Short Post - Look to the other Blog

Good morning!

Liz and I have made a choice over the last week to transition, for this trip, away from this blog and to another that we have dedicated solely to this Fellowship trip.  The nature of the journey makes it awkward to blog on a site also containing our past vacations.

But fear not, we are in fact still posting regularly, albeit a few days behind, at www.ourfarmtotheirs.blogspot.com

Nathan

Good morning!  It's the morning of Friday the 12th, and since we are headed out to the countryside today, and will be spending the night, I figured I would do another short update before we head out.  I'm not sure if we'll have internet at the hotel tonight, so I wanted to do a short update now.

We've been here in Mongolia for a little less than a day now.  Having come from Beijing, it is like night and day in many ways.  The little we saw of Beijing (the airport, and the short trip to the hotel, and back to the airport) certainly had a Chinese feel to it, but everything was sleek, modern, new, and well maintained.  Mongolia is different to say the least. Take our hotels for example.  A fairly new Hilton in Beijing.  Very sleek, very modern, well kept, lots of staff all around, each eager to please and with a smiling face. Jump ahead a day to our hotel here in Mongolia.  It has staff, but far fewer.  They smile, but are far more reserved.  The hotel was the first ever built in Mongolia.  It was built in 1961 by the then Communist ruler of China Tsedenbal.  It was the first public building to have hot water.  His wife and by many accounts co-ruler took the lead on its design and decoration, picking many of the colors herself.  But the feel is this - find the best of what might possibly be available to a small country within the Soviet Union in 1961in terms of building materials, carpets, heating systems, etc . . . and then take reasonably good care of it for 50 years, leaving most completely unchanged.  That's this place.  Really quite interesting, and a fitting place to stay as it fits very well with the city at large.

Liz I had a short meeting with my coordinator here in Mongolia yesterday afternoon and met the translator as well.  I had two meetings at the Ministry of Agriculture, one with a a vet, and one with the Deputy Director for Strategic Policy and Planning withing the Ministry of Industry and Agriculture.  The Vet, Mr. BATSUKH Zayat, was pretty adept in English  and we had a very good conversation about some of the medical challenges facing agriculture here today.  It's been two years since their last case of Foot and Mouth Disease, and that is very encouraging for the possibility of improving exports in the next few years.  If they can improve their marketing, they would like to take advantage of the price premiums for free ranging, non feedlot based animal products that can be found in many parts of the world - virtually 100% of their animals are raised 100% on free ranging pasture their entire lives (not even any fences, never mind cages or pens).

Regrettably, that's all for now.  I have to get packed for our trip north this morning.  A goat herding family, and a grain farm await.  And a hearty breakfast so I can kick this cold!

The strategic plan for agriculture here in Mongolia for the year.
Months down the left side, days across the top, what they are pushing/promoting/implementing when.

The Plan for the Next Week or So

I've got a call with my coordinator from Eisenhower Fellowships in a few minutes, so I figured I would take a few minutes to start another blog entry before I leave.  I think we are finally almost ready to go.  We've packed our bags; made our last trips to the store (well mom is doing one last run to pick me up some Afrin); printed out our itineraries (or at least the current version of them); repacked our bags; made some final changes to our blog (including setting up one just for this trip); and gotten all the lists done for our house sitter.

Ulan Bator in
Classical Mongolian

We leave our house around 5:15 am tomorrow (the 9th) and 41 hours later, if all goes according to plan, land in Ulan Bator also known as Ulaanbaatar or locally simply as "UB".  It's perhaps the longest travel period for Liz and I, but thankfully will be broken up by a one night layover in Beijing (roughly 20 hours in the China on this first transitory visit.)  I've never been to Mongolia, nor do I personally know anyone who has.  While I'm looking forward to them all, it's the country on my list that intrigues me most, primarily because I know the least about it.  

My first day in country I have a meeting scheduled with my in country coordinator as well as two gentleman from the Ministry of Industry and Agriculture.  The next morning we leave early for a drive 350 kilometers (~220 miles) north to Selenge Aimag to tour a crop field, and to visit a herding family.  We'll be staying with the family before heading back to UB the next day.   Sunday will feature an Eisenhower Day of Fellowship celebrated with various Mongolian Eisenhower Fellows.  Monday - Wednesday features roughly 3-4 meetings a day at universities, businesses, and with government.  Thursday will be open for Liz and I too explore before we hop onto the last leg of the Trans-Siberian Railway for our trip back to Beijing. 

Typical scenery on the train from
UB to Beijing

I'll update you as we go, and hopefully take many pictures.  Please, feel free to share this blog with family, friends, or anyone you know who you think might enjoy it.