Wednesday Writings

A couple tidbits to share: here's a pic of me in our apartment entryway.  We've hung this world map in each of our apartments, and it gets used quite often in conversations. 

The picture was taken so I could show you my new boots I purchased for the equivalent of $16 at the Mongolian/Russian border town of Sukhbaataar.  I love them.  They are comfy (a must for me!), they're fur-lined (my feet got hot in them last night!), and they're boots (95% of the women you see outside are wearing "fashion" boots from October to April).  My only boots last winter were my heavy, -40 degree, clomping monster boots.  Don't get me wrong...I'll still use them once the really cold weather hits.  However, these are my "fashion" boots, when the occassion calls for something a little dressier..like when we're teaching.

It appears I bought these just in time.  This is what we woke up to this beautiful Wednesday morning:

I'm sure we'll still have many beautiful days ahead, but winter is beginning to descend upon us!

Train Trip to the Russian Border

This past year, my husband has often said, "We should take the night train up north, just to see a different part of Mongolia."  So far, we've only seen the countryside within two hours of Ulaanbaatar, and lived and worked daily in the largest city of Mongolia which we normally speak of as "UB".  So, this past weekend seemed to be the "right" time to go up north.  Weather is getting cooler, so getting up to the Russian border needed to happen soon if it was to happen at all.

Friday night, we boarded the night train at 9 pm.  We took our teammate/friend, Pam, and another friend, Dalai, along for the trip.  Pam had been there before and was interested in a trip outside the city with us.  Dalai was up for some hang out time with three Americans, he's so much fun to have around, and he has the added advantage of knowing the Mongolian language!  So, off we went...

Here we are, sitting inside our sleeper car.  Once the beds folded out, there was room for two people to stand up side by side...just to illustrate the small size of this room!




Pam, our teammate, gets comfy in our sleeper car.  The two brown benches are two of the beds; the maroon pieces (above head area) fold down to make the other two beds.  As you can see, I'm taking this picture from the doorway, and you can see the left AND right side of the doorway in the picture.  Cozy....or claustrophobic?!

 I am thankful to say that I slept surprisingly well Friday night on the train!  We arrived at the Sukhbaataar, Mongolia, train station around 8 hours later.  Since we were there very early (5-ish a.m.), we sat in the train station for awhile.  Sukhbaatar does not wake up for several more hours!  We munched on peanutbutter sandwiches which we'd brought along, read, and visited among ourselves.  Before 8 a.m., Dalai had employed a taxi to take us to a couple sites. 


Our first stop was "Mother Tree", a famous worship site for the Buddhists who travel here. Mother Tree has fallen. 

 The square piece of wood with blue scarves around it is for worshippers to prostrate themselves in prayer. At this hour, we were the only ones here, besides the abundance of dogs running about, sniffing at piles of yogurt, cookies, tea, and other foods offered up to the spirits. If someone wants to become pregnant, they might choose to come to this location to ask for favor in fertility. I think of Romans 1:25, "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature (or creation) rather than the Creator."

Here is an altar in the midst of the Mother Tree area.  There are green and blue scarves tied to the altar (you will see many multi-colored scarves tied to many things throughout Mongolia...fences, posts, altars, trees.  This is a way to say, "I am worshiping here"). 




Here's a closer look at the items placed on this altar...nothing of real value: a metal ornament, candy, burnt matchsticks.




We couldn't help but notice the beautiful fall colors the Creator had offered for our eyes to feast upon! 




This is the new (second) designated Mother Tree.  I see the dead tree and am reminded how we are all, at the beginning, dead in our sins; but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved!).
 Ephesians 2:1, and 4-5.




Stacks of packages of tea which made a wall around the area...offerings made day after day.

It was time to move on to other places, so our taxi driver drove us onward.  I had to take a photo of the speedometer, as we neared 120 km/hour (75 mph).  We were impressed with the smooth roads in this part of Mongolia.  I don't think we ever reach that speed around Ulaanbaatar (way too bumpy!).


