Things Which Have Brought a Smile to My Face

The first time I saw this beauty salon, I was in a bus.  I almost cracked up out loud!  I'm wondering what the person naming this salon was really trying to communicate?  I'm not going there any time soon!

"Smart listens to the head, stupid listens to the hears."  Okay, I admit, I cracked up out loud when I first read this when Kevin and I walked into this store.  So, I think this is the translation: "If you're smart, you'll listen to your head...the things you KNOW are true.  If you're stupid, you'll be listening to the comments of people around you."  If anyone else has a good translation, send it my way!

I took this picture about two blocks from the fancy department store in the previous picture.  I thought it was quite a cool contrast.  I was on my way home from meeting with a teacher to help her plan a lesson.  Here was this man in traditional Mongolian clothing, leading his transportation down a metropolitan sidewalk.  It was a sweet thing to see.  I asked him if I could take his picture and he shook his head, "yes".

Teaching in a Shoebox

So, for anyone who teaches, I thought you'd like to see this "shoebox of a room" which one of our teachers has for an English classroom!  Zayabayer is one of our Mongolian English teachers who takes our workshop on how to teach English better in Mongolia.  As I observed her last week, I was impressed with how she got her students out of their desks and moving around for several different activities, despite the cramped quarters!

I stood at the entrance to the room.  This picture shows the whole room except the two chairs against the wall on the far left which are tucked into the corner of that part of the room.  There were 15 in this class.  The next class held 19 students!

A Good Friendship

We had a recent trip up to the Russian Monument, Zaisan, a famous site we've been to before, but a fun place to visit every so often.  You can see the whole city from side to side.  Ulaanbaatar is a long, skinny city that runs like a snaking river through the valley between two ranges of mountains. 

We have become good friends with this dear family.  I met Enebish (the father) in February 2011 when I was meeting with a group of friends at a restaurant.  Enebish heard us speaking English and he came up to me and asked if I'd teach his wife English.  I met his wife, Munkhtsegtseg, who was also at the restaurant (the woman in this photo holding their son), and we made plans.  Their two daughters are also in this photo.  We have had many meals together, and on a recent Sunday, we ate together at their home, then they drove us all out to Zaisan.  It was a cool, windy day, but the friendship was warm. 

Kevin and I stand with part of the monument behind us.

Nearby the monument is a children's park where a child can ride this toy train.  Here, their son enjoys a few moments.

This Buddha statue stands at least 40 feet tall.  It glints in the sun.  I was recently reading in Deuteronomy 4.  The Israelites were reminded to NOT create any graven image to worship, since it would only be of their imagination, because God did not show Himself in the midst of the fire.  It is joyful to share with others of a God who can see and hear and respond!

Another work of art at the Zaisan area.  For many, it is more than just art.

A Preoccupation With Meat

My most recent meat purchase which was the "back" of a cow.  The white center part is the backbone.  After I butchered this piece, I had several pieces of very tender steak which were snug up to that backbone.

So, it might seem that I have a preoccupation with meat.  I really don't.  I just think it's fascinating how our way of getting meat here is so different than in the states.  Remember, we could also buy a whole leg of lamb, a goat head, a large hunk of some animal which gets thrown into the trunk of the car.  We've seen all of this.  When it gets super cold outside, people also hang bags of meat out their windows to utilize the free freezer outside.  This is seen especially on the college campuses when mom and dad come from the countryside after a butchering and give their college students some hunks of horse or lamb. 

Here's my take (at home) on an Outback Steakhouse meal: a crisp green salad with thousand island dressing, a tender steak which has been marinated and broiled with tomatoes on top, french bread, and (far right, barely visible in the photo), cheesy potatoes made with plain (sweetened) yogurt instead of sour cream...kind of strange, but it's what I could find.

As we sat down to this meal, Kevin asked, "Have I forgotten something?  Like, is this our anniversary, or are we celebrating something special?"  I said, "We're celebrating that I finally found a good cut of meat!"

