Well, the day finally arrived - back to school, goodbye summer vacation! I've been (surprisingly) not as excited as I used to be about school starting, but I started feeling it finally after a few classes - weird that it took so long this year! I think it was still a coming off of Mongolia high... wanting to maybe even be back there instead of here.
My kids seem great though - I feel like I was able to relate to them SO much better than I have with my kids in the past... maybe it's because my first year was with 6th (and they really are tiny still!) and then I moved up with those kids... so they (and maybe I also) felt like if there wasn't a great relationship there the first year, there wouldn't be again? I dunno... I just felt immediately connected to more of my kids this year - which feels promising! And the new room and the new setup (which is still lab tables, but with a front row and a back one, sorta shaped like crescent moons... if that makes any sense!) felt really great - very homey, but yet with a focus more on what's going on at the front of the class, rather than their friends... all. the. time. Which has been my issue the past two years.
What an exciting blog post huh?
I actually went and worked out after school - so that was a good start to the year also! I don't think I've worked out since just before our Mongolia trip - EEK!
Umm... what else...
OHHH!!! Saturday is my BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! I can't believe I haven't been counting down for everyone like I usually do. Guess I've been pretty busy... that is the ONLY reason. :) My bestest friend in the entire world is coming to visit on Thursday and staying all weekend - I can't wait! We're going to maybe check out a dollar movie, go wedding dress shopping (yay! - I'm the Matron of Honor... I'm proud, but man does that make me sound old and fat somehow!), and then (drum roll, please) - me and two of my favorites are having a SPA DAY ON SATURDAY!! An hour massage, 1/2 hour facial, manicure and pedicure (and the place is really nice) for only $130 each! How incredible is that?! Annnnd we're going to see The Time Traveler's Wife to top it off (I've heard it's not great, but I'm still really excited to see it anyway). What an awesome weekend. AND, Tim is going out of town for work for a day, and it's the day she gets here - so I won't be alone... perfect!
So I just realized that last paragraph has a TON!! (ha) of all caps & exclamation marks... can you tell I get a little jazzed up about my birthday? hehe.
Labor Day weekend I'm going home to see the fam - it's been way too long and I'm really excited to see them all. Plus, the birthday extravaganza continues at home, so what's not to love?!
Alright... well I'm off to make some chicken salad for lunch tomorrow. I'm going to try to be good this year. ...must avoid the mini blueberry muffins in the morning and m&m cookies in the afternoon (unlike today!)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Jet Lag!!
So there's this thing called jet lag... and I honestly never quite believed it was as bad as people made it out to be. Until this week. Getting on Mongolian time was a piece of cake - just had to make myself stay up a bit later when I really wanted to sleep, then popped out of bed around 6 or 7 every morning... it was actually pretty nice! Getting back on Texas time, however... has been sucking the life out of me! I'm exhausted everyday, and then at night I'm not sleepy... I go to bed anyway, and wake up sometime in the middle of the night, wide awake and not able to sleep anymore... which makes me (again) exhausted all the next day. And the thing that is maybe even more frustrating, is that I'm actually physically exhausted in the middle of the night... it's only my mind that is wide awake, my body is pleading to go to sleep! It is incredibly frustrating (and lonely, I must say - being the only one awake in the middle of the night).
I haven't taken Ambien the past 2 nights... and I'm really having a hard time deciding what to do with that. I'm so afraid of being dependent on it (and secretly worrying if that's why I can't sleep right now... although I think it's way too early for that - I haven't even taken it that much). I don't think I can take another sleepless night/exhausting day though! UGH!!
And tonight is our anniversary weekend - we're going to a super nice hotel in Uptown, to a nice restaurant for dinner, etc... and I just KNOW I'm going to be exhausted (because a nap is seriously out of the question, even though I'm going to be dying for one). Again, UGH!!
Okay, enough pity party.
In other news, I finally made it up to the school yesterday - wasted about 2 hours doing 15 minutes worth of planning with Eric (it was nice to just hang out though - I wasn't up for much else with my lack of sleep!). Attempted to work in my room (the air was on in my room - YAY!) and then realized that they were about to have a band practice in there (the air was on in my room - DUH.), so I left. Went to Office Max and Wal-Mart and bought lots of fun new school/office supplies - one of my favorite things to do!!! :D Also actually got some school work finished last night while I was attempting to tire myself out. Very far from feeling ready though... or do you ever quite feel ready for the first day of school??
Alright, well I'm going to go read... might go ahead and take an early morning nap (seeing as it's only 7:30, I don't think a short one will affect my sleeping tonight... I did only get 4 hours of sleep last night!).
Blahhhhh!!!
I haven't taken Ambien the past 2 nights... and I'm really having a hard time deciding what to do with that. I'm so afraid of being dependent on it (and secretly worrying if that's why I can't sleep right now... although I think it's way too early for that - I haven't even taken it that much). I don't think I can take another sleepless night/exhausting day though! UGH!!
And tonight is our anniversary weekend - we're going to a super nice hotel in Uptown, to a nice restaurant for dinner, etc... and I just KNOW I'm going to be exhausted (because a nap is seriously out of the question, even though I'm going to be dying for one). Again, UGH!!
Okay, enough pity party.
In other news, I finally made it up to the school yesterday - wasted about 2 hours doing 15 minutes worth of planning with Eric (it was nice to just hang out though - I wasn't up for much else with my lack of sleep!). Attempted to work in my room (the air was on in my room - YAY!) and then realized that they were about to have a band practice in there (the air was on in my room - DUH.), so I left. Went to Office Max and Wal-Mart and bought lots of fun new school/office supplies - one of my favorite things to do!!! :D Also actually got some school work finished last night while I was attempting to tire myself out. Very far from feeling ready though... or do you ever quite feel ready for the first day of school??
Alright, well I'm going to go read... might go ahead and take an early morning nap (seeing as it's only 7:30, I don't think a short one will affect my sleeping tonight... I did only get 4 hours of sleep last night!).
Blahhhhh!!!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Link for Pictures!
Okay, I'm not going to take the time to upload pictures onto my blog now that I've uploaded them all to Facebook, then Picasa, then Kodak - I'm so sick of uploading!!
So, here's a link to my Picasa so you can check them out, download them, purchase them, whatever - enjoy!
