The children in the countryside are either sent away to relatives to go to school or they go to school is shifts. One family we stayed with had a boisterous son who tried so hard to stay up with us. He showed off all his school work and ribbons. Turns out he was a prized ballroom dancer! It feels good to know that education is still important even if you will only be a herdsman. Teachers are revered here.

The funniest thing to me was the high school uniforms. The girls have to wear this French maid costume! It is a black dress with a white pinnafore. Ruffels and all. I told our guide the girls looked like they should be cleaning rather than studying, but that is the custom.

Also, funerals are never black dress attire. You wear blue or white. We also were introduced to the snuff bottle. There is a specific manner is which you pass it. We, of course, were oblivious, but Nora taught us. I passed. My sinuses were already bad due to the sand and wind and such. I am not used to so many allergens introduced to me at once. My eyes are red all the time no matter what sleep I get and I am constantly blowing my nose. I have many flashbacks to the Okanagen. I now understand why some, well, maybe most, people wear the surgical masks. The sight driving back in to Ulaanbaatar was not a pretty one. Though not as bad as crossing the bridge from Burlington to Hamilton, there are Simpsonesque towers billowing out smoke. That is only one of the three power companies in the town. Apparently, from the country side they get most of their gas and power still from Russia. Also, the small towns only have power for a certain amount of time. Say, from 7 until 11. You could set your watch by it. I am unsure if they have it during the day at any time but they don't really need it then.

Many families in gers use battery power for light and some have solar panels. There is much sun during the day. It is like Colorado where the sun is up all shiny and warm but come night time, it's definately cold. Some families use dung to heat their places and others use coal. The ones who use coal are near the coal mines. There is a coal mine close to Ulaanbaatar, maybe a couple of hours drive. With even the families who use dung to heat their ger it is wrong to throw anything bodily of nature in.

I drank erikh (no idea if I spelled it right) for the first time on this trip. It is basically fermented milk that has gone sour and turned alcoholic. Not too savoury. I had a sip and felt that was enough. It smelled and tasted like sour cream gone bad. We helped a van at the side of the road (well, if you call it a road). They were out of gas and in return they gave us some curded camel milk, well, along with some money I presume. It seems to be so popular here! My students are always giving me this sweet, hard milk as a treat. I am simply not a sweets person. I suppose sweet toothes skip a generation, but Nora was very pleased with the contribution. One family we stayed with had just returned from Tibet. They brought the inscence from the juniper bush back with them. They gave some to Nora. She was happy and said it was a nice gift to give her mother. It's a smell that reminds you of childhood and those long summer days where you could fill them as you chose.

There was one day a countryside doctor on the back of a motorcycle. It had no headlight, at all. We drove behind to ensure they could see but they had to keep stopping due to electrial problems. There was nothing we could do other than give them light. I couldn't help but wonder where she was coming from and what kind of help she really gave. Colin got a bad burn our second to last day. The bottom gave out on the thermos we used and spilled all over his ankle. I felt there must be some kind of special Gobi salve they use, you know, made of camel fat or something to that effect. Nope. And, the company who took us did not even bring a first aid kit! I purposely left all my bandages and such at home as I felt they would have something. It was a good thing Maureen brought her items as Colin would have been worse off than he was. Funny how trivial something seems but it gains importance.

I did forget to mention the amazing Gobi fire. The wood is so hard that it burns forever. We put only 3 logs on the first night and they burned for hours. That was all we needed the entire night.

I have grown to love the way Mongolians speak English. They speak so softly and with such cute mannerisms. Dabaa said once, "Pinish, the road." They substitute F's for P's and V's for W's. They also pronounce each and every letter in the word. Instead of saying "finished" they would say "finish-ed." In their alphabet the R is a P.

