Happy New Year! From Deepali in Mongolia

This is the fourth in a series of posts from Deepali Patel, a native of Washington D.C. and Fulbright Fellow working in Mongolia.  This week, her suggestions for adventure activities in Mongolia. Read more on her blog: Land of Blue Skies

Happy New Year! I have two weeks to go in the Land of Blue Skies, and my research on agricultural policy and food security is done. Mongolia has an uncertain future that I’m afraid will not be all pleasant, but growing pains are probably unavoidable. I think the Western-educated younger leaders of the body politic place an increasing importance on free markets and rights-based political decision-making, while still maintaining communist-influenced traditional management of natural resources. It remains to be seen whether this will be sustainable, but I think it is a good sign. And while I understand the reasoning, I think Mongolia’s insistence on becoming domestically sustainable in food production is a waste of resources. I expect that priority will shift soon, but probably not before Russia loosens its stranglehold.

It’s brutally cold as we settle into the second of the nines. Rumor has it, vodka is indeed freezing (though not on my balcony). There are 81 days of winter in Mongolia, divided into 9 sets of 9. Each set has a distinct characteristic; in the second, double distilled mare’s milk or yogurt (arkhi) freezes. The upside is that I no longer have to do temperature conversions in my head (at -40, Fahrenheit and Celsius converge). The downside is that I can’t breathe.

The air in the city is unbearable. Estimates say that it is 20 times worse in the winter than the summer; 7 times worse in the ger districts than the southern part of city center. The attached picture is of the central square on New Year’s Eve, taken from the 17th floor of the Central Tower (home to Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss). Contrary to what it looks like, it was actually taken through an open window (as an aside, standing next to an open window 17 floors up in a sleeveless dress in Mongolian winter is not to be advised), and not a dirty one. There are people standing on the square who of course cannot be seen. At least you can see the fireworks.

This weekend, I’ll be shivering in a ger, and hoping that my fire-building skills are up to par, with only the anticipation of 2 months in Kerala and Borneo to keep me warm. But while it will be cold, I will at least be able to breathe fresh air. Not a bad way to begin the new year.