Peruvian YouTuber, interpreter Andrea Alessandra Daza La Rosa, known as Andi, gave the following interview to talk about her stay in Mongolia, her lifestyle and her point of view. She is studying in Seoul, South Korea to become a Korean language teacher but is also learning Mongolian on her own and making vlogs in Mongolian on her YouTube channel, Andi’s Diary.

How long do you plan to stay in Mongolia?

At first, I planned to stay in the country for a month but I like this place so I think I will be here for two months.

How was your first impression of Mongolia? Was it different from your expectations?

Even though I have many Mongolian friends in South Korea, I didn’t know much about the country. When I started learning Mongolian, I really enjoyed Mongolian songs. I used to watch a lot of music videos. From those videos, I could see some parts of Ulaanbaatar or the country. Before coming here, I got a small image of this country through these things. When I decided to come here, I told some of my Mongolian friends, “I will go to your country soon.” They said, “No way, why? It’s a dangerous place!” and advised me to be careful, not to walk alone on the street or talk to strangers. Therefore, I was so afraid. In the beginning, to be honest, I was also a little worried because it was my first time going to such an unfamiliar place by myself. I used to live in China to study. But when I went to China for the first time, I could already speak Chinese. When I was studying there, I traveled to South Korea with my Korean friends. Hence, before I moved to South Korea, I already knew what the country would be like.

I thought about what would happen in Mongolia while waiting for the plane at the airport because my Mongolian friends warned me that this place is very dangerous. But when I came here, my first impression of the city was like, “This country looks like my country.” I did not think that this place would be so similar to my country, especially the streets and buildings. Since we live in South Korea, my friends probably gave me those warnings and maybe they think it might be a dangerous place for me compared to South Korea. But I found Mongolia identical to my country. I don’t think it’s a dangerous place because I know that some South American countries are more dangerous. There were drunken people on the streets of Ulaanbaatar, but I didn’t feel any danger here. But of course, if I ignore them, everything will be fine. Mongolians are very friendly. This place is better than I thought.

When you came here, you went to the Playtime Festival and traveled to some places near Ulaanbaatar, right? Can you share your best memories from these travels?

I went to a concert by Ice Top boy band the first week I got here. My friend bought me a ticket for this concert, but I went by myself. I had no idea how concerts were held in Mongolia. According to the ticket information, the concert was supposed to start at noon. However, I went there at 2:00 p.m. thinking that it might not start at that time. When I got there, people were waiting outside the Central Stadium where the concert was held. It was really hot that day. I was wearing a jacket but it suddenly started raining. I guess the concert was stopped twice due to hail and heavy rain. People started running to cover themselves from the rain. I was like, “What’s going on?” and ran after the others. Then, the rain stopped and people came back to the stage. I was very close to the stage. It started raining again, but people didn’t care anymore. They were just jumping, singing and dancing. I thought I should go home because I got all wet and it was a cold night. But then, I realized that there were a lot of people behind me. Since there was no way out, I stayed there. Then, my cell phone died because water got into it. The two girls in front of me asked for my Instagram account and we had a great time together. It was my first concert experience.

I also went to the Playtime Festival. I had so much fun. I somehow lost my money there. So I only had money left for half the ticket. When I gave half of the ticket, I was nervous and didn’t know what to do and the girl selling the ticket paid for the rest of the ticket. She was so kind.

You can speak many languages, namely Spanish, English, Chinese, Korean and Portuguese. Why did you decide to learn Mongolian?

I am interested in learning difficult languages in general. So I learned Chinese. It is said that Mongolian is also a difficult language to learn. Since I started learning Mongolian later, my Mongolian is still a little poor. In particular, I first prepare and memorize what I will talk about and make my YouTube videos. I want to learn Russian in the future.

I found it interesting that you make YouTube videos in Mongolian. Why do you make your videos in Mongolian?

