Hold me fast, hold me fast, because I'm a hopeless wanderer

HEY. I found our (Sukhbaatar Aimag's) 70th anniversary Naadam photos that I never posted. Most are from archery because it's really the least popular of the 3 sports and it's easy to get up close. Because it was the anniversary, it was impossible to get the kind of shots I did the year before. There were SO MANY PEOPLE. And everyone thought we (Laurel- an awesome chick who went to MSU (yeah!!), is in med school, and was doing some work for my hospital) were tourists. One family was sitting next to us when we got good ol' Naadam khuurshuur, and thought we didn't know Mongolian until my CP came up to me and started speaking. Laurel said their faces were priceless.

I realized I never actually posted about this event, because it was a week before I left to move to UB. Whoops.

It was a wonderful hot sunny day for the first day (we saw a wreath laying ceremony for Mr. Sukhbaatar in the background, then we watched horse races and gambled with the grandmas):

(this and the parade picture are Laurel's pictures)

Horse racing gambling/game! 100 tugs to play... you have to roll ankle bones, and if you get the "horse" side, you can move up a space. First to the finish gets the other player's money. 

It rained like crazy the opening ceremony day, but my hospital was very adamant about having me in the parade with the doctors and nurses. I was a hot mess:

I am soaked and I look like I'm wearing a bag.

My hospital's doctors, soaking wet!

 But the next day was again sunny and it was spent watching the archery and wrestling (remember to click on it... they look better large):

This little dude asked me to take his picture. And now he is immortalized by the internet.

This is the other end of the archery. I would be scared to stand so close to where those arrows are flying!

And the kids had their own special place to practice :) 

And a special photo....

This last one is for you, Sarah!! :D Miss you girl!

Winter has come to UB. I hope ya'all are staying warm where ever you are!

Dear friends and family...

Please check out this blog. It's been going around the PC world like crazy (no one knows who wrote it, but many seem to apply to all countries), and I nearly peed myself laughing so much when I first read it.

So come join me, see what PC life is really like in .gif form:

http://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com/

Love,

Kate

P.S. Here is a picture for fun:

Me and Chinggis hanging out at the capital building.

Waiting for October

Happy Columbus Day! We never "celebrated" it back in Michigan, but we get the day off of PC work because the office is closed. Score. So now I have the morning to blog and perhaps do some grocery shopping in the nearly empty delguur before HCA work and wine-and-Downton-Abbey night with Chris. Even though it's expensive, dirty, loud, and usually a huge hassle... I'm a little bit in love with UB and all its amenities.

Last month I went to the Gobi desert to run a 10k, with some of my fellow PCVs. It was pretty darn awesome, except for the huge sandstorm at the end. I was cleaning sand out of my hair for a week.

BUT IT WAS FUN I SWEAR. LOOK:

Jordan, chatting it up on the way to the Gobi.

COUNTRYSIDE

...more hudoo.

We didn't actually get to karaoke here. Looked pretty swanky though.

Oh, and we totes did some work too. Here's Sam talking with some CPs.

And Stephanie thinking about what she'll say next.

Long walk before the long day.

ON THE WAY!

Saaaaand 

FLAMING CLIFFS! 

Our awesome driver for the day.

And the finish line! (That's not me runnin' up of course.. the finish line looked a lot darker and more windy by the time I got there)

Britt was the first woman to finish the 1/2 marathon... so she got a prize of felt products and the worst vodka ever.

Aaaand a cell phone picture of our post-run pizza party in Joe's ger. It was glorious. 

So now that Mitt is gonna cut PBS funding, how are people going to watch Downton Abbey in America?? Remember, downloading is ILLEGAL. Luckily there's no copyrights here, so we're already on the 4th episode of the new season. VOTE OBAMA! SAVE DOWNTON ABBEY!