Mongolia Wrap up Trip Day 1-3

I haven't been able to blog much here. We have been agonizing about our future plans and now that the news is out that we are leaving Mongolia to get help for Sierra, I feel that I can write again.

Making that decision has been a real struggle. We are still sure of our call to come here in 2005 and are glad to have been used of God in Mongolia for the last 6 years. We are thankful that there is a church here now. We had wanted to help with the church formation/discipleship stage of this ministry, but know that we cannot risk Sierra's speech and development.

Our dear girl has improved, but it very much at the phonic level. Meaning that she can properly produce sounds but not words. Everyone agrees our place is back in the US for now. We are looking forward to a great role with ReachGlobal and will share details asap.

For now, I want to use my blog here to remember this time of goodbyes in Mongolia.

Day one: Arrival in Mongolia. I can understand some of the plane announcements in Mongolian. We arrive and headed to the restroom with the kids. I notice the hand soap in an empty beer bottle on the sink. I smile. The simplicity is great after a year in complicated America. :)

We negotiate a cab and they load our bags. Sierra begins to scream as we enter the cab. She doesn't want a driver in with our family. :) We drive towards UB and smell the familiar coal smoke air. We are strangely comforted that we are home. Arriving at our guest apartment, ASCOM, we head up the flights of stairs with the HEAVY bags that I packed full of low-calorie canned veggies and high protein snacks. :) Peter is so happy with me! He loves the way I always travel light. LOL

We pass out after being awake 30 hours.

Day 2: We start the day at 3 am with PBJ sandwiches for the kids. They are wide awake and hungry. Gotta love jet lag. We are up for so long before we're able to make noise in the apartment. We plan the day, did summer school, read and prayed and took off. We walk 3 miles to our favorite Indian food cafe. YUMMO I love love love it. I could eat it everyday. I mix my Madrasi with a cucumber and tomato salad avoiding the wonderful rice and naan bread. I have one bite of each and thoroughly enjoy my spicy meal. We sit on pillows on the ground in a tent. fun.

We head to the state department store to get pictures for Sierra's new passport. Can you believe hers expires already? Her passport has a picture of her 2 days old. At the photographer, she starts screaming and screaming when the woman wants to take her picture. After 15 minutes of talking, disciplining and bribing to no avail. I ask the women to just take the picture.

It is the most horrible picture EVER. Her eyes are red, drool is running down her face and her mouth is contorted. We start laughing like mad when it's developed. She looks like a crazy person. Although she deserved to have that picture on her passport until she's ten, LOL, we knew she'd kill us for putting that on a legal document and she would be so embarrassed later! So since we don't want to scar her for life, we take a picture with our own camera. We should have thought of that 20 minutes ago, I blame jet lag entirely. We got it developed and it is very cute! :)

We got a taxi and drive home. We had a wonderful dinner with our friends the Sprengers. They are so amazing.

Day 3: We wake up and I begin P90X. Yes, this is crazy, but I need a focal point for the next 30-50 days of transition. I need a stable that will be the same world wide. I need a healthy output for all this stress. I got this for free from a friend. Opportunity knocked and I opened the door. I shred my body for 75 minutes. I am amazed I can even do the program, but I CAN! Thank you Lord. We did summer school again, this time starting the day at 4:30.

I think that homeschooling can work. I am drilling our family rule into the children- two words. NO COMPLAINING. It's working. Weston is challenging himself and begging for school. Today he read for 30 minutes when I only asked him for 10. Could that CAVA program really work for us?

We eat- the food that loaded the bags, is already a blessing. Yest I did bring a big block of frozen low-fat cheese. It makes eggs so much nicer. Peter smiles. I thank him again for carrying my insanity, but now he is truly thankful. We had nice USA powdered milk with our french pressed coffee.

We hop in yet another cab. We drive a LONG way to register. We fill out gobs paperwork for the recovering communist need for this many pictures, stamps and papers. We divide and conquer. He fills out the paper work. I wait in the foregners line. We wait and wait. We have a number. There are 47 people ahead of us. But this is ASIA--- no one is obeying the rules. I use my old basketball stills to block and box out the cutters... :) I get to the front of the line. She asks, "Where's your number?" I hand her the number and she says that I have to wait. I rudely tell her that no one else is giving her a number. She grudgingly takes my paperwork and Peter gently takes over. We joke that she probably wrote a note on my passport to fine me at the airport or something. We recall the Seinfeld where Elaine get's the word "difficult" written on her medical chart. I'm sure my passport says, "DIFFICULT!" HA HA--- that is for you T.