Mongolia Pics!!
Let me know if the link doesn't work, or if you can't view the album once you get there.
I have one more update to make, but I am pooped, so it will have to wait for later...
So, here's a link to my Picasa so you can check them out, download them, purchase them, whatever - enjoy!
Mongolia Pics!!
Let me know if the link doesn't work, or if you can't view the album once you get there.
I have one more update to make, but I am pooped, so it will have to wait for later...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Last Day in Mongolia
Sunday:
First things first... Happy one year anniversary to Tim and me! We celebrated our anniversary in Mongolia - just about the coolest and most memorable place to spend it. We didn't do anything "anniversary-ish," but just being there, together, was enough.
We got to sleep in finally (and I actually did... til about 8 - ha!). We went to Mitch's church, which didn't start until 1pm, which was great. It was really neat to attend a Mongolian Christian church - even though we didn't understand anything they said! They sang a lot of recognizable contemporary Christian songs, just in Mongolian - it was kinda neat and kinda weird at the same time. Weird may not be the right word... it just made me wish that they had more of their own Christian songs to sing - just to make it their own, with their own style, something Christian but still Mongolian. I can see how it would be really hard to do that though - seeing as they really don't have any experience to pull from. I definitely wouldn't know where to start either. It was neat as an American though, to go somewhere so foreign and to be able to recognize so many songs... humming along the English words in my head as they sang in Mongolian. They also sang a welcome song to our group - which was really sweet, but terribly awkward too - it was really long and they were staring at us the whole time! The sweet outweighed the awkward though.
We had lunch at a Chinese food restaurant and it was sooooo good!! The menu, however, was hilarious!! Every one of the entrees had an English name underneath, but none of them made any sense whatsoever! I know that is common - errors in translating, and things/meanings get lost in the process, but this was really over the top! One of my favorites: "The Older Brother of the Pig Kick Ball" - awesome huh?? :) One of the guys took a picture of every single dish, because they were all so funny.
I also experienced the nicest bathroom I've seen in Mongolia at this restaurant! It was CLEAN, there was toilet paper (unbelievably amazing), soap, warm water, and there was incense burning in the stalls! It was fantastic. This brings me to something I have failed to mention somehow - there is never any toilet paper in the bathrooms in Mongolia!! We took our own everywhere we went, they were always really dirty, and some of them didn't even have a "real" toilet... I have never been so happy to pee in my own bathroom as I was last night!! I don't think I'll be complaining as much about public restrooms here anymore... and as a true testament to the extravagance and overabundance we are so used to here - the first bathroom I used back in the States (as everyone over there calls it - has a nice ring to it I think, hehe) had TWO different toilet seat cover dispensers and FOUR full rolls of toilet paper! Now I'm all for toilet seat covers and toilet paper, don't get me wrong, but it just reminded me of how spoiled and ridiculous we can be here.
We went to another Buddhist temple in UB for a little bit, but I wasn't really in the mood. My stomach was hurting (first and only time all trip - amazing!!), there were pigeons everywhere (everyone else loved it, but I am terrified of huge flocks of pigeons... especially ones that constantly get way too close!!), and I was in a bad mood because of a little shopping snafu. I had spent at least 30 minutes in this neat little wool shop (everything was handmade, authentic Mongolian products, and it was owned by a Lutheran ministry, so we felt like it was going to a good place) picking out awesome, well priced Christmas presents for all my family and friends, and then my credit card AND my debit card wouldn't work - so I had to put them ALL back!!! I was soooo upset - and I feel like I'm allowed, because I wasn't just pouting because I didn't get stuff for me - it was ALL gifts for other people!! And I had painstakingly picked out the perfect gifts for each person!!! UGH!!! Okay seriously, I'm still upset writing about it now, and it was over two days ago! Moving on...
We spent the rest of the evening packing up and hanging out with the Ballingers. Okay - let me take some time to talk about Chris and Stephanie Ballinger and their two adorable kids, Abby and CJ. So, part of the reason (or maybe most of the reason) we went to Mongolia, was not only to love on kids, but to hang out with the missionaries that live there full time. The idea, is that there's not a whole lot you can do in a week, but if you can build up the people that live there all the time, they can make even more of an impact on peoples' lives. Enter in, the Ballingers. This family is amazing. They are about our age, have two little kiddos (I think that Abby is 5 and CJ is 2... or somewhere close to that), and they have been living in Mongolia for 2 years now. They just picked up and moved out there when CJ was only ten months old. INCREDIBLE! They started out doing a youth center, had to shut it down because of government nonsense, and now they are running a feeding center for children in UB. They are learning to speak Mongolian - they probably wouldn't agree, but they might as well be fluent if you ask me! They are able to communicate pretty much anything they need to - can understand and speak it both, and it is a VERY difficult language! They are so sweet and kind-hearted, definitely two of the nicest, most impressive people I have ever met. Stephanie went out to the Gobi with us, and I am so glad she did - I feel like we got to know her a lot better than we would have, and it was so great to have her around. I would love to go back to visit one day and spend more time with her.
We spent some time during our last evening to talk about how the trip impacted our lives and what we enjoyed/would take away most from our time in Mongolia. Lets just say there was crying. It was a good time. I will miss Mongolia, the beautiful children we met, and the amazing missionary families that serve there full time. It was an incredible journey.
Blogger is having photo uploading issues right now, but I will upload all my pics as soon as I can, or post a link for your viewing pleasure. :D
First things first... Happy one year anniversary to Tim and me! We celebrated our anniversary in Mongolia - just about the coolest and most memorable place to spend it. We didn't do anything "anniversary-ish," but just being there, together, was enough.
We got to sleep in finally (and I actually did... til about 8 - ha!). We went to Mitch's church, which didn't start until 1pm, which was great. It was really neat to attend a Mongolian Christian church - even though we didn't understand anything they said! They sang a lot of recognizable contemporary Christian songs, just in Mongolian - it was kinda neat and kinda weird at the same time. Weird may not be the right word... it just made me wish that they had more of their own Christian songs to sing - just to make it their own, with their own style, something Christian but still Mongolian. I can see how it would be really hard to do that though - seeing as they really don't have any experience to pull from. I definitely wouldn't know where to start either. It was neat as an American though, to go somewhere so foreign and to be able to recognize so many songs... humming along the English words in my head as they sang in Mongolian. They also sang a welcome song to our group - which was really sweet, but terribly awkward too - it was really long and they were staring at us the whole time! The sweet outweighed the awkward though.
