Day-to-Day

A "palm tree" livening up the median in UB.

A small shrine on a hill overlooking Erdenet

This is my money shot, I've titled it, "Lonely Ger".

Erdenet men playing soccer on a Saturday afternoon.

Favorite Discoveries, Notes.
1. Sumo wrestling is quite popular. I've decided to learn as much as I can while I'm here, and so far I can recognize the Mongolian wrestlers on TV. It seems that two Mongolians are currently the #1 and #2 best sumo wrestlers in the world.

2. Adults like to play. We went sledding on Saturday and Sunday in Erdenet, and there were more adults than kids on the sledding hill. At social events, people of all ages like to join in on games.

3. Everybody's name means something. Many people are named for things found in nature, or even for the day of the week they were born on. I'm often asked what Tamara means, (Mom???)

4. Hospitality is a big deal, and so Mongolians are good at it. A teacher I'll be working with at the Ulaanbaatar University here was visiting her mother in Erdenet and spotted me on the street. We met the next day and she took me out to her mother's ger where I got the full (and standard) treatment of several cups of salty milk tea, a bowl of noodles and mutton, and home made dried yogurt curds to take back home with me. (Her mother, sixy-seven, still helps to manage livestock outside the city in the summer. She was curious about whether there are Buddists in Alaska.)