I had an interesting weekend! I drove a tank and fired some weapons. When the initial offer arose for me to go on this day trip I immediately said no. After some thought, I realized that more than likely, I'd never had another opportunity to do this. So, I said, "Yes!"

We left fairly early, and it wasn't too long of a drive on pretty good roads. 15 of us came, and we had to be sneaky about it too. Jen was setting this up as a surprise for her husband's birthday. He was completely clueless until the very last minute and boy, was he excited!

All but one of us signed up to drive the tank. We climbed on the top and off we went! To quote Sophie, "Driving a standard tank is nothing like driving a standard car." I did pretty well, and was complimented on my steering. In order to steer, there were two levers, one right one left. You had to quickly pull them toward you and then back. Trying to see the road was another story. You have two slits at eye level and don't get much of a view peripherally. It was exhilarating though! Pat, who is prone to zany stunts, asked that the tank literally drive over him! They, surprisingly, agreed.

We left for a nice lunch at the tourist camp. They had everything all set up for us and it was warm. After sitting on the metal tank for a few hours, we needed some toasting! While we were eating, Gurgit noticed my face was very red and I said it felt extremely hot. Then I noticed hives all over my body! I was having some sort of allergic reaction to something. We couldn't figure it out. Luckily, Megan had anti-histamine with her and I took one. I had to lay down and couldn't eat my food. After about an hour I was feeling better, but still confused. I was the only one to have any reaction, but the day had to go on and I had some guns to fire!

We arrived at the shooting range and I was the first to go! Only three of us signed up for the machine gun. We had the options of: machine gun, AK 45, sniper rifle, two kinds of pistols, and a grenade rocket launcher. I had chosen the machine gun, the AK and the pistol. I did not get the chance to fire the pistol, but that's okay. I turned out to be pretty good with the machine gun! The AK was pretty scary for me so Josh finished my rounds. It was so noisy though! The gave us shells to plug our ears with. The weapons we were firing also managed to start two fires on the hillside. The men who worked there had to run and put them out.

We talked some about the noise and how we couldn't imagine being around so many guns firing at once, let alone having them shoot back at us. It made us think about war and the soldiers coming home from it. Just holding the gun makes you aware of the power behind it, shooting it, even more so!

The craziest part of the day was when Pat decided to fire the grenade rocket launcher! It was so loud! Everyone had said that it went straight though the mountain and came out the other side. They all went to investigate, but I decided to retire to the van. It was getting cold and I still wasn't feeling quite right. Turns out it ricocheted off the front part of the hill and exploded behind it. It was quite the experience though!

So, first term report cards are done and sent home. I very nearly forgot because we had spirit day and everything was jumbled. The kids really enjoyed spirit day this month. We had to built a tower, fit as many of us into a hula hoop, and tie up someone! They were very excited because initially the class thought they'd get to tie me up! Thank heavens, no. Come Monday we will begin a new term and a new month. Only three weeks left until my Christmas vacation in Vietnam!

Today is a Mongolian National holiday. It's Independence Day here. We get the day off school. I don't remember celebrating it last year, but the days and weeks manage to blur into one another so quickly. I hardly remember the first day of school again this year.

Our class got to go on a field trip. We visited the National Mongolian History Museum. It was nice. It was kind of a test run to see how the children behaved in a different setting. Unfortunately, one was sick, but refused to miss the field trip. We called his mother to take him home for the day. He spoke with her first and then handed the phone to Mrs. Doogie. His mother was quite rude saying that her son was old enough to make his own decisions and if he wanted to go on the field trip, he should. He was ill the entire time and after we returned, called his mom to come pick him up.

I've decided Mongolia has an unfortunate effect on me. It's like I turn into the angry version of myself, as if I'm the Incredible Hulk or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or something. I find myself standing in front of cars to make them stop and telling people on cell phones in restaurants to take it outside, or at least to the heated lobby, to finish their conversation. I, in turn, get yelled back at, and honked at.

The first term is nearly over. My class has made considerable progress. I'm happy to say that even other teachers have noticed it! Doogie and I had our first fight, ever! We worked everything out, and I told her that considering the amount of time we've worked together, it's more than admirable that we can say this is our first fight. She agreed, I'm happy to say.

One of my students donated her lost tooth to a class science project. What a sacrifice! She said she had wanted to leave it for the Tooth Fairy, but gave it to us instead. We put it in a glass of Coca-Cola and are watching it's progress. I have a feeling it will be slow, but worth it!