We had lunch at a Chinese food restaurant and it was sooooo good!! The menu, however, was hilarious!! Every one of the entrees had an English name underneath, but none of them made any sense whatsoever! I know that is common - errors in translating, and things/meanings get lost in the process, but this was really over the top! One of my favorites: "The Older Brother of the Pig Kick Ball" - awesome huh?? :) One of the guys took a picture of every single dish, because they were all so funny.
I also experienced the nicest bathroom I've seen in Mongolia at this restaurant! It was CLEAN, there was toilet paper (unbelievably amazing), soap, warm water, and there was incense burning in the stalls! It was fantastic. This brings me to something I have failed to mention somehow - there is never any toilet paper in the bathrooms in Mongolia!! We took our own everywhere we went, they were always really dirty, and some of them didn't even have a "real" toilet... I have never been so happy to pee in my own bathroom as I was last night!! I don't think I'll be complaining as much about public restrooms here anymore... and as a true testament to the extravagance and overabundance we are so used to here - the first bathroom I used back in the States (as everyone over there calls it - has a nice ring to it I think, hehe) had TWO different toilet seat cover dispensers and FOUR full rolls of toilet paper! Now I'm all for toilet seat covers and toilet paper, don't get me wrong, but it just reminded me of how spoiled and ridiculous we can be here.
We went to another Buddhist temple in UB for a little bit, but I wasn't really in the mood. My stomach was hurting (first and only time all trip - amazing!!), there were pigeons everywhere (everyone else loved it, but I am terrified of huge flocks of pigeons... especially ones that constantly get way too close!!), and I was in a bad mood because of a little shopping snafu. I had spent at least 30 minutes in this neat little wool shop (everything was handmade, authentic Mongolian products, and it was owned by a Lutheran ministry, so we felt like it was going to a good place) picking out awesome, well priced Christmas presents for all my family and friends, and then my credit card AND my debit card wouldn't work - so I had to put them ALL back!!! I was soooo upset - and I feel like I'm allowed, because I wasn't just pouting because I didn't get stuff for me - it was ALL gifts for other people!! And I had painstakingly picked out the perfect gifts for each person!!! UGH!!! Okay seriously, I'm still upset writing about it now, and it was over two days ago! Moving on...
We spent the rest of the evening packing up and hanging out with the Ballingers. Okay - let me take some time to talk about Chris and Stephanie Ballinger and their two adorable kids, Abby and CJ. So, part of the reason (or maybe most of the reason) we went to Mongolia, was not only to love on kids, but to hang out with the missionaries that live there full time. The idea, is that there's not a whole lot you can do in a week, but if you can build up the people that live there all the time, they can make even more of an impact on peoples' lives. Enter in, the Ballingers. This family is amazing. They are about our age, have two little kiddos (I think that Abby is 5 and CJ is 2... or somewhere close to that), and they have been living in Mongolia for 2 years now. They just picked up and moved out there when CJ was only ten months old. INCREDIBLE! They started out doing a youth center, had to shut it down because of government nonsense, and now they are running a feeding center for children in UB. They are learning to speak Mongolian - they probably wouldn't agree, but they might as well be fluent if you ask me! They are able to communicate pretty much anything they need to - can understand and speak it both, and it is a VERY difficult language! They are so sweet and kind-hearted, definitely two of the nicest, most impressive people I have ever met. Stephanie went out to the Gobi with us, and I am so glad she did - I feel like we got to know her a lot better than we would have, and it was so great to have her around. I would love to go back to visit one day and spend more time with her.
We spent some time during our last evening to talk about how the trip impacted our lives and what we enjoyed/would take away most from our time in Mongolia. Lets just say there was crying. It was a good time. I will miss Mongolia, the beautiful children we met, and the amazing missionary families that serve there full time. It was an incredible journey.
Blogger is having photo uploading issues right now, but I will upload all my pics as soon as I can, or post a link for your viewing pleasure. :D
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Saturday!
So yesterday we just hung out and did tourist-y things...
Tim found out a few days ago that they have a Russian Orthodox church in UB and asked Keith if there was any way we could go see it. We were supposed to go see the Buddhist temple, but a lot of it is outdoors and it was pouring yesterday. The church was beautiful, as expected. It was really neat to get to go to an Orthodox cathedral in Mongolia - I know Tim was loving it. He was telling everyone about everything, he was so excited. :)
At lunch we got to try horse meat finally... we had horse kabobs! It was actually really good - seasoned very well.
Then....... SHOPPING!!! :D We got lots of little souvenirs, each got a cashmere scarf (only about $30 each!). We also went to a wool store where they had all handmade genuine Mongolian wool products. I got a SWEET laptop bag (it is so so so cute!), some little magnets for my white board at school (I actually got quite a few little things for my classroom, I'm excited!), and Tim and I each got really cool wool beanies.
AND! Outside the wool store was this awesome monument type thing - it was the body and part of the neck of a guitar coming out of the ground. It was already cool, and then when we walked around to the other side, I found out it was dedicated to the Beatles!! There were statues of the four of them on the other side - SO awesome. It was pouring though, so I didn't get a picture... so I'm hoping we get to go back today to get one. I know, I know... I'm a dork.
After that we went to a cultural show where they did their special Mongolian throat singing (you should look it up on You Tube, surely they have some on there... it is CRAZY!! Or maybe I'll be really cool and post a link someday...). They also had traditional dancing, lots of music with interesting instruments I've never seen before, AND contortionists!! They were incredible! Crazy that people can actually bend like that, and their arms were SO strong - and they were these tiny little girls! Crazy.
We had Mongolian BBQ after that, and it was really good... not to mention that the place had free WiFi - I'm ever amazed at how connected we can be in Mongolia!
We got home and drank some 3 in 1 (I will explain in a minute) to help stay awake til midnight so Tim and I could celebrate our one year anniversary!! I can't believe it's already been a year - it kinda flew by. It has definitely been one of the best years of my life. Everyone talks about how hard the first year of marriage is, but we really didn't experience that. It has just been wonderful - I have the greatest husband and feel like a very blessed girl.
