Arriving and Being at the Monastery

The following day we woke up to sounds of Mongolian singing coming from the radio inside Bimba’s house. The plan for the day was to check in with Chimga one more time and then get to the river crossing. Richard was told yet again to hop on the back of the motorcycle and headed off to finalize the plans. I was definitely worried about the car making the trip across the river. Even if it managed to get all the way across I was pretty sure the inside would be soaked along with everything inside it. Though if it did make it across and the only damage was some wet bags then we definitely would have lucked out. When Richard returned we got the news that we would no longer take the car across. The man with the tractor was not available anymore for whatever reason and the water was just way to high for it get across possibly even with a tractor pulling it. We didn’t want the car to get tipped by the current. To me this was good news. The car would stay at Bimba’s house for the two weeks we were gone covered by our tarp and we would take the boat across and not have to worry about the Niva for two weeks.

When we reached the river crossing we pulled out the gear we’d need for two weeks and jumped into the boat that took us across to Chimga, her family, and her van. After a 40-minute drive we had the monastery in sight. We hopped out of the van and were given a quick tour of the monastery. We learned that in 1938 the Soviets had come down and killed everyone that lived around the monastery. The monastery that we were inside was new and just built a couple years ago. The only remains from the community that existed before were two tall wooden poles from the original monastery. It was a sad story and made us want to help as much as we could.

 

We were then led back to the van and driven to the little house that served as the kitchen, dining area, and living area for the cooks. As we drove we went past children playing basketball on a court of hard mud. We were given tea and some soup. Everything seemed pretty relaxed and loosely organized. No one had really mentioned the eco-toilet that we were supposed to help build or what we would be doing with our time here. We were then taken back to a one-room building where we would be staying. I was under the impression that we would be camping for the two weeks in our tent so getting a place inside was a huge plus. In our room we had one bed, but since it was just flat boards of wood with the same mattresses you use on the ground there really wasn’t a difference between sleeping on the bed or the ground.

 

It was a slow start getting into the flow of things since it took almost two days for us to start on the toilet. So we spent our time playing games with the children, eating, sleeping, and sharing our medicine (which seemed to be in strong demand, Ibuprofen and what not).  But after using the toilet I could definitely understand the need to build a newer facility. For anyone that has been in a foreign country that uses mostly squatting toilets you know there is a certain technique that you got to master. For everyone it’s different. I don’t want to go into detail on my own style/swagger but I do want to talk about the flies and mosquitoes.  Depending on the time of day you will find yourself in different company. Early in the morning will be a mixture of both. From after breakfast until an hour or so before dinner you are chillin with the flies. Anytime you have to go afterward you are engulfed by the “shomoots” (mosquito in Mongolian I think).  This is definitely the worst time to go unless you don’t mind being bitten on your behind as well as other precious areas. I prefer to go during the day with the hundreds of flies swarming around. I developed this Zen technique that allowed me to become one with my surroundings. Using this newly developed technique I was able to enjoy my time in the outdoor John.

We were here at the monastery to help build an eco-toilet. We were working with The Tribuitary Fund that, headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, was run by Chimga in Mongolia. The Tributary Fund is all about connecting with local, religious, and scientific leaders to work on sustainable development and wildlife protection. The current project was to build an eco-toilet at the monastery. A side project for Chimga was teaching Ecology to the young monks at the summer camp that runs about two weeks each summer. The young monks came from different monasteries all around Mongolia.

 

Back to the toilet. The eco part was that instead of holes underneath the toilet there were buckets. I am not sure if even the Mongolians knew where yet, but the plan was to take the buckets to a composting site, which had not been built yet to my knowledge, and start composting to dispose of the waste. There were often times where we felt pretty useless during our time helping, mainly due to the language barrier. In those times we would just stand around, sometimes an hour or so at a time, and just wait for them to call one of our names to help. Our chores were basically cutting pieces of wood down to the right size, using the glue, making double-headed nails, carrying supplies, getting them whatever they needed, and the rare occasional chisel job. While we waited we played numerous “twenty questions” games. There were often times where we could definitely have helped more, maybe even taken on more of a direct role with a specific part of the toilet but it seemed better to just follow directions and be prepared to help as soon as possible.

