Butter and Wind Storms in Mongolia

Here's how we buy butter. It doesn't come in pre-wrapped, pre-measured uniform quantities. It comes in blocks and we buy it by the kilo or "hagus kilo" (half kilo). It's pretty good stuff, but it goes rancid quickly, so once we get home from the store, I divide it up into separate baggies and freeze reasonable quantities. I just thought I'd share this little cultural difference with anyone who cared to read about it!



And, here's our window sill after a dust storm. We weren't home to close the windows, and this was what happened. Dust storms are a common happening in UB in the spring. We have had very little precipitation since we arrived March 1. In fact, there is only 8" of precipitation in a year, on average, with 3" happening in the month of July. So, as you can imagine, it's very dry here at this time of year. There's not a lot of grassy areas in the city, so the wind picks up the fine dirt and if you're outside, you get a gritty mouthful. And during such a "storm", you'd better hope the windows are closed. Fortunately, our landlord has supplied a vacuum cleaner for us and we use it to pick up the silt which is sure to happen even on a mildly windy day. Since the radiators are still going, we have to have our windows open sometimes, or it gets stifling in the apartment. Just another little interesting tidbit I thought I'd share about life in UB, Mongolia!