We spent a few gloriously relaxing days out on the Steppe, away from the city. Those precious days were calm and pretty much exactly what we all needed, relaxation time away from work. When we were out on the Steppe, I didn't have my laptop to keep y'all updated on my thoughts and whatnot. I did however have my journal so I could play with some poetry.
I had hurt my ankle one evening, and the morning after the group was headed out for a hike. I thought it wouldn't be the best idea, so I grabbed my colored pencils and my coloring book (which are obviously always on me regardless) and decided to go sit at the table with this view.
This is where we found ourselves for just a few days, north of Ulaanbaatar in the Khustai National Park. When we stayed there, there was a local family that maintained the property. I had an instant connection with two girls when we bonded playing volleyball then continued to hangout, regardless of language barriers. They both spoke a little English and they thought it was funny when I asked them for vocabulary lessons, pointing out objects or hopping through the grass to catch a Tsa-Tsa (aka Grasshopper). After playing in the grass, and attempting to play some sports...regardless of a sad lack of coordination...the three of us, Bayarjargal, Amarbayasgalan and I, decided to sit down and color for the better half of the morning.
Sitting in comfortable silence, we took in the beauty of everything around us. The rolling hills, the fields of lavender flowers, the spunky bugs flying about. Particularly, the simple beauty of the moment itself.
I had to take a moment to think about how utterly amazing it was to be sitting down with these girls, in comfortable silence for the sake of art and community. Those girls were absolutely incredible, and I'll miss them dearly, anyway...Here's a random poem I wrote while coloring with the kids from one of our host families.
Here is the poem:
Communication is a beautiful thing
Everyone,
All of us
Communicate in some way
Words
Seen and Heard
Moved and Written
Created and Destroyed
More powerful than anything else
Always have been, always will be
Declarations, Condemnations, Information
Passed along throughout generations
Blind Deaf Mute
Yet a teacher
Sister
Introductions across an ocean
And she called me sister
Sometimes only a few words are truly necessary to describe
the intended inspiration
Intent...what a strange thought
The weight of the meaning hidden between the letters
The syllables , the syntax, the technicalities
And yet when words are no longer necessary...
Eyes can sing symphonies Ears turning blind to the moral of the story
How to say all that is on my mind-
when words are falling behind
and every thought I want to convey is
Hiding
Locked inside that 70% of my brain that even after 16 years of schooling-
the educational system still can't help me access
whatever pandora left behind
inside this blockaded box
Somewhere between the vowels and the consonants,
the diphthongs and tonality
lies something far stronger
Constitutions causing commotions camouflaging core causality