Funny Picture

I was looking through my pictures last night, and found this one and knew I needed to blog about it.  This man wore this big, pink, floppy hat all afternoon and didn't act like he had on anything but a plain, old, man's hat.  No one else seemed to notice it either, except me.  I mean if a guy in the states was at a weekend retreat with his work, there is no way he would be caught dead running around in a big, pink, floppy hat complete with a flower on the front.  And then if he did dare to wear it, he would be endlessly ribbed by all his fellow workers.  Here things are different.  Pink and blue are just plain old colors, not gender distinguishers.  You see baby boys wearing pink, flowery stuff all the time, and in little girls with blue, ball covered clothes.  Sometimes it just strikes me as funny. 

Go Mongolia

Yesterday Mongolia won it's very first gold medal in the Olympics.  The only other medal they have ever won was a bronze.  So this was the first time the Mongolian National Anthem was ever played.  The guy won in Judo, he did some really cool 100 point flip (technical judo lingo) and won the match.  It was truly touching to watch his face when the anthem played, he almost cried, but caught himself, Mongolians are very reserved when it comes to emotions.  It was really funny because outside we could here people cheering and screaming "You're the Man" (in Mongolian, of course) and then after the sun went down there were fireworks and all the news stations kept replaying the award ceremony.  In the TV studio when the anthem was being played the anchormen even stood up and put their hand over their heart while it played.  They are all so proud, I am proud for them. 

Never Look A Gift Horse in the Mouth

The washer saga continues.... we are going on 3 weeks now with a broken washing machine.  It turns out that the whole computer board was fried in a power surge.  SO the repairman said to Tony, You should probably get one from America.....this is NEVER a good sign.  Tony has searched for hours online to find this part, and it is not available in Asia.  SO we went to the place where we originally bought the washer and found out where there repair center is, (we were excited) We walk in and talk to them and they tell us that no they don't have one, and that it is too much trouble to order only one, so Tony says Can I order one?  No, just talk to the engineer (repairman) and see what he can do, but, by the way, he is not here today.  AAAAAAGGGHHHH!

   So in the meantime, our upstairs neighbors had an extra washer that belongs to someone else on their team, that hadn't been used for 3 years.  This washer takes over 4 hours to wash a load of clothes, leaks water all over the floor, and the spin cycle is broken.  (hence the gift horse title)  But, as totally frustrating as this is, at least I am not having to hand wash the clothes in the tub.  

  This morning Tony took the computer part to the repairman and they will prayerfully be able to fix it today.  If not, we will have to buy a new one, either way I will hopefully be washing clothes again normally soon!  

Baking Lessons wanted

The Mongolian women at the bible study we attend have ask me if I will teach them to bake.  Baking is a mysterious, magical thing to these women whom have only owned an oven for 5 years at the most.  They sell pretty cakes here, but they taste like a sponge smeared with Crisco- absolutely no flavor.  So, this is a fun opportunity, but very challenging also as I am met with the lack of availability of ingredients and supplies.  For instance, lets get down to basics, in order to bake a cake you need cake pans -not available.  We have the ingredients for a basic, yellow cake, but not cocoa for chocolate.  Next, the icing, this is s biggie, no powdered sugar, and still, no cocoa.  SO cakes, pretty much out of the question.  Move on to cookies.  We can make sugar cookies, but one major ingredient that they can't get is shortening, this is a major ingredient in most cookie recipes.  These ladies are POOR.  Most are not married, or married to a drunk who doesn't have a job.  I am trying to come up with ideas that use ingredients that they might have or can easily get for a reasonable price.  This is REALLY difficult......I haven't even factored in the fact that I have to change any recipe from English to Metric measures, and then translate it into Mongolian.  The fun never ends.  lets get cookin.

Authentic Olympics

We watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics on the only channel that was playing it here, the Chinese channel, of course.  So it was a truly authentic experience, almost like being there, but much cheaper, and on my own couch!

No CLean CLothes

The washer is still not fixed.  The repairman called yesterday and said he would be rite over........so Tony called him today and he is supposed to come at 4pm.  I am not holding my breathe.  SO I finally gave in the the huge mounds of laundry, and  the girls repeated "Mom, I have nothing to wear" and washed a load of clothes at the neighbors.  At our building they just evenly divide the water bill amongst us anyway, so it's not like I am running up their bill.

  Baking bread is also on the agenda for today.  You might ask "WHY".  Well the answer is simple and goes back to the fact that there is no FDA here,  absolutely no standards to be followed by the companies selling food.  Last week our neighbors, who usually don't buy the bread either, bought 2 loaves of bread, and