Today was another big day; we were off to send the samples. Carole and I spent the morning sealing all the little gaps in the envelopes. By the time we had finished I felt like each sample was in a mini Fort Knox envelope. I carefully packing them in to a clear zip lock bag and triple checked that I had all the official documents, of which there are many, that I needed for the samples to get through customs in Ireland.
At the DHL depo I spent the next half hour or so filling in the details about what I was sending, where from and where to. I watched them like a hawk as they sealed the box and taped the documents to the top of it. I felt like a nervous mother sending her child out on to a cross country course for the first time; wondering if the child/ package would turn up at the other end safely. At least you can track a parcel!
For our final evening we were invited to a traditional Mongolian dinner. Uyasakh’s family ordered traditional food for the main course on behalf of us. A whole array of food arrived including: cows tail, cows tongue, stir-fried sheep’s intestine, beef steak, lambs ribs, dumplings containing minced beef and ….. a whole sheep’s head covered in a sheet of dumpling batter. I am proud to say I tried all of it including the sheep’s brain.
Our hosts continued to astound us with their incredible generosity. That evening we were all presented with beautiful gifts; mine was a beautiful leather red bag with a queen embroidered on the front. I will cherish this forever. In their speech they thanked us for accepting the project on behalf of themselves and the Mongolian people. Assessing the relationship between genetics and Mongolian racing performance has never been done before. Depending on the results this could be the start of valuable training aid for Mongolian trainers. Seeing how much this project means to them as well as the immense effort, kindness and generosity of so many people is incredibly humbling.
I am overwhelmed with the multitude of feelings I have had over the last month and owe thanks to everyone who has given up their time in the year it took to get this project off the ground. I feel I am now completing this research out of love for my new friends for life. This means much, much, more to me than a university project. I am eternally grateful to the Royal Agricultural University, Plusvital and University College Dublin for this opportunity, particularly Dr Andrew Hemming and Prof. Emmeline Hill who have made this possible. The adventure has only just begun!
