The end.

This is it. This is the end of our Mongolian life. We've been back in the states for almost 2 months and time has flown.  People have said that when they return home the Mongolian adventure seems like a dream-- well for weeks and weeks after our return it was still very real. In fact, it still is very much real to me. It happened. It wasn't a dream.

So what have I been doing since I've been back? Well, I've gone to a few doctor's appointments: for the baby and for my lingering eye problems. The baby is doing well at 14 weeks and 5 days. It's the size of an orange! My baby belly is starting to show itself. More on Baby later. We've eaten everything we could get our hands on going to restaurant to restaurant, and having home cooked meals with friends and family. We've put oh, about 4,000 miles on my car going from South Dakota to Texas, to Virginia, back to Texas, then up and down and all around Texas. It's great to have this independence! We've applied for jobs as teachers all around the area. It's tough trying to find an open position in the middle of a semester. We hope our luck will grow starting in the second semester. And finally, I won't say this is the best part, but it's a part that made me feel most complete: Annie.

This is the abandoned kitty we found in the negative degree cold living under people's warm cars in the parking lot of our apartment in Idaho over 5 years ago. We nursed her back to health and she's been a part of the Newberry family since (in fact, she's sleeping in my lap as I type this). I was scared she wouldn't remember me when we returned home. But she was ecstatic and we fell right back into our old routines and friendship.

Okay, okay-- onto the baby. As I said, I'm 14 weeks and just started my 2nd trimester. We're both healthy and doing fine-- though the first trimester kept me grumpy, sick, nauseated and achy. Not fun. Sadly it started while we were in Mongolia, so I feel like I left Mongolia on a bad note. The smells were making me nauseous, the food was intolerable, and I just desperately wanted a warm bath. I had the munchies, but  munchies and Mongolia do not go together. Living in a village where only the essentials are available, you need to make all your meals from scratch-- there is no instant snack. And I was hurting for some pickles! So being on an empty stomach made my nausea worse (little did I know then). Also getting up to pee about 5 times a night is not ideal in the colder months, when you don't have a toilet to go to, or any plumbing/running water. I am in utter amazement when I think of the Mongolian women and them going through their pregnancies without modern conveniences.

Now that my nausea has subsided a little, I can now freely think of Mongolia and not get sick (I know that sounds horrible, but that was my last association with it). I look at the pictures and see all that we did while we there, the friends that we made and the memories that we will never forget. It was a time of our lives. And we left it to begin yet another adventure.

So, I say goodbye to Life as a Newberry: Mongolia.

And hello to Life as a Newberry: Parenthood!

My Mongolian Baby

Needless to say, this past week has been a whirlwind of excitement, sadness and just running around crazy. So, we found out we're having a baby and our lives have and will change drastically. Unfortunately, this means that I am not able to continue my service in the Peace Corps. The medical attention the US government requires a pregnant woman to have are not met here in Mongolia. So, we are going home.

Happy? Of course! Sad? Of course. Ultimately, we feel content in the work and service we've done here in the past 17 months. We don't have any regrets in that sense. We were expecting and preparing to leave Mongolia in 8 more months-- so having that change to preparing to leave Mongolia in 7 days is drastic. We have so much stuff we were stowing away for the winter, or clothes we wanted to wear out, friends and places we wanted to visit and projects and work that needed to be completed. But it's time for this Mongolian adventure to end and a whole new one begin! We're hopping straight from one adventure to the next--with absolutely no downtime.

I can't see this any other way than exciting!

"How did this happen?" You may be asking yourself. Well I found out the same way most women find out-- in the bathroom. It's just that my bathroom is quite different than most women's. This is where I found out:

How did I tell Justin? Well, that special trip to the outhouse was about a week ago. I knew Justin was teaching at the government building until 6:30, so I prepared dinner and got our TV show ready on the computer. Also, it's chilly here once it gets dark so I prepared a fire in the stove but didn't light it--so that it would be ready to light when it got chilly enough. Inside the door of the stove I wrote a note informing him of my pregnancy. Then closed the door up so it was not noticeable.

I imagined that after dinner it would be cool enough for a fire and I could ask Justin to light it-- then he'd see the note.

And that's exactly what happened.

