Walkin' the dog

Saturday is the only day I don't work (by that I mean I don't have to leave my apartment). I'm in all likelihood working on something, just doing it in my jammies. So now that the weather is getting warmer (and by that I mean a straight temp in the teens ABOVE zero, windchill in the single-digits below) I can take Bambuul for longer walks and burn off some of the puppy energy she still possesses. I decided to film a panoramic on our walk out toward the river today to show just how blue the sky is (hey, Mongolia isn't called the Land of Blue Sky for nothin'!), and just how Nebraskan, er, I mean, flat it is out here on the Eastern Steppe.

Gimmie all your money! What you don't see are the two layers of pants, fleece socks, boots and gloves. This is my standard "going out" look.

Thanks for reliable electricity!

We didn't go down to the river's edge; maybe next Saturday if it's warmer and we can be out longer I'll get some shots. And I'll definitely get some shots in the summer. The background music is traditional Mongolian throat singing and a morin khuur (horse fiddle). I've come to really love it.

Spelling Bee

Back around New Year's we held a Spelling Bee for the 5th graders. Here, finally, are the pictures!

Each student got three dots. Spell the word wrong, lose a dot. It was like I was collecting their souls, one misspelling at a time...

There was actually a lot of difficulty with my pronunciations. The students are so used to hearing their teachers speak English with a Mongolian accent (and their mispronunciations) that they had a hard time with my native-speaker pronunciations.

I included this picture for the sole purpose of illustrating the New Year's decorations. The dangling tinsel renders the gym useless for two weeks.

Down to the final two!

The two finalists.

The winner! She won a certificate (of course) and school supplies, just what every 10 year old wants.

When you send me things...

...I use them! This is my 5th grade English Club.

I love this class. So eager to learn. And learning is still "cool."

We started the lesson with a crossword review of clothing vocabulary.

I forgot 5th graders are short!

Then we worked on speaking, reading, grammar and vocabulary using Brain Quest.

I had them take turns reading the cards...

...correcting pronunciations as needed.

To work on listening, I always read them a story to end the lesson. This week: Peter Rabbit.

I do the voices and the actions to help them understand.

I know they enjoy it. How? Well, those smiles are one way. But last week I told them I needed to end the lesson early to make a meeting. They were so bummed I decided to be late to my meeting and read to them anyway. :)

So thanks for the colored dry erase markers, the Brain Quest and the story books. I always appreciate school materials in care packages. And so do the kids!

Conditionals

Look at me! I'm teaching the 11th Grade Extra Lesson about Conditionals:

It's seriously exciting stuff...

Did you know you can write conditional statements a bazillion ways?

Trying to make it funny/interesting. "If it rained zebras, then..."

I'm sure I was saying something important.

MOHГOЛ MAX

I needed some beef to boil with Bambuul's rice (adds flavor) but with Tsagaan Sar rapidly approaching we're experiencing a beef scarcity. Mutton and horse still abound though, and with the reassurances of my sitemates that horse does not have a distinct aroma like mutton, I bought a chunk. Per J&K's insistence that horse is better than beef and having never had horse before, I decided to try a bite.

I bought a T-Bone cut but had the butcher lady cut the bone out. It's pictured with a dollar not only for scale, but because that whole chunk cost just about $1. I cut a 1.5 inch square bite off and pan seared it with some salt and pepper.

Trying the first bite...

Chewing...Thinking...Chewing...Hmm, do I like it?

Holy crap! That was delicious!

I definitely won't be making a regular meal of it, but at least I now know to A) not be afraid to eat horse and B) when I'm feeling like I need some protein/iron, horse is the way to go!

Hunting with Eagles

The Kazakh people are the largest ethnic minority in Mongolia. In fact, the Western-most province of Bayan-Olgii is called "The Kazakhs" because their population is so dense. They are Muslim (to varying degrees of practice) and have a distinct dialect, so much so that PCVs who serve in "The Kazakhs" are given additional language and culture lessons.

Fox Hunting with a Golden Eagle

Putting Up A Ger

Can you build your house in an hour?

The Nomad's Ger

The only difference between this video and the gers I've seen raised is that a linoleum floor is rolled out first, then everything goes up and in. And in winter, a thick layer of felt goes around the ger to help insulate it.