It did snow the last day. Not much, but enough. The flakes were so small I thought it was some kind of magical fairy dust or something. They glinted and sparkled through the air while we hiked the granite paint-by-number looking mountains. I never occured to me that it was snow. I thought it was just dust, hair, or something floating around the air. It managed to make the last day so marvelous for me. Also, we saw so many groups of gazelles. Initially when we saw them we were told that as close as we got was going to be about it. The final day, we saw three herds of them! They run and jump so gracefully it is incredible to watch.

On the final day I managed to conquer some of my fear of heights. The granite mountain was so steep but I made it all the way up. It took me three attempts from different routes and some coaching from the boys above, but I made it. My legs shook and I tried never to look down. For most people I suppose it would have been not that big a deal, but to me it was something that made be sweat! I forced Colin to take a photo to commemorate my accomplishment.

I am sad the trip is over, as that means I have to go back to work on Monday! Not that I don't love it, I just enjoy travelling too. I still have my trip to Bali to look forward to, however the months after could prove to be long.

The Gobi was beautiful, ugly, magical and bleak all at the same time. We had an amazing guide and driver so it was a fantastic trip. I'm sore and still tired, but thankful for the experience. True to my word, here is a picture of me on a camel. I named him Roger. He kept me warm while out on the sandy dunes. The camels have a stick that has been driven through their nose in order to steer them. I was assured it did not hurt them. Later in the trip I had the opportunity to buy a pair of camel wool knit gloves. Camels are just like cows, they just do as you say, however, they seem to have more personality than you'd think! In a sense they are like horses. They are a formidable animal though and so alien, much like the Gobi. Our guide that day had the right idea. He had these specialized goggles he wore.

Our tour guide was named Nora and the driver, Dabaa. He was quite the prankster and hid Colin's camera one morning in a cracker box and hid his bag in his tent another. Colin was asking, "Has anyone seen my camera? I left it right here!" The next morning he was asking Nora, "What happened to my bag?" I still don't know if she was playing along with Dabaa or not, but she feigned concern, "Oh my, where is your bag?" She asked Dabaa and he said he had no idea. Next thing you know, he's smiling at you and producing the item in question. He pulled a fast one on me, too. I had found this amazing horse skull and had planned on showing it to my students. He told me he left it behind and I said that was okay as I had forgotten about it and still feel that if you can't keep track of your things you don't deserve to have them. He let me go for hours truly disappointed in the fact that I had left this amazing specimen behind. Then, he turned to Nora and had her ask me if I was still upset about the skull. I, of course said no, and he said "Good, because I've had it all along." I had to say I'd belive it when I saw it, but true to his word it was there. He had an interesting abnormality. Usually when you see people with extra fingers they are beside the pinkie. His was on his thumb. He also got into a bit of a fender bender on the way home but true to Mongolian form, no one stopped or even cared it had occured.

Dabaa drove us around in this Russian van. It was very much so all-terrain. He enjoyed scaring us at the Flamming Cliffs. He would pretend to nearly drive off the cliff and then just stop. We stayed there for a bit, walking around and looking at the merchandise for sale. A man there had petrified wood, dinasour bones where if you stick your tongue to, it sticks, and traditional Mongolian games. I bought a crystal for 1,000 TG in memory of Michael. When I picked it up, it just felt right.

The craziest part of that day was this. We were perched periously close to the edge of the cliff, victim's of Dabaa's joking again. I was heard to say while he started the van, "Don't roll forward, please don't roll forward." The van reminded me much of my first VW van and knew that if you weren't careful, it would roll forward during starting. The next thing we knew, we were driving over the cliff! We were all in shock and couldn't believe what was happening. In the end, Dabaa has forged a new road and we camped at the base of the amazing Flamming Cliffs. It was beautiful. On another day he just jumped out of the car while it was still driving, giving us a bit of a scare but we also realized that there was nothing anywhere to hit or even see.