Go Green!

Something strange, yet interesting happened in UB last Saturday.  There was a "Green Party" in the main area of downtown (which includes the block where we live).  Streets were blocked off; buses and cars weren't allowed on the streets.  Everyone was encouraged to walk, bike, or skate to their destinations.  It was amazing.  As you can see from the photo below, it was a beautiful, blue-sky day, and only a light jacket was needed. 



The Flower Center corner is usually FULL of traffic from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m.  Last year, we lived right across the street from this Flower Center building (our first apartment March 2010 until September 2010).  Here, you can see fashionable ladies and gentlemen, taking advantage of the freedom to walk down the middle of the street since cars and buses had been banned from the streets for 7 hours on Saturday.


 I must say, it was eery. I felt like perhaps aliens had descended on the city and stolen all the vehicles. It was amazing walking through these streets with no exhaust fumes puffing up into my lungs.

This platform, usually used by policemen to direct traffic, is being used during the "Green Party" time, as a stage for a singer who was working on a music video.

The Green Party was from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. We were back in our apartment by 4:45, and it wasn't long before I started to hear the honking of impatient drivers who had finally been let loose.


I would love to see this happen more often.  It makes me wonder how it might improve the pollution levels by just subtracting a few hours of traffic exhaust in the center of the city?!

Be Still and Know (Zawgksarey!)

A Stop Sign

You may be wondering why I included a photo of a stop sign.  There just aren't that many around town, so I thought I should add this to my collection of shots!  Truly...there's either lights or crazy intersections.  Well, even the light intersections are crazy!  Pedestrians have no right of way.  To cross a street, we often weave between cars and walk out in moving traffic in large bunches of people.  It's the way it's done.  And, we never trust a light or stop sign.  We still look both ways. 

Oh, and you may be wondering how this word is pronounced.  The first letter sounds like Z; the second letter sounds like "awe"; the third letter sounds like "g" as in gas with a little "k" sound; the fourth letter sounds like "s" as in snake.  Zawgks.  If you are asking someone to "Please Stop", you would say, "Zawgksarey" (and be sure to roll the "r").  End of Mongolian language lesson for today.





Eating a tortilla meal together

Remember our dear friend, Saraa, who died in August?  Her parents are in the middle of the couch.  Her older relative to the far right is our "Tortilla making lady", Bor.  The two children to the left are Bor's grandchildren (2nd or 3rd cousins of Saraa's family).  So, last week, we ordered some tortillas from Sister Bor, had the family over, and enjoyed a couple hours of mainly Mongolian conversation with our friend/interpreter who is Sister Bor's daughter (not in this photo). Tortilas seem to be a good meal to serve; everyone can choose what to put into their own tortilla, whether it be meat, rice, peppers, tomatoes, cheese and/or yogurt. It was a good friendship-building time.




My Minnesota friend and Mongolian teammate, Jessica, and her son.

Jessica was making a trip out to the sock factory on the edge of town.  I went along with her to keep her company and see this place I'd never been to before.  This is the now-enclosed area which used to be the outside of the factory walls (the brick wall used to be an outside wall); however, they're adding on to the building to make a bigger factory.  It's very interesting how anyone is allowed to walk in the midst of construction in Mongolia.  Occupational and construction hazards abound!



Shopping for socks

Here's the warehouse of socks--large boxes of well-made socks.  I was actually wishing I needed socks, as there were many beautiful colors.  I actually have two pairs of socks made by this company which I bought at the nearby fancy Department Store for three times the cost.  Here, we could get socks for around a dollar a pair, and they are easily the kind that would cost $4-5/pair in the U.S.  I bought a pair for Kevin, me, and some baby gifts for babies who will soon be born to our Mongolian friends.




The equipment used to make the socks; it was lunch break time so all was quiet.




Jessica and Ezra strike a pose in the sock warehouse.  Ezra is such a good little shopper!




Dusty clothes washed clean!

