Kyiv ex-pats will remember John Poepsel, who worked in the International Republican Institute office here for several years. When IRI gave Poepsel the opportunity to head its office in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, he took it.
Poepsel is finding that if Ukraine was at one time considered the Wild East, further east is even wilder. This is an email he recently sent to his mother in Iowa, and copied to numerous friends in Kyiv:
April 19
Hello Mother;
I'm writing from the middle of the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia, about 50 miles from the Chinese border. Boy, oh boy, what a different world here!
I'm n the aimag (county) capital, Dalanzadgrad. It's a very depressed,ugly and sandy town. There is nothing here! All of the buildings are one- and two-story and the streets are nothing but packed sand. Dust devils can be seen on the outskirts.
This city looks like those towns in the old U.S. western movies. They do have an Internet cafe, though, at the post office. The hotel has no hot water and the room leaves something to be desired. I get to fly back to Ulaan Baatar tomorrow. The food is what one can expect... mutton, but I brought along some Chef Boy-Ar-Dee ravioli and some canned chicken loaf that I mix with rice and that suffices. Plus, I eat snacks and apples.
Listen to this: We arrived here yesterday after a seven-hour drive through the desert from the city of Mandeldorj. When we got here, we cleaned up, took a cold shower and then drove 1-1/2 hours to a national park that has a nice flowing stream and some unusual mountains. Anyway, we had walked about 1 mile when my staff person, Urnuk, said "John, stop." He then started to pick at my pants. I thought it was plant burs sticking to me, but when I looked down,
I had probably 50 blood-sucking ticks crawling on my pants and shirt! God! I started jumping up and down and brushing them off. I made sure none got into my clothes or on my head.
Those damn bugs lay on the brush and jump on you when you walk by. Damn, that was nasty. I hate the great outdoors! I had a hard time sleeping last night because I kept thinking that the ticks were on me. And I still keep checking my head (and other parts) to make sure none came aboard! Yuck.
Again, I'll be glad to get back to UB tomorrow.
Love, J.
|