Nora was so sweet and thoughtful. She understood early into the trip that some things I ate were not good for me and asked what I could and couldn't eat. Then, she took special care and I felt badly as she had so much work to do otherwise. It was difficult to explain that no matter what I ate, I probably would still be experiencing the same issues. She is 31 and unmarried. An anomoly by Mongolian standards to be sure. She was very knowledgeable and informed us if our behavior was disrespectful. I learned so much about the culture from her. The first thing she taught us was the fact that gers are divided up into sections based on the directions north, south, east and west. South is always where the door faces. East is the wife's section and that is where the kitchen supplies are to be found (though still no can openers!). North is the section for the husband and children and west is saved for the guests. The family will go to a monk to discern, in a Feng Shui manner, where their sacred part it. It is usually either north-east, or -west. It is considered extremely rude to point your feet in this direction. Also, in the ger, there are two posts in the centre. They represent the husband and wife. You never cross them, ever.

Nora also taught me about the fire. Mongolians worship the sky and fire. It was apparently rude of me to put my snotty tissue into the fire. I thought I was saving garbage but it was, again, disrespectful. They have five colours they use for the ovo's. Blue represents the sky, white is purity, yellow is the colour of the Lamas and religion, red is fire and green signifies nature. During the Soviet regime many monastaries were destroyed. People still hold faith though and that is heartening. We had to be careful though to not make any faux pas. Andrew learned by accidentally pointing his feet toward the sacred place in the ger (you must always point your head that way. They also believe that if you keep your head pointed north while you slept it was good for your mind) and I learned by the whole kleenex thing.

We saw many wild animals. Initally we were so excited to see horses, goats and camels but toward the end of the trip we had seen so many. In order to water their animals the herdsmen have to bring them to a watering hole. It is a well with troughs where water must be drawn up. A cold job in the winter. We encountered many different types of terrains. Here are more of the granite mountains and valleys. There was also this amazing sand dune that was about 100 to 125km long and about 25km width wise. It may not look like much but Maureen and I, both being afraid of heights, did not make it up to the top. It was very steep and tough going. Also, it did not help we were walking in the trails of Colin and Andrew. Once the integrity of the sand was broken that make it much more difficult. I saw 3 spiders, and those of you who know me, that was more than enough. One was a baby and inside the tent one morning. Thankfully, Maureen got it for me. We were lucky enough that it was a full moon during our trip. It was also beautiful. I tried to take a picture but my camera did not do it justice, I feel.

One night I was out by myself. Nora and Dabaa both came to collect me. I told them that like we need to charge our iPods and such, I was recharging by the moonlight. They informed me there were wolves out that night and I had to come in. I figured I was singing so loudly and poorly that no wolf would be bothered with me, but in I went to make them more comfortable.

It was not such a difficult journey as we had most of the comforts of home, save for beds, heat, and bathrooms. I definately have started to feel my age, especially in my knees. Colin and Andrew are still in their mid-twenties, but considering the life I've led I think I managed pretty well. I am sore, I believe due to sitting in the van and then just getting out and hiking. I wound up going on strike from the back seat as my knee got so bad. I sat back there quietly for most of the trip but toward the end I just couldn't take it. I felt badly as poor Maureen ended up back there for the last of the trip simply because she has shorter legs than us. Nora has the smallest though and Moe was pleased that she was actually taller than someone her age, finally. She said one of her students is taller than her. I have a massage on the slate for today, along with a body scrub. No matter how many times I cleaned my hands with my wet nap type things, there was always more dirt. I took a hot bath last night and there was a sand pit at the bottom of the tub when I had finished. My iPod was a much appreciated ammenity (thanks Mom!) as there was much driving and little talking.

This is one of my favourite pics I took. I have little memory space compared to my other travellers so when I took something I tried to make it worth while. Definately an amazing trip and I am very glad I decided to go. Doogie warned me not to return more tired than I was before I left, but I think after a restful day today I should be in ship-shape form. Those of you who are on Facebook can see all my photos. It is long and difficult to post them here. Why, I don't know, however, if you're interested the rest are there.