Here's a sampling of what three loads of laundry looks like in our apartment.  You may recall from an earlier post, that our washing machine holds about 1/3 less than our American machine.  And, you might say that the picture above is a photo of our "dryer"...actually, our drying rack.  After walking through some pretty dusty, grungy back roads to get to the schools we go to, it's always refreshing to get the laundry done!  I love the feeling of getting all the dust off the clothing.
 
I think, too, of how when we come to our Father, He can wash us totally clean because of what His Son has done for us.  His work was not in vain.  It was very useful in our lives, just as my washing machine is very useful.  So, today, Zawgksarey, and think on this truth for a moment!  Be blessed!

Some Things Are Different in Mongolia

What a lovely piece of beef. 


I selected this hunk from a table full of unwrapped pieces at the market.  The meat ladies poked and prodded their products, showing me how wonderful each piece would be for me to purchase!  After turning several pieces over, we decided this one was the one for us and it was put into a baggie for us to carry home.




Let the butchering begin!

Okay, I know, the butchering has ALREADY happened.  But, sometimes I feel like a butcher as I spend time de-veining, de-gristling, de-tendoning, and de-fatting my beef here.  I have a new appreciation for the butchers at HyVee and Sam's Club where I bought most of my beef in Minnesota!



Forty minutes later...

Yes, forty minutes!  I timed myself.  Note the little plate of fat and tendons I collected, as well as the fact that I still had a slab of beef that hadn't been tended to yet!


The fruit of my labors

I was tired of  making stew meat, so, I plopped the larger piece of beef into a jar for the freezer.  The smaller stew-meat pieces were combined with olive oil, onion, and garlic to begin a delicious pot of beef vegetable stew. 

So, moving on to other things in life, I just had to show you one of the classrooms where we teach our Mongolian English teachers.  Note the condition of the wood floors.  Also, note the color.  Orange is a very normal color for school floors and ger frames.  But don't think that just because the floor is in disrepair that we have a group of shabby teachers...oh, no!  These ladies and gentlemen always come to class dressed in their teaching clothes, their hair beautiful, jewelry donned.  These are well-groomed teachers who find honor in presenting themselves well.  Note that most of them have moved into wearing boots.  All winter, 95% of the women throughout UB will be wearing boots.  It's really quite amazing to me.



Peeling floors and wobbly desks are the norm for many of the schools.



Personal space?

Here is a perfect illustration of a different view of personal space.  I have become more comfortable with being up-close and personal in other's "space" (at least, what we would consider another's invisible bubble in America), but it's still not second nature to me.  Here, you see three teachers squished onto a bench that's built for two students, but it's totally normal and comfortable to them as they discuss the lesson we are teaching.




Wrestlers outside our apartment window.

It was mid-day and I looked out our living room window to see two men wrestling in the parking lot below.  Were they angry?  Were they going to kill one another?  I watched for about five minutes as they backed off, then reconnected, grunting and groaning, and finally.....


the man in blue overcomes the man in red and we have a winner!

I think this was a friendly lunchtime exercise.  My guess is that the loser bought lunch.  They got up and dusted themselves off and walked away...together.




An alternative to Panera's?

 Well, it's not exactly Panera's, but it's a vegan restaurant we've discovered that serves amazingly tasty soup, noodle dishes, vegan buuz (is that an oxymoron since buuz are steamed meat dumplings?!), and a steamed bread.


One Mongolian lady is eating her steamy bowl of soup.  We were waiting for bansh soup (soup with veggies and steamed dumplings floating in the soup) and a vegan buuz. 

As we left, we had a good laugh that we had just eaten a delicious meal for $1.80, and we called it our "You Pick Two" meal in remembrance of that choice at one of our favorite eating establishments in America, Panera's.




A blimp?!

Here is something else I took a photo of from our living room window.  My dad has worked on the Goodyear Blimp material, so I thought he'd enjoy seeing this blimp which has been attached to the top of a nearby building.  We have no idea why it's there.  Maybe it's just there because it can be?