We hop in our cab, he's been waiting. We pay 40 dollars to the taxi to arrive at a cafe. We eat in a hurry. We hop in another cab.

We direct him to the Embassy to get Sierra's passport. We are sworn in and she is cleared to get a renewal. We walk along the river. We see a group of boys splashing in filthy water in the wash. Weston begins to yell, "it's too dirty. They shouldn't swim in that water." At the same time Sierra starts yelling one of her favorite words, "Poo Pool.... I want poo" She wants to swim in the same filthy water that is giving our son a panic. We have to instruct Weston that these boys swim there because that is the only time they'll get to swim and they are happy to see water after seeing ice for all those months and to remember to think and be polite before screaming at others. AND we coax Sierra away, while she screams and cries because she wants to swim in the mud puddle. :)

Ah the joys of parenting international kids!

we are never the same...

Somethings about living overseas have changed me and made me different. I am still me, of course, but there are times that I just chuckle.

In Mongolia, we eat gobs and gobs of cabbage. I didn't particularly love cabbage. but guess what? I love it now. If I don't have it in the house, I want it. I like it in salads, on tacos, in soup, steamed with curry, steamed with just salt. I love it.

When I chop cabbage, i chop it Mongolian style. I could NEVER get mine as thin as they do. They cut it machine thin. I don't know how. They call my cabbage cuts--- "ohur bitsza" that means cow cabbage, as in large and wide like a cow! So now I pull out the ohur bitsza and I don't include these fatter pieces in my salads. Guess who comes running for the cow pieces?

My kids. They beg for it like a treat. They come back to the cutting board, right by my side and try to steal it. I have to hold back their fingers and tell them to wait as I get closer to the stem where all the best ohur bitsza grows. Then they run away happily munching on cabbage.

HOW COLD IS COLD? -60

This morning it was -60. During the day it warmed to -40.

(DID I MENTION, WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAILAND-- 26 more days!)

It is our friend's birthday today and we went to wish her a happy birthday and took her out to lunch.

Then we decided to get our haircut. We sat and waited in the salon, which was warm. Each time the door opened for someone to come in, the air turned to steam as it hit the frigid air outside- it looks like a dry ice cooler when you open it, except for the puff of "smoke" is as big as the doorway. Then the person enters through the steam and appears as if by a magic trick! It is strange to watch!

My feet were so cold after our outing, that I sat here with my feet on a hot water bottle.

When they thawed enough, I got on Peter's work clothes and went out to chop wood. Our first load of wood we got this year was green. Did you know that green wood burns (kind of) but doesn't make heat!

We had a new load of dry wood delivered last week. It is too cold to mess with green wood. Peter is back to work again and left me with dry firewood, but it was dwindling fast, so I went out to split logs. I had never chopped wood before. It's kind of scary and kind of fun. A good activity if you are angry, I think! I just kept thinking, "OK wide stance, ax up, and HIT as HARD as YOU can!!!!" And it worked!!! It is also a good full body workout! I chopped as fast as I could and came back in to put some dry wood on the fire---

Ahh nice and warm, that's better!

Christmas Church Service

We had a nice Christmas service on Sunday. First we sang and then we listened to a the story of Jesus' birth. Then people stood up to tell why they were thankful and things they hope to happen in 2010.
It was our first try at a potluck and it went really well. Everyone pitched in and it was fun to put it together for We ate salami, bread, fruit, candy, cookies, and drank juice, tea and coffee.

Then there were some games it was fun to see them play musical chairs, where they had to waltz around the chairs in pairs. We also played singing games. Teams of about seven people singing songs in a certain category. They have to take turns singing back and forth never repeating the same song! You cannot believe how many songs there are in Mongolian to honor fathers and mothers!

interesting day

I study Mongolian with my friend and tutor, Daganaa, on Monday, Wednesday mornings. She comes to my house and we spend an hour chatting and reading a textbook together. She is a Buddhist and one of my only and best Mongolian friends.