Off to the Gobi tomorrow. Eight days! I'm not sure how I'll handle the close quarters and all, but I think we have a good group of us going and it will be lots of fun. I'm looking forward to the time off but am worried I will return more tired than I already am. I'm exhausted! My trip to Bali is basically booked but it's costing a bit more than I had anticipated. I won't have much spending money but I hear it's really cheap there and a girl like me can live fairly well for 2 and a half weeks.

It was really sad to say goodbye to my kids todayknowing I won't see them for over a week. They all hugged me and told me they loved me. I told them I would miss them, and really, I will.

I realize my blog has been kind of boring lately with no photos and all, but after the Gobi you will see me riding a camel, I hope! Take care everyone. Miss and love you all.

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!

By the way! If anyone would like to make my long, cold Mongolian nights here any better I may have a suggestion. I would much love more Sex and the City DVD's and Grey's Anatomy. Just putting that out there!

I finally got some of my boxes that I had assumed would be here two months ago. It was almost like Christmas! The only downer is that three of the four boxes I sent arrived. I have heard that in the past not all or even none of the things shipped arrive so I'm not going to hold my breath. It is nice to have my books and movies, especially my "Sex and the City" tapes!

Today was sort of a stressful day. I have been having to mediate a lot lately between students and forcing them to apologize. When I say "Okay, now apologize" they say "what's apologize?" When I explain it means to say you're sorry they grudgingly do so. One poor girl yesterday fell off the monkey bars. She cried a bit but said she was okay. That has happened many times since school has started. You know how kids are, one minute they're dying and the next playing with friends again. I didn't think much of it as she went the rest of the day without saying anything. I asked her a few times if she was okay and she said "yes." I found out today that she had been bleeding and actually needed stitches! I was so distraught! Why didn't she say anything? I watched her today and she was playing and having fun as usual, so she's alright. I just don't understand why she left it until she got home. If she felt she couldn't explain it to me properly, she could have showed me, or at least told Doogie.

I have asked Oko to look into booking my flights to Bali. I also have the Gobi coming up. I must admit, I'm a bit worried about being even more tired upon my return from Gobi than my departure. R&R is much needed right now!

It's all booked. I'm going to the Gobi next week for the vacation we have coming. It's going to be nice not to think about school for once for at least a few days. I woke up this morning thinking I had to get ready for school and then it finally dawned on me that it was Saturday!

Everyone is also thinking about what to do at Christmas. I have decided, thanks to some help from some other teachers, to go to Bali. I will put out the invite to anyone who wants to join me there over Christmas, come! It's inexpensive and really fun! I am planning on going for 2 and a half of the 3 weeks I have off then. That is just seriously too much time to spend alone here and the cost to fly home is, guess, outrageous.

Everyone is having their potluck Thanksgiving. I was invited but chose not to go. Just wanted to give a shout out to all my friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving. For art today the kids all made turkeys out of construction paper. They seemed to like it. They are also excited because swimming starts on Thursday for them. I am excited too, as I don't have to teach those periods anymore! Yeah!

I had numerous parents come to visit me today. One was in regards to this girl in my class. The grandmother wanted to know how she was doing. I informed her that this particular girl was struggling in the classes to stay focused and was experiencing issued on the playground with her aggressive behaviour. They would like for her to be tested for a learning disability as if she had problems learning they will take her out of the school and place her in another that is not expensive. I actually have a few in my class who seem a bit unreachable.

Tomorrow is the meeting with BG's parents, the principal and the grade 4 teacher, Laurie. We will discuss the chance for BG to move up to 4th grade. I know he, and his parents are all for it, as am I. Though Chandmani is on vacation and Khulan B is in the hopsital, it still is a full classroom. I'd like for it to be one, maybe even two less. If Animaa tests poorly she may get moved out. She scored 0 on the science test. Edward says his family is going to America at Christmas and may not come back. It's just that in the 4th grade there are only 14 students while the rest of the primary grades are packed to the hilt!

