant, than a constant state of learning is surely the most powerful state to operate from, the NOW that is the moment of POWER.

If we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, then surely we have access to resources far greater and vast than what our physical reasoning, logic and cognition tell us to be true.

I feel myself stepping into my power, accepting more and more each day the light that shines in me and draws others to follow wherever I may lead…

I feel my soul awakening as I surrender to the flow and trust heart and intution.

I feel myself growing smarter with the knowledge and experiences gained over lifetimes, it is more a feeling of remembering and making connections between separate pieces – separate pieces that make sense when light is shone on the links between these memories - many of these things remembered on a cellular level; a deep knowing.

It is a knowing that is whispered gently, the gentle nudge of intuition that we have all felt, a knowing that teaches us that, like a fractal in nature or a mobius strip, there is no beginning and there is no end - the journey is neverending...

The more we learn, the more we know, the more we know what we don’t know…

And the great irony of it all is that we are given exactly what we need to know at any given time, just as we are given no more than we can handle at any given time; so that we can continue to learn and grow each step of the way….

Each of us, having a unique individual human experience, each of us, angel and archangel, creator and destroyer, healer and warrior, scholar and bard, champion and vanquished, fallen and risen… and always, students.

This is the great irony of it all, we run around from day to day, thinking “WHY ME”, “WHY AM I HERE”, “WHY WHY WHY”, as if we were the only person to ever have had their heart boken, or to experience lonliness, or anger, or hurt, or grief …or love …and yet, we have all experienced these things, or will experience these things, because this is all a part of the richness that is… the human experience.

So yes, "Peau", thank you, and ...i concur! Well said:

...all journeys are amazing, whether they include globe trotting or shopping at Target. The magic is everywhere. You simply have to adjust your eyes to see the faeries.

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here I am...

Theme Song of the Day:

• The Luckiest, by Ben Folds
  

Has it really been six months since I've written here??
My, how time flies when one is.... well, flying....

Has it really been one year since I left Hawaii, in search of ...?
Am I a different person now, or am I simply more of me?


I feel as though I've stepped out of a costume, some kinda WheretheWildThingsAreWolfSuit maybe, or an AmericanPsycho-style corporate suite, or maybe some kinda AncientSuitOfArmour, dented and scratched and clawed but still intact, even if only just ...I've stepped out of those costumes and have stepped into my skin...


...and I'm not sure that I can remember any other time in my life when I've ever felt so... how can I say this... ME.


It's like I've met myself all over again, as if I was catching up with a good friend, the kind of friend that you've lost touch with though you don't ever forget about, as the paths of your lives have turned and twisted you both off in different directions, with all the triumphs, the falls, the joy, the sorrow, the tangents ....the GIFTS.... that come along the way.


And then, ten years later, your paths cross again and you smile and hug and sit down with a cold beer or maybe a hot cup of coffee and it's like you've never left, you just pick up the conversation and the friendship where you left off, except now the conversation is so much richer because there is ten whole years of stories to catch each other up on...


...imagine now, that this friend you're catching up with, that is sitting at the other side of the table, this friend is YOU. The you that you were 12 months ago, or 12 years ago, it just depends on when and where and how you are catching up with yourFriendyou.... though you've travelled thousands of miles and had countless experiences and been away for so long.... THERE YOU ARE.


That's where I'm at ....and it's a wonderful feeling... and I'm thankful for the teachers I've met along the way, those fellow souls [you know who you are!] who've reached out and touched me, over a cup of coffee or a shared journey or through cyberspace... I am thankful for each and every one of you, and for the gifts that we've shared along the way...


...this blog had become a promotional poster for me while I was in the thick of competing for the EntirelyWorldFamousNZ Blogger Competition, which was fun while it lasted, and was a very necessary part of my journey... though it took me away from the very reason I started this blog anyway: simply to write.


I started writing here for me.


It may sound selfish, perhaps even arrogant, though it is the simple truth.


I write to write, so that I can reach that point where I am no longer thinking of what to write next because my fingers are just blurring from the words pouring out of my heart through my fingers and onto the unblinking screen - my fingers have not given it enough time to rest, pausing only sporadically to allow the cursor to catch its breath...

I write for these moments, and when my heart is finished pouring itself out, then i can pause, take a deep breath, look back and read what my heart has written.


I write because a life worth LIVING is a life worth RECORDING... and that is the kind of life I want for me...



So often our inner journeys are reflected in our physical travels …or is it the other way around? The journey back to ourselves is deeply personal, yet universally human …and therefore a powerfully shared experience... so it is my absolute privellege to share these thoughts with you here... it's nice to be back!

"The Hero of my Tale,
Whom I love with all the power of my Soul,
Whom I have tried to portray in all his Beauty,
Who has Been,
Is,
and Will Be,
is TRUTH."
- Leo Tolstoy -

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