Hairiin Orchlon, Again with Feeling
by Jess Lampe
I lived and worked in Mongolia for five years — two with the Peace Corps, and the rest with a private company. This picture is from my Peace Corps days. I was working in the public health sector; that’s me on the right with my Mongolian counterpart, Dr. Gotov. We’re singing a Mongolian folk song at the Zavkhan Province Health Department New Year’s party.
The best piece of advice I ever got about Mongolia was this: learn a song, then sing it with people any chance you get. The one I learned, and am singing here, was Hairiin Orchlon, a song of longing, about being separated from a loved one.
I sang the hell out of that song. I sang it at office parties, I sang it at karaoke clubs, I sang it on long car rides. I definitely sang it every chance I got, and each time made fast, fast friends.
Jess Lampe, Project Manager
Who knew?
- I speak Mongolian.
- I lived in a yurt (ger) for two years.
- I’m running a marathon in a week.
I like to shoot: The small details in life.
My Mylio setup: Three devices and about 5,000 images.
Jess is Mylio’s Helpful Nomad, developing analytics platforms and project managing our account management system to help ensure we are delivering a quality product to our quality customers. He is a world traveler. Follow him on instagram at lampejess.
Originally published at mylio.com on March 23, 2016.