I thought Mongolian food was really delicious, so I immediately tried making khuushuur. Mongolian food is very similar to Peruvian food. So, for the first time, I made a video of myself making khuushuur and uploaded it on YouTube. The khuushuurs I made were very tasty. Then, Mongolians saw my video and left a lot of positive comments. They said, “Good luck, beautiful girl”, “You speak Mongolian well”, and “Make more interesting videos”. Therefore, I started making the next videos in Mongolian.

In general, how are people’s comments on YouTube? How do Mongolians react to your videos?

Mongolians are very friendly and kind. People always try to help me learn things I don’t understand. I read a lot of comments from Mongolian people. Some people say, “You have to be careful in Mongolia. They are mean. You shouldn’t trust people.” But I think that’s not true. Of course, in every country, there are all kinds of people. As a foreigner, I see that in general, Mongolian people behave properly. There are a lot of nice people.

You said you liked Mongolian food a lot. What is your favorite Mongolian dish?

Yes, I love Mongolian food, especially khuushuur and buuz. I have tried making many Mongolian dishes on my own. The most difficult dish to make was buuz because I couldn’t fold them. I don’t understand how people can wrap it so quickly. I also love banshtai tsai (milk tea with dumplings). I love eating it on a cold day.

You have lived in many countries. Have you ever thought of living in Mongolia? Do you see it as an affordable place to live in?

To be honest, groceries and consumer goods seemed more expensive than I expected.

Besides learning languages, what else do you like to do?

I like playing the piano and traveling. I am also interested in making YouTube videos and trying different cuisines.

What is your favorite Mongolian artist?

I like many singers. The first Mongolian singer I started listening to was Uka. My friend showed me her songs and I thought her style was really cool. The artists I listen to the most are Roockie, Vandebo, AM-C, The Wasabies band and NMN. I like most of their songs. I would say my favorite singer is AM-C because I think he is very cute and handsome. He used to be my crush.

Do you plan to make other types of YouTube videos in the future?

Yes, I will make more interesting travel videos in Mongolia. I also want to make some videos, asking questions from random people.

Russian oil companies, affected by the Western measures, are offering massive discounts to their customers. This is the case of Mongolia, which obtained an agreement to buy gasoline at a reduced price from the company Rosneft. Thus, the agreement guarantees the Russian company an export of refined products while the market is shrinking considerably.

Agreement between Mongolia and Rosneft

Rosneft specializes in oil extraction, processing and distribution. It is the second largest oil producer, after Gazprom.

The negotiations between Mongolia and Rosneft will allow the country to offer gasoline at retail prices 35% below the market price. As a result of the agreement with Rosneft, the Mongolian government will be able to reduce the price pressure on its citizens. In fact, Mongolia will pay $840 per ton of Al-92 gasoline or about $99.4/bbl.

The selling price of fuel in Mongolia will be offered at 2,390 Togrog/liter, equivalent to 76 cents, until the end of 2022. This is about 1,340 Togrog/liter (43 cents) less than the market price.

According to Yondon Gelen, Minister of Mines and Heavy Industry:

“The significant reduction we are able to secure through the end of the year will protect consumers and businesses and help strengthen Mongolia’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In fact, the significant reduction in prices until the end of the year will help ease the cost of living in the country.

This decision also underlines Russia’s strategy to offer gasoline at reduced prices. Because of the sanctions, it wants to secure outlets for its oil exports.

The Australian Hydroponic Farmers Federation (HFF) announced two of its committee as life members.

At the 12th Biennial conference in Dandenong earlier this month, David Pearson and Tony Spurling were given the honour for their service to the industry. Mr Pearson, who also previously owned Country Fresh Herbs, is retiring from the committee because he wants to spend more time travelling with his wife Marika.

"What I have done with the HFF, I have done because I wanted to do it," Mr Pearson said. "I have got more out of it than I could ever have imagined. This is just an honour that I just cannot thank everyone enough for, and I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone, but equally spending a little bit of time for ourselves as well."