He was so surprised and shocked and gleaming at the same time! I am very lucky to have my man. He is a wonderful one. I am very excited to take this next leap with him.

Once we found out we needed to have it confirmed in UB with our Peace Corps Medical Officers. So we were off to UB the next business day. When it was confirmed it was time to tell our families. I love giving surprises and what better surprise is there that your daughter is pregnant and coming home to you? I had my little sister help me out with this one.

My sister designed a cake and wrote in Mongolian 'I am pregnant. I am coming home.' (with my help). She gathered the family together and showed them the cake.

We gave hints. Hint 1 was the cake. Hint 2 was this:

"Check your E-mail"

They all ran downstairs to check their email.

In their email was a link to a Mongolian-English translation website and they were to translate the cake. And figure it out themselves...Which they did:

And that's how I told my family. I loved that my little sister was able to take these pictures for me! They speak volumes! I am so happy that they are happy and I can't want to be happy together with them!

Now, according to our Mongolian Fortune Teller friend that came and visited us last spring (check the blog post about that) this first child will be a girl. We'll have to wait and find out!

1st Day of School for the 2nd time

The opening ceremony. All 1,600 students come to the outside assembly.

The governor of Mandalgovi came to speak.

After the assembly all the students come inside to hear the President of Mongolia give a lesson on the 1st day of School (on the TV).

I feel like the 1st day of School was the beginning of the end. This is it. One. Last. School. Year. So, what are we going to do about it? Work. Play. Make memories. I have to say, going into it (days before the 1st day of school) I was at a low point. Coming back to a ger after the amazing life you can live in an apartment-- in addition to the condition our ger was in when we returned home to it, I was uneasy about doing this again. The uneasiness didn't last for long though-- something clicked and I had a change in gears. We make life as enjoyable or difficult as we want it to be. And I've made a decision that my life will be a good but challenging one!

It's so good to be back in my own kitchen. Or I guess I should say, it's so good to be able to use my own kitchen utensils and appliances again! I brought back an item from UB that will change my life here in Mandalgovi:

Meet Mr. I'm-going-to-make-your-life-so-awesome-this-year Blender.

Already I've found Cherry Compote and made it into a cherry pie filling. Made probably the best pie crust ever--using my blender (pie crust was my thing back in the states...I can't imagine it getting much better, but it did--oh so flaky with just the right amount of buttery and sweetness to it!).

I've been wanting a smoothie for a while, but ice is a very foreign concept to Mandalgovians. "Why would you want to drink something cold? And if you want it cold why don't you just put it outside?" So ice trays are not available, BUT bananas ARE readily available right now and awesome when frozen. So, next I found some Strawberry Compote and...BAM!



Strawberry & Banana Smoothie



Now if only bananas weren't $2 a pop I'd be doing this daily. Next on my list: Peanut Butter.

Right now it feels like we're living the dream life. We have so many American sitemates here to talk to and hang out with, we've received great packages this summer with amazing food, and it's still warm out so we're not constantly slaving over the stove/bagging coal/cleaning up coal dust, dung dust or dealing with frozen things. Life feels relatively easy. I mean, there are still ger chores that must happen (taking out the dirty water, getting clean water, sweeping up the sand that finds its way through the sides of the ger, etc.) but NOTHING compared to winter ger chores.

The warm weather has been messing with my mind though. It doesn't feel right to be here and not be cold. The other night (about 9:30) I was reading in bed when I had an urge to go to the bathroom. I could hear the wind blowing and my mind went to winter mode and started thinking 'you can hold it in for a while longer--maybe even through the rest of the night'--prolonging the long cold walk to the outhouse. Finally I couldn't hold it anymore and got up and prepped myself to go outdoors. I opened the ger door with my eyes squinting, ready...and....warmth. It was warm. It made me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that I am warm. Sad that it won't last for much longer. (And yes, I hold it in as looooong as possible in the winter-- there is no going to the outhouse if you 'think' you need to go...you only go when you HAVE to go.)

This is a beautiful site to me:



The fact that our ping (the little shed/entryway they put up in front of our ger to protect from wind getting in through the front door and also serve as storage for our fuel) is not up-- they only put it up during the winter season and remove it once it's warm. The fact that you can see the sun shining through the door. The fact that the the door is slightly open (and it's okay, because it's warm!). It's a beautiful site, for sure.