Our class has also embarked on a new journey! We have signed up for the Flat Stanley project. It's basically a pen pal kind of program, but international. My students are really excited! We are first sharing with a class in Maine. We got to spend some time in the computer lab and we googled "Maine", just to have a better clue as to where we were sending our Stanleys. They were really interested, and learned a lot about the state. I can say, we've had a lot of offers to host Flat Stanley for a week. Too many! I'm the only teacher from Mongolia who's signed up. The students spent a lot of time writing their letters and drawing pictures. Next, we'd like to send Stanley to Africa!

Sorry, again, no photos are uploading today. Plus, I also managed to flood the apartments down to the first floor! I live on the fourth. I left the tub for 2 songs and the nozzle filling up the tub managed to find it's way to filling up the floor. I came in and, I admit, began swearing. There was at least an inch of water on the floor! I mopped it up, and decided to not let the water go to waste. While I was in the bath, and of course, had something in my eyes, there was the tell tale knock at my door. I thought perhaps I had avoided disaster, but nope! All the way down to the 1st floor! I'm wondering how else I can get in trouble today. Mmmm..let's see.

One of my students actually knows who Tom Selleck is! He loves that Tom has facial hair. I find it so amusing that someone seemingly so remote to Mongolians is actually known!

Things here have been chugging along. This last week the days truly began to blur together. I have been sick and thus, not really taking much in. We had a surprise visit from Gary at the school, which is unusual as we don't normally see him until February. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to him, but he seems well and in good health.

Due to my illness, I finally decided it was time to call in the heavy artillery. I recall from last year that my cold lasted over a month. I worked like a trooper through it all, but did not want to repeat. I asked the waitress at my Saturday luncheon (the only and best refried bean burritos ever!) to write me a note. Her English was very good (I keep having to correct my students that it's not American, it's English) and asked if she could write in Mongolian. She said, "Of course! I'm Mongolian!" I did not mean to offend her, but because of my past experiences I've noted that though many can speak their language, they cannot write it. Anyway, I got her to write me a note to the Pharmacist. I felt so proud when I went in and just handed over my "doctor's note". I began to feel embarrassed when they laughed at me, and then even more when one of the the technicians actually spoke English to me! I was surprised and not expecting it, so I had to say, "I'm sorry, I was not expecting anyone to speak English. Can you please repeat what you said?" We muddled through, and I got some antibiotics. I can honestly say that I'm feeling better already.

I am glad to say that I have my Christmas vacation all ready! I am off to humid Vietnam and found this tour online that is called "Easy Beach Break". I will tour the country, flights included, and see beaches, pagodas, and whatnot. It sounds wonderful! At least it's something to, finally, look forward to! I can't hardly wait!

I am going to have to initially apologize for the lack of photos. We supposedly have this new internet connection that is really fast, but every time I try to upload anything, the server times out. I will do it as soon as I can, as I know you'd appreciate the pics! Grr! It keeps saying that the server has been interrupted.

We recently had our October break. I stayed around the house mostly, but one of the other teachers, Jaya, was sweet enough to invite a few of us who were around for lunch at her place to commemorate another teacher's leaving. While the four of us were sitting around eating her delicious Indian food, we passed around the idea of heading to the countryside for a few days. I said, "Why not? I haven't been where we're talking about going and I'm not doing anything else." So, for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday we headed off to Hustai National Park and Kharkhorum, the old capital city during Chingis Khan's time. One thing I learned is that Chingis and Ghengis were two different people. Ghengis is Chingis' grandson.

We headed off early Thursday morning. We were not aware that there was to be any additions to our party, but learned then that two more travelers would be joining us. They turned out to be Leona and Maria. Leona was a Kiwi who was half Samoan and not only an Amazonian, but also an incredible beauty. Maria was from Finland and 66 years old. She had decided that she would travel for 3 months of every year and chose Mongolia, Russia and China for this year's destination. You gotta give her props! I began to grow concerned for her health, bumping around in the van and sleeping in the ger, but she was certainly a trooper!

First day we were in Hustai where we saw the famous Przewalski horses, known as tahki to the Mongolians. They are the last of the really wild horses in the world. They originated in Mongolia and were exported to various places. Unfortunately they died out in Mongolia and a Polish man, named of course Przewalski, took a great interest in this and ensured their return to this country. Now they live in a protected park and are doing well. I also learned that they have 2 more chromosomes than regular horses. I'm not really sure what that means, but it's a proud fact here. They have 66 chromosomes compared to regular horse's 64. We spent the day trying to wrap our heads around that.

