East Bay Dinner: "Mongolia: Where East Meets West"

Thursday, September 27, no-host cocktails/social hour 6 pm, dinner 7:00, program 8:00. Berkeley Yacht Club on the Berkeley Marina, one block north of the west end of University Avenue (ample free parking is available in the Marina parking lots).

Our speaker, Nancy L. Peterson, thought she had come to the end of the world when her plane landed in Ulaanbaatar, but she soon found that she had much to learn about Mongolia.

Situated between Russia and China, Mongolia had been a Soviet satellite since the early 1920s, but now is a blend between Soviet and Western ways. Situated in high desert, Mongolia is still an equestrian country. As soon as you leave the capital city, there are no more paved roads, except in the middle of small towns, and horses outnumber cars 100 - 1. Many of the Mongolian people are still nomadic, moving with their cattle and sometimes yaks in search of better feeding grounds. Nancy got to see firsthand the results of some foreign-aid programs, observing their personnel at work. The U.S. had donated a battered-women's shelter, and the staff there pointed out with pride that Madeleine Albright had visited it when she was secretary of state. But manufacturing facilities from some former Eastern Block nations were still in use, and a statue of Lenin still graced the entry to her hotel.

Nancy, a retired federal manager, is a member of American Women for International Understanding, which sponsored the delegation to Mongolia, and a life member of the Sierra Club. She has traveled to over 60 nations, usually in a study or work capacity. She is past president of the United Nations Association of San Francisco and lives in Albany.

Cost of dinner and program is $23, including tax and tip. For reservations, please send your check, payable to "Sierra Club", with your name, your telephone number, and the names of your guests, to:

Jane Barrett
170 Vicente Road
Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 845-8055.

Attendance is limited to the first 115 reservations received. Reserve early, as these programs do fill up. Reservation deadline is Mon., Sep. 17. There is no admittance for program only.