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Mongolia part 2

So much more to write but in the mean time I passed though Durban, Madagacar and am now on the way back to Durban to spend three more days to help finish the dome there. Mongolia seems already half a life time ago and memory is fading... Especially the time in Madagascar was very intense, not with domes though!

Moulds to get nice shaped windows About half way

I'll try to stretch my memory... Did I tell that Mongolians love round houses? Well they do, and I have no trouble understanding why. The feeling inside a round space is so much nicer than in a square space. And I am sure they will like these Super Adobe domes. Traditionally they use the round tents called girs and they are beautifully decorated and furnished. Unlike the domes they can be packed up and moved to new place easily. But it seems now many Mongolians are settling down more permanently even fences (formerly completely unknown) are emerging everywhere.

Baby naming ceremony: 24 babies to be named! Bath, blessing and a brand new name.

Now beside domes there are other things happening in and around the childrens home! Babies keep arriving so once in a while it's time for their Naming Ceremony where they receive their samskrit name and take the first solid food. It had been a while since the last ceremony so there were 24 babies (and some already past being baby...) to be named. It was very sweet blissful and... nicly chaotic as you probably can imagine. It seems that in the end all got their blessing, name and food (though for some it was definitely not the first solid food...) I also got some:-) Never to old to be baby, especially if there is something nice to eat!

First solid food, for some. The most popular place to hang out

The higher the dome became the more popular the top. It rather became so popular that it was hard to convince anyone that some kids were needed down on the ground to make the mix for filling the bag... I think they were convinced that it would somehow mix itself.

Industrial noice Gettoblaster noice

Two faithfull companions I have not yet introduced... The big powerplant would blow off steam at least once a day and the noice was so bad that the first time I thought it was going to blow up. Even our other source of noice had to admit defeat when it happened. That one was playing Mongolian Hip Hop the whole day at the highest possible volume. We (the older guys like me) did try a bit more mellow music and ones with more uplifting lirics but we had no chance and were outnumbered. The kids wanted HipHop and nothing else... we surrendered... Fortunately the selection of songs was not that large and the mind could filter it out after a while or just hum along... We were silently hoping the loudspeakers would burst but unfortunately the soundsystem was not made in China... Most other tools from china broke within days or just minutes.

Really, anyone can build a dome The skylight and the door in traditional Mongolian fashion.

Yep, it's really true, anyone can build a dome. If you are getting desparate how to keep your two year olds out of mischieve, just consider it, maybe a small plot in your back garden can be used to let them make their own dome:-) We didn't really want the younger ones on the site but no holding back, they also wanted to work!

Didi ambushed The whole team

 

The rare Edelweiss can be found everywhere Beside flowers also cute animals

An other little side trip... The dome was finally done and believe it or not we had two days spare! One of the childrens summer camps was running out of food so we didn't need a better excuse to visit them and on the way some interresting places.

Turtle Rock One of the buddhist hells, one of the better ones...

After studying all the different hells we could get our self in by being naugty (and they are very graphicly done, with stakes, fires, demons and more) we went back to the van and found the back window smashed. Everything had been searched but only few things taken... the orange juice and my sleeping bag. Many other valuable thing were left so we came to suspect that the two horseman we passed had, due to lack of space, just taken the most practical... The sleeping bag was a bit of a loss as its hard to find a new one in this part of the world. Probably I'll have to manage till back in New Zealand in November:-( Anyhow the outing was good and really interresting.

Preparing for plastering Hello

Some last dome picktures... I still like to see how plaster will stick on the bag but everywhere the one to do the plastering (I have never doneit myself) prefers to take the bag off. The easiest was it with a little blowtorch. Buring it of is fun, and it seems the Polypropelene burns quite clean as there is no bad smell.

Hello And the final result (before plastering etc.)

Well that's Mongolia, and Dada Ajay who is working there full mastered they system and is currently coordinating to finish it. I know the windows and door is already in and hopefully I'll see a photo with the finished one soon. the kids are very proud of their work and the dome will be used for teenage programs.

 

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