Anyone have dust allergies?

Just another Mongol morning...like none that I've ever seen before. Keep in mind that it is usually completely light here this time of year well before 6am.

8:30am

8:45am

9:00am

9:30am

The flying dust eased off but did continue until about 5:00pm.

Scotching

Well, the Scotching Fiends (see the original post about the Scotching Fiends ) have been at it again—scotching things, that is. Since we are moving (or rather, I’m moving within Mongolia, Danielle is moving to another continent) we spent the better part of the week packing boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff—mostly books. Boxes, as we all know (in Mongolia, anyway) require lots of scotch—in this case, 35 rolls. (Re)discovery of the week: you can get scotch cuts, like paper cuts.

Stay tuned for more from our last week here, also known as “Two Spoons, Two Mugs, and One Annoying Phone” (because nearly all our other possessions were sent to UB this morning) or “Sculpting with Empty Scotch Rolls” (our entertainment for the week)

Shoots & Leaves

I interrupt this blog post hiatus (resulting from grading, packing, and moving, among other things) to inform you that I saw the first leaves of spring today. Hooray! I saw the first shoots of grass a couple weeks ago (and accidentally startled Danielle quite badly because I was so excited) but today I saw the first honest-to-goodness leaves! This means that by the middle of the week all the trees around town should be a lovely, fresh, spring green. Yes, the end of the brown and grey season has arrived and it's so exciting!