I did get a chance to show the kids my photos of Terelj. They liked them. They are always trying to correct my pronounciation and I just can't get it. It's all horking and gutteral sounds.

I got a bit frightened today as I was coming out of the local store near my house and one man was pummelling another. I hightailed it out of there! It's so sad to me because it's easy to see this is an aggressive culture. I see it everywhere, even on the playground. We are hypothesizing about it and first thing is the parents are not around. The kids are pretty much left to raise themselves. They are also left in the charge of a sibling not much older than them. There are many who have moved from the countryside have this same aggressive attitude. Countryside living is tough and the kids have to get roughed up to become men.

It is also sad to see the amount of drunk people here, usually men. On Sunday Doogie and I went shopping and one man was lying right in the middle of the sidewalk, sleeeping and had peed his pants. She said that they can not afford to eat so they buy this cheap liquor especially manufactured for them. It is very inexpensive. She said they drink until they die. Some people have said it's an Asian thing where they cannot hold their liquor, but it also is a poverty issue. So far no one has troubled me. If I see a street kid I give him my leftovers but I wonder what the growing cold and winter will bring.

It has gotten cold here very fast. I woke up Saturday to see snow and though it is still sunny, it's very chilly. Everyday the kids and I take the temperature in the morning and after lunch. This morning it was the coldest yet, 18 degrees!

I finally did laundry again as I was out of socks. The washers here are kind of screwy and sometimes it looks like their working, then when you come back they have an error or just didn't wash. I can't tell you how many times the cycle says it's done and won't open the door! The tried and trusted way of all women to fix things, by banging on them, works everytime though! I also got spoken to by the principal as I wore flip-flops on Friday (because it was a Friday) and was informed my dress was too informal. If the kids get to have dress down day, why can't the teachers too? I apologized. He told me some nice things though too and I like working for him. For a brief instant I thought he was going to fire me. Why, I didn't know, but he said "No, no, no!" He says he sees me with the kids and knows how they love me, and I them. Phew! That's me though, always expecting the worse. Here I thought I was getting fired for some unknown reason and it was all due to the fact I wore flip-flops!

I apparently am not getting much sleep tonight. It would seem the staff is getting together tomorrow night to have a Thanksgiving dinner. I feel I have nothing to bring. The food situation here is difficult for me and it is hard for me to cook. I was kind of asked to bring some sort of dessert, but were on earth do I find pumpkin pie in a place like this?
When I say a place like this, I mean a country struggling to it's feet. It was very common during the Russian reign to have their thoughts and go to their schools. Now, it seems America is rearing its head here now too. There are two schools here that are English and we seem to be in competition with one another, though I have no idea why. The other school really looks down on us.
I have to admit, I am really beginning to miss Canada. Just for the convience of it all. Today I went shopping with Doogie and on the sidewalk was a man who was too drunk too get up and had actually peed his pants. She told me that it was because he was so poor he couldn't afford food. The only thing he could buy was cheap booze and that's what he takes until he dies. I asked if he could not save the money he spent on vodka and buy food and she told me that they produce such products especially for people like him and this is his fate. It is very, very sad to me. I am glad that Doogie says she has a good job, though her husband does not have one. She keeps inviting me over to her house and I keep saying no. I am afraid to really see. She is a very smart woman and really misses living in Sweden.
We were looking for footwear for me and she said it was better to order it from some where else, as here it is of poor quality. I said once you factor in all the exchange rates and shipping, it was easier for me to just buy it here. I found a pair that I loved and were so beautiful, but she wouldn't let me buy them because she said they were too small for me. It is difficult to find sizes that fit for me. Mongolians have small feet and small everything else. I definately stand out. Small children stare at me as I am so alien looking to them.
Just the other day I had asked if Doogie's daughter could go back to the school to get something from my classroom and she was too afraid, due to the children in the neighbourhood. While they are very pleastant with me, saying hello all the time, they apparently can get quite mean to people who they deem have it better than them. I was surprised but don't blame her. I get nervous sometimes too. Also, some one in one of the ger's feels the sidewalk is the perfect place to do #2. It is so obvious that it is a human and it's really gross. I have to walk past it everyday, practically. I don't know if it's because they don't know any better or if it's some sort of protest against the school. Due to the fact the school is now there, the neighbourhood is growing, in what may be to many in a good way. There is a huge difference between here and the"countryside". As you may well know, more than half the population of Mongolia resides in Ulaanbaatar, leaving the rest of the country the "countryside". It would seem the parents don't raise their own children and leave it up to the grandparents, or else there is just no one at home for them. So differnt from North America where kids aren't to be left alone until they're 12 or some age closer to that. Here, they're in grade 2 and deemed able to fend for themselves.