Sometimes she works for World Vision. She helps deliver aid in this neighborhood and checks up on needy families to make sure their children are healthy. She hands out letters from the Australian families who "adopted" the children.

On Monday she informed me about a family. This family has no father he passed away four months ago. The widow, around age 35, is unemployed and is left with 15 year old, 9 year old, and 6 year old sons. Her 15 year old is deaf and has no education, because there are no services here for handicapped children.

When Daganaa delivered the food to her family on the weekend the women was worried to find out that world vision was not providing any clothing. Her children don't have any shoes. Because of this, her boys cannot go to school.

As soon as I heard this tragic story, I knew something had to be done. So today after our lesson, we went out to brave the cold and find some shoes. :) It was -35 our car is in UB with a friend, so we bundled up and walked to the taxi stand.

I wish I had a special spy camera that I could use to show you what my day was like-- it is rude and difficult to be the weird foreigner always clicking pictures, especially when it comes to people's poverty.

First we go to pick up a "emee" grandma. She has to go to the Red Cross. So go to her house and pick her up. We sit down. I do what Daganaa does. We sit, we accept tea, it is salty weak fruit tea. I sip it thankfully. I am COLD.

The house is three rooms, probably a total of 700 square feet. There is a block stove. This family is doing OK. They have a washer and a refrigerator. Emee is ready so we finish our tea and head back out. We hail a taxi right away. We climb into the car. It is a Hyundai-- the old ones from the 90's that gave Hyundai a bad name in the first place. I promise you that every one of those cars has been shipped here and they are taxis in Mongolia.

This car has just been started for the day. The inside of the car is colder than outside. When my rear hit the frigid seat, I thought that I was truly frozen to the seat. We can see our breath as we speak to one another. The inner door handles are broken off and strings have replaced them. The windshield is shattered, but keeps out the wind. The car is sputtering and rebelling against its early morning work. We drive around looking for another passenger. The taxis never leave until the seats are full or overly full!!

The heater is still off- there is not enough heat in the engine to use it. We find another passenger and we head to town. The car is sputtering and coughing and all around sad. Our driver knows his vehicle well and treats her gently with finesse as we roll down the road at 15mph. We finally get some speed and the car is sounding a little better. The driver pulls into the gas station. He gets a liter of gas (1/4 gallon.) Back on the road again. We make it (of course-I've never broken down in a taxi. It just seems like we will) and Dagnaa tells him to stop.

We get out and walk with emee to the Red Cross. We pass the building and go behind to a ger (yurt.) It is full of women. They are making milk tea above a big fire in a giant pot. I am given the seat by the fire along with. They are afraid I am cold. They ask me again and again if I am warm enough. I feel like a big dork! Everyone is quietly waiting. Daganaa disappears. I have no idea what I have gotten myself into. I try to make conversation and be polite. I watch the women working on the tea.

She has a blog of frozen milk inside of a half cut open water bottle. She cannot get it to melt. It takes a long time. Finally, after fifteen minutes of fussing, she gets it to melt. We are all, twenty of us, sitting and waiting. For what? I don't know. I don't know why I'm at the Red Cross--- that is Mongolia for you.

I am given tea. It is hot, creamy, salty and good. I like cyy tai tsay (milk tea) now. I just imagine it's broth, in the American mind, it is NOTHING like tea. :)

Finally I hear Daganaa's voice. She is coming. She drinks tea and eats candy. We are all told to go outside. I still have no idea what is going on, and I don't want to ask and look like a dumb dumb. So we all file out into the snow and sun. It is about -30 now. We all stand around on the snow waiting. Finally, it becomes clear it is a dedication service.

This is a new ger and they are all here for a little party. They get a ribbon and hold it in front of the door. The managers come. They are given scissors and both snip the ribbon. It is done. Everyone goes back into the ger. There will be a meeting. We are invited. Thankfully, Daganaa declines :)

We then walk to the store. It is 1/2 mile walk. We walk briskly. My nose freezes. My socks, both pairs, are wrinkled in my boot and bugging me. My feet are cold. My everything else is OK. We make it to the outdoor swap meet like market and choose boots. This stand is in the shade... it is frigid. She doesn't know the sizes. We buy them and I hope for the best, trying to not let my American mind worry about perfection of size, color, and style! We also buy some warm socks.

