The World is Flat!

This story is one of those that I never would have believed if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. It really typifies the name of my blog. This week my translator Chimgee took me to one of her favorite little shoe stores. Like many shops around here, you would never know it existed unless someone showed it to you. Chimgee claimed they were selling hand towels with the word "Texas" on them. My curiosity sufficiently aroused, I went with her to see what she was talking about. To my complete and utter amazement, I found they were selling Texas A&M 12th Man towels from last November's A&M vs. Texas football game. The nice couple who run the shop graciously agreed for me to take their picture:


All I can say is, this is one of the oddities that results from the increasingly global import/export business. I asked the couple where they got the towels, and all they knew was that they got them from someone in UB. I then explained that Texas A&M was my university, and that I knew these towels. (In fact, I even brought my personal 12th Man towel from home, and it's sitting here on my bookshelf!) Since they assumed they were nothing more than hand towels, I entertained them by explaining their true purpose. I even twirled one over my head to demonstrate. They got a good laugh out of that.


It's one thing to see American sports logos on shirts, hats, etc., but these towels??! As bizarre as this story is, I guess it's not totally uncommon in this "globalizing" world. I would recommend a good book called "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman, if you're interested in more examples of how small our world is becoming. Oh, and - Gig 'em!!

Igor

Meet Igor, who just turned 17 last Saturday. Igor is Roma's younger brother, if you recall my previous post about Roma. They each go by their Russian names. Their deceased father was Mongolian, and mother is Russian. Igor invited me over to celebrate his birthday, and I was happy to join in. In this picture, we're having a little height contest.




The first couple of years that I met Igor, he sort of looked the same. Then, from 2006 to 2007, it was like he went from kid to young man overnight. Here's a picture of Igor and Roma from several years ago:



For his birthday, we ate a rice dish with beef and potatoes, pickles and beets. Igor was given some sweets as a gift. Then the boys got hold of my camera and took a lot of crazy random pictures of themselves. Of course, I'll keep them.

Late Christmas gift

In addition to the innumerable blessings I have received over the past 8 months, I just had a visitor from home! My friend Ravi stopped here for a couple of days as part of his multi-country trip to India, China and Mongolia. He was excited to see some new countries, and I was excited to see a familiar face. Although a short visit, we did a lot. I warned him ahead of time that it was the coldest part of the year, so he came prepared with appropriate gear. However, at some point no amount of extra clothing can keep you warm in -10 to -20 degree temperatures. Nonetheless, we braved the outdoors for short periods of time, including the main attraction in UB, Sukhbaatar Square. There is a new parliament building with a gigantic statue of Chinggis Khan.

Once in Darkhan, we visited a nearby camel herd and were invited inside the herdsman's ger, as is the custom in Mongolia. We were given camel milk tea, a treat even for a Mongolian! Despite Ravi's aversion to dairy, he graciously tried a little. I guess I'm getting used to Mongolia, because I drank nearly all of mine.

We also visited most of our children, and Ravi talked to them about India and showed them pictures. The kids were fascinated, and especially liked his pictures of the Taj Mahal.

Ravi can boast that he braved Mongolia's coldest temperatures, and in fact while he was here there was even a severe weather warning. That means that even the Mongolians were staying inside! Now that he's gone, I'm officially in hibernation in my apartment until further notice.

Mystery machine

The Mongolian word for car is "machine." I have no idea what kind of machine this is. I saw it in UB recently. Despite doing a 360-degree inspection, I saw no make, model, or other identification. I think it sort of resembles a VW beetle.