As I haven't been feeling up to snuff as of late, I decided to have a pamper day. I went to "Charming Beauty" for some waxing. I went in only for an underarm and eyebrow and came out with a half-leg and bikini too. The girl did a great job, unlike the last time I went. She was pretty into the bikini and was waxing, trimming and plucking for quite some time. After she was done she took a hand mirror out and showed me! I murmured it was fine. One thing I have gotten used to here is the fact that most people are probably going to see me naked before I leave.

Then I hightailed it to "UB Massage" and had a half hour body scrub and an hour massage. The scrub was incredible. Again, I'm standing there fully naked and they throw bowls of hot water all over you. They scrub you three times each side and scrub your hair and scalp too. I am definately exfoliated! The massage is the same as I had before. The girl comes in and covers you with hot towels to relax your muscles. Then, she walks on your back, arms, legs, and feet. She uses hot oil to massage you. It is very relaxing. Well, for me it is. Some people prefer the kind of massage where you can barely feel it but I like it rough! The girls whack and thump you. I have some "rug burn" on my elbow from the exfoliation, but it's worth it. In total today I spent about $60 on myself. Not bad for all that, I think.

Of course, the discourse turns to school. We have report cards coming up this week, so I'll be a bit more busy but I don't anticipate it being too much of a headache. My primary grades use levels rather than grades and comments. Plus, it's only the first term reports.

I am still cloistered with my tv channels. I get two. One is National Geographic, which I don't mind but they repeat shows every four hours. The second is this terrible movie channel that shows only 'B' movies with too many commercial interruptions. I don't mind that they are in a different language. I'm used to being surrounded by Mongolian, and the sound of it has become actually quite comforting to me. It's the fact that they are so much louder than the movie! They blare on with their crazy going ons and really startle you.

It's getting colder and colder at night. The days are actually quite nice. I liken it to Colorado where it is sunny all day and cheerful. It's the night times that get you. It is dark and very cold. It is snowing a bit tonight. I also have to get used to the idea that you back home are now 13 hours time difference. Mongolia does not observe daylight savings so when you fell back, we stayed the same.

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!