| Question: |
Have
you gotten sick at all while you have been in Mongolia? |
|
|
Jamie:
Not in Mongolia but I did feel ill while in Sri Lanka, and just took
cold & flu medicine and slept as much as I could. I got over it
a couple of days after we got home from Sri Lanka. |
| Question: |
Is
it hard to sleep at night? |
|
|
Jamie:
No, it isn't hard to sleep because we are so exhausted, but it gets
pretty cold and it's hard to get up. |
| Question: |
Is
it strange going from one time zone to another? |
|
|
Jamie:
Not really, I've been doing it since September so I have sort of gotten
used to it. You just learn to adjust; you try to stay awake during
your flight and then when you get to your destination it is bedtime
and then you go to sleep, that makes it easier to make the adjustment. |
| Question: |
What
is your favorite part of the day? |
|
|
Jamie:
When we capture lambs, that is my favorite time, any part of the day
when we are capturing lambs. I love that part. |
| Question: |
Is
the Mongolian language hard to learn? |
|
|
Jamie:
YES, it is. It is very difficult. I haven't really learned much Mongolian
at all. Really, any language is hard to learn, we are so used to hearing
English all the time. |
| Question: |
Is
it hard being away from your family so long? |
|
|
Jamie:
It is hard, I do miss my family at times, but I am just so excited
to be traveling; I just have to keep reminding myself that I should
be focused on where I am. But the day before we go home I am always
so giddy because I can't wait to see my family. |
| Question: |
Do
you enjoy writing the journals? |
|
|
Jamie:
Do I enjoy writing the journals? Of course I do. I enjoy it allot.
I want to be a writer anyway so the journal writing is good practice
for me. |
| Question: |
Which
trip would you recommend for 7th Graders? |
|
|
Jamie:
Wow, I can't believe how brave you guys are. I think the trip I would
recommend most would be the crocodile expedition to Botswana. That
was such an awesome trip. |
| Question: |
How
many Mongolians speak English? |
|
|
Jamie:
Actually a lot of the Mongolians here know a lot of basic conversational
English. I was actually very surprised because the language is very
hard and they have taken the time to do the work it takes to learn
even the basics of another language. I guess part of that is because
there are so many English speaking volunteers. But that is this ger.
When you visit other gers most of them know no English at all. |
| Question: |
Do
the horns of the Argali fall or break off? |
|
|
Jamie:
I don't think so. We find carcasses with the horns still in tact,
so I think the horns just always keep growing. |
| Question: |
Has
any walked through any poison ivy or anything like that? |
|
|
Jamie:
No, I haven't even seen any poison ivy here, I think it is too cold.
|
| Question: |
Do
you get to watch TV at all? |
|
|
Jamie:
No, we don't get to watch TV at all, sometimes I wish we did. We run
off of solar energy, so even charging the Satellite phone is very
tedious, so we really have to conserve energy. Some days you get up
and it might be cloudy so there will be no energy those days at all,
no light in the ger at all then. There is no energy in the ger here
at all. |
| Question: |
How
many hours do you sleep per night? |
|
|
Jamie:
We sleep from about 10:30 pm to 7 am on an average day. Except today,
we woke up at 5 am. |
| Question: |
Have
you made friends with any of the locals? |
|
|
Jamie:
We have made friends with people who work in the camp. But not the
locals who hang out in the park. |
| Question: |
What
is your favorite animal in Mongolia? |
|
|
Jamie:
My favorite animal must be the Argali, just because they are so amazing.
They have these enormous horns and they are so graceful. I don't know,
I just really like them. |
| Question: |
What
is your favorite food to eat that is Mongolian? |
|
|
Jamie:
Well, I'm not really quite sure. We are really just eating camp food,
there are no refrigerators or freezers to keep food in. We eat a lot
of rice and noodles and things like that. I am not really quite sure
what true Mongolian food is, but the food we do eat is very good.
It is Mongolian to me. |
| Question: |
What
are popular sports in Mongolia? |
|
|
Jamie:
They are really into Wrestling actually. |
| Question: |
When
you go home do you plan on keeping in contact with Tyler and Arsen? |
|
|
Jamie:
Oh yeah, we'll keep in contact probably always, whether they like
it or not. |
| Question: |
What
made you able to go on this trip -- how did you become involved? |
|
|
Jamie:
I was the secretary of my environmental group at my High School and
I was very close with my environmental Science teacher. We did a lot
of things, we were pretty involved. It was really a combination of
things that I did while in school that qualified me for this. |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) Do you go with the rest of the group when they go out to catch
lambs? |
|
|
Auggie:
Auggie: Sometimes I go with the same
group and sometimes I change groups, but we all are capturing and
tracking the lambs and watching behavior. I do go out with them every
day and do all the things that they do. But
we go every day. |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) Can you speak to us in Mongolian? |
|
|
Auggie:
Hello my friends....... |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) What is your favorite Mongolian dessert? |
|
|
Auggie:
There are a lot of good things, but I like milk products, I like yogurt,
I like shakes with a special powder mix it up and put some sugar in
it. It is really healthy for you and tastes very good. |
| Question: |
(To Auggie) What is the coldest it has been where you live ? |
|
|
Auggie:
I think the coldest here is about -47 Celsius, but I heard that is
-78 degree Fahrenheit. The cold air comes directly from Siberia so
it is very very cold. |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) How do the temperatures change between winter and summer ? |
|
|
Auggie:
It changes a lot. In summertime it gets about 40 degrees Celsius,
which is 100 Fahrenheit but then when winter comes it gets very cold
again. |
| Question: |
(To Auggie) Do you have any brothers and sisters ? |
|
|
Auggie:
Yes I have two younger brothers. One is 17 and one is 10. They are
staying in the city right now. |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) Do you attend college? |
|
|
Auggie:
Yes, we have a college that I attend, Mongolian International University.
I am a freshman there. |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) How long have you worked on the research team ? |
|
|
Auggie:
We have been here now ten days and we have two more days. But I am
sure that I will participate again in another project, maybe in the
summer or maybe next September. |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) What are you studying at the University? |
|
|
Auggie:
I am studying biology. |
| Question: |
(To
Auggie) Did you grow up in the city or in the country ? |
|
|
Auggie:
I was born in Western Mongolia, between the desert and the mountains.
I moved to the city when I was five years old. But every summer I
went back to the west, so I am a countryside boy, really. |
| Question: |
(To Auggie) How many times have you seen the Argali? |
|
|
Auggie:
I have seen them every day since I have been here. Sometimes I see
big herds, sometimes 60 and sometimes 30 in the herd. On the average
we see about 40 a day. |
Earthwatch
Institute • Valley Christian
Schools
©2005 Valley Christian Schools in partnership
with Earthwatch Institute
TeachLive
Teachers:
Bonita Coleman & Carrie Vander Zwaag |