Okay, so 3 in 1! Everyone drinks this instant coffee here called 3 in 1 - it's got the cream and sugar already mixed in... actually kinda tastes like cocoa, so it's definitely my kind of "coffee" - if you could even call it that! We found out later that it has something like 12% coffee, 50% sugar, and the rest creamer, HA. PERFECT. :D
The boys made breakfast this morning and it was fantastic! I love when boys cook. I think it's sweet. :) Makes me happy. We're going to church (it doesn't start til 1pm - my kind of church!) today, then the Buddhist temple, then maybe some more shopping, then hanging out with the missionaries and their kids tonight. We're going to attempt to stay up all night I think, because we have to leave here at like, 3am to catch our flight. Then once we get to Bejing we have an 8 hour layover - SUCK!!
I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow morning - it's almost over. It went by really fast; I knew it would. Part of me is ready to get back to my own home, my own bed... and part of me is really not ready to leave yet. I guess that's probably how it always is...
Tim found out a few days ago that they have a Russian Orthodox church in UB and asked Keith if there was any way we could go see it. We were supposed to go see the Buddhist temple, but a lot of it is outdoors and it was pouring yesterday. The church was beautiful, as expected. It was really neat to get to go to an Orthodox cathedral in Mongolia - I know Tim was loving it. He was telling everyone about everything, he was so excited. :)
At lunch we got to try horse meat finally... we had horse kabobs! It was actually really good - seasoned very well.
Then....... SHOPPING!!! :D We got lots of little souvenirs, each got a cashmere scarf (only about $30 each!). We also went to a wool store where they had all handmade genuine Mongolian wool products. I got a SWEET laptop bag (it is so so so cute!), some little magnets for my white board at school (I actually got quite a few little things for my classroom, I'm excited!), and Tim and I each got really cool wool beanies.
AND! Outside the wool store was this awesome monument type thing - it was the body and part of the neck of a guitar coming out of the ground. It was already cool, and then when we walked around to the other side, I found out it was dedicated to the Beatles!! There were statues of the four of them on the other side - SO awesome. It was pouring though, so I didn't get a picture... so I'm hoping we get to go back today to get one. I know, I know... I'm a dork.
After that we went to a cultural show where they did their special Mongolian throat singing (you should look it up on You Tube, surely they have some on there... it is CRAZY!! Or maybe I'll be really cool and post a link someday...). They also had traditional dancing, lots of music with interesting instruments I've never seen before, AND contortionists!! They were incredible! Crazy that people can actually bend like that, and their arms were SO strong - and they were these tiny little girls! Crazy.
We had Mongolian BBQ after that, and it was really good... not to mention that the place had free WiFi - I'm ever amazed at how connected we can be in Mongolia!
We got home and drank some 3 in 1 (I will explain in a minute) to help stay awake til midnight so Tim and I could celebrate our one year anniversary!! I can't believe it's already been a year - it kinda flew by. It has definitely been one of the best years of my life. Everyone talks about how hard the first year of marriage is, but we really didn't experience that. It has just been wonderful - I have the greatest husband and feel like a very blessed girl.
Okay, so 3 in 1! Everyone drinks this instant coffee here called 3 in 1 - it's got the cream and sugar already mixed in... actually kinda tastes like cocoa, so it's definitely my kind of "coffee" - if you could even call it that! We found out later that it has something like 12% coffee, 50% sugar, and the rest creamer, HA. PERFECT. :D
The boys made breakfast this morning and it was fantastic! I love when boys cook. I think it's sweet. :) Makes me happy. We're going to church (it doesn't start til 1pm - my kind of church!) today, then the Buddhist temple, then maybe some more shopping, then hanging out with the missionaries and their kids tonight. We're going to attempt to stay up all night I think, because we have to leave here at like, 3am to catch our flight. Then once we get to Bejing we have an 8 hour layover - SUCK!!
I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow morning - it's almost over. It went by really fast; I knew it would. Part of me is ready to get back to my own home, my own bed... and part of me is really not ready to leave yet. I guess that's probably how it always is...
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Gobi! Day 3
This post probably won't be as long, and definitely not as exciting! Instead of stopping halfway through the trip and staying the night, we drove straight home - we left at 10am and didn't get home until about 9pm!! It wasn't all driving... we stopped about 15 times for people to go to the bathroom (peeing out in the wide open desert with 5 other girls right next to me was a new experience... I'm cool with not doing it for a long, long time!). We also stopped for about an hour at Snake Mountain (the desert is surprisingly mountainous and non-desert looking in the area we went to - even lots of green because of all the rain they've had!). We climbed up (well, I went halfway, that was plenty high for me!) a rock formation and took pictures... it was pretty cool. Climbing back down (or scooting down on my butt) was not cool though, and I was glad I didn't go all the way up to the top! Might have taken me hours to get back down. :)
We also made a little pit stop and Bear and the boys wrestled - a popular pasttime in Mongolia! So popular, that another group that was driving past us turned around and came back to watch - one guy even asked if he could wrestle someone too! It was pretty funny. And when they win, they do this little dance that looks like a they are a bird floating around (their arms floating up and down like wings).
We would've gotten home an hour or two later, but traffic in UB was INSANE (as usual), and the place we went for dinner ("fast food" - ha!) took about 40 minutes. And THEN - there was a huge traffic jam, because some people decided to make a new lane of traffic... going the WRONG way - right through the middle of our flow of traffic!!! It was crazy - there are definitely no rules here, people just kind of do whatever they feel like!
That's about it - it was a pretty non-eventful day. Oh, except that we had a "Phantom Farter" on the ride home, and the entire van was stunk up on at least 10 or 15 occasions... it was horrrrrible!!! We were never so glad to be "home" in our lives!!
Okay, Mitch is here to pick us up - we're off for a day of sight-seeing, shopping, Mongolian BBQ, and a cultural show - I'm so excited!! :D
We also made a little pit stop and Bear and the boys wrestled - a popular pasttime in Mongolia! So popular, that another group that was driving past us turned around and came back to watch - one guy even asked if he could wrestle someone too! It was pretty funny. And when they win, they do this little dance that looks like a they are a bird floating around (their arms floating up and down like wings).
