Mongolia is landlocked between China and Russia and the population is 3M, half the size of the Dallas metroplex. There are twice as many Mongolians in China as in Mongolia. About half of the Mongolians live in its capital city Ulanbataar, while the rest as spread out in nomadic groups around the country.
Mongolia is sort of an enigma to me. We had arrived from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and my first impression of Mongolia was that it felt very familiar. Mongolian has Russian letters in it , which we saw all over Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan. Arriving from the airport, we didn’t get the crazy out of place stares we normally get with our big group and backpacks — I think they’re more used to tourists in Ulanbataar (UB for short). But taking a closer look into Mongolia and it is very different.
First of all, the language is very hard to learn. In fact, some of the sounds are indiscernible to our ears and I haven’t picked up any words like I’ve been able in all the other countries.
Aside from the language, Mongolia is closer to Asia than Russia culturally and religiously, Buddhism is the predominant belief system. We stumbled upon monasteries walking around the city. There are monasteries next to malls and businesses. One day, we came across three monasteries and multiple temples. We saw so many people praying with fervor and devotion.
Even in conversations with people we’ve met here and there and at parks, Buddhism is a big part of the lifestyle here.
For example a guy we met, shared how he his belief system is tied to his mother’s. He values his mom highly because she carried him to birth and protects and cares for him and because he trusts and loves his mom who believes in Buddhism, he also does.
We talked to a guy at a local church here and he said that the Buddhism practiced here is the same as the Buddhism practiced in Tibet and the culture of pacifism has caused some tension with some Mongolians blaming pacifism as the reason for why Mongolia has little influence in the world’s eyes.
Some highlights in the Mongolia:
– connecting with Antioch Mongolia! It was so refreshing to feel some semblance of home and attending church there was rejuvenating + connecting with a short term team
– we met with Unbound, an anti-human trafficking organization that my church in LA worked with 2 summers ago in Berlin, Germany
– our park day! A teammate and I met some people at a local park and they let us ride their bikes for a bit and we shared about God and also a picture that we had for one guy
– baptism of our dear teammate on Jubilee + 3 birthday celebrations
– playing violin at a local cafe! There was a violin hanging on the wall that two of our teammates spotted and they asked the owner if I could play. We went there one night and played and it was such a joy as I hadn’t touched a violin since Jan/Georgia
– and to top it off: getting our Chinese visas at the embassy!