The HFF also announced Tony Spurling as the fifth life member of the organisation. He became involved in the industry when he set up Gateway Hydroponics in Coldstream, Victoria. He joined the HFF in 2001 and was nominated in 2006 to the committee.

"You don't join an organisation like this to get as much as I have out of it," he said. "You get out more than you put in and I certainly feel that over the 21 years in the industry that is what seems to happen; we get out so much more than we put in - I almost feel guilty about it. It's a fantastic organisation and we have a fantastic bunch of people."

Construction of a greenhouse industry in Mongolia

One of the many projects that Mr Pearson passionately worked on during his time at the HFF, and is most proud of, was helping people in Mongolia establish a greenhouse, by sharing his experience from the Australian industry, including resources, knowledge and finances.

"Back in 2011, my wife Marika and I were doing some philanthropic work helping people in Mongolia," he said. "And I walked out of the airport lounge at Ulaanbaatar, the capital, and on my way into the city, I thought to myself that we could change the whole country with hydroponics. If you know nothing about Mongolia, the temperature can range from minus 50 degrees to 38 degrees (Celsius) - growing in that situation is very difficult. So, if you couldn't plant and harvest anything in 60 days, there was no point in planting. The people we knew over there were only eating their animals, not fruit and vegetables."

About every decade, Mongolia experiences a weather event called a Dzud, which is a summer drought followed by a wet and snowy winter, and this kills a lot of the fodder to sustain herds - as a result of the 2010 event, 8 million animals were lost and the people were left with nothing for basic sustenance.

After the Dzud, Samaritans Purse Australia, with whom Mr Pearson was involved, established a vegetable-growing commune. In a village of 38 families, a well was dug and a 300 square metre single-skin poly greenhouse was established to grow basic produce. In addition, the city of Ulaanbaatar pumps free hot water (86 degrees) throughout the city homes, which was identified as a heat source for the greenhouses in the city but not country areas.

"Around that time, we put out our hand brought them out to Australia and they attended our conference, and we taught them a bit about hydroponics," Mr Pearson said. "After a couple of years, they came up with an idea of what a greenhouse should look like that would work for them in the country areas. Now what has happened is that they have become 260 days a year of being productive, by using simple stuff that they came up with themselves. I took over some cheap LED grow lights and hung them up, and they work in their climate which goes down to minus 50."

So, hydroponics and greenhouses added many weeks on either side of the three-month growing season, effectively doubling the production window. But it was not just the establishment of a greenhouse, it was educating the people of Mongolia. Host Turkuu Yadmaa was sponsored by the HFF to visit Australia and some greenhouses, network with local growers and attend a previous HFF conference, where he gained valuable skills to take back home - and he embraced the whole concept and its possibilities for improving the lives of people in his country.

Since returning home, Mr Yadmaa has built more than 100 small locally designed and built greenhouses that are producing vegetables - and they have now upgraded to LED lights and using yak dung for heating. Mr Pearson says learning how some basic and simple growing systems have ensured that people and livestock have enough food to eat despite their harsh climate.

Migration of populations is a fundamental movement of humankind. Migration from rural areas to urban areas exceeds migration from cities to rural areas around the globe, signifying an increasing urbanization trend. This trend is even stronger in poorer and developing countries. For obvious reasons, these movements require further coordination.)

We now face the need to discuss and understand how this reverse migration unfolds, its consequences and how to address them, and what to pay attention to first, and to work together to ensure the government works efficiently.

Moving to cities

The rural-urban migration has been increasing exponentially, resulting in 47.6% of Mongolia’s population living in Ulaanbaatar as of the end of 2019. The figure was 27.1 % in 1990, 33.1% in 2000, 45.1% in 2010 respectively. The population of Govi-Altai, Zavkhan, Uvs, Arkhangai and Dundgovi decreased in the last two decades (MLSP).

The factors intensifying the population shift include low disaster management capacity in the countryside, better opportunities of education and jobs, as well as improved infrastructure in the city.