After this visit we headed to the ger camp. There was a bit of confusion, as the couple the tour company usually stays with had moved from their summer palace to the winter one. They have three ger camps they use throughout the year. They were such a cute and energetic couple. One would never have guessed their ages! He was 72 and she was 66. You could most definitely see the beauty in the wife's face and he, whom I've deemed "The Dude", was such a character. One of the teachers I traveled with was bald. The Dude was so drawn to him for it! Even though we really could not communicate, we laughed together. He would stop by every once in a while to show us some gadget he had or to rub Richard's head. It was very cute and lively.

After our night there we headed out fairly early the next day to see Kharkhorum. There was a museum there and many temples. Luckily, our guide, Ankha, was a Mongolian History major at University and could tell us many interesting facts and folklore. There was a temple there dedicated to the Dalai Llama and three to Buddah, one for each stage of his life. I did learn that Dalai in Mongolian translates to ocean because the Dalai Llama was said to have such great knowledge that it was as big as an ocean. Seeing as how I have a student in my class named Dalai, I stowed this bit of information and told the class on Monday when I returned. They actually seemed proud of me!

After the old capital we headed to see the penis rock, pointed toward vagina mountain. We were so geared up to see this penis rock! When we got there it was much smaller than we had expected, maybe about 2 feet total. Something that is interesting about it is it was erected to remind the monks not to fraternize with the local women. One was caught many, many years back and as a result, he was castrated. After, this the rock was erected pointed at this mountain that was said to frenzy the supposedly chaste monks. Well, the vagina looked like just a mountain with some grooves in it. I didn't see it.

We stopped off at a ger camp for lunch and were approached by a musician who offered to perform for us. We refused his initial offer of a 45 minute concert for a 20 to 25 minute one. He played all the traditional instruments and even did some throat singing for us! It is the kind of sound that you would get from an electronic voice box, but naturally. It was strange and fascinating to hear. He was a very jovial and talented man and I'm glad for the opportunity to have seen him perform.

It was pretty cold this day, but I was dressed warmly and did not mind. We then traveled to some sand dunes. I enjoyed the fact that my new camera made me unconcerned of running out of space on my memory stick. I could just take pictures at will! How freeing! We did not have much time at the sand dune (not nearly as large as the ones I visited in the Gobi last year!) but appreciated the chance to get out of the van. I took many pictures but began to worry about sand getting in my camera due to the wind. I tried to capture the sand being blown, but the photos did not turn out as I'd hoped. I still need to mess around with the settings.

It was threatening to get dark as we headed back, but we still had some camel riding ahead of us! Jaya and Maria declined, but Richard, Leona and I went. I left on a camel and returned on a horse. It was not a huge ride, but I have to say, I can't understand why people are afraid of camels. They are a wild animal, but just so ...what's the right word? Lackadaisical isn't right and neither is resigned. They just seem calm and go with the flow. Horses, now they're a different story! Initially all the lead animals seemed annoyed and did not want to cooperate, but the owners took charge and they relented. We had learned that earlier some other tourists had taken them out and perhaps they felt their day should be done. After all, I had woken then up early that morning to take their picture! I was kind of astonished to see the camels sleeping laying on their side. I had expected them to stay in a sort of legs-tucked-underneath-them kind of position, but hey, we all need to stretch our legs!

Not everyone slept as well that night as it was much colder that night. I was okay, but Jaya got up as soon as they came in to relight the fire to get warm. She's sick now and missed school today. Sleeping in a ger is basically like sleeping in a tent, but it's more sturdy. So, the cold seeps in during the night. Initially you are too hot, but later it gets very cold. Even though you are sheltered from the wind, you have not felt the Mongolian cold. It gets in everywhere.

Our last day we basically spent driving. We stopped off at the same place we had lunch in on our first day in. I have discovered I love the Mongolian milk tea. It's milky (strange for me to like this!) plus salty. It's not for everyone, but it has a taste I enjoy. The one thing I don't like is that fermented milk they call something like "arich". It just takes like sour cream or any thick dairy product gone bad. They love it!

School is back and things are going good. I'm really beginning to enjoy my class and all they have to offer me. They really are a good bunch of kids. I think that now that the initial adjustment period is over, they have really, truly, settled into the (okay, my) routine. They actually get upset if I don't do the word of the day with them! They will perpetually ask me, "Miss M, what's the word of the day?" Until I can find a space in which to do it in, they keep asking. We have a set morning ritual that brings us into our work day. Every morning I ask, "What do we do every morning class?" They readily respond with, "Take temperature, check homework, change the calendar, take attendance!" I have to admit, it's a pretty wonderful feeling having a chorus of voices respond to your prompts. I am heard, and they do listen!