Liz's commute has shrunk to a geographical triangle between our apt, the Streams shelter, and the JCS office. Occasionally, I venture into another part of the city and am always astounded at the changes that have evolved. Buildings are popping up everywhere. But I pass this site daily so was shocked when suddenly the playground had become a growing edifice. It's common to have a ger and guard live on a building site.

Celebrate Change

      Balloons and banners decorate the school yard. New uniforms. Fresh clean notebooks in shiny backpacks. Proud students in white shirts, big hair bows and pleated skirts. Flowers for the teacher and excitement to re-unite with the gang.
      In Mongolia, Sept. 1 is always the 1st day of school and it's done up big. Parents are late to work so they can participate in the door opening ceremony. Bribing the teacher with expected flowers is part of the deal. I passed a kindergarten around 5pm this evening. (K-g is really pre-school here and little ones start attending at 2 y.o.) At this daycare door, Moms and dads picking up their wee ones were holding tired, crying toddlers.
      Change is like that. The anticipation is part of the process, Jim says its the best part. Preparation, supplies, strategy, and celebration lead to hard work, discipline, struggles in adjusting, even sadness, but hopefully progress. Along the way there are relationships, growth, laughter, tears, frustration, and victory. Feeling like a pre-schooler myself some days.

Sweetened Tree Water

Today Streams received an exciting assortment of donated items including a microwave. Woot. Thank you Ai Vee and family! Among the goodies was a bottle of what the ladies assumed was some kind of soap. I explained that it came from trees and was like sweetened water. "So, its for cleaning wood?" "No" I answered, "its for eating." One brave madam said they should taste it. B liked it. O couldn't stand it.  Oh well, too bad. John and I will gladly share the precious maple syrup between us.

Healthy Snack

 These girls are holding what looks to me like a dead mouse, and they're nibbling at it! But mice are not pink . . . but neither are pine cones. They have purchased this cone at a local street stand for about $.25 and are happily picking away at its tasty seeds. Since the cones are not hygienic processed, we are are advised not to eat them. But I'd love to find a way to sterilize them so that I, too, could chomp away.

I think that's Strange

They're smiling now but b4 I talked with them, they were looking at me with furrowed brows, perhaps saying to each other, "Why in the world is that crazy foreigner taking pictures of a window??". Meanwhile, I was indeed pointing my camera toward the building and thinking, "Why in the world are there baggies of water hanging there??" So, I approached my neighbors and asked. They said it was a deterrent against fly invasion. No idea why it might work or if it works, but I won't knock it 'cause I haven't tried it. Beats chemicals.

What game are they playing?

Scissors, Rock, Fabric . . . of course. 

FIRE!! almost

We've been smelling a faint hot wire odor off and on for a month. The neighbors always seemed to be to blame. Sometimes it seemed to come when we were using the toaster. Other times, the oven but never the fridge, hair dryer, bathroom fan. Last night as the pizza baked the smoke alarm went off and the smell was stronger than ever. The alert went out to our landlord and fix-it guy. This a.m. we started the wash which prompted the smell again, leading Jim to the circuit box as the source. Chuga came and totally dismantled the wiring and found a tangle of tape had been the culprit. A trip to zone aisle (equivalent to Home Depot), 2 hours of twisting wires, a test or 2 and prayers for safety and we're good to go. We are baking granola and doing the wash again but this time odor-free; grateful that we didn't have a full fledged fire.

Local Graffiti Art

We walk past this urban artistry most every day. Decided to record it. I like the color and creativity it adds to the neighborhood. The bright red and blue word in the middle picture says "Mongolia" and is on a garage door.

4 bday cakes (so far)

You only have one 60th birthday!

Shades of Pink

 Summer brings out lots of paint in UB. The winter cold and blowing spring sands reek havoc on buildings. The color of this season seems to be pink. These are all buildings I pass daily on my walk to work. The bright, flamingo colored building above is a small grocery store. Next, is a basement apartment or work space. The picture below is of an internet cafe, just outside our apartment building.

This a a residence where a jijure or guard/maintenance family lives in exchange for taking care of a an apartment building's grounds and stairwells. Behind, that is a public school.