We would've gotten home an hour or two later, but traffic in UB was INSANE (as usual), and the place we went for dinner ("fast food" - ha!) took about 40 minutes. And THEN - there was a huge traffic jam, because some people decided to make a new lane of traffic... going the WRONG way - right through the middle of our flow of traffic!!! It was crazy - there are definitely no rules here, people just kind of do whatever they feel like!
That's about it - it was a pretty non-eventful day. Oh, except that we had a "Phantom Farter" on the ride home, and the entire van was stunk up on at least 10 or 15 occasions... it was horrrrrible!!! We were never so glad to be "home" in our lives!!
Okay, Mitch is here to pick us up - we're off for a day of sight-seeing, shopping, Mongolian BBQ, and a cultural show - I'm so excited!! :D
The Gobi! Day 2
Thursday:
We got up and drove another 4 hours - this time reaching the actual Gobi! On our way there, we saw a bunch of vultures on the side of the "road" (the word road is a huge exaggeration). They. Were. ENORMOUS!!! Imagine a large lab sitting, and that's how big these vultures were... at least. They were so creepy - and if you know of my fear of birds anyway, you would know exactly how creepy they were!! UGH!!
When we arrived at the village Erdene Dalai, we went into the church (the only registered Christian church in the Gobi) and the kids were in there - hanging out and singing. They were singing "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" in Mongolian and doing hand motions to go along with the words - it was SO neat. Then, this beautiful little girl (maybe about 7 years old) did a traditional Mongolian dance for us - she was all dressed up in gorgeous traditional garb (I will definitely post a picture of her). It was the coolest thing - she was such a little performer at the time, and then ended up being one of the most shy.
Then we did our thing... passing out gifts, painting nails, making balloon animals. This one was really exciting though, because we got to pass out the gallon sized bags we'd filled with toys, candies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crayons, etc. It was so fun to see their excited faces - they loved it.
Even though we were completely exhausted (after very little sleep and the tiring, bumpy van ride), we got back in the van and drove another couple of hours to the next village that was even farther into the Gobi. On our way there, we saw a herd of camels (and many more after that - at first it was really exciting, and then we got to be like, ok... camels... wow. haha). We got out and took lots of pictures of them, walked right up to them, some people even touched them! Not me... I'm too much of a weenie for that. :) They were domesticated, so it was okay. It was really cool.
We got to the next village, Delger Hangai, and the kids in the feeding center sang songs for us - it was so sweet! They weren't shy either, they really belted it out! I loved it. They are so sweet and adorable. Then they all got together (along with a few from our group) and played a little game of "Sambo Says" (sound familiar?) - it was so funny, the kids loved it!
Then we went outside and played with the kids - but for some reason, this was my absolute favorite village we went to. The kids were so excited to see us, pulling us by the arm to do things, asking us to paint their nails (even the adults - it was great!). And thennnn I got out the camera - they were SO into having their pictures taken (all the kids have been, but they really loved it). Then they wanted my camera, and started taking pictures of each other, of me and them together, just over and over and over. They probably took about 40 pictures with my camera! They love to take the picture, and then turn the camera around and see themselves. One little girl who was about 13 maybe (it's hard to tell ages of the kids around here) was like my shadow - followed me everywhere and was obsessed with taking pictures with my camera - it was so cute. Then another little girl (maybe 9?) came up to me and said, "What is your name?" I told her, and she repeated it, then I asked her and she said, "My name is ____" (can't remember, it was very complicated!). I was so impressed that she knew English! She seemed excited to be able to speak to me a little - I definitely was!
We finally left, and it was even more heartbreaking to leave them, because I feel like I really connected with some of the girls there. They waited outside our van and kept waving to us, over and over and over - the little girl who spoke to me in English especially (and kept smiling at me) so I hopped back out and gave her a hug by - I love her!! She was so precious. I almost cried (again) leaving them. The drive back to the first village was sad for me... I really loved the people in Delger Hangai. Tim and I were talking about finding a way to raise money for them to get a deep water well - the closest one is a quarter of a mile away. It would be about $14,000 to get them a well... not sure how we could do that, but we're thinking about it.
That wrapped up our time with the kids in the Gobi Desert... all that bumpy driving was definitely worth it, 100%.
We got up and drove another 4 hours - this time reaching the actual Gobi! On our way there, we saw a bunch of vultures on the side of the "road" (the word road is a huge exaggeration). They. Were. ENORMOUS!!! Imagine a large lab sitting, and that's how big these vultures were... at least. They were so creepy - and if you know of my fear of birds anyway, you would know exactly how creepy they were!! UGH!!
When we arrived at the village Erdene Dalai, we went into the church (the only registered Christian church in the Gobi) and the kids were in there - hanging out and singing. They were singing "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" in Mongolian and doing hand motions to go along with the words - it was SO neat. Then, this beautiful little girl (maybe about 7 years old) did a traditional Mongolian dance for us - she was all dressed up in gorgeous traditional garb (I will definitely post a picture of her). It was the coolest thing - she was such a little performer at the time, and then ended up being one of the most shy.
Then we did our thing... passing out gifts, painting nails, making balloon animals. This one was really exciting though, because we got to pass out the gallon sized bags we'd filled with toys, candies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crayons, etc. It was so fun to see their excited faces - they loved it.
Even though we were completely exhausted (after very little sleep and the tiring, bumpy van ride), we got back in the van and drove another couple of hours to the next village that was even farther into the Gobi. On our way there, we saw a herd of camels (and many more after that - at first it was really exciting, and then we got to be like, ok... camels... wow. haha). We got out and took lots of pictures of them, walked right up to them, some people even touched them! Not me... I'm too much of a weenie for that. :) They were domesticated, so it was okay. It was really cool.
We got to the next village, Delger Hangai, and the kids in the feeding center sang songs for us - it was so sweet! They weren't shy either, they really belted it out! I loved it. They are so sweet and adorable. Then they all got together (along with a few from our group) and played a little game of "Sambo Says" (sound familiar?) - it was so funny, the kids loved it!
