New Teacher

Meet Liz's newest teacher. His name is Erik and he is 6 y.o. He is passing on all his knowledge and wisdom regarding cursive. This is a perfect arrangement since he is learning fresh letters in his 1st grade class. His school has been canceled for a few weeks due to H1N1, he can give me some extra attention. Upon his suggestion, I have acquired a practice notebook and fill in each line (being sure to use the margins)one letter at a time.

Mongolian Pride

The population of Mongolia is very small; 3 million compared to China's 1,319,175,400 (this minute).

This means there are 440 Chinese "neighbors" for every Mongolian.

Weekly (no pun intended), the new Mongolian soldiers stand in formation in front of the new statue of Genghis Khan as they show their military strength.

To this 50+ year old, they look so young.

Smart Mongolian Sparrows

Most sparrows gather twigs for nests in the Spring.

But as winter approaches in Mongolia, the sparrows nesting above our apartment are gathering twigs now, at the end of October, for insulation! The sparrows and pigeons stay all winter.

The high temperature today is 21 degrees F.

Jim's office

I share a corner of the JCS office with Daniel - Project Director from England, and Odnoo, JCS Editor (from Mongolia).

The window doesn't latch so we are taping it closed next week. With my computer, telephone (I share an extension with Daniel so only one of us can use our phone at a time), and my water bottle (that I DON'T share with anyone except Liz), I have everything I need if I am in the office.

It's great to sit next to Daniel, who corrects my ENGLISH, and Odnoo who corrects my Mongolian!

Mongolian traffic emphasis for the week - Crosswalks

UB traffic is famous for NOT yielding to pedestrians. But this week, there is a policeman at every corner around the Parliament building enforcing drivers to stop before the crosswalk.

It is ALMOST safe to cross the street this week.

Orphan choir

World Vision-Mongolia has an orphan children's choir.

I got to hear them this week and they were great.
For a UTube video, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0J2UJiPeAU

My "Power Mongolian Tie"

About once a month I go to some government or business meeting with officials or ambassadors.

So this week I bought a "Mongolian Power Tie" from the Christian handcraft store.

The tie has the colors of the Mongolian flag with the yellow "Soyombo" symbolizing Mongolian freedom and independence.

Icy sidewalks

Altho it is only the 2nd month of fall, the ice is here to stay. Sidewalks have their first layer of compressed snow and ice so you learn to walk carefully.

In February, after it stops snowing, workers will chip the ice off the city sidewalks inch by inch.

Today the high temp is 21F. The low is -7F.

Mongolian bread spread

Never had this before.
Mongolians said the name of this recipe cannot be translated into English.
The closest is "Melted butter"

- Steam 1/2 liter whole milk, 1/2 liter water & salt.
- Add 100gms each of 3 kinds of butter and 100gms flour.
- Steam yogurt until it curdles into small chunks. Add to butter mix.
- Add raisins and a little sugar.

Serve warm on bread and take your cholesterol medicine.

Gallery Night a Success!

Liz helped Streams in the Desert host what we called a Gallery Night. It was a time to learn about the ministry, to shop, eat chocolate and visit.

The place was packed for the entire evening with an estimated 80 visitors.

Shoppers feasted on leather wallets, book marks, book covers & bags made by the men as well as beaded jewelry and fabric bags contributed by the women.

(Crab) Apple picking

Last month (before the snow), we saw some kids climbing little trees. They said they were picking "apples."

Looong Mongolian

Mongolian adds suffixes to words to indicate many things. We sang these phrases at worship today.
The first is, "He didn't shed His blood without reason." "Without reason" is the long word.

"Our God's plan is perfect" is the second phase.

"Everything is made in China"

A Mongolian friend told us, "Everything is MADE IN CHINA. The good stuff goes to the US. The bag stuff comes to Mongolia." Apparently the Chinese need some English language proof-readers. A Mongolian friend was wearing this baseball cap last week. My apologies to people from MinNesota.

Jenga box from Outer-Outer Mongolia

Liz likes "everything in it's place." We had a Jenga game that came without a box! Last week, Ariuna, Liz's tutor was 600 miles west of Ulaanbaatar ministering to a child that had a heart transplant in the US. While in Hovd, she found an empty Jenga box and brought it back to us! The Lord provides?

Lenin statue

Altho Mongolia is no longer a Communist country, the Communist party has a majority in the legislature. Lenin's statue still stands in front of the old "1st Class" hotel. This is where Liz goes every Monday night to talk to prostitutes. In this picture are 2 drunks sleeping at the base of the statue. It's ironic that now prostitutes and drunks hang out around the statue of this political idealist.

H1N1 (Swine flu) arrives in Mongolia

Last week Mongolia got the first 16 cases of H1N1. In Mongolian, Swine flu translates to "Pig Cold." Because of the large number of university students and children, the government is recommending washing hands, avoiding crowds and wearing masks. Mongolia does not have vaccine nor other medicines for this disease.

Snow has arrived

About 4 inches of show arrived 14Oct. It will probably stay for the winter. Liz walks to language school at noon, I join her at 4pm and we walk back to the apartment getting there usually around 6pm.

Laughing with Sally Jo

Sally Jo Sebring, from Lake Stevens, WA, worked in children's ministry in Mongolia from 2000-2006. She hosted us several times when we were visiting Mongolia. She visited Mongolia last week so it was our turn to host her. We had a great time laughing and sharing our common Mongolian experiences.

It's Ulaanbaatar, the capitol city of Mongolia. Fancy hotels (3) and these nicely dressed women are shopping for fresh meat - out of the back of a truck loaded with goat carcasses.

Poor and Rich in Mongolia

In this country of contrasts, the children differ also. Most grow up living in a felt tent, hauling water and collecting dung for fuel. Others grow up wearing cashmere sweaters and pink berets. All need Jesus.

Living in a manhole

The winters are cold in Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar, the capitol, has a centralized heating system with buried hot water pipes running all over the city. The homeless survive the frigid nights in the manholes.

Mongolian "Long Song"

Bolooro, our first interpreter, is learning to sing a traditional Mongolian Long Song. It is called a "Long song" not because the songs are long (even if some of them are), but because each syllable of text is extended for a long duration. A four-minute song may only consist of ten words.
The accompanist is playing a Morin khuur or "Horse-head fiddle". UNESCO declared the Mongolian Long Song one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005.

Made in China and Worn in Mongolia

The Mongolians say, "Everything is made in China. The good stuff goes to the US. The bad stuff goes to Mongolia." My apologies to my MinNesota friends.

Reading Mongolian

Learning a language is more than vocabulary. Transliterated this book is titled "Tsondolay younger sibling with became". In English we would say, "Tsondolay becomes a big sister."

Lunch from the garbage can

This morning we looked out our 5th floor window and saw 3 homeless men digging thru our apartment garbage can. They found a goat head that had been used for soup. They picked off the tiny pieces of meat and enjoyed a "light lunch."