Oh, you said it's windy?

On Thursday I watched a sand/windstorm kick up and blow across town. Bams & I were between town and the river when we got caught on the back side. Luckily it passed quickly and we didn't have to walk through it to get home.

Here you can see it starting on the left and moving across town to the right. The shots below are once it engulfed the city.

Renewal

I had been feeling frustrated with things at work and just a general crankiness lately so I decided to take a "Mental Health Day" and get outside. It's been so windy lately I haven't been able to get down to the river so I decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny & calm and take Bambuul to check things out.

Panoramic of the open river.

It's maybe only 20-30 yards across at its widest.

Path down to the edge.

Of course she wanted to go down!

Mama's pretty girl by the river's edge.

Those ears! That tongue!

XAЙPTAЙ

Panoramic looking back toward the ger district.

Cows grazing the hudoo, with the juxtaposition of traditional country life and the "big" city in the background.

Ger district, zoomed in.

A ger in a house's hashaa (fence). This is how ger dwelling PCVs live. The people in the house are their hashaa family, usually someone who works at their HCA.

An ovoo. Bams and I walked around it three times then made a wish.

We went back a couple days later:

Gulls in the river.

Not sure what the strips of ribbon were for, but they were really pretty!

MOHГOЛ XOOЛ Chapter Three

So I bought a 5K (11 1/3 lbs) sack of potatoes and despite my best efforts, I could not finish them off before they started sprouting. Usually I would only buy a few potatoes at a time, but lately the stores have been out of individual potatoes so buying a big bag was the only option. I had thought of splitting the bag with a sitemate but never got around to it. So what's a girl to do? Make TOMCTAЙ XYYШYYP (tomstai khuushuur, a kind of fried potato calzone).

This is maybe 3K of potatoes, post-scrubbing but pre-mashing. Traditionally the filling would be mutton with onion, although I ate the potato-filled version during training and they're on many restaurant menus.

Next make and roll out dough (flour and water), roughly 3 times the size of buuz dough.

Next, fill your dough. These mashed potatoes got fermented green onions (yum!). Other batches were left plain, some got Season All, and some even got cheese.

Then, the putzy part. Pinch the khuushuur shut and flatten. Gotta do it quick or the dough dries out which means the process goes very slow for just one person.

Finally, fry and enjoy. I pan fried mine, although traditionally they would be deep fried. I made four for dinner but three would have sufficed.

I made 20 khushuur that night, 60 total from all the potatoes. I par-fried the khuushuur I didn't eat and froze them, leaving me with quick and easy lunches/dinners for the next...year!?

Not in Kansas anymore...

Now I know what Dorothy felt like! I went to college in South Dakota so I know wind. And the wind the last few days has been full gale force times a million. I've never been physically altered by wind before but when the gusts are really blowing, the wind actually causes me to stumble. And I'm no featherweight! And the sand coats you in grime, so much so that you have to wash your face and clean out your ears when you get indoors. Blech!

Melting! Melting!

Took the hound to the river. The ice is thin enough that walking on it is ill-advised, which also means no off-leash fun until after the river is fully melted.

Panoramic of the thawing river.

The hudoo is looking very brown.

Investigating a cow spine along the river.

Investigating a cow skull behind the Mormon church.

Investigating a goat foot in the park.

Mongol Photo Shoot

Glamor Shots ain't got nuthin' on this!

All dressed up in a traditional costume. That's a морин хуур (morin khuur, horse fiddle) behind me.

Koty, myself and Zoloo. In the background: a morin khuur, a fox pelt, and a stuffed buzzard. Yep.

More Around Town

Took Bambuul for a short walk this afternoon and shot a few more of the "sights" of Choibalsan.

A horse in my courtyard.

A horse behind my complex.

Dornod Wrestling Palace.

"Eastern Palace"

The monastery.

Entrance to the monastery.

Gers in the city.