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Published: April 14th 2008
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Carrie's School
Gathered at dinner. So today was an eventful day. After rising early to meet Carrie, I waited on the side of the road for some time, fretting that I had perhaps missed her or that I was in the wrong place. She did show up and apologized for running late. I liked her instantly. Turns out horses and the farm will be next Saturday and this Saturday we went to a yard sale of sorts where I bought some hand towels and then she took me back to her school for lunch which she hoped would be mutton soup as I had never had it. Turned out to be beef meatball soup and it was delish ... and then, ATTACK OF THE SPACE NOODLES!! Turns out they were lurking in the soup as well and Carrie told me they were bean curd starch noodles or something? Well I glared at them as they gloated in my bowl, sliming their way around the other delicious parts of me soup.
Carrie's school was actually very interesting as it is an evangelist school for the children of missionaries evangelizing in UB and the districts. Though I dislike the idea of evangelism in general, I actually appreciated
Piano
This girl was providing music for the hymns and she was very very good. that they at least did not establish a church and certainly never asked the people for money or to subscribe to anything established. They simply go around and tell people about their beliefs, educate children (these kids are fluent in 5 languages and play piano!), and contribute to the community in general. I think they are definitely on the better side of the spectrum I have witnessed.
Carrie also introduced me to the second black market. On our way an older Mongolian man cupped my ass and smacked his hands together while a bunch of people looked in. I ignored him because I certainly didn't want to feed into his little stunt and make him feel clever. Though the ass grabbing and his hand clapping made me think of that stupid “booty clap” song that I hate so very much. I realized that it’s been a very long time since I've had a stranger grab my butt and I wasn't sure whether or not it was to be considered a compliment. Oh well, on to the black market we go.
The black market was AWESOME. It was also CHEAP. Carrie speaks VERY good Mongolian and so she was
Me and Ms. Deborah
Okay this tiny tiny tiny woman makes me look GIANT! She is literally under 4ft and tiny but so amazing! able to navigate the stalls quite easily tho the only thing I bought were some delicious Korean fizzy candies that I love so very much. I saw some excellent utility packs for 2,000 MNT (a little under 2 dollars) that I will definitely return for. And there were endless assortments of stuff for very good prices. Must definitely return for substantive food shopping.
I then went back with Carrie and was invited to dinner by Ms. Deborah (an absolutely charming Chinese? woman who has given her whole life to serving Jesus and teaching children, never marrying or having kids herself). She made the most DELICIOUS fried chicken and potato salad that I have ever had and also gave me a lesson on how to ensure fried chicken will be moist and flavorful. So I stayed for dinner and watched them do a bible reading (in Mongolian) and sing seven hymns (also in Mongolian) which in of itself was interesting enough. Then Carrie and I shared a cappuccino and a slice of her delicious chocolate cake made with sour cream. She then helped me arrange a taxi ride home.
Overall it was a very nice day and it was
so nice to spend it OUT of my apartment. I really enjoyed Carrie's company as we discussed quite a bit about politics and the like. Anyhoo, think I'll read one of the books I got from the yard sale and have myself a drink. Cheers!
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On Sunday I did absolutely NOTHING. I sat on my butt and did a lot of writing. I in fact finally, finally, finally, finished writing my YA novel I started over a year ago. So I was very pleased with myself even tho I know it still needs editing and major revision before I can even think of publishing. I also read a lot and in general just loafed.
I had planned on going to Sukhbaatar Square to hit up some museums but I found out the museum is closed on Sunday and tho I thought about going to the market, I was just in general feeling lazy and I had spent the ENTIRE morning doing laundry. Washing by hand isn’t that big of a deal but it is very time consuming and I had quite a bit so it was an adventure figuring out where to place things to dry.
State Department Store
This place is obviously no longer owned by the state but by a private Korean company. My apartment looked like a clothing store by the end of it! But now it’s done. Today after work I’ll go and tackle the kitchen since I’ve allowed it to fall into rather shabby conditions this past week.
I also found the State Department Store which was grossly overpriced but very nice. Prices are of US standard and I ended up paying more for a shirt than I would have in the US! Definitely not going back…
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