The flow of people towards the city has accelerated urbanization. However, it also brought a steep population rise, leading to noise, soil, water pollution and overload on infrastructure.

Ulaanbaatar city administration even imposed restrictions on the registration of incoming residents in 2017-2020. Although the limitation reduced the number of registered people, it did not reduce the number of unregistered citizens, and had no effect on 83 percent of them (IOM, 2021). In 2017, 25,000 citizens registered residency in the capital, and in 2019, 6,800 citizens registered. Unregistered citizens face economic, social, and health risks and cannot access basic social services.

China has used a similar system (hukou) since 1958 and stopped it in cities with a population below 3 million in 2014. In the big cities of our southern neighbor, in addition to paying a registration fee, it is necessary to have a high income, business skills, overseas education, and relatives with the city's "hukou" (Chan and Buckingham, 2008). It is impossible to access either job market, education, or healthcare, without hukou.

In the democratic Mongolia, the constitution provides everyone with the right to choose where to reside and where to work. It was thought that the government understood from its own experience and that of its southern neighbor, that the problem of population migration is not an administrative one, but an economic one. The mayor D.Sumiyabazar has recently proposed the halt of registering new residents in Ulaanbaatar until 2027, but fortunately, the proposal was not approved by the citizen’s representative’s council. The issue is growing in size and complexity, but the solution is still stuck.

Reverse migration or the movement of population to the rural areas

One way of reducing urban concentration is the migration from cities to the countryside or the so-called “reverse migration”. Between 2015 and 2020, a total of 43,478 citizens moved from the city to the countryside, including more than 3,000 people in Tov, Selenge, and Orkhon provinces each (NSO). There is limited information on reverse migration. The stories of families doing so are varied, and we have found some successful cases.

Let's briefly present some successful cases of the families that were invited to the "Reverse Migration" discussion held recently in Ulaanbaatar. One example is the young family of Ch. Yeruultuvshin and S. Buyantogtokh which moved from the capital to Durgan Soum, Khovd Province and found a way to work and live while sharing their stories with the country on social networks. It is estimated that residents in UB spend an average of 845 hours a year in traffic jams. Spending this time learning foreign languages and improving their education, this couple has established an English language club at the Soum Center and is training citizens in digital literacy. (FB: countrysidefamily/хөдөөний айл)

We can also highlight the stories of few individuals, for instance G. Amarzaya (fb: Zaya Guna), who has a master’s degree from Ireland and runs a successful pastry business (Batmax Co) in Zavkhan province since having relocated from Ulaanbaatar to her hometown; Doctor B. Tuvshin (fb: Tuvshin Bayasgalan), who moved to Khuvsgul province and performed numerous cancer surgeries that spared the transportation cost for many patients; Kh. Erdenebulgan (fb: Монгол овогт Хишигийн Эрдэнэбулган), a former journalist at the National Broadcaster who is running a high-yield animal husbandry after moving to his hometown of Bulgan province; and J. Oyunchimeg (fb: Oyunchimeg Batzuu), who started a sewing factory in Uvurkhangai and created many jobs.

These people mentioned the advantages of moving to the countryside such as fresh air, live without traffic jams, school classes with fewer students, closer relationships with people, and great business opportunities. All of them noted that for the first time in the history of Mongolia, the internet is available in all provinces and soums of Mongolia, most of which are connected by paved roads, and the possibility to buy anything or learn any skill from anywhere in the world.

There is a shortage of residential apartments, commercial spaces and specialized human resources that are essential for the movement to the rural areas. University students usually move to the city and start a family, bringing their parents to look after their children. The employment fund for supporting businesses is hard to access with its complex terms and conditions.

Many young people have the will to move to the countryside, but they hesitate as they lack information. If they are pointed in the right direction and have their professions linked to the rural areas, the shift will take place more.