Goodbye Summer. I will miss you.



Flowers Justin picked for me on our 1st day in our apartment this summer.

 Summer has come and gone. Where did it go? I don’t even remember being warm anymore. There is a part of me that is excited for fall to return: apple pies, the taste of cinnamon, waking up for that hot cup of spiced anything, scarves (for style, not as a survival accessory, like during winter), and making fires for fun. But I just don't want to let go of the warmth just yet.

Justin and I made it back safely to Mandalgovi two days ago. We had an 8 hour off road bus ride that only stopped mysteriously a couple of times. One time it was to help another bus out because it had broken down. The drivers couldn’t fix that bus, so about 40 more people joined us on our bus the rest of the way. I felt bad for those who had to stand in the aisle for the next hour.



School starts on Thursday. Once it begins our downhill tread will also begin. We’ve made a lot of plans for this year-- we have a lot of projects up our sleeves-- and a lot of new site-mates to help us out! This will be a great year for Mandalgovi and its PCVs:  



Mandalgovi PCVs 2011

Over the summer (for the last 4 months) I have been living out of one small suitcase with about 5 different changes of clothes. It was really doable. There were times I wore my dirty clothes more than I should have before washing-- or people that had seen me in the same outfit every time we had a chance to meet-- but really it was nice to live free and on the go. We moved around a lot this summer, with our Asian Vacation/backpacking trip, training in Darkhan, staying UB, then finally our Mid Service Training (because, yes! We are half-way through our service!). When we got back to our ger though (a little more about that instant in a minute) I realized just how much I can live with out. Wait a sec, I remember saying this EXACT same thing one year ago when I was first moving into my ger. We came to Mongolia with 5 HUGE over-stuffed suitcases and I was feeling the satisfaction of living simply then….now fast forward to today and I’ve downsized to 1 medium sized suitcase and I feel content.

  

Now that I’ve reunited with all the rest of my stuff in my ger-- I feel overwhelmed. We have SO MUCH STUFF. Will I ever be able to live in housing bigger than 300 sq ft and not be overwhelmed by owning too much stuff??

So coming back to Mandalgovi was a little difficult-- as I knew it would be. After living in an apartment with plumbing and a hot shower for 4 months reverting back to a glorified tent and an outhouse isn’t easy. We got home to our ger in the evening and spent the entire night cleaning. A thick layer of sand (because the ger isn’t closed off, the sides are completely open to the world to let in wind, but also let in bugs, mice and layers of sand after layers of sand. So not only was I overwhelmed by how much STUFF we have, I was completely broken down by the mess that we returned to. I bit back the tears and got to work. A mouse had ruined the whole bottom shelf of food we had and left droppings and smelly pee everywhere. That was task #1 (get rid of mouse smell and mess), then I got some soapy water and tackled the dust/sand on every piece of furniture we own and worked my way down--finally shaking out/sweeping the rugs and hand scrubbing the floor with bleach. Clean ger: accomplished.



Open sides of the ger



Surprise! In our fridge-- yes, that's an animal ear you see.

 

You can't have a complete Mongolian Summer without a flat tire.



So I feel hip and savvy these days because my sister gave me a kindle for my birthday. What a life changing gadget that is! I’ve read over 15 books in the last month or so that I’ve had it. And it will definitely help me out with my goal for this winter (to not run out of reading material!). A couple of books I’d recommend on living a life simply are:

• Living the Savvy Life: The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Smart Spending and Rich Living by Melissa Tosetti
•  Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider

Now that I'm home in my ger I will be blogging more regularly. This summer I was always on the go, and Mongolia isn't a place covered in Wi-Fi (not yet anyway), so it was rather difficult to plump down at internet cafes or find some random place with an internet connection that they'd let me use.

Cheers to a new school year, new ideas, new projects, new recipes and new experiences! 

Wrapping Up the School Year

All the schools in Mongolia start September 1st and end on June 1st. There are 2 and a half weeks of school left. But Justin and I are a little lucky and get to venture into UB tomorrow. It seems like this trip crept up on us-- yet couldn't get here fast enough!

