Thing # 6

For graduation, the girls decided that they wanted to go to a photo studio where you dress up. It was actually fun. I am disappointed though, that I didn't get any fake hair like the other two teachers. Anyway, I'll miss crazy schemes like this...

Thing #5

I'll miss being invited to friends' homes for birthday parties where I (or my teammates and I) are the party... This is from our friends' one-year old daughter's birthday. Isn't she adorable!

Thing #4

I'll miss the sense of accomplishment I get from fixing the toilet with nothing but a (green) paper clip...

Thing #3

It's fun to buy butter by the kilo in a plastic bag... but what's even more fun is asking to taste it first. Rancid butter is a no-no!

The Shop

In case you haven't checked it out lately, there are a couple new designs over at the Mongol Mama Shop. Stop by and have a look.

Thing #2

I'll miss having a hot bath be such an event! Really, when the water comes out of the tap icy cold, and you have to heat the tub overnight, a hot bath is truly something special.

Things I'll miss...

Since my time here in Mongolia is winding down, I thought I'd start posting again--mostly about things I'll miss.

Thing #1: Padded doors. Rather insane assylum-esque, don't you think?

Time fillers

There are many ways to fill one’s time here in Mongolia. (If you recall, last year I was accused of spending my time filling my radiator with sand and sludge…) One of the more recent ways I’ve spent time is by dissecting my stove. I was having problems with the breakers for my apartment (ie, they would trip five million time when I was cooking which would require me to turn off the stove go out into the stairway, undo the zipper that was tying the electrical box shut, and flip the circuit back on). Turns out the breaker wasn’t the only problem with cooking. After asking a few people about my situation, one of them concluded that part of the problem was the stove—it was having mini-fires and melting a key part. Ugh! So, since my stove vocabulary isn’t so hot, I removed the two problem parts and took them to UB to try and find replacements. Turns out no one has the one I really need… So I called my director, since the stove actually belongs to the organization, and he said he’d send someone out to have a look. The would-be repair person requested that I send some pictures so that he could fully understand the problem. For your entertainment, here they are:








All that was a couple weeks ago. In the meantime, the repairman had to go into the hospital and required surgery, and so I’m reliving my life of four years ago when I cooked on a little two-burner hot-plate on my living room floor. This time though, it is a two-burner graciously loaned to me by my fiancé, and it’s on my kitchen table. I’m moving up in the world! Really though, after a period of not being able to cook anything, I feel like I’m living the high life right now. Warm food is an amazing thing!

Patterns, patterns everywhere...

Here is just a sampling of the patterns from my one-bedroom apartment here in Mongolia. The question is: Will they drive me crazy in the nine months til I get married, or will I cave and spend money covering them up?

Warp speed

This is the point in my blog where I should have had several posts about the post-Ecuador part of my summer, but quite frankly it was busy and full and I lots to do other than blog... such as hanging with my new niece


Visiting Georgia



Going to my high-school friend's wedding as well as planning my own



And, of course, helping build and then playing in a sandbox with my favorite little guy.

Ahh, summer in a nutshell...