 

Here we were as close as we could get to Russia without getting our hands slapped.  There was a lot of activity going on in this area behind us: people going between the borders, taking their purchased goods from Mongolia to Russia and probably more often, Russia to Mongolia.  We found out that if you WEAR the clothing you carry across the border, it isn't taxed. If it's in boxes, bags, luggage, etc., any new clothing purchased (I think just for resale) is eligible for taxation.  So, you could see people putting layers of clothing on to get it across the border.  There was much jostling of vehicles, Mongolians and Russians co-mingling together...some of both languages being spoken.  I didn't take pictures of all of these "goings on", mainly, because I don't love taking pictures of strangers without their permission, and I don't like asking permission!
 

Here is "Sukhbaataar Square" in the city Sukhbaataar.  This man is famous throughout Mongolia.  He was the Russian man who led the Russian army in its victory in 1921 over the Chinese who were heavily suppressing Mongolia for many years.  He is their hero, right after Chinggis Khan!  We have a much bigger (and more beautiful) Sukhbaataar Square in UB, but it was interesting to see this area honoring this man.



Kevin and Dalai walked up this hill and took a picture of the monument below.  The two Pams stayed on the lower level watching goats and sheep come up on the cemented area to eat from the small grassy patches (perhaps you can see the little squares of grass on the left and right of the cemented area).  I'm not sure what this was a monument to...we didn't take time to try to read the cyrillic signage or ask Dalai to interpret

This lady is setting up shop for the day.  Three of us were on a hunt for a pair of footwear: Dalai needed hiking boots, Pam wanted some new walking/dress shoes, and I was looking for some practical fashion boots to wear with leggings and dresses.

Here's the shop where Dalai and I found our purchases.  My boots ended up costing a mere 20,000 T ($16.00).  Since the boots have been purchased, I've worn them and walked briskly to our destination about 10 minutes away.  They were super comfortable for the whole evening...and super warm.  I'm so satisfied with my new boots!

Here we are at a guanz...the Mongolian word for Mongolian fast food.  I'm rejoicing that beef, not mutton, is on the tip of my fork.

Here's Kevin posing in front of a vendor's unused shelves.  This little square area is one person's store at the market.  He/she hasn't arrived yet to set up shop, but the items will balance on these strips of wood. 

And this little pup?  He's just enjoying the sunny afternoon to the left of my boot shop.

Cows roamed the streets of Sukhbaataar.  Here they graze in a public park where we were sitting for awhile in the afternoon, resting our feet and reading.  There were around 7-8 cows in this group who were herding through the streets together.  They didn't seem agressive at all, and kept to themselves.  I recently read an article that said herds walked freely through Ulaanbaatar back in the 90's.  I suppose the traffic has scared them all away. 

The day was coming to an end, and we didn't need a whole lot to eat for supper since our guanz meal was quite filling.  However, Dalai had eyed some smoked fish in the market earlier in the day, so after we had spent an hour or so down by the river, he walked back to the market and brought us this smoked fish to snack on at the train station.  It looks disgusting, but I must say, it was delicious!  We ate it along with some sourdough bread and we ate until we were full.  We didn't have basketfuls of leftovers to gather, though...just enough to satisfy!

While we waited for the Saturday night train, we played some card games, visited, talked with a 16 year old Mongolian boy in the train station, and soon the train was there.  Again, I was surprised that I slept so well on the train.  Sunday morning arrived and we were at the Ulaanbaatar train station.  It was a trip to be remembered, not because of any fabulous sites, not because of "must-do" activities, but because we had experienced some new things with some dear friends.  We had bonded more deeply with this brother and sister. 

 



The First Day of School

Okay, so it's been a couple weeks since the first day of school.  I just HAVE to report on this day to you all, even though I'm a little late in doing so.