 

  

Our daily life basically consisted of waking up around 9 and having breakfast with the monks. After breakfast the monks would get dressed in their robes and go to the monastery to do their chanting for about an hour. We would head down to the monastery as well and work on the toilet until around 1. At 1 we headed back for lunch and rested for 30 minutes to an hour. Usually around 2 or 3 we would head back down to the toilet to work again until around 7. In the beginning of the camp we would actually teach the monks English from 5-6 each evening. As the camp continued our English teaching became more sporadic as we got more work done on the toilet and the general schedule of camp became less organized. After dinner we would play games with the monks for almost two hours. We taught them how to play baseball and capture the flag. We spent a lot of time playing basketball as well. In those two weeks I probably got more rebounds than I had in my entire life.  In the evening we would have tea again and if it was a clear night make a fire and sit around singing songs and talking. The stars were absolutely beautiful. On clear nights you would be able to see the Milky Way.

 

 

In the morning our food was generally a milk and rice based soup in the morning. For lunch we would have two courses. It was usually soup with beef in it and then a second course of either homemade pasta (which Jack loved) or a dish with more beef slices, rice, and sliced carrots. Needless to say lunch became our favorite meal of the day. Dinner was usually another soup with beef and noodles in it. Occasionally we would be served dumplings at some meals as well. I thought the food was good but after two weeks of eating the same thing the food began to lose its charm.

Now here’s a good story. After about being there ten days we were eating lunch when Chimga’s husband (we never learned his name) approached me and asked if I wanted to drink some vodka. Now early in the week we had a little bit of vodka while working with them once we had finished the floor of the toilet. In Mongolia when you finish one wall of a house you stop and celebrate for three days. So I figured that we were going to head back to the toilet have a drink and continue working as we had done previously. I was wrong.  The six of us piled into the van. It was Jack, Richard, Chimga’s husband, Batbillik (the caretaker of the monastery), Sirarcher (the head monk), and myself. Sorry about misspelling their names but Mongolian words and names are both hard to remember and hard to pronounce. I still can’t say thank you correctly. Anyway, we headed out and as we neared the toilet we did not slow down. Instead, we continued down the path, over the hill, and through the trees until we came to a small house in a field. We got out of the car and entered the home where we received small cheese curd-like crackers and a cup of Mongolian vodka was passed around to one person at a time. The vodka was made from milk and tasted decent enough but as we drank more and more the taste definitely got worse. We finished the vodka we had received and hopped back in the van and were taken to another small home where the whole process was repeated again. After that we went to another home, drank, and took some vodka to go. Driving back we stopped to drink in the car three times, at the river once, and on top of a hill. By the time we made it back I was pretty sure we were all pretty gone, but I had faith that Chimga’s husband, who’d been driving this whole time, was intoxicated but doing ok. I found out later that I was wrong again. The whole afternoon was a lot of fun drinking with the three Mongolians. We arm-wrestled them, regular wrestled them, and Richard got shown police moves by chimga’s husband. It was the first vodka tour I’d ever been on and it was a lot of fun.

 

We got back to the monastery in time for dinner and it was clear everyone knew the type of afternoon we had. With stupid grins on our faces we chowed down the food. It was clear that Chimga was not happy but I think she was just doing the mom-worry. She told us her husband drinks maybe once a year so she was surprised. We lasted another hour or so before we all just went back to our cabin and fell asleep. The next morning we were supposed to go on a hike with the children but at the moment I was highly doubtful that I was going to get out of bed at the necessary time of 4 in the morning.

There are so many more wonderful photos and I cannot put them all right here so please check out our photobucket albums!

Pictures of the day out on the town.

 

 

 

 

More pictures of the toilet work.

 

  

 

-- Ezra