Friday, September 17, 2010
The Record Volume 41, Issue 3
The Official Student Publication of the Saint Louis Priory School since 1960
Lorem Ipsum: Doc’s Summer Lorem Ipsum sits down with the fascinating Dr. Richie to discuss his amazing summer vacations. Zach Weiss, ’11
Editorial Writer
The start of every school year begins in exactly the same way. For me, it’s a matter of getting myself organized, easing myself back into the rhythm of attending classes five days a week (as opposed to doing nothing seven days a week), and answering the one question that has been bugging me from the end of the last school year to the beginning of this one: “What did Doc do over the summer?” Dr. Ritchie. Easily one of the most fascinating teachers at this school, friend of the column, and probably one the most amazing people I have ever met. Every summer he packs his bags and goes off on some wild adventure halfway around the world, and every school year he comes back with at least one story to tell. Here at Lorem Ipsum we had the pleasure of sitting down with our own voyageur for an exclusive interview: LI: Before we get started Doc, I’d like to thank you for coming. I guess we’ll start with the basics. Where did you go this summer? Doc: I went to the Ukraine, then I went to Mongolia, and then I took a Mediterranean cruise. LI: Mongolia, huh? Sounds pretty out of the way. Doc: Sure is. It was like being on another planet. LI: “Being on another planet.” I’m not
sure I understand exactly what you mean. Doc: Everything was so different. Everything was a surprise, an adventure. I ate horsemeat there, and I found it very delicious. I drank horse milk and camel milk, which I did not find delicious. But they both contain 2% alcohol and that’s what even babies drink. LI: So in Mongolia, “2% milk” has a different meaning! Doc: Yeah, I guess it does. LI: Can you tell us anything about the landscape? I’ve heard it’s very scenic. Doc: Well, it had tremendous variety. There are areas completely flat as far as the eye can see, devoid of any life, like a moonscape. There were places that were scenic; a lot of it was like the Wild West. In the far north, next to Siberia, it’s lakes and forest-covered mountains. And the forest floors were blooming with wildflowers, of all different colors, and of all different kinds. The ground was quilted. It was fabulously beautiful. But on the other hand, I went to the Gobi Desert in the South-much of that is very scenic. I was camped by a range of sand dunes that went for sixty miles. The sand dunes were hundreds of feet high, all white. Behind them were the Altai Mountains: fantastic purple peaks. Every day I was there it was 100 degrees...You felt like you were being cooked. There was no shade. The tent was useless. All I could do was be in the sun and get cooked. That was the first
time I have been bombarded constantly by burning hot sun. There was no way to get away from it but to wrap myself up in clothes and put lots of sunscreen on. Something else I want to tell you: most Mongolians ride horses or cows for transportation. The only paved roads I ever saw were in the vicinity of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. They don’t have roads yet. There are nothing but dirt tracks that 4-wheel drive vehicles have made, and you can’t get around without a 4-wheel drive vehicle. You just forge your own path…the Mongolians themselves get lost. Most of the people are still nomads. LI: Yes, the people. What are they like? Doc: Very, very hospitable, kind people. I always felt completely at ease, even when I couldn’t speak with them. Most of them are very poor; being nomadic they have very few possessions. They live a subsistence life. Most wealth is reckoned in herds of animals: horses, cows, sheep, goats, yak. LI: I don’t think I even know what a yak looks like. Doc: They look like cows in shaggy costumes. They look like something out of Dr. Seuss. I found them very docile, more so than ordinary cows, and they outnumber ordinary cows ten to one. They raise them for meat. I also saw what remains of the only wild horses in the world. Przewalski’s horse. I saw them in the wild, and they’re very pretty. They’re not shaped like a domestic horse at all, They have (Continued on back page)