First off, some of you may not know yet that Kevin is teaching English, Biology, and Chemistry this year at the school where I had English conversation times with teachers last spring!  I'm so excited that we have a real opportunity to continue relationships with these dear teachers that I LOVE! 

We were invited to their opening ceremony, and then we moved into the teacher's lounge/meeting room where all the teachers gathered to start off the new year.  Refreshments were served.  Notice the teacher on the left holding a bowl.  This was cold airag, fermented mare's milk.  It was passed from person to person and everyone took drinks from this bowl, including Kevin and I.  It's not our favorite drink, but it's tolerable.  It's like really sour, cold, liquidy yogurt, with just a touch of that good ole' "barn" flavor, with hints of hay and horse hair notes (this was to sound like I was describing a good wine...did I succeed?).

You will also see cookies, and then, to the right of those cookies, is a plate full of aroyl, dried cheese curds.  On this specific plate, there was also Mongolian bislik, a flexible cut cheese which has some of those same hay and horse hair notes, but not pungent at all.  I actually had two pieces of bislik, mixed with a cookie bite in each mouthful to make almost a "cream cheese cookie" taste (hey, I'm trying!).  There was a lot of hot coffee and hot tea, as well.  And, then a toast to the new school year.  This is a very "Mongolian" thing to do in teacher's meetings.  Not something they'd try to get by with in America, right teachers?!

You can also see here that we were entertained by one of the teachers who plays the Mongolian Horsehead Fiddle.  I love the sound of this instrument, and watching it being played is quite interesting.  Go here if you'd like to see a horsehead fiddle along with other traditional Mongolian instruments being played.  And go here for an exceptionally energetic rendition!  *

Here's the three teachers Kevin will be co-teaching with at this English-speaking school.  Many of the teachers are still working very hard at improving their English.  The two women on the far left and far right were two teachers I met with last spring in order to help them raise their English level.  This year, they are working toward the goal of teaching their subjects in English 100% of the time.  This is why Kevin was hired...to assist them in their teaching of the sciences as well as English.

This past weekend, two of the teachers came to our home.  We had a meal together and played a competitive game of Bananagrams, an English word-creation game.  We are looking forward to a profitable year of teaching and relationship building!

*If you'd like to see a longer version of the Mongolian Horsehead Fiddle, go here.  This is a 4 minute video.  At 1:30, the traditional Mongolian music changes to a classical piece.  Then, at 2:45, you can hear Traditional Mongolian Throat singing, which is amazing. 

"Making Do"

There’s many times in life when we “make do,” meaning that we don’t have exactly the right tool or furnishings for the job, but we can get by with what we have. For example: we’ve used a computer printer box as a table for our humidifier to sit on in our bedroom by placing a colorful towel on top to “dress it up” a bit.

We have just moved into a new apartment over America’s Labor Day weekend. Labor Day isn’t observed here in Mongolia, but I’ll remember this was the weekend we moved into our new location. Our new kitchen has much less cupboard and counter space than our previous apartment. However, my creative husband took one of the two tables our landlady supplied us and covered it with a heavy plastic cover and has created a long counter space for us. Necessity is the mother of invention, and we've “made do”.  It works great!

However, don’t feel too sorry for me. In this new apartment, I have a new (never been used until me!) oven from Ireland which is far superior to the old Russian ovens in our previous two apartments. Recently, I made some delicious homemade whole wheat/oatmeal bread. Here it is, finishing in my bottom oven:

The top oven is a grill/toaster oven.

I went to use our new washing machine the first day we had moved in, and it wouldn’t work. After reading the manual, I found that if the washing machine has never been used, you must unlock the stabilizing posts with a wrench. Well, here in Mongolia, our tool box is awfully small. We tried using a certain kind of wrench which didn’t do anything but slip and cause frustration for 15 minutes. A few days later, we were loaned a ratchet wrench, and what a difference the right tool makes! The job was done in less than five minutes and I was off and running on my big pile of laundry.