Then we went outside and played with the kids - but for some reason, this was my absolute favorite village we went to. The kids were so excited to see us, pulling us by the arm to do things, asking us to paint their nails (even the adults - it was great!). And thennnn I got out the camera - they were SO into having their pictures taken (all the kids have been, but they really loved it). Then they wanted my camera, and started taking pictures of each other, of me and them together, just over and over and over. They probably took about 40 pictures with my camera! They love to take the picture, and then turn the camera around and see themselves. One little girl who was about 13 maybe (it's hard to tell ages of the kids around here) was like my shadow - followed me everywhere and was obsessed with taking pictures with my camera - it was so cute. Then another little girl (maybe 9?) came up to me and said, "What is your name?" I told her, and she repeated it, then I asked her and she said, "My name is ____" (can't remember, it was very complicated!). I was so impressed that she knew English! She seemed excited to be able to speak to me a little - I definitely was!
We finally left, and it was even more heartbreaking to leave them, because I feel like I really connected with some of the girls there. They waited outside our van and kept waving to us, over and over and over - the little girl who spoke to me in English especially (and kept smiling at me) so I hopped back out and gave her a hug by - I love her!! She was so precious. I almost cried (again) leaving them. The drive back to the first village was sad for me... I really loved the people in Delger Hangai. Tim and I were talking about finding a way to raise money for them to get a deep water well - the closest one is a quarter of a mile away. It would be about $14,000 to get them a well... not sure how we could do that, but we're thinking about it.
That wrapped up our time with the kids in the Gobi Desert... all that bumpy driving was definitely worth it, 100%.
The Gobi!
Wednesday:
Before heading out to the Gobi, we stopped off at an old Buddist temple - it's no longer a temple, it's a museum. It was really cool to see, but very unsettling too. Parts of the inside were really ornate and beautiful, and other parts were very violent and almost evil looking. Severed body parts, blood, very gruesome.
We all hopped into one van/bus and headed out to the Gobi - we later found out that we would drive 4 hours on Wednesday and technically make it to the desert 'til the next day. We drove 4 of the most bumpy hours I've ever experienced in my life - I can't even explain how bumpy this ride was, and I was one of the lucky ones in the middle!
We stopped at a Ger camp for the night - we were all so excited to stay in a REAL Ger - finally!! We hung out, played cards, and the boys were complete idiots (should I be surprised?) and decided to hike up to the tallest hill in view right as a lightening storm was rolling in. And then it started pouring - so badly, you couldn't even see that there were hills in the first place. I was a nervous wreck (also not surprising), and they finally made it back (soaked) about an hour later. I was so glad they made it back fine, and then I was so mad... I hate worrying like that!
We turned in pretty early, as we were completely exhausted (as I have been every night by around 9). Keith (the guy who brought us on the trip) came by and warned us we might want to shake our beds out before we got in them, because he found bugs in his... so we did, and thus the start of the one of the most miserable nights I have ever experienced! There were bugs EVERYWHERE - they kept getting on the beds with us, falling from the ceiling (we could hear them thudding on the floor continuously, and occasionally making a soft thud... which we realized meant they had landed on our bed, not the floor). I would doze off a little, then wake up to something crawling on me - I would bat it away, but then my adrenaline would be rushing and I would be hot and not able to sleep... just lay there. listening. thud. thud. soft thud. thud. something tickling my arm . HORRIBLE!! We finally got up and left the Ger (which, by the way, smelled like wet, dirty dog - well, actually... wet, dirty sheep - but I'm sure you can imagine the dog smell a little easier) and just walked around the campground. Finally we saw one of the Mongolians that came with us (Bear - he is AWESOME) leave his Ger and drag his entire mattress outside to sleep. They were now not only crawling on him, but actually biting him. We felt much less like weenies with a big, burly Mongolian not able to sleep in there either. He opened up the van for us, and Kaitlin and I bailed on the Ger and slept there for the rest of the night (this was about 1am, so we did give it a good try, seeing as we went to bed around 9:30!). We had never been so excited to sleep in a van in our lives!! We thought we were going to get a lot of crap about it for the rest of the trip, but instead, everyone (even the guys) were like, "Ya, that was smart - that was a good idea." AAGGHH!!! So glad that's over.
Before heading out to the Gobi, we stopped off at an old Buddist temple - it's no longer a temple, it's a museum. It was really cool to see, but very unsettling too. Parts of the inside were really ornate and beautiful, and other parts were very violent and almost evil looking. Severed body parts, blood, very gruesome.
We all hopped into one van/bus and headed out to the Gobi - we later found out that we would drive 4 hours on Wednesday and technically make it to the desert 'til the next day. We drove 4 of the most bumpy hours I've ever experienced in my life - I can't even explain how bumpy this ride was, and I was one of the lucky ones in the middle!
We stopped at a Ger camp for the night - we were all so excited to stay in a REAL Ger - finally!! We hung out, played cards, and the boys were complete idiots (should I be surprised?) and decided to hike up to the tallest hill in view right as a lightening storm was rolling in. And then it started pouring - so badly, you couldn't even see that there were hills in the first place. I was a nervous wreck (also not surprising), and they finally made it back (soaked) about an hour later. I was so glad they made it back fine, and then I was so mad... I hate worrying like that!
We turned in pretty early, as we were completely exhausted (as I have been every night by around 9). Keith (the guy who brought us on the trip) came by and warned us we might want to shake our beds out before we got in them, because he found bugs in his... so we did, and thus the start of the one of the most miserable nights I have ever experienced! There were bugs EVERYWHERE - they kept getting on the beds with us, falling from the ceiling (we could hear them thudding on the floor continuously, and occasionally making a soft thud... which we realized meant they had landed on our bed, not the floor). I would doze off a little, then wake up to something crawling on me - I would bat it away, but then my adrenaline would be rushing and I would be hot and not able to sleep... just lay there. listening. thud. thud. soft thud
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Mongolia, Day 2
So today is actually day three, but this is my update of what we did yesterday! I can't believe today is already Wednesday - the time is flying by, yet each day seems like 2... if that is possible.Yesterday we got to sleep in, but seeing as I fell asleep at 9pm, I was up and wide awake at 6! It was really nice though, I got to have a nice, relaxing morning. OH - I need to tell you about the place where we're staying! We are staying in a guest house for visiting missionaries and groups like ours. It's very nice - I'm staying in a little suite with the other girls (there are only 5 of us, and 11 guys). We have a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, bathroom (with a shower - I've been surprisingly clean, I wasn't expecting to have the ability to be!). It has a big fenced in yard (apparently, you can "own" a piece of land, have a place built on it and everything, but if you don't have it fenced in, it's not yours... as in, anyone can build a fence around it, and it is now theirs! So obviously, there are fences around everything, and most of them are really crooked... seems as though they were built pretty quickly just to make sure nobody else got the land), it's two stories, and it has WiFi!! It's amazing that we can be so connected here - everything else around is really run-down and pieced together, it feels very strange to be sitting here in our nice guest house, updating my blog.
