Day 18. Where to begin. There is so much to share and tell. I’ve been in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for almost three weeks now. I’ve met wonderful people, eaten new foods, and had many surprises. I haven’t even gotten lost yet!
More personal stories to follow, but here’s the gist of things to get you oriented:
The food: Think mutton. Lots of mutton. (I rather like it actually). And fat. Sometimes attached to the meat, sometimes just in separate chunks. Also potatoes, noodles, eggs, bell peppers, carrots, apples and onions are common in a lot of dishes. However. In the City (also called Ulaanbaatar or UB), you can find just about anything to eat. I’ve had tacos, pizza, sloppy joe’s , BBQ chicken, salad, milk, yogurt, cheese, and all kinds of other “western foods”. I’m gonna like living here I think.
The cheese: Will be updated on the “Cheese Page” of course! Haha!
The beverages: Milk tea is probably one of the most common drinks besides good old fashioned hot black tea and sugar. Milk tea is simply steamed milk with some sort of black or green tea and salt. It’s pretty good for the most part. I personally have been drinking a lot of hot tea just in general.
Current weather: Well. It’s fall here. It’s been as high as 70F and as low as 30F. Mostly it’s in the 50’s and 40’s I think. I was here for the first snow of the season which made me so so happy! It melted the next day though. UB is almost always sunny it seems, but the smog makes it seem hazy a lot.
The City: UB itself is quite hard to describe. There are modern glass skyscrapers amidst a sea of rectangular flat-roofed Soviet issue apartment buildings. Most are covered in decades of dust, soot and are a little “well worn”. The balconies are mostly covered with windows, making them a sort of three-season room. There are also hundreds of construction projects. Some half built concrete structures are abandoned for lack of funds, others will actually be finished. There are some houses and gers on the outskirts of the city as well. (Gers are the round felt traditional country-side Mongolian homes).
I live in the downtown area of town in a little second story two bedroom apartment. The area around my apartment has some museums, a giant five story department store, the government buildings, a children’s amusement park, a couple live theatres, and countless restaurants, grocery stores, and shops.
Traffic is a little crazy some times! Crossing a four lane street is like playing frogger! There are tons and tons of Toyotas, Hondas, Suzuki’s, and other Japanese cars. Although, some have steering wheels on the left side and some on the right side which may account for the crazy driving!
The fashion here sort of blew me away at first. I would say that almost all the women about 40 or younger in the city, are really stylish. Skinny jeans and leather boots are huge here. As are fancy scarves, sweaters, etc...Very chic and modern. However, most everyone wears neutral colors instead of the constant kaleidoscope of color on my college campus.
The office I work at is really wonderful. It feels like a family among the staff there. Every morning before the office work begins, someone share’s what God has been teaching them recently. It’s probably my favorite part of the day. Then I go off to plan English lessons. Turns out I will be teaching 4 or 5 English classes depending on how many people want to come. My students range from vet students, to the small animal clinic staff, to preschoolers! It’s a lot of work for sure and I have gained a whole new respect for teachers! Once a week I get to help out at the small animal clinic, but I’ll save those stories for the veterinary page. :)
I hope that gives you a small picture of where I’m living for the next 8 months in any case. I know it’s not the most insightful or interesting of my posts, but it is what it is I guess. I know I wouldn’t be here except for your love and support, so thank you again and again!
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