So, I’m thrilled with the ways we’ve figured out how to “make do”, and I’m also thrilled at the new items which will make my baking and laundry easier.

Reactions of the Heart

Yesterday, my friend Nara (the woman I met at the UPS counter one year ago, this month) and I went on an errand.  We were searching for a fabric store so I could get a little piece of fabric (50 X 50 cm) to create a corner for our fitted bed sheet since we have to "enlarge" that sheet to fit our new apartment's ultra-huge bed!  It was Sunday at 6 p.m. and the fabric stores we found had all closed.  We walked for 40 minutes on this search.  However, I DID get a strip of elastic for a mere 300 Tugriks (about 24 cents) to help with the project. 

Why am I writing about a seemingly non-descript event?  Well, I'm glad you asked....

As we walked on the busy sidewalk, we were talking, exchanging words in English and Mongolian.  We were enjoying our "tutoring" of one another and very absorbed in each other, not our surroundings.  As we talked, we were facing forward, but one moment, I turned to look Nara in the eye.  Out of my peripheral vision, I saw a man right up close to my back, in fact, he was digging in my backpack and I hadn't felt a thing!  Yikes!  I whipped around and caught his hand.  Our eyes met, and he quickly turned away and went slinking away in embarrassment and defeat.  My heart was angry with him.  I couldn't think of a single thing to say to him in Mongolian.  As Nara and I checked my bag to make sure nothing was missing, we talked about what I could've said to him.  "Yamar buduuthlek yume bey!" would be, "What a rude person you are!"  I practiced it a few times out loud with Nara and she laughed, "Ahh, that's perfect!" 

Since then, I've thought about the event over and over.  I have thought, "How could I have been a light that shined in a dark place?"  Even though my human side really wanted to chew him out and make him "lose face" (be embarrassed in front of the crowd), I have also been thinking of how I should've responded.  I've also thought about how my reactions show my heart more than my actions.  How life-changing it could be if I'd respond with "Yesus chamdt hartai" ("Jesus loves you").  I need to be prepared.  Reactions in a foreign language are more difficult than in my mother tongue, because the words don't come naturally...they must be thought out...how do I put them together?  And that's hard to do in a split second.  However, I'll be rehearsing a different phrase than I originally intended.

Back in Full Swing...or a Trot?

We are back in Ulaanbaatar (have been since August 19), and we've had many opportunities to be with last year's Mongolian friends already. 

We've also been to our team's 4 1/2-day fall training/team building time at a ger camp.  It was a great time to bond with our fellow teammates (other teachers with our organization), to enjoy some of God's beautiful creation, and to learn some more teaching techniques and even a little more Mongolian language!  I learned how to express north, south, east, and west (I already knew left and right since I've used that with taxi drivers quite often).  We also learned another Mongolian song out at the ger camp.



We enjoyed the beautiful hills (small mountains!) that were the backdrop of the ger camp.




Here's us in the same spot.




Every morning I hiked up that small mountain to sit on a bench for some quiet time with my Creator.  He did an awesome job on this rock, don't you think?




Here's the view from the top of the mountain.  The building with the red roof is the ger camp's "hotel" and the brown ger is the dining hall.  Note the hugeness of the dining hall in comparison to the small gers which were overnight housing for 4-6 people.




A morning view.




Necessity breeds invention, right?  Well, we had a water boiler and we brought our instant coffee, but all that was available in our room for drinking were these water glasses.  So, we used "sock insulators" to keep the heat off our hands!  My husband is so clever!




Here, some Mongolian ranchers bring their trail horses out for those of us who would ride for two hours.  It was a beautiful day, and a great way to see some of the countryside!




Here's me on my gentle, obedient horse.  I think I might've had one of the most docile, responsive horses there.  It didn't hurt that a teammate requested that for me!  I hadn't been on a horse for something like 8-10 years; I count this as my best horse riding experience.

 We look forward to a fruitful year with many Mongolian friends.