We went to the bank first thing to exchange some of our money - and that was an experience... not the bank part, but the crazy traffic part! The drivers here are seriously insane - honking all the time, almost side-swiping everyone, little wrecks all the time, people running across the street and almost being hit by cars... a few times I almost had to just close my eyes. And then we became the pedestrians that had to cross 4 lanes of traffic - luckily it wasn't too terribly busy, but a little scary nonetheless. Crosswalks are non-existent. Then we went to a department / grocery store. We all got carts and filled them with things we would want/need to eat throughout the week (whatever we don't eat or drink, we're leaving here to stock the place up for the next group). It was crazy to see all the different things they had, and to go shopping in a place where you don't know what anything says! I did find me some Pepsi and some of my favorite Twinings Lady Grey tea, so I'm good to go. :)
After that, we drove around to the other side of the city (it took forever, the roads are really rough, and it was soooo dusty - Tim's and my allergies have been quite insane). We visited one of Mitch and Baljmaa's feeding centers - this one was close to the dump. The center is very small, low ceilings, peeling wallpaper, pretty dirty... but it is definitely a place of refuge for the kids that live around that area. Just like the last feeding center we visited, the meal they get there is often the only one they get all day. Most of the kids actually work all day at the dump, sorting trash and recycling - it's so sad how dirty they are. They work all day and earn about $1, all of which they give to their parents who most likely drink it away. It's a terrible cycle, and without getting to go to school to get an education, I don't see how they're going to break it. The little ones are so sweet and precious, but you can tell that the older kids are already getting pretty hard. I guess you would have to be to live the way they do day to day. We met one boy who looked like he was about 10 (at most) and later found out that he was 15, and was so small because he was so malnourished. Unbelievably sad. The little kids ran out to the fence when we left and waved and smiled as we drove away - it was heartbreaking. I wanted to take them with me. We went to the actual dump site after that, and it was pretty bad. People live there and live off of the leftovers that get dumped there.
After that, we went and had lunch at a Japanese hot pot restaurant. It was incredibly good - but with all those boiling pots in an upstairs, un-airconditioned room, it was sooooo hot. We were all sweating like crazy. It was worth it though - very yummy.
We went back to the English class, but it was a little more awkward this time. We didn't break into little groups like we did the day before, it was just all of us on one side and all of the Mongolians on the other side... both sides were having a hard time with what to say or ask. Singing seems to be a good way of communicating for them, so one of the Mongolian guys (one of only two Christians there) sang "My Redeemer Lives" for everyone - just belted it out! He seemed really nervous at first, kept wringing his hands and saying things to the Mongolians and laughing... but when he started singing he seemed like he was right in his element! Then they were like, "okay - now you guys!" We all just kinda looked at each other... and eventually someone started singing "Amazing Grace" and that went over well. :)
** Time out: I just drank horse milk... it is sooooo sick!!! It tastes fermented and acidic and not like any kind of milk whatsover! agh!!! They're making everyone try it, haha.
We came back to the guest house after the English class and everyone just hung out - both sets of missionaries and their kids came over and we all just talked and laughed and the little kids were just having a crazy (seriously!) good time. Mitch (who, just to give you an idea of what he's like, is a big burly kind of guy with the thickest Tennessean accent I've ever heard - he's awesome!) made everyone a HUGE pot of chicken and sausage gumbo. I was so exhausted that I went and took an hour nap while it was cooking, came back out to eat it, said goodnight, and went back to bed. :) Jet lag is a killer! And I've heard it's even worse when you fly East (apparently they say "East is the Beast" - but I already knew that, hehe).
Today we are going to drive out to the Gobi desert. We're not leaving til 11, so that's really nice. We're going to drive three hours (probably with dust masks because the dust is bad, and will just get worse when we go to the desert), then stay in a Ger (not sure how you would spell that, seeing as they have a completely different alphabet than we do, but you pronounce it like "Gear" - but you say it pretty quickly and with a slight roll on the r). We thought they were called yerts, but apparently they're only called that in Nepal. Tomorrow we'll get up and drive three more hours to get to the village where Manna has another feeding center, and we'll be staying in a hospital... though we've been told it will challenge our definition of what a hospital is.
I so wish I would've brought my camera cord so I could be uploading pictures of everything I'm writing about!! :( My pictures from my phone on Facebook will have to suffice, but I promise I have some really good ones on my camera! The kids are so pretty and precious - Tim and I wish we could take one home. Seriously.
Okay, so there's my day two recap... I'm going to go finish packing my overnight bag for the Gobi and hang out with the group. Oh, and no sick travelers so far - YAY!! :)
The Gobi trip is going to take 2 or 3 days, so probably no more blogging for awhile... I know you all will be on the edge of your seat! :)
Monday, August 3, 2009
I'm in Mongolia!!!
Well I can't believe that I'm able to update my blog in MONGOLIA, but here I am!! We are having a great time... let me see if I can give you a brief rundown of what we've been up to so far.
Traveling:
Our flight left Dallas at 7:40 on Saturday morning, we had a 4 hour flight to Seattle (on which we got one drink and NOTHING to eat - not even dinky pretzels or peanuts!). We had a pretty long layover in Seattle (4 hours I think), then we got on our plane destined for Bejing. The airline was a new Chinese airline called "Hainan Airlines" and it was the nicest plane I have ever been on!! I took lots of pictures, so when I'm home (and have my camera cord - didn't actually think I'd be able to get on a computer here!) I'll post them. We got TWO meals (well, the flight was 11 hours, so I guess it's only fair), which were really good. All the seats had their own personal plastic wrapped blanket and pillow, and then the flight attendants (who were dressed in traditional Chinese garb and were gorgeous) offered us socks and headphones to watch movies and play games on the screen on the seat in front of us. The amenties were great, the 11 hours on a plane (and not being able to sleep for some reason) were not! We got to Bejing, were there for another 3 or 4 hours, then flew into Mongolia, arriving around midnight on Sunday (we lost a day). We actually got to go to sleep (for me, it was the first time since I'd gotten up at 4:30 on Saturday - minus a short nap) around 2am.