It seems that we're leaving when we're just getting started. I feel like I have so many things that I am going to leave undone and waiting for me when we return. We'll come back to Mandalgovi on June 20th for a short couple weeks. Then the next time we come back won't be until the new school year starts (and we'll have some lucky new Volunteers at our site!). Wrapping up everything is difficult. Yesterday my 7th grade students (whom I LOVE) wanted so badly to talk to me (in English!) the whole class period because they knew they wouldn't see me for a while. I told them about all the traveling I was going to be doing (our lesson was about traveling) and tried to fit in as much of a lesson as I could-- but at the end they gathered around me and wanted a picture to be taken. I almost started tearing up after the picture when they, one by one, came up to me to say 'goodbye, see you next year!' Man, what will it be like a year from now when we are saying goodbye forever?

I have a meeting with Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education (the head honchos of Education in Mongolia) on Friday morning in UB. Then on Monday Justin and I will be buying our ticket to Beijing and going to the Chinese Embassy for our visa application. It takes a total of 4 days to get our Chinese Visa. Then we have a few days before our Training of Trainers (since Justin and I will both be trainers for the new Peace Corps Volunteers this summer), we will visit our friend, Nadra, in Selenge. Selenge is straight north of us, and very close to the Russian border. I hear it's a drastic change of scenery from the Gobi. They have trees, I hear. :)

Finishing with TOT (Training of Trainers) Justin and I will be waiting at Chinggis Airport on June 4th for those new M22's coming in fresh from America! It's really weird to think I was in their shoes one year ago.

Straight from the Airport Justin and I will head to the train station and be on our great Asian Adventure!

So, here's to one more night using a jorlon (outhouse), washing my hair in a bucket, cleaning sand out of my ears (literally) and sleeping in a sleeping bag! We'll be in a real bed, with toilets, showers(...I don't even know which I am more excited about anymore. It used to be the good food in UB, but now I think the toilet is trumping over it all.).

And just one more snapshot of our weather for today... It's just geting worse and worse, man. It feels like 8 outside on May 11th! We've been getting hit by sandstorm after sandstorm. It's not fun. They don't have sandstorms up north! Goodbye Gobi Desert weather! Khongor Guesthouse here we come!

***Edited: Khongor Guesthouse once again has let us down. They're full and don't have beds available...so we're off to our second Guesthouse choice! UB Guesthouse!***

Things Spring in Mongolia has taught me:

Never put your lip gloss on before your walk to school. My once shiny lips were turned to sandpaper during the course of my 3 minute walk to school. No body likes sandy lips.

I love not having to make a fire! Clean hands, non-smoke-smelling clothes and hair and ultimately a dust & soot free ger!

Electricity is not always a part of daily life. It comes and it goes. Sometimes in the middle of making dinner.

Despite the wind, sandstorms, and occasional snow it is a heck of a lot better than winter.

Dogs have strong lungs. Now that it's warmer they've started to bark again and there are a couple dogs that every time they bark Justin and I look at each other in amazement. How does he bark so fast and continuously for so long without taking a breath? And what IS he barking at at 12am?

Going to the jorlon (outhouse) will never be a comfortable experience. In the winter all the human waste is frozen over so there is no smell...but the cold numbs your bum to the point of frost bite (not really, but it's dang cold!); I always held it in until the last minute because I just didn't want to go outside to go. BUT, now the weather provides a pleasant temperature, however the waste has unfrozen and the smell is...well, not good.

Potty Humor

by Justin



Last night Ashlie went out to a birthday party with some of her co-workers. In Mongolia it is generally not usual for (at least among our schools) spouses to attend work related social functions, so I got to stay home. Friday night at the Newberry ger is pizza night and I wasn't going to let Ashlie's absence change that. The difference in Mongolia is that you have to make the pizza from scratch. It's not bad if you don't mind substituting mozzarella with processed singles. So I started making my pizza. It should also be noted that making pizza dough is a very messy process and it is even more difficult to clean without running water or someone to help you.

During this whole pizza making excursion I began to feel the urge to urinate. However, as I mentioned before it is very messy and difficult to clean without running water, so I just plowed ahead, kneading and mixing whilst crossing my legs. The urge continued to grow, but I was so close to finishing that I didn't want to wash myself off, go to the outhouse, then come back in, get my hands messy again, and have to wash off all over again. So I held it. Finally, I finished the dough, made the pizza, hastily threw it in the oven, then began washing the dough off of my hands all while doing a faster, more elaborate version of the pee pee dance. I ran out of the ger, my hands still dripping with water.

