Tsagaan sar - (White Moon) - Mongolian New Year 2011Feb3-5

Tsaagan sar is the Mongolian New Year and lasts 3 days.  Everyone visits their gr-parents, parents, siblings, cousins and in-laws.  I have no idea how they all do this logistically.  At every home, the host serves the same feast; Steamed mutton (buuz), Stacked rolls (these 2 items are NOT eaten until after the 3rd day), Steamed mutton dumplings, Carrot and Potato salad and Candy.  A good guest eats 20 buuz.  These are prepared for weeks ahead.  A typical family will prepare 500-1000 buuz.

Sounds like the Ice Cream Truck but NOT

Nope. It's the garbage truck. Pretty efficient really. When you hear the repeated,  jingle, you better hurry to meet the man with your trash or you'll miss your chance.

Never Satisfied

One young woman stood next to another with a mirror in hand today and asked, "Which of us has the whitest skin?". She did.  The darker skinned one moaned and walked away. I explained that Americans want dark skin and spend time under lights to get it and are proud to come back from sunny vacations a shade or two darker than the rest of us. They couldn't believe it. My pasty pale skin is to be envied here . . .if it didn't have so many wrinkles maybe. Maybe its just in our nature to want what we don't have?

A positive result of heavy pollution is a bright sun.

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Registration Recieved

Our NGO was approved to function for another year. We have been waiting for almost 3 months to hear the decision. 2 inspections, 3 visits to the gov't office, many phone calls and lots of waiting. Finally. Phew.

Spicy Ketchup or Plain?

How do you know which is the spicy ketchup and which is the plain when the only difference is a word on the label?

How do you hide your embarrassment when you have no idea where to find the right page in the song book?

How do you open a bank account when you can’t sign your name or add up the numbers?

How do you use a cash machine when you can’t read the questions it throws at you?

How do you help your kids with homework when you, yourself can’t read or calculate?

            Several of our ladies (at the shelter for prostitutes), perhaps most, have had little education and struggle to read, write, or do simple math. Nergui frequently expressed a desire to learn to read. One of our staff began to meet with her after our work day three times a week. Nergui was an eager student but did not grasp concepts easily and quickly forgot lessons taught. She needed a professional teacher.
            It took several weeks, but we were finally able to arrange for her to join a literacy class offered by another organization. Though she was hesitant, nervous, and scared; she attended class faithfully for a week. She sat next to students who were 8 or 9 years old that knew more than she did. Being a 29 year old student in a class of kids was not easy, even if there was a 19 year old or two. During that week, she began asking us how to spell words like ‘door’ and ‘book’. She followed along with her finger when we read things as a group, and seemed happy. Then a crisis occurred in her life and lessons became the last priority. After that, winter break interrupted the class schedule. A few weeks after she had begun, her courage and drive had been stripped away.

            Wednesday before last, we four staff prayed that God would bring someone who would be willing and able to help. Two days later, the agency director and I both came up with the same name of a possible teacher, as we walked (separately) to work. Last Wednesday that person began teaching her first lesson at the shelter with Nergui. Thursday, she had 2 students. Friday, she had 4 students. We weren’t sure this would work since these 4 ladies have some negative history with each other. But their desire to learn seems to have conquered any previous drama.

            The shelter now has a room dedicated as the ‘classroom’. Our students come early to fill their notebooks with practice letters. They encourage one another and pay eager attention in class. One of the ladies has a toddler at home and dreams of being able to help him with his homework in a few years. Another just wants to be able to do bank errands by herself.

Greetings One and All

Lost in Translation

A couple letters can make a difference.  This week I received a translated draft plan on providing food following an earthquake.  The plan was titled: "Earthquack Response Plan for Food Cluster."

Cold

Winter got a slow start this year but now, at the end of November, we know for sure, no doubt about it that winter is here to stay for the next 3, 4, 5, 6, even 7 months.  2010 is our 3^rd winter in this land. I’ve written such a list before, but the cold is bitter enough that I deem it deserves another diatribe.

So, here goes:

You Know It’s Cold When:

Your forehead is numb.

Your thumb & pinky are cold inside down mittens.

The air is so smoky; you’d swear it’s a foggy day.

Hot, red ear lobes remind you that your hat did not sufficiently cover.

The aquarium seems warm and snuggly to the touch by comparison.

Talk around the table is about how long a bag of coal costs and lasts.

Inside flannel, under wool, you’re cold at night.

The most important purpose for drinking tea is to warm your hands.

30 minutes after entering a warm room, your legs are still tingling (under 2 layers)

It takes 10 minutes to get ready to go out the door.

You can tell exactly where your boots end and your coat begins.

Helping?

How do you know if you are really helping? Perhaps we are messing up lives more than helping them.  What is love? When does the giver ( vs the recipient ) get to define love? When do boundaries and expectations become part of the definition? Throw in miscommunication, language confusion, culture differences, personalities, emotions, woundedness, family backgrounds, and poverty into the mix and things get messy. Perhaps I’m not helping, maybe I’m the one being helped.