It has snowed, already! At least I know we'll definately have a white Christmas!

My classroom and the cafeteria have been disinfected. It's a bit smelly but worth it. We still have concerns about the Hep A getting around. One of my students came in today and he did not look well. I was obviously worried as he sat next to Khulan B. and immediately sent him to the nurse's room. Turns out a bunch of them got their flu vaccinations last night. Poor Tuguler, he's such a small boy and struggles as it is. He told me the needle hit his bone and almost broke it, I'm still not sure if that's possible but wonders never cease here in Mongolia. He ended up going home.
I now have my full 26 students though Khulan is off sick (obviously) and Chandmani is on vacation. I have a parent meeting with BG's (Tserendorj's) parents on Tuesday to discuss his moving up to the 4th grade. I have a funny feeling I'm going to meet some resistance from the 4th grade teacher but I know both he and his parents are ready for the change. It's been going around that in America they do not move students as they feel it is detrimental to their mental health. I do recall in Canada, as a child, students being moved around. I will be sad to lose him as he is a great student and an asset in my classroom, but he his bored and needs to be challenged. The teacher who may get him has only 14 students at this time and did say she could take more, however I feel she is hesitant and worry she may have some reservations. The princpal says it's a majority rules sort of situation and he will probably go. His mother came to see me on curriculum night and said they were for it.
I finally got to hang out with Doogie and we did not speak about our class, for once! It was nice. We had fun. Her daughter came to meet us as she is a student at the school in grade 7 and now I understand why my mom used to make me so bored while talking to friends. You don't get a chance otherwise! She is going to take me shopping on Sunday as all Mongolians have this fabulous footwear and I've never found a pair of boots that actually fit me. She also wants to take me grocery shopping to show me what is good food to buy and what is not. That I definatley appreciate as I cannot read any of the labels anyway.
It would seem that people here are quite the matchmakers! One of my student's mom wants to take me away to the new hotel in Terelj that opened up recently because she has an English speaking man to keep me company. She wanted me to write a note in her ESL journal saying if I would come or not but I told her it was too short of notice. Apparently this is the norm in Mongolia as they seem to really hold teachers in esteem here. Also, my TP, Doogie, wants me to meet her brother. Geez!
It is unusual to me that teachers are so revered here as back in Canada it seems if the child does no learn it is the teacher's fault. Doogie and I spoke about that tonight and she wanted to know what we do in Canada when the child is slower. I told her we usually define them as ADHD and give them pills. I am grateful for her help in the classroom now. We have a small handfull of students who just never seem to get it, no matter what language we speak. She said "I don't know what language to tell them in as they don't seem to understand in English or Mongolian." On the advice of a very wise teacher who contacted me though a friend, David Cuthill, I will make a new seating arrangement where the students are in groups with varied abilities. They help each other. I have already seen it where I'm talking to a student and if they don't understand, another explains it to them.
I seem to have lost Chinzorig's science test. He told me he put it on my desk, but it is nowhere to be found. The kids tell me it's because my desk is too messy, but it's an ordered mess! I know where everything is and I dont' really look forward to the addition of a new computer to the contents of my desktop. It would be nice though as my laptop never seems to get internet at school. At home it's okay, but the computer tech needs to come and set it up every time and I have just given up. It is a bit frustrating as the VP keeps telling me about emails I got but haven't had a chance to look at yet. It's also unnerving that they can tell if I've read my emails or no. Big brother!
The weather here is starting to get cold. I have gratefully asked my mom to send me some extra clothes. I knew it was going to get cold, but it's tough to pack for what you don't know. I'd like to send out a warm thanks to my mom for putting together a care package for me and shopping randomly for me. She hates buying me clothes as I never like what she buys, but trust me, I will wear it this time mom!
I'd also like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! If you count back the months, I think it was around this time I was conceived. Cinnamon and nutmeg, such aphrodesiacs! It's so strange here because most of my studens are born in Oct, Nov, and Dec while where I'm from we mostly are summer babies. I have informed my mother that though I planned on calling the family at my aunt's place, it will be Tuesday morning for me when they are actually sitting down to dinner and will be a hard call for me to make. I send my warmest Thanksgiving wishes and hope that Michael will be rememberd in the grace!