I failed to mention my footwear. I was wearing my leather, Mongolian houseshoes. I'm sure everyone at some point has slid across a kitchen or dorm hallway in their worn out house shoes, with the slick soles just gliding across the hard floor. I had the misfortune of dicovering that these soles have the same effect on soiled, wooden planks. I dashed into the outhouse.

As my right foot slipped over the wooden board, saturated with years of poorly aimed urine, I felt my body falling through the hole, into the poo pit. I had enough time during the fall to process that I was indeed falling into the hole. My good friend and fellow Peace Corps volunteer Rob, once described falling into the outhouse hole as a dealbreaker. That at that point, his volunteer service would cease, and he would quietly go home. I began to vaguely recall these words and ponder them when my body, genitalia first, crashed to the floor. You see, outhouse floor holes are merely a board removed from the floor, thereby allowing enough room for one's feces to fall through, but not one's entire body. I did find out it was wide enough though for about half of my body. And so I lay there, leg dangling through the floor, hovering a foot or two above a frozen pile of crap, face smooshed onto the aforementioned urine soaked floor. Perhaps worst of all, my Mongolian house shoe was now the domain of the poo pit, as it had fallen off of my foot.

A quick side note, I retrieved the shoe this morning using some wire and a long cardboard tube. I had no intention of wearing it, I just did not want to be reminded of this shameful event everytime I had to relieve myself. It was much the same as a defeated army trying to retake its captured standard.

Meanwhile, the urge to pee had left me and was replaced by an intense pain that was originating in my crotch and radiating throughout most of my body. I managed to pick my self up and do what I had set out to do in the first place. Afterwards,with as much dignity as I could muster under the circumstances, I waddled back to the ger one-shoed, with a cut forehead, cut thumb, cut scrotum, bruised buttocks, bruised testicle, and most of all a bruised ego.

Quick Thoughts and Stories

by Justin

Stories

Dune

We ran out of water this week. Normally, when we run out of water it's no thang, we just go next door, fill up our 20 gallon osny sow (Mongolian for water container in transliterated Mongolian)and we're back in business. However, due to a string of events beyond our control, we were without water for roughly 36 hours. It all began on Tuesday when our haasha mother told Ashlie she was going to UB for the weekend. Irrelevant you are saying to yourself, but wait, I remember from jr. high English this is called foreshadowing. Then, on Tuesday night Ashlie said she was tired and didn't really feel like doing dishes. Hurray I thought, no dishes means I don't have to get water tonight. I would just get it in the morning. But by the time I got up, our haasha mother was gone to UB and her husband was at work. So morning turned to afternoon and afternoon turned to evening, but still no EB (I am trying to keep him anonymous because our blog has a really big following here in Mandalgovi). Here's where the UB trip becomes important. Normally, both of them would be home by that time on a Wednesday night. But because she was gone to UB, EB did as many husbands do when the wife is away, he went out with the boys. He returned late that night, clearly under the influence, and loudly shouted "Yagat!?" (why?!) Not really sure what this was in reference to, but it is slightly humorous. So I thought, well I'll catch him in the morning. But he was up and at 'em pretty early considering the previous evening's outing and was again gone in the morning. So we sat there, trying to conserve every drop of moisture. We ate the only things that we could make without water. PB and J and grilled cheese sandwiches. FOOLS! The salty peanut butter gave me an insatiable thirst, but alas there was nothing to drink. I layed on the bed tossing back and forth. I kept imagining I was a character from the book Dune (it's a sci-fi book about this planet with very little water where the people have to wear suits that prevent their bodies from losing water for any of you non-nerds reading this). I thought I was going to die. My mind raced. What if he is gone to the countryside? What if he isn't coming back? What will we do? We're doomed I tell ya, DOOMED! Then Ashlie suggested we just go buy some bottled water. Oooohhh yeah, that's why I'm married. So we did, we made dinner, then we rehydrated. Then EB came home and we refilled. The end.