A uniform business producing neat, clean and uniforms up to standard suited for the local conditions for students and the military organizations at the provincial capitals, for example, can become a business running all year round. Moreover, there is a high need for ger covers and national costumes in all provinces. If they manage to start a sewing workshop, install modern machines, and train workers, they can make 2-5 million tugriks per month. It is commendable that under the new revival policy of Mongolia, the establishment of factories in rural areas is exempted from taxes.

Moving forward, it is time to pay special attention to the ensuring of a high salary for jobs, providing good English language teaching and learning opportunities in rural areas and educating the local residents. It is necessary to support the development of the provincial capitals through economic measures, including tax and other means. For example, if the national Naadam celebrations are held in every province, rotating every year through competitive selection like the Olympics, will have a tangible impact on the domestic tourism industry.

I urge the government to look at reverse migration as an opportunity instead of perceiving it as developmental hindrance.

2022.07.06

Trans. by Riya.T and Munkh-Erdene.D

July 21 (Xinhua) -- The incidence rate of COVID-19 rose again in Mongolia due to the prevalence of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the country's health ministry said Thursday.

The two subvariants have caused around 10 percent of all new cases in Mongolia recently, said the ministry.

In response, the country's Health Minister Sereejav Enkhbold has ordered all relevant health institutions to stockpile necessary medicines and medical supplies, urging the public to wear masks in public places and follow other health guidelines.

Mongolia has reported 323 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 934,357, according to the ministry.

Less than 100 new infections had been registered in the country for several months before mid-July.

The Asian Development Bank has lowered its growth forecast for developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region this year to 4.6 percent.

The projection for 2022 that the ADB released on Thursday was cut by 0.6 percentage points from the 5.2 percent growth forecast issued in April.

Among the reasons for the downgrade, the ADB cites slower growth in China, where the government has stuck to a strict zero-COVID policy.

The bank says China's economy is expected to expand 4 percent this year, compared with its earlier projection of 5 percent.

It attributes China's slower growth to weakness in consumption caused by the lockdowns in Shanghai and instability in the housing market.

The ADB downgraded its growth forecast for India from 7.5 to 7.2 percent, saying higher-than-expected inflation will dampen consumption.

The bank raised its growth projection for Indonesia from 5 to 5.2 percent. It says higher prices for the country's coal and other key commodity exports are generating windfall export earnings.

The ADB says aggressive monetary tightening by central banks could cause turbulence in financial markets, and further rises in food prices could also pose risks for the region's economic outlook

Netherlands-based global payments infrastructure company TerraPay has partnered with Mongolia-based money transmitter and financial institution SendMN to simplify the complexity of cross-border payment transactions, Paypers reported.

The partners’ aim to improve the way Mongolians receive and send real-time payments. Mongolian customers will be able to receive remittances from major corridors like UK, USA, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland and also access major sending corridors like Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Japan, and the USA.

The collaboration will facilitate P2P, P2B, B2P, and B2B transactions enabling diaspora residents to make low-cost, real-time transactions to beneficiaries in Mongolia.

According to a TerraPay representative, this partnership will enable the payments infrastructure company to deploy its technical solutions globally and offer Mongolian residents around the world cross-border payment options.

Cardano’s IOG has become the latest member of the Mongolian wing of the American Chamber of Commerce [AmCham]. According to the tweet, AmCham Mongolia stated,

We are very excited to announce our newest member a leading technology company committed to the highest principles of academic rigor and evidence-based software development.

Describing IOG as “one of the world’s pre-eminent blockchain infrastructure research and engineering companies”, the Mongolian entity also stated that the research wing build high-assurance blockchain infrastructure solutions for public, private sector and government clients.

Besides that, AmCham Mongolia is slated to host Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and his team for a special ‘Meet & Greet’ event. It has laid out the details of the event here.

Just some days ago, Hoskinson, CEO of IOG, the software studio behind Cardano [ADA] blockchain solutions, spoke on the feasibility of blockchain-based instruments in governmental systems.

In the The Crypto Mile podcast, Mr. Hoskinson sat down to discuss the prospects of blockchain systems in governance solutions.