Monday:
We got up pretty early and went to this place called "Millie's" for breakfast - they were Mongolian, but they served traditional (mostly) American breakfast. It was fantastic! Then we met two of the missionaries that live here full time - Chris and Stephanie - and checked out their feeding center they run in UB (Ulaanbaatar - the capital of Mongolia). It was so awesome - there were probably about 20 or 30 kids there, and they feed them once a day, and then they just kinda hang out and play. We got to help serve them food (some of them, that was their only food they get all day - many of their parents either are working or drunk and don't really take care of them... they just keep them because they get a monthly stipend for each child they have. It's really sad.), we played with them, painted the little girls fingernails, did face painting (which turned into arm and back painting as well!), and just had a great time. The little kids were so cute and sweet and excited to see us.
Later, we went to see Mitch and Baljima's apartment (they are two more missionaries that live here full time). It was on the top floor of a big high rise apartment building - really nice and modern looking... looked like everything was straight out of Ikea, and they had a spectacular view of most of UB. There we got to try Mongolian meat pie - which was really good.
After that, we went to their church office where they hold English classes once a week. They had about 30 young Mongolians (anywhere from 17-21) in the class, and they were SO happy to see us! They were dragging us by the arm to come talk to them, so anxious to talk to us and hear us speak English (and practice their own). It was really difficult to communicate with them, but it was so neat to do the best we could. They had papers with a few songs printed on them to help them learn to speak English, and so all of a sudden the whole room randomly busted out in a chorus of "Let it Be" - it was so surreal. Not to mention I am obsessed with the Beatles, so I was just like, WOW. This is so cool.
That's about it... I finally could not stay awake any longer around 9 and completely passed out. I was so pooped! I popped out of bed at 6am today... so I've had a nice long morning of tea and coffee, playing cards, a nice shower, breakfast... it's been a lovely morning. We're about to head out to visit the orphanage that Manna runs - I'm really excited about that. We bought more fingernail polish (that was a really fun way to interact with the kids, since we're not able to converse) and Tim is bringing his balloon animals.
Sooooo ya! There's my first update! The rest probably won't be as long - this was technically like, 3 days in one post... so sorry it was so lengthy. Props to anyone who is actually still reading this!!
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers - we had a safe trip over here and are having a fantastic time!!
Traveling:
Our flight left Dallas at 7:40 on Saturday morning, we had a 4 hour flight to Seattle (on which we got one drink and NOTHING to eat - not even dinky pretzels or peanuts!). We had a pretty long layover in Seattle (4 hours I think), then we got on our plane destined for Bejing. The airline was a new Chinese airline called "Hainan Airlines" and it was the nicest plane I have ever been on!! I took lots of pictures, so when I'm home (and have my camera cord - didn't actually think I'd be able to get on a computer here!) I'll post them. We got TWO meals (well, the flight was 11 hours, so I guess it's only fair), which were really good. All the seats had their own personal plastic wrapped blanket and pillow, and then the flight attendants (who were dressed in traditional Chinese garb and were gorgeous) offered us socks and headphones to watch movies and play games on the screen on the seat in front of us. The amenties were great, the 11 hours on a plane (and not being able to sleep for some reason) were not! We got to Bejing, were there for another 3 or 4 hours, then flew into Mongolia, arriving around midnight on Sunday (we lost a day). We actually got to go to sleep (for me, it was the first time since I'd gotten up at 4:30 on Saturday - minus a short nap) around 2am.
Monday:
We got up pretty early and went to this place called "Millie's" for breakfast - they were Mongolian, but they served traditional (mostly) American breakfast. It was fantastic! Then we met two of the missionaries that live here full time - Chris and Stephanie - and checked out their feeding center they run in UB (Ulaanbaatar - the capital of Mongolia). It was so awesome - there were probably about 20 or 30 kids there, and they feed them once a day, and then they just kinda hang out and play. We got to help serve them food (some of them, that was their only food they get all day - many of their parents either are working or drunk and don't really take care of them... they just keep them because they get a monthly stipend for each child they have. It's really sad.), we played with them, painted the little girls fingernails, did face painting (which turned into arm and back painting as well!), and just had a great time. The little kids were so cute and sweet and excited to see us.
Later, we went to see Mitch and Baljima's apartment (they are two more missionaries that live here full time). It was on the top floor of a big high rise apartment building - really nice and modern looking... looked like everything was straight out of Ikea, and they had a spectacular view of most of UB. There we got to try Mongolian meat pie - which was really good.
After that, we went to their church office where they hold English classes once a week. They had about 30 young Mongolians (anywhere from 17-21) in the class, and they were SO happy to see us! They were dragging us by the arm to come talk to them, so anxious to talk to us and hear us speak English (and practice their own). It was really difficult to communicate with them, but it was so neat to do the best we could. They had papers with a few songs printed on them to help them learn to speak English, and so all of a sudden the whole room randomly busted out in a chorus of "Let it Be" - it was so surreal. Not to mention I am obsessed with the Beatles, so I was just like, WOW. This is so cool.
That's about it... I finally could not stay awake any longer around 9 and completely passed out. I was so pooped! I popped out of bed at 6am today... so I've had a nice long morning of tea and coffee, playing cards, a nice shower, breakfast... it's been a lovely morning. We're about to head out to visit the orphanage that Manna runs - I'm really excited about that. We bought more fingernail polish (that was a really fun way to interact with the kids, since we're not able to converse) and Tim is bringing his balloon animals.
Sooooo ya! There's my first update! The rest probably won't be as long - this was technically like, 3 days in one post... so sorry it was so lengthy. Props to anyone who is actually still reading this!!
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers - we had a safe trip over here and are having a fantastic time!!
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