I had a bit of a shock today. One of my students had been ill and we discovered today that he has Hepatitis A. We are looking into it, especially when it comes to the cafeteria. The food there has been less than desirable and we are concerned one of the employees may have it. The school nurse contacted the board of health and due to the fact it is only one student thus far there really isn't much they can do. My classroom and the cafeteria are being sterilized tonight and the employees tested. I should know by tomorrow if one of them has it too.

The poor kid, Khulan B., he went home on Tuesday with a fever and returned for the second half of school yesterday. He was falling asleep at his desk and we sent him to the nurses to lie down. Today we got the news. It sent Doogie and I into a bit of a tizzy but thank heavens we found out so quickly and the proper steps have been taken.

I had to send a newsletter home to the parents because they have been calling Doogie saying they asked their child what they learned today at school and the kids say "I don't know." They find it really easy to say that they don't understand due to the language barrier. I gently reminded the parents that this is an English speaking school and outlined what steps I have been taking to enforce new vocabulary and language skills. I also gave them some steps they can take at home to assist in their child learning English. It is just so frustrating as these students are all returning and have had one entire year of Enlish instruction already. It is also frustrating as everyone wants their kids to sit in the front. I have some I need to sit there due to bad eyesight as apparently in Mongolia no one goes to the eye doctor. There are also some who are smaller and those I need to keep my eye on. In a class of 26, all the parents want their child to sit at the front!

On the upside, some of the teaching staff took a trip to the countryside last weekend. It was a place called Terelj and it was beautiful. We rode horses, visited "Turtle Rock" and hiked up to a monastery. It was great to get out of Ulaanbaatar, even if it was just for one night.

The ger camp we stayed at was very nice indeed. Clean and welcoming. It was nice weather but got very cold at night. The wood burning stove did it's job too well! We were boiling at some points during the night. We stopped at a place on the way to Terelj where 100 monks hid in this stone cave. If you climbed to the top you were said to have good luck, as they were never caught. My immediate response at seeing the stone formation was to climb it. Once I got up there my fear of heights kicked in and needed help down. The rock has been climbed by hundreds of thousands of people and had become quite smooth. Pair that with bus loads of kids all clamoring around you with their "barger's brigade" attitude and I got very nervous. There also was a suspension bridge at the monastery that was quite shaky. It also made my stomach flutter! On day two I rode a horse whom I named Eeyore. He had the same attitude and kept giving me sideways glances that said "Leave me alone, woman!" The Mongolians just name the horses by their colour and the first one I rode was called "brown horse". In Mongolian is sounded similar to Chester to me so that then became his name. The horses are funny because they don't stop walking to poo but they stop if they have to pee. It's quite the mini version of Niagara Falls when that happens! We laughed and laughed the first time it happened.

On another plus side, we finally have hot water, well, what passes for hot water here. That also means our heat is on. No more freezing mornings!