The chief exec says that as distributed, democratic and permissionless systems, blockchain systems will enable public services to become more accessible than ever before:

“It enables the poorest and most vulnerable person in society equal access as the president of the US, and there has never been a time in human history that that has been the case”, he said.

Apart from that, it has the ability to prevent one nation [USA, China] from gaining absolute control over global political affairs. Thus improving the quality of governance.

“It is a better way of doing things with less friction, less fraud, less waste and abuse and more transparency and ultimately less consolidation of power.”

Cardano To Establish lab at University of Edinburgh

To begin with, blockchain technology can help prove its worth in various sphere of public services such as land contracts, commercial and government voting, health information, educational credentials, tax and legal information, etc.

In order to study various aspects of decentralization and its use for governance, IOG is planning to build a new entity in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.

Mr. Hoskinson revealed that his team will research all blockchains, including Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH], to find out the most suitable one.

A whirlwind, seven-day trip exploring the capital of Mongolia, traversing the nation’s remote countryside, and camping in yurts—or “gers” as they’re called in Mongolian—might sound like a true adventure to even the most seasoned traveler.

Now, how about doing that trip without a change of clothes?

That’s just what happened to students in the Penn Global seminar Mongolian Civilization: Nomadic and Sedentary, professor Christopher P. Atwood and teaching fellow Stephen Garrett when they headed to Mongolia in May for the first time since before the pandemic. They arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, on May 12. Their luggage, however, stayed in Turkey and didn’t join them until the final two days of the trip.

“Through it all the students were just super troopers,” says Atwood, Mongolian professor and chair of the department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. “When I saw them joking with each other and asking good questions about Zanabazar and the history of Ulaanbaatar as a city, I kept on having to remind myself that some of them were still wearing the same [clothing] they were wearing on the plane.”

Most students agree the missing luggage was just an added bit of humor in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Mongolia with an insider’s view, thanks to Atwood’s connections and language fluency and Penn Global’s reach in the region. They did, however, eventually make a stop at a department store for essentials and Penn Global sent along funds so they could purchase much needed cold weather gear for their nights in the countryside where the temperatures drop dramatically after dark.

The group had spent the spring semester exploring how two intertwined ways of life—pastoral nomadism and settling down for religious, educational, and economic reasons—have shaped the cultural, artistic, and intellectual traditions of Mongolia. They studied how the Mongolian economy, literature, and steppe empires were built on grass and livestock and also learned how Mongolians have consistently used the foundations of empire to build sedentary monuments and buildings, whether funerary complexes, Buddhist monasteries, socialist boarding schools, or modern capitals. Then they took that newfound knowledge on the road with them to Mongolia.

They started off in Ulaanbaatar, exploring the nightlife and live music, upscale restaurants, and museums. Then they hopped into three vans for a long journey into the countryside, where they were stunned by the stark beauty of the grasslands, herds of animals like yaks and camels, and wildlife. They even managed to see the rare Przewalski’s horse, the last truly wild horse in the world.

“As we all agreed, driving through the countryside is like an unending movie,” Atwood says.

They stayed in Kharkhorin in gers, visited local museums and monasteries and met with herders to learn about their way of life. Then they headed back to Ulaanbaatar to meet with local artists, visit a ger district, and learn about the challenges of melding the nomadic and modern city ways of living. They finished with a visit to a jazz club and a tour of the Winter Palace of a Buddhist monk who became the last emperor of Mongolia.

“People have these ideas about nomadism, that nomads must be totally isolated from the rest of the world, that it’s completely incompatible with being part of the 21st century,” says Atwood. “I wanted the students to have an understanding that’s not the case; many people in the countryside in Mongolia are nomads, and they’re also living in the same 21st century that we’re living in. They are interested in hip hop, they’re interested in studying abroad, they are part of the same world as us.”

Azzaya Galsandum, a rising sophomore from Ewing, New Jersey, majoring in linguistics, signed up for the course to learn more about her culture: Her parents came to the U.S. from Mongolia more than two decades ago, and she had never visited.

