<p>My D is thinking about a semester in Mongolia of all places .Has anyone out there in CC land done this ? My eldest lived near Mongolia for 5 years , which is where the idea came from ,I think .She sure comes up with unique ideas ! Not thrilled,for a female about how safe this is, and whether good ,if any medical care is available .</p>
<p>Yak milk mixed with cowdung is an EXCELLENT antiseptic. (Really!)</p>
<p>Dear Mini- thank you for supporting my darkest fears ! Can you tell me anything USEFUL ?</p>
<p>I would recommend taking a really long look for a program run by some US university that he can join. Or maybe a summer term or something. My D did her own independent study abroad (not through a formal program, but her US college did agree to accept her credits before she went). It was really a BIG hassle from our side to organize. And I think D would have had a better time with a program with some other US students.</p>
<p>the NY Times named it a top “up-and-coming” destination for 2011 and noted that the increased investment in the country’s natural resources will attract a lot more visitors–large hotel chains are already building in Ulan Bator and a Radisson will open later this year.</p>
<p>[Beat</a> the Crowds to Up-and-Coming Destinations - Labrador, Diqing, Zimbabwe and Mongolia - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Beat the Crowds to Up-and-Coming Destinations: Labrador, Diqing, Zimbabwe and Mongolia - The New York Times”>Beat the Crowds to Up-and-Coming Destinations: Labrador, Diqing, Zimbabwe and Mongolia - The New York Times)</p>
<p>this thread gives new meaning to the Jewish mother lament:</p>
<p>“and why are you moving to outer Mongolia???”</p>
<p>repeated time and again when the youngins left Brooklyn/Newark/Chicago etc for the suburbs…</p>
<p>sorry faux; couldn’t resist…</p>
<p>stacy was definitely more helpful…</p>
<p>In Mongolia, cow dung, in dried form is used as fuel for cooking and heating in the tent during the winter. Fresh horse milk is the most popular drink. Horse cheese is the staple for the Mongolians. Great place to have a vacation for the summer. I wouldn’t go for the winter.</p>
<p>I have friends with two kids - 9 and 11 - who are going there next month to “volunteer” - doing what, I’m not sure. I had hoped they’d go to one of my projects to Kenya, but there were really concerned about malaria. (so they think health in Mongolia is better).</p>
<p>Fresh cowdung is also used to clean the floor. (that’s true in Kenya too).</p>
<p>There might be certain linguistic difficulties…Does she read the Cyrillic alphabet? Is she interested in the language? Not an easy one, and not related to much, though Korean, distantly. My D, the geology major spent a month there last summer, on a research project, days drive out of Ulan Bator on rough rough roads. It was gorgeous!!! People were kind, it is a heavily meat based diet, and she smelled rather otherworldly and yak like when I picked her up in O’Hare. She enjoyed her few days in U Bator. Didn’t mention any feeling of danger whatsoever, though she was with a group. Aside from the risk of accidents, I’d guess a city like that would be far physically safer than many large cities elsewhere in the world. </p>
<p>This same D did a semester abroad last year in another unusual location. She was proud of her unusual location. Her sister is having a perhaps better learning experience in a more typical exchange in France this year. Much of the question depend on your D, her personality, and goals for the exchange. </p>
<p>BTW, how does one live ‘near’ Mongolia? Siberia? The Gobi?</p>
<p>How about Miami instead?</p>
<p>[American</a> Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) - About](<a href=“http://www.mongoliacenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=19&Itemid=37]American”>http://www.mongoliacenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=19&Itemid=37)</p>
<p>Great lakes mom- where did your D study that was so unusual ? Your mailbox is full</p>
<p>I have a friend who is currenlty living in Ulan Baatur. She and her husband are really enjoying there time there. She is the chief medical officer for the Peace Corps in Mongolia so she has gotten to travel around the country quite a bit. The thing she complains about the most is the air pollution in UB. The people are very friendly.</p>
<p>On the HGTV Channel, there was a show about an expat buying a place in Mongolia. </p>
<p>[In</a> Search of Adventure in Ulan Bator, Mongolia : House Hunters International : Home & Garden Television](<a href=“http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/in-search-of-adventure-in-ulan-bator-mongolia/index.html]In”>http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/in-search-of-adventure-in-ulan-bator-mongolia/index.html)</p>
<p>or </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hgtv.com/video/adventure-in-ulan-bator-video/index.html[/url]”>http://www.hgtv.com/video/adventure-in-ulan-bator-video/index.html</a></p>
<p>It might show a bit of what to expect in that country. Not exactly an exciting place.</p>
<p>Shennie, I remember hearing about that person. Unless the story has changed, she really loves life in UB. </p>
<p>faux, sorry about the PM box. Doesn’t get used for years, then bam! Will clean forthwith. </p>
<p>D was in Martinique, for a French exchange. She was in heaven, in a dorm overlooking the Caribbean. I can vouch for the heaven part, as I visited, briefly. But it was also quite isolated in terms of social interactions with locals. As she’s independent, and self reliant, she did well, and it made her very happy. Rating it in terms of what I’d want her to get out of an exchange experience, I was less impressed. But again, she was very pleased, and it fulfilled some of what SHE wanted, as it fulfilled some of her specific academic interests.</p>
<p>A friend’s D spent a semester there. She didn’t learn the language but she did know how to knit and knitted things for her host family. She also learned to ride a horse across the steppes. She later turned down a Fullbright for a Gates fellowship, so I don’t think she was harmed by the experience.</p>
<p>mini–I got dengue fever in Kenya. It’s no picnic in the park.</p>
<p>I finished writing a masters thesis one summer while living in a yurt, but it was in Massachusetts, and only a summer sublet. </p>
<p>It is truly relaxing to fall asleep in a circular room.</p>
<p>My D is talking about a summer work-field trip next year to Bulgaria! These places were unknown and Behind the Iron Curtain when I was a youngster – now they are a place college students go for the summer. This is very weird.</p>
<p>
False.
False.</p>