Pigs

There is a family of pigs in our town. The only pigs I've ever seen in Mongolia. The piglets have recently come of age and have begun roaming the town like their parents. The other day I was walking home from school and I saw the little piglets foraging near the playground by our house. I don't know why, but an urge came over me. Maybe it is the lack of pork products in my diet, maybe it is my inner child, maybe an inner sadist, but for whatever reason I had an urge. I stopped and looked around for possible witnesses. Seeing no one in the vicinity, I began walking towards the little swine. Slowly at first, stealthily even. I crept nearer and nearer. My stride lengthened, my pace quickened. Before I knew it I was chasing them across the alley, listening to them squeal as they ran away with evil delight. They ran across the playground and I stopped. Smirking and smiling with satisfaction, I began to stroll back towards my ger. As I walked by an apartment building, I heard a quick tapping at a window. I looked up and saw nothing. I looked back down and resumed walking. I heard the tapping again. I looked up and saw a child of maybe 5 or 6 or 7 looking down at me from his apartment window. My instant reaction was that he, like many of the children, just wanted to say hello to the American, so I waved. But he did not smile, or wave back. He just stared at me, with blank, expressionless eyes. Oh no, I thought, he saw what I did. He saw me chase the pigs. I began to walk faster in my shame, still looking back over my shoulder. Then as I was about to turn the corner, I saw him hold up his index and middle fingers in front of his eyes. He had seen me and was letting me know it. I'm not sure what exactly it was he saying to me, but the combination of his expression and gestures made me think he was saying, "We don't take kindly to foreign, pig-chasing scum 'round 'ere. Watch your ass." I will no longer chase pigs, or livestock of any sort in Mongolia.

The Shower House

Today was, in weather terminology, shitty. The increased frequency of "shitty" days this time of year is in direct correlation with the general negativity with which the climate of Mongolia is viewed. This also happens to be, as you faithful followers of the blog already know, my favorite day of the week. Shower day! So, Ashlie and I went through our morning rituals, bundled up, and headed for the shower house. We walked, heads down into a stiff Arctic wind blowing about 30 mph. It must have been into negative double digits with the wind chill. We walked silently, but resolutely into the beast, knowing that steamy, liquidy, cleansing salvation lay but a mere 10 minutes away. We made it. Strode triumphantly to the front door, pulled and... son of a bitch. Locked. About that time a Mongolian woman walked up to the door and pulled on the handle (because apparently we humble, simple Americans were standing in the cold because we are unfamiliar with the concept of, you know, pulling on the handle). She then looked at a paper taped to the window and said, "Arone nigen dzock" (11:00). I looked at my phone. 10:30. Damn. So we stood there, backs against the wall, waiting for the propietor of the establishment when up walked another young woman. I was familiar with this particular woman. She proceeded to talk to us rapidly in Mongolian and pick hairs off of our jackets, button our buttons, and dusts off our backs. In the midst of the grooming process, she noticed an orange tag stuck to Ashlie's shoe laces. This was no ordinary orange tag though. This was a tag that was put on Ashlie's shoe in March when we ran our marathon. A tag that says 'I am no mere mortal, but a demi-god who has ran 26.2 miles.' However, and understandably, Mongolians are unfamiliar with this concept. She pointed at it and said, "Mohai." (ugly). Ashlie said under her breath, "Please don't tear it off." At which point the woman bent down and tore it off. Ashlie then said, "Please don't throw it away." At which point, as if mockingly on cue, the woman threw it away. The woman then continued on with her conversation, but Ashlie never took her eye off of it. Soon after another woman drove up and distracted the talkative young lady, Ashlie took off running across the dirt parking lot and victoriously picked the little tag out of a tumbleweed. Disaster averted, athletic immortality resurrected.

Quick thoughts

*People in Mongolia walk noticably faster during the winter.

*Don't grab onto your metal out-house handle in the winter with wet hands.

*For unexplained reasons watching steam come off of my bodily functions while using the restroom has become a reasonable substitute for reading magazines.

That is all.

And A Big Sand Storm Came And...

blew one of our windows away. We have 8 small triangular windows that make up a small circle opening on the top of our ger (one window is dedicated for the chimney pipe).