“They were excited for me, and my mom was definitely tearing up when I boarded the plane,” she says.

For her, the highlight was visiting the countryside, since both her parents came from nomadic families in that region. She was able to visit her half-siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time.

“I actually got to see the ger where my mother was raised,” she says, adding that she’d brought a bunch of gifts for everyone, but they were stuck in her missing luggage.

“It made me realize how my parents lived when they were growing up. My mom’s favorite animals are goats and sheep, and we saw this giant herd of sheep and goats and these little baby goats came running up to us. I understood why my mom loves all this. I feel such a connection to it now.”

Galsandum says her classmates surprised her with how excited they were about all things Mongolian, and they turned to her cultural expertise and language skills throughout the trip, at restaurants, gift shops, and more, despite her being one of youngest on the trip.

“I know they signed up for the course, but it’s still surprising to see people who are so interested in my culture because where I grew up I could count the number of Asian people in my school on one hand,” she says. “I’m not used to people actually being interested in my culture, but my classmates were so excited about all the Mongolian stuff. It was amazing to be able to see people try things that I eat all the time, and they all liked it.”

Angela Lao, a rising senior from Macau studying neuroscience, says she was drawn to the Penn Global seminar because she always wanted to study abroad but can’t really take off a full semester with her pre-med course load. A brief trip in May was ideal, she says, and this Mongolia course aligned with her East Asian studies minor and interests.

Memorable moments for her were going emergency shopping before the trip to the countryside, having fun in the museums, the kindness of the locals, and gazing amazed at one of the world’s tallest Buddhas. She also took a free afternoon to write postcards and deliver them to the local post office with Atwood and shop for some cashmere.

She came up with the idea for her final project based on her experience with traffic congestion in Ulaanbaatar.

“It was something I noticed during the trip and never would have even thought about before going there,” she says. “I was actually pretty happy to do my final project.”

Lao also was fascinated by a visit to a boarding school for children of nomadic families. The government is pushing for universal literacy and universal schooling, so children of herding families now attend these schools away from home. The kids showed off their art and asked lots of questions.

“These opportunities that Penn Abroad offer students are truly life changing, and I’m so glad I took advantage of it,” she says.

Alan Burd, a rising senior studying international relations and Russian from Silver Spring, Maryland, says he signed up for the course because it seemed like an opportunity he might not have again in his lifetime, to see Mongolia from these varied and up-close vantage points.

He also found the countryside to be a highlight of the trip, visiting the monasteries, speaking with local herders who welcomed them into their homes with open arms, petting the goats and sheep, and taking in the landscape.

“We get to the campsite and we can’t help but stop to watch the sunset. It’s purple, blue, orange, red, all these colors and you see the valleys and the hills. I was just overwhelmed by the scenery,” he says. “It was breathtaking to see this beauty and smell the mountain air. It was almost surreal.”

For him, it was particularly interesting to see all the signs written in Cyrillic, which he could read because of his Russian language skills

“We had learned over the course of the semester about the historical influence the Soviet bloc had on Mongolia and the country’s many transitions,” he says.

His biggest takeaway was how the trip was a culmination of all they learned that semester in class in the form of experiential learning.

“We could go to the historic City Square and see Sukhbaatar’s statue or go to see Buddhist temples, and it was meaningful. It was only meaningful because we were working hard throughout the semester—connecting a lot of those things that we had learned in class,” he says. “It’s really amazing the process that happens: You go into a textbook; you talk to your professor; you talk to your class, but then you apply it to the real world around you.”

He says he knew it would be rewarding, but all expectations were exceeded.

“You can’t have the class without the trip and you can’t have as meaningful of a trip as we had without the class. You need it to go both ways,” Burd says. “I’m so grateful to Penn Global for pulling this off, despite the uncertainties along the way. They were adamant from the initial weeks in the semester that we would go, and it truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”