Picnic Surprise and... Camels.

Aunt Haniki, Uncle Pieter, Michee, and I all got up early this morning to go to the countryside for a picnic. We stopped for camel pictures on the way. They are my new favorite animals! Michee went up to one sitting camel for a picture and it started to get up and come towards her... I have one picture of her flinching away from it, we were afraid it was going to spit at her!

The picnic place was really nice. We had to drive over a shallow river to get to the place by the larger river. It stayed cool the whole time we were there. The water was really cold so we didnt do any swimming... Uncle Pieter was fly fishing, so Dad, when he comes to Redding, I told him that you guys are going to do lots of fishing and fun, "man stuff". This includes hanging out in the man cave, fishing, hiking, and... you know. Stuff :]].

Countryside.

Little Boys= Fighting. Means? By Water balloon, Beanbags, Balls. Let's Do It.

Is it possible to be totally in love with twelve kids all at the same time? Well... I think so! Michee's brothers call me "Sister" and seriously, all the little nicknames that I've given them have stuck. They keep trying to find new ones for the other kids who dont have one yet... Pishka, the first little boy that I met, I named "Mr Silly" because he could never give me a straight answer when I asked him a question! Then, Zanaa his brother, I named "Mr Crazy Zuzu" because that boy is literally OFF THE WALLS all day long! Ochoo, the eldest boy is about thirteen and I named him after the soccer player, Beckham, because he's so good at soccer! After I named these boys, their cousin got the name "Mr Cheesy" which soon turned into "Cheesehead" some fifteen minutes later! Oh these boys... When I have kids, I'd better end up with some!

I played with the Fields' boys today for the first time. They have this long, crazy, ADORABLE hair. Zeke is Dan's age and then his brother Isaiah is seven... I named Isaiah "Tarzan" for his dredlocks. Seriously, they look awesome. They have so much energy and extremely loud "outside voices". We had a team dinner tonight with the Fields, Maves, Karen, Lobertas, and Therons. After dinner, was when the epic battle of the "dodgeball with bean bags" commenced... The boys assured me that the bean bags hurt less than normal dodgeballs... Well, they lied. Trust me though, I made sure that we were all equally hurting by the end of that game! **sarcasm, no one got hurt, mom and friends** :]] It was me, Isaiah and Levi Loberta, against Zeke, Malachi, and Little Tarzan. I'm not really sure who won, but I think we just had fun throwing bean bags violently hard at eachother's stomachs, backs, and faces. I accidentally got Little Tarzan in the face but he kindly returned the favor, later in the night ... A day of fun. :]

We've done some more painting and it looks great! We're not very close to finishing, but still, it's alot of wall to cover in just a few days.

I just made some bracelets to give to all the kids tomorrow. I've taught them how to make a few though already! They really love it. Before I leave, I think I'm going to go to the market and get the few boys that are really interested in it, some thread/cord that they can have for when I leave. It's super cheap and I think they would love it!

Tomorrow is our last day and we have a giant water balloon fight planned for the end of it. Today, Michee and I hid a whole bunch of the balloons in the backyard and the boys had to go search for them before they could fight! Boys= fighting. Let's do it.

Toxic Chinese Paint, Water balloons, Mac and Cheese, and Uno. A Day full of Fun.

Our beautiful wall.

Aunt Haniki, Uncle Pieter, and I left the house this morning around 9 to go the church. Michee and I pumped up these giant bouncy balls for the kids to play with. It literally took FOREVER. I talked to my mom on skype today and she said that she could hear the sound of the ball pump the entire time we were talking. By the time we were done, I still hadnt finished... Yahna. :] Playing with the kids was so much fun. My favorite part of today was painting the walls in the backyard of the church. You should have seen the boys go CRAZY with the paint. Dripping, throwing, mixing... I lost count on how many times i told Ochoo not to mix the purple and yellow. He kept insisting that he knew what he was doing, even when his color-mixing consistently turned a gross shade of brooowwn. Out of about ten kids, there were only two girls. They were really good with the paint. Their brother, Caleb, will be going to school in India for this next year! He's only thirteen! Talk about an experience! Oh, and I figured out how to spell Michee! I was close, I just had the "i" and "ee" mixed up.

This was before we got all messy and sticky from the paint. I tried painting without my gloves but soon realized that wasnt so smart. The paint didnt come off with water very easily.

Isaiah and Budda getting their paint.

Caleb, Sophie, and Malachi.

[In the background you can see the giant ball that I pumped up. It's big?!?]

Lastly, Thank you so much to Mom, Dad, and all the women in my Mom's Bible Study who put together that little devotional book for me. I read one everyday. I love you all!

This is my friend that I've told you about. I am so glad that she is willing to hang out, and put up with me here! Today, she came with us to the church. We went to a meeting that started planning the VBS for next week. It was all in Mongolian, but I didnt mind. I like listening to the language even though I cant understand any of it. Today, we also learned a dance to this korean worship song that we'll perform for the kids next week. Meechi and I still have to learn two other dances before Sunday... I may not be able to talk, but I'm glad that I can learn fast choreography to a dance! That was a lot of fun. Tomorrow we start working with some kids from our apartment complex. We'll be painting a wall with animals and such [just my kind of thing:], as well as reading english books and watching Veggie Tales **cough-- Ashley Christine!** lol.

This is a picture from the market. It's inside a building, and there are many other joining tables with different types of things to sell. They have everything from shampoo, nail polish, and makeup foundation, to batteries, purses, clothing, and sponges. They also have food and fake name brand clothing like "Puma, Nike, Abercrombie, and American Eagle". I asked Aunt Haniki if they were real name brand stuff and she said that we were too close to China for that... :]

Today was the first day that I've graced Aunt Haniki, Meechi, and Uncle Pieter with my fantastic singing voice. On the way back from the church, I definitely was singing some T-Swift, Justin Beiber, and Taio Cruz... Oh Carmen you would be so proud... :]

Beautiful, Green Darkhan

There will be a lack of pictures today because I forgot to take my camera with me when we went to the market. Today started with a breakfast of scrambled eggs with salami and cheese and two pieces of toast with jelly and my "american peanut butter". Aunt Haniki and I went to church this morning [it being Sunday for me, and probably Saturday for you :]. The first song that they sang was "Hosanna" by Hillsong and I was excited that I knew this song in english. The whole service was in Mongolian so I understood nothing of what was going on. At the end of the service, the church welcomed me by holding their hands out and singing to me. I really wish I could speak more Mongolian... I am learning little words here and there but Mongolian is very difficult. Namuun [the girl I met on the plane] said that it was the hardest out of Korean and Chinese... "Yahhhna!" [This is an exclamation that Aunt Haniki taught me. We use this word often!]

I met another girl, a friend of Aunt Haniki. Her name is "Meechi". I'm not incredibly sure on how to spell it, I'm pretty sure that's wrong, but phonetically i think its pretty close... She took me on a walk and we talked all afternoon til now. [Its about 10:10pm here in Mongolia]. We made pancakes together [yes mom, Aunt Haniki actually got me to cook something in the kitchen... shocking I know, you must tell Joanna lol]. Then we took the pancakes to her mom and family. I think that was their first time having pancakes! She has the nicest family and I really look forward to spending time with them. I've already told Aunt Haniki how I know it's going to be hard leaving, even if that is two weeks from now... Yahna. We start planning all the activities and games that we'll be doing for the kids this next week. I have bracelets to make, walls to paint, books to read, and a whole lot of Veggie Tale episodes to watch!

I love it here. End of story.

And lastly, note to Dad. On the way to Darkhan yesterday Uncle Pieter pointed out some cranes, crows, and vultures to me. All I could think about was you and your birds... :] There aren't many trees around here so you wouldn't have too much variety to stare at though. I love you!

"Herding by Motorcycle"

The Therons and I left this morning around eight to drive to their home in Darhan. On the drive from UB to Darhan, we saw a lot of animals [goats, horses, yaks, cows, etc]. One man was herding his horses on his motorcycle! I didnt get a picture because my camera isnt that good and he was far off.... but here are some other pictures of the animals and scenery that we saw on the way.

The picture on the right: the white thing is called a "ger". A felt tent made with wooden lattice work. The herders are nomadic and they move, according to the season. During the winter times, the herders move up into the hills. In the summer, they move to the valleys. They have winter camps that have wooden structures to keep the animals warm in the intense cold winter.

On the left is a herd crossing the road. The middle is of three large yaks within the herd of cows, sheep, and horses...

Mister Carson Schmeck this is for you! I saw this when we were getting gas. It's farther away from the big city where people can actually ride bikes. Its much too crowded and bumpy in UB for bikes. The sidewalks are far too narrow/crowded, and the cars go by super fast and probably wouldnt stop for a cyclist.. : ] I saw this and immediately thought of your obsession with your bike! This is for you!

The picture below, is a close up of the pile of rocks that are shown in the upper right photo... The Mongolians tie blue scarves around the tree limbs on top, and give offerings of tea, money, and different foods to honor the gods. They are called "onoos" and are mostly found on top of hills because they believe that that it is the highest "in between" point between Heaven and Earth. It is a combination of both shamanism and buddhism [the respecting of spirits- shaman, and the offerings of blue scarves and other stuff- buddhism]. Below, is a picture of some tea. [And then, I have no clue what that says next to it... :]

After we arrived in Darhan, we all took naps and ate lunch. Then Aunt Haniki and I went to the grocery store and market. At the grocery store, six is the magic number! In order to get a discount, you buy six of the items. I also got some Mongolian and Russian candy to chow down on for these next few weeks... I mean, realistically speaking, they'll be gone by tomorrow.. Just kidding! We actually got alot so I'll be good for a while :]

Day three in UB

Today started with a breakfast of sausage, salami slices, bread, corn flakes, and fruit.... I was hungry :]. Our apartment didnt have hot water, as of last night, so we boiled some water and then mixed it in with cold water for our showers this morning. Around elevenish we went out to see the new multi-purpose ministry center that the Christian and Missionary Alliance [CAMA] just recently purchased. They will make their own coffee and sell it. There are three stories, plus a basement for parking... On the first floor they'll have mainly the coffee house, the second they'll have classrooms and rooms for meetings and such... [leadership training andenglish classes]. The third floor will be for "hanging out" and "reading", and will also have rooms that will be for small groups and counseling.

After the CAMA building, we went to the museum with Ali and Karen. The museum had everything; Korean culture, mongolian clothing, stuff on the Russians and the revolution...Did you know that Princess Amidala's outfits, from Star Wars, were Mongolian inspired?? The long hair and braids... the traditional dress...

We had dinner with the Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Dennis, Karen, and Ali. Did you know that ice cream is sold in bags? It was Russian ice cream, and we had it for desert with a homemade pie. Now, here are some more pictures from my day!

Notice anything weird about these cars? Maybe not.. I guess I didn't do a great job of capturing this. The cars in UB have steering wheels on both the left and the right sides! It's pretty weird when youre next to another car and the driver is next to you in the right side of the car.

To you "Twilight" fans... Behold... Stephanie Meyer in Mongolian.