IT IS WINDY today! Justin can tell you more about his adventure in it later. As I type this our ger is shaking. Every ger has a rope that hangs from the top of the circle. This is your lifeline when the wind gets blowing. I actually had to use it one time this summer. We had a quick 5 min wind storm, but all of my host family and I had to hang onto that rope so our ger wouldn't blow away! I haven't had to use it yet today (mostly because my ger this summer had holes in it, so it was easier for the wind to pick up-- my ger in Mandalgov hasn't any holes and is a lot sturdier than my summer ger).

Well this isn't some 5 min wind storm. Since we are in the desert it is very much a sand storm! It's been going on since about 6am this morning (it is now 2pm). I went to school earlier this morning with a scarf tied around my neck and covering my nose and mouth. I had to walk at an angle against the wind. When I made it inside the school I had a handful of sand in my mouth and eyes and nose and ears...I also wore my calf high boots today, thinking it would keep out the sand-- nope. I had sand in my boots and stuck in all the wrinkles of my clothes. After I type this I will give my ger a wipe down & sweep. There is sand everywhere! But first, my adventure to the outhouse:

After I got home from school today I put my backpack and things in my ger, then ran with the toilet paper into our outhouse (called a jorlon in Mongolinan). Our jorlon is very short (maybe 5 feet tall) and very small (maybe 3ftx3ft)-- just enough room for you to squat. Well, I closed the door behind me and was squatting and doing my thing while watching the walls of the little shack shake and wave in the wind. I had a momentary fear of the whole shack collapsing on me and me falling INTO the jorlon hole (about 10 feet deep, with a pile of you know what at the bottom) when suddenly...the wind blew the door wide open! I am plain as day. Thankfully no one was around. There is a metal rope/handle on the inside of the jorlon door and NOW I know what it is for...windy days like these.

Pictures of my bday, our new home & a random drunk man.

A man passed out in the middle of a crowded market in Ulaanbaatar. people were just stepping over him--hardly noticed the drunk man.


my ger!! this is our home for two years!

our 'kitchen'. but a ger is all one room...

My new home! Our bed is too tiny for the both of us, so Justin sleeps on the floor. but he is pictured in the bed here. it was about 45 degrees this morning.

My bathroom. nice huh?

mongolian horses are so tiny!

Justin's first bite of cheese all summer long! he was so happy!

new shoes! my host family gave me and justin warm leather & camel wool slippers as a goodbye gift.

My host family at my 2nd surprise party.

Davajargle at my birthday feast (my 2nd surprise party put on by my host family!)

A hand painted set of chopsticks my two mongolian teachers gave me as a gift.

Eggplant Parmesan! my favorite dish, for my birthday!

A nice bday card that was signed by all of my friends. notice the cat, the cake and nailpolish-- they know me so well! :)

My very own Russian cake!

nice decorations for my birthday surprise party!

One Step at a Time

Beware! This post could be a little graphic. The past couple of days have been extra rainy. It's not too fun living in a ger when it rains, but that is another post all in itself. Well, when it's 2am and your bladder is full you usually get out of your warm bed, walk the few steps to your royal porcelain throne and relieve yourself. Well, here in Mongolia it is a little bit different. Your bed is not comfortable, nor is it always warm and there is no such thing as walking 'a few' steps to the flushable toilet. Here we walk several feet/yards outside to a hole in the ground (in the dark, let me remind you).

Okay, so on with the story. The past couple of nights have been really stormy. I did not want to go outside & use the bathroom and get soaked, just to come back into bed and shiver all night. So, I did what normal Mongolians/people here do when going outside is not an option...I found a bucket in my ger and sqautted over that. Not a big deal. Well, last night it was finally not storming and, yes, I had a wake up call. I put my kitty-cat house shoes on, opened my ger door (and had a cow staring me in the face...also not a weird thing here), walked around the cow and felt a freezing, mushy, sensation cover my foot all the way to the ankle. What did I step in? I didn't even have to ask my self, I knew-- cow crap. So for the next half hour (at 2 am) I stayed up washing my slippers, my feet & my hands. After it was all finished, I crawled back into my fluffy sleeping bag and turned off the light when a pungent odor lifted my eyelids to a max. I quickely turned the light back on to realize I had crap on my shirt that now spread all over my sleeping bag. I couldn't believe this was happening!

So, I took down a mental note. Watch your every step & take one step at a time. One wrong step could cause you a lot of crap.