Research con't...

Trip Start May 12, 2007
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Trip End Aug 09, 2007


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Flag of Mongolia  ,
Friday, July 6, 2007

The past week has been really nice--alot of down time because the woman I am working with, Enkhe, became sick so we had to postpone the interviews until the end of the week. This little lull in our research provided me with ample time to really explore Ulaanbaatar and get to know the city a bit better. I tried out many new places to eat and visited a few interesting museums, and spent much of my time reading a book and people watching in Sukhbaatar Square, this huge, beautiful square in the middle of town that is always busy with people coming and going. The spare time also gave me time to look for places to volunteer, since I decided that I would like to spend my off hours from research doing some volunteer work with the community. After looking around, I found a Mongolina women's advocacy group that really interested me. I had heard about all their activisim in anti-prostitution and human trafficking programs as well as prevention of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the work place, so I decided that I wanted to try to see if they needed any volunteers. I arranged a meeting with one of the women who worked there, and met with her this morning. She took me to the office and introduced me to the other women who worked there, all very interesting and intelligent people. We talked for a while and they decided to assign me to volunteer with a group that works specifically with sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace. They were really really interested in hearing my opinion and the kinds of education that had been offered to me in school regarding sexual assault, because they are trying to plan a prevention program for schools and universities that teaches people about these issues, so that's mostly what I'm going to be volunteering with...I start Monday and am very excited!
 Anyway, after that, I had my second interview, which was yet again in the ger districts, only a few gers down from the last family we had interviewed. As with the last one, there were 4 generations, the oldest being 75 (the great grandfather) and the youngest being 10 days old! They answered all of our questions with such intelligent and eloquent responses, and the way they discussed their poverty and the conditions they were living under was so optimistic, offering a really refreshing perspective on dealing with hardships in the face of adversity. They all seemed to have the attitude that eventhough they weren't rich, they were all together, all healthy, and that was really what was most important. It was really a completely different attitude than the last family we had interviwed who could not seem to separate poverty from their lives and their relationships with their family (which is also an understandable response to such harsh conditions), but nonetheless, it was really interesting to see such a different way of dealing with similar circumstances. Then the family decided that they were really interested in MY family, and asked Enkhe if they could ask me some questions for a while after we were finished with interview. So they ended up asking me all about the way my family was set up, my view of multiple generations living together, and among the more interesting, they asked me whether I thought that if the Mongolian economy were to improve, would the family structure (multi-generational households) turn into something similar to the American family structure of just parents and children. The questions really made me think about myself and my family, and they ended up "interviewing" me for about an hour. It was such a great experience. We were all laughing together and sharing our insights into one another's culture, and I realize now that the best way to understand the family of another culture is to first really understand and question my own. (Maybe it sounds a bit cliche, but it's the truth!)  

Anyway, next week is pretty much an off week because the Mongolian festival, Naadam, starts. Naadam is a time where basically the whole country shuts down and holds these giant national wrestling, archery, and horseback riding competitions (kind of like the Mongolian olympics). My group of friends and I bought tickets to the opening ceremonies, so I really can't wait! Hopefully the internet cafes will be open next week, but either way, I will write as soon as I can all about my Naadam experiences!
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