Two more days until the Gobi. We went last night after school to pay, finalize our numbers (4 of us) and drop off our water and other supplies. Most things are supplied for us. It's incredible how cheap an 8 day trip with driver, guide, food, and sleeping arrangements is. It's costing us $338 American. In Mongolian it's about 400,000 tg.

I finally started sleeping in the bed. At first it was too hard and there was no difference to me if I slept there or on the floor. I was sleeping on the couch but my feet hung off it and I slept fetal style. Also, never very well. Now, I'm back to my sprawling in a double bed days. It's nice. The bed still feels like a wooden board, but I'm sure it's good for my back. Those of you who know me know that over the past year I have suffered from some back problems. This could be a good thing!

My Bali trip is booked. Oko made the arrangements for me. Well, she books the flight and I take care of the rest. Everyone keeps asking me how much the flight was and I can't say as I can't open the file she sent me with all the info on it! I'll ask her today to print it out for me.

There is to be a new teacher joining us after the break. We really needed another grade one teacher as Maureen has over 30 kids and they are all crazy. I see them in the halls and seriously don't know how she deals with them all day, every day. After the break she'll be down to 18, a much more manageable number. I"m holding steady at 25 but Khulan B is still off sick with Hep A. Perhaps after the break he'll be back. My new boy, Battulga, is a bit of a trouble maker and he and Tugulder like to cause havoc on the playground. Boys, boys, boys!