muji's favorite spot

can you see that this cat is the perfect pet for me? he loves alistair (my computer) almost as much as i do. hehe

g12 conference

this weekend was probably the best one i've had since i got to mongolia. i traveled to darhan with my teammate, andrea. darhan is my old hometown in mongolia, so it was a relief to be there and know exactly where to find things. darhan has about a tenth of the population of ub, so it is also very peaceful there. the lack of people also means a lack of pollution, so i could actually breathe this weekend. :)
all of those things aside though, it was the g12 (ch. small group) conference that made this the best weekend yet. i was able to sing with hundreds of mongolian brothers and sisters - there is nothing sweeter to me than joining them as we praise our father.

here's a video of us singing. do you recognize the song? it's been translated into mongolian but the first two words of the chorus are in english. can you hear us sing "rain down"? :)


next to singing, the highlight of the weekend was building relationships that help me feel more like i belong to a family here. a few weeks ago i was invited to a g12, and the girls were so sweet. a few of them were at the conference and invited to have dinner with them on friday night. here we are at "santain cafe". it's a favorite of students in darhan, and i used to eat here when i lived in darhan 5 years ago. :)

new places and people

yesterday was the kind of saturday that makes life in a city so much
fun. my teammate, andrea, and i went for a walk to a part of the
city neither of us had ever explored before. we were looking for a
russian market that apparently doesn't exist any more, but it was a
beautiful day and we enjoyed people watching along the way. we
stopped at a few places on the way that seemed interesting - one of
the nicest hotels in town, the mongolian ministry of defense, a
fabulous cooking store, etc. it felt good to be able to wander and
have nowhere i HAD to be.

then we decided to sit for a while in the big square in the middle of
town. not long after we parked ourselves, a 6th grade class
descended upon us to practice their english. we were surrounded by
smiling, laughing kids who asked us where we were from, if we had
husbands or kids, and most importantly if we knew kobe bryant (the
basketball player) or anyone in hollywood. hehehe they reminded my
why i fell in love with mongolia in the first place. the kids here
are so much fun, and i can't resist those sweet smiles.

next we stopped for "coffee" and a look through the mongolian lonely
planet guidebook to plan future weekend adventures. then it was off
to a restaurant called "millie's espresso" that is a popular place
for foreigners. andrea and i were going to meet a girl that i had
just met through facebook. i never cease to be amazed when social
networking websites like that actually result in a face to face
meeting - even though it's never happened before for me.

anyway, in typical mongolian fashion, millie's was closed by 7 on
saturday night. sheesh, didn't they know that us 3 foreigners wanted
to meet and eat there? haha so we decided to meet at another place
called "ub delicatessen" that is also popular with foreigners. now
for those of you who don't know much about traditional mongolian
food, i'll give you one word that sums it all up: MUTTON. there is a
reason why a few places are more popular with us foreigners than
others. no mutton on the menu. :)

we all enjoyed our non-mutton meals and the chance to connect with
someone new. andrea and i had a good time walking home and
experiencing the city with the faint glow of a few streetlights. it
felt good to spend the whole day outside of my apartment. i need to
have more days like that where i make myself a part of the city.
here's to more adventures!

my new living room

i got a couch and a bookshelf and did a bit more decorating, so here's what my place looks like now. i would have never chosen this couch in the states, but for what the other choices are here, i think i got a good one. :) i saw a similar one at the market with tiger print on the back - just to give you an idea. hehe

ps notice my pig placemats in the first picture. don't they make you smile? :)

big burger

fast food is making it's way to mongolia. doesn't that picture in the middle look strangely familiar?
not that this place called "big burger" is exactly like a similiar restaurant in the states. the newest additions to the menu were "noodle soup with egg or noodle soup with shrimp" :)

my view this morning

ah yes, october in mongolia. where the first snow happens before the first week has passed. a couple of days ago i was wearing a tank top. this morning i saw snow on the rooftops when i woke up.

who needs a hat?

in case i find that my head needs a little extra heat in the winter i know now what to do.