We are both cold. I ask if she needs anything else from the market and she also asks me. We both are ready to go! Thankfully on the same page. We walk to the taxi stand and get into another cold car! By this time we've been outside about 45 minutes. I am wimpy and need heat--- STAT!

We wait and wait. My rich American self wants to just pay a double fare so that we can leave now, but I don't. We wait some more and of course two men arrive. We are all larger adults. The four of us squish into the sedan back seat. I am thankful for the heat of the bodies of those squashed in next to me.

We drive and arrive in our neighborhood. We walk another 1/2 mile in the snow and cold. I find out there is a place to buy cheaper flour and that there is a little man made ice-skating rink about 2 blocks from our house.

We arrive. The women is there with her nine year old son. Their home is warm- they have firewood and I am so glad to see that. I politely and not too obviously scan the room. Their house is about 300 square feet. They have about 5 cups and plates, one single bed. I table that is attached to the wall on one side and there is a broken bench that Daganaa and I both sit on. They have a TV and that is about it. They have no dressers or boxes, so everything they have is seen in this one room. They don't have any extra clothes. They are wearing what they have. They only have five thin blankets for all four of them. The shoes in the corner are ripped and strapped together with a shoelace.

We drink more salted black tea. Daganaa pulls out the shoes. They are truly pleased. The women smiles and they try on the new shoes. They fit everyone perfectly. Daganaa knows her stuff!!! :) The boy is happy. Mongolians don't express emotions or generally thank the giver for the gift. Usually, they accept a gift but open it later at home in private. This was a treat to see the boys eyes light up and enjoy his new shoes.

Daganaa admonishes the boy to help his mother and study well in school. This is a very communal society and it it ok to teach or direct other's children. They call children, "menee who" (my son) regardless of relation.

We say thank you and walk out. Short sweet and to the point. We walk together, Daganaa says "We are all mothers and now this women may worry a little less and her children will be able to go to school and be educated." I agree. To give is more blessed than to receive.

I walk home- another 1/4 mile. I kiss and squeeze my kids and enjoy our warm kitchen. We found out today that a church from America sent boxes of quilts. We know who will get some of those! Our church and family will continue to give help to this family. While my legs are pins and needly and thawing, I am thankful to do something to help and feel blessed that God is using us here.

How do we stay warm when it's -45?

Our house is a very very very fine house.
We added the insulation and thick vacuum sealed windows in 2006 before Sierra was born.
It used to look more quaint-- a log cabin. But it wasn't warm.

Our mud room-- i.e. firewood storage!
I have a curtain that hangs over it so we don't walk in
and see stacked wood!

This is our wood stove. It is not much to look at, but it works well.
The wood goes in the top hole, just below that there's another door that controls the draft- if the door is open all the way the fire roars and if it's closed is smolders and burns longer.

That is what we do at night.
Peter makes a huge fire and then fills the stove full of logs and shuts it all down for the night. Today there were still coals at 5 am!
It is an art though, too much wood and we're sweated out and too little and it gets COLD.
Peter's a fine artist and knows just how to do it!

That wall that is right next to it gets super hot and holds the heat.
Even after the fire is out, it stays warm for about four hours.

The pipe runs down into the stove fire and the water in heats and rises up and causes the radiators to get warm with its convection current. The hotter the water gets the faster it moves through the system, recycling the heat in the pipe,through the fire.
Our pretty Christmas tree and
radiator that is circulating hot water from the fire.

The man that makes it all happen! What a wonderful husband!

Cool shot, huh? The view from
my kitchen window. Look at all the chimneys-- fires all around.

Since no one feeds the fire at night, it is pretty chilly in the morning. Once again, Peter, my knight in shining armor, starts the fire while I am still snug in my bed. :) I'm spoiled.

Peter and the Police

A policeman pulled Peter over and he asked Peter to drive him home. While they were driving, he asked Peter to teach him English. Peter said that he would teach him English at our school. The policeman said he didn't have time or money to study there.

Then the policeman said, "OK how about this, when I have time, I'll pull you over and then we can drive around and you can teach me English while you drive. Would that be free?"

This gave us a big laugh. We were cracking up for a long time after he told me that story!

Sad

A few weeks ago, I hired some house help. I spend 4-5 hours in the kitchen a day and 1-2 hours a day on different chores here. So with homeschooling starting, I thought it would be a good idea to get some help. Then the girl from next door showed up. She just graduated from high school and needs money for college. Perfect.

So the first week started up a bit bumpy... she was SLOW and wouldn't do what I asked. So I decided training was in order. I wrote a list and discussed my expectations with her. Since then she has done a great job. I was so happy.

Then my perfume disappeared. Well I'm a scatterbrain, so I didn't jump to conclusions. But it hasn't turned up, now two weeks later. Then yesterday, I forgot to put away my wallet (couldn't find it) and then during her time here, I found it and there was money missing. Again, I tried to not jump to conclusions. I wasn't sure so I discussed it with Peter when he came home. He and I went over the money together and I am sure I was there.

I was so sad yesterday. I really want/need help, but I don't want to be constantly looking over my shoulder or watching her like a hawk. That is more trouble than help. I'd rather wash the floor myself. ;)

It makes me sad on many different levels. I cannot understand the Mongolian mindset that stealing is OK as long as you don't get caught. If I were in her position, the only employed person in her household and really wanting to move to the city to go to college, I would be trying to be the best employee possible. I would not want to bite the hand that feeds me, so to speak.

I was thinking, "wow, she is doing a great job. I could recommend her to another family in the city." I knew most of her money was going to her family, and I was thinking of giving her a gift at the end of the summer to help her with college. Now I'm not even sure if I'll let her back in the house.

I realized today, it makes me sad on another level.... it points out my loneliness. I am here and if I cannot trust anyone, I am utterly alone! It is not a nice thought. It is also not true, there are people that I can trust--- I just don't know where they are yet. :)

Today when I hung up with my mom on skype, my loneliness was so clear to me... I laid down on the ground and cried.

It is sad, but not the end of the world. I am glad to put my finger on why yesterday's breech of trust was so upsetting---- it is lonely in a world with no trust.

So as I laid there on the ground behind the couch crying, hiding from my kids, I turned to God. Only God can make our hard times here make sense. He is working everything out. He is the righteous Judge. He is the gracious Savior.

Then my kids came--- Weston said, "My why are you sniffing?" I told him I wanted him to brush my hair and get my pillow. He LOVES playing barber. So I laid there on my wonderful pillow that I got for mother's day and for which I am so thankful daily, and dried my tears and let my wonderful children comfort me. Weston brushed my hair, "perfectly straight and slow because I am a gentle barber!" and Sierra sat on my pack and pounded around. I imagined it was a massage! The truth of the matter came to me again. I am not alone, my kids are here!

While I lay there blubbering like a child and hiding my tears from my dear children. I thought, "What can redeem this day and how can I entertain my children?" The word came to me like a lighting bolt.... PLAYDOUGH!

We haven't had playdough in a while. I knew it would entertain them while I did dishes. So I gave them each a bowl and we made some. Sierra's is yellow and Weston's was, "all the colors of the rainbow" now it is brown!!! It was fun to make it and then not care if it all got swished into one brown blob. (for some reason, I cannot allow this with store bought playdough)

Another great benefit to homemade--- Sierra can play with it too because there is so much salt in it that even she (the poison drinker/pill eater) couldn't choke it down!

1 cup flour

1/2 salt

1 teaspoon cream of tartar or alum (makes it smooth)

1/2 teaspoon of water

and food coloring.

The recipe for a saved day!!! :)

Naadam

Men fighting!- love the outfit!


Special ho-shure. They make it all day long during the events!



Many people come from all the small towns to Sukhbaatar (the capital of this province) for the holiday and to watch the events.




Young archer

Naadam is a week of national sporting events. The three sports are horse racing, archery, and wrestling. The competition begins in all the small towns. They begin at the beginning of the week. The tournament winners go to the capital, Ulaanbaatar and compete there. There is one national winner in each competition.

It is nice to have a summer vacation time. Businesses are closed, our school is closed, and Peter is home! I like that part the best.