Skip to main content

COME-AND-GET-ON-OUR-BUS!

For your enjoyment and, the latest quirks and joys:

1. The number one thing to do on the "Things to do in UB" list is visit the post office. We visited the post office and sent some postcards, however we have no idea if the stamps we got actually are international. They just gave us two for each postcard. So, watch your mail boxes! Also, I'm pretty sure there is a little tiny person in the box that you slide your mail in, I'll be sure to take a picture next time we go.

2. At each bus station there are buses and microbuses. The microbuses (basically like a taxi-van) are the more interesting. For starters, there is a person who sits right inside the sliding door to take money and to yell some Mongolian jibberish that I say must be, "COME-AND-GET-OUR-BUS! COME-AND-GET-ON-OUR-BUS! IT-IS-BETTER-THAN-THEIRS!"(make sure you slur it all together). How's that for competition? Along with the microyeller, there are about 30 other people in each bus. Crammed in is an understatement, all to make about 200-400 tugrug (which comes out to somewhere around 40 cents).

3. While on our walk to the church a couple of mornings ago, the moisture from our breath froze both our hair and our scarves.

4. There are no such things as refrigerators in Mongolia. You have the big freezer and the little freezer. Our tomatoes can prove that, they're frozen solid right now. I didn't even know that was possible.

5. On Monday, we had our second tutoring lesson with Enkhuush (Batkhuu's son). His English is really good and just needs to practice. So, in an effort to help him practice, we asked him about food and how it is cooked in Mongolia. He started telling us about animals and how they are cooked. He kept stumbling over one word, one part of the animal. So, he finally looked it up in the dictionary. Erin read the word out loud...scrotum. It was all I could do not to crack up (I know I'm like a middle schooler). When someone gave me homemade dumplings recently, all I could think about was that the meat inside was scrotum.

6. We recently attempted to pay our bills. We had no idea it would lead us to about 6 different buildings and we couldn't even pay all of them on that day. By the end of our journey, I had no idea what we had payed for our honestly how much it ended up being.

At this current moment, I can think of several more quirks but I will spare you. These were long and required a lot of back story. I hope you enjoyed them.

Comments

  1. We got the postcard!!
    It worked.
    Haha.
    Loved the one you picked for us!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

creepin'

Sorry about posting 3 times in one day but hopefully this one will have a little more meaning than the other two (although, they are funny). Last week we were having dinner with two girls that are working in different capacities here in UB. They have both been here for about a year or more and they were telling us about their adjustment experiences. They affirmed our rough beginnings but then they kept talking about Mongolia, after adjustments. They said that Mongolia has a way of getting under your skin. It really grows on you and you can't help but love it. One of the girls was talking about how for a while, and even still now, she tries to shield her skin, she's not ready to love Mongolia yet. I've been feeling that same way. I want to shield my skin because part of me is afraid of loving this place. Today we went to Terelj National Park with the Seo's (the missionary family that is here). We went to go have a picnic and see the park. Their girls went and it was a lo

frozen things.

I can't believe I forgot about this quirk. I think you'll understand why I decided to post it...it might even deserve the lone post. You be the judge. 7. A few times this week I've had the pleasure of getting to go to a Mongolian bathroom. If you're confused about what this means, see picture: That is an outhouse. It is below freezing in Mongolia every day. People use out houses for tinkling and pooping. Imagine this: mounds of frozen poop.

quirks and joys.

I have been thinking the past few days about all the quirks of Mongolia that Erin and I have been finding great joy in. I thought I'd share some of those with you... First, let me set the scene for you: I am writing this while eating a rather soupy bowl of broccoli soup. It's warm, though, and that's all that matters. Right outside my window is the coldest capital city in the world, UB. It is 22 degrees out there today. And I am sitting here without having taken a shower in 2 days. I woke up this morning and could not take a shower because currently we have no hot water. And that...that's just the beginning. Here is the mere top 11 quirks that bring us joy: 1. The days of the week are just 1st day, 2nd, etc. until you get to Saturday. Saturday literally translates to half good day while Sunday is a full good day. 2. When you text message you text in English-Mongolian (I call this Engolian) because their phones don't have the Mongolian language on them. 3. Our teache