Whoops

Holy lack of blog posts Batman!!!!! I'm very sorry that I haven't posted on the blog for more than 2 weeks (ouch). I don't really have a good excuse: I was busy, then I was frustrated, then I decided to brood for a while. But now that my mother has more regular access to the internet (the result of my brother coming home and being able to fix it for her), she has commented on my lack of posts. So, here we go again, I'm resolving to post at least a few times a week (I think I've made this resolution 3 times since starting this blog).

Yesterday it snowed. It doesn't snow here very often (a few times a month) and when it does it is usually just flurries that don't accumulate. But yesterday it really snowed and we got a couple of inches. I was none too pleased.

I have been informed that snowing will continue until the middle of May. After that it might still snow, but it would be more out of the ordinary.

Going Postal

This is a special thank you shout-out to everyone who has sent me things in the mail since I've been here. It is always fun to receive snail mail (and I personally LOVE to send it). All of my mail gets delivered to my office and since that's really the only mail we get my coworkers think I'm pretty popular.

Letters and postcards.

My birthday box from my mom, notice the lovely dents.

My most interesting piece of mail was a package sent by my sister. When it arrived it had clearly been opened because it was taped up right in the middle and there was a used plastic fork in there. So I got a bonus gift from the Mongolian postal worker who violated my property. Awesome!

I'm impressed they still delivered it to the right address considering the first letters of all the lines are hard to read because of the giant tear.

My bonus gift.

Happy Birthday To Me

I am now the age that my mother turned for 30 years. While I was growing up, every year we celebrated my mother's 27th birthday (my dad would turn 29 every year). As a child that seemed kind of old, but considering my maturity level, that's not old at all.

I had a very pleasant, low-key birthday, which is usually how I like it. I went out to lunch with my coworkers and they brought a cake. (I have found that cakes in Asia are typically not very good. They are never sweet enough, the frosting is usually funky, and there are random pieces of fruit cocktail in it.) Then after work I went to the gym with my friends and afterward we went to a bakery where I picked out a very promising piece of chocolate cake and we ate our goodies in a nearby park. This was the highlight of my day because it was with my favorite people in Mongolia and the cake was really good. When I got home at around 9:30pm my roommate was waiting for me with decorations and dinner. As I walked in the door she said, "I hope you're hungry," (which I was not in the least), then she said, "even if you're not you have to eat." So yeah, that was fun. Bless her heart she's trying really hard, but of course the harder she tries the more annoyed I get. She also had a cake which was typically not very appetizing. 

A special thank you to everyone who left me facebook messages and sent me emails, I feel very grateful to have such wonderful friends and family.

Me with the first cake of the day.

My coworkers, boss, visiting regional Habitat officer, and visiting leader of the US  Global Village team (she's in the Peace Corp in Mongolia and happened to be visiting the office that day)

Me and church friends in the park.

Me and and my second piece of cake. By far the best.

This was waiting for me when I got home.

Fresh Air

Last Saturday (March 24) my ward had an activity entitled, “Fresh Air.” We met at the church building at 10am and then drove out to Zaisan Hill which is a hill a little bit south of the city. It is far enough out of the city to actually get to experience some fresh air and get away from the pollution for a while. When we all got there we went into a ger (there were several gers spread around) and had some opening exercises and a few people gave talks/spiritual messages. Then we ate. People kept just handing me food, it was almost endless. Leave it to Mormons to ALWAYS have food at activities, bless their cotton socks. After eating we got to do whatever we wanted so I hiked one of the hills (having lived in Utah for a few years I cannot justify calling it a mountain) with some friends. Going up was a little tiring, but going down was more of a problem. Some of us ended up sliding down some of it because it was so steep and the compacted snow made it slippery. After we got back from the hike, there was more food and just hanging out. Some of the YSA and youth played some games; it was really fun. The whole day was awesome; getting to hang out with church members is great. I just love them so much, they are so welcoming. I had 4 separate people remind me of this activity the week before to make sure that I was coming. Lots of people in my ward make a considerable effort to make sure I am included and taken care of, especially the bishopric. The whole experience was really fun and I’m so glad that I went.

It's pretty obvious why Mongolia is nicknamed the Land of Blue Sky.

Listening to the spiritual messages.

The infamous hot watery milk drink being cooked in bulk. There's actual some spices, butter and a little rice that goes into it as well. Yum (that's a sarcastic yum in case you missed it).

More listening.

Taking a break from walking up the hill.

The top of the hill (or at least as high up as most of us went).

Playing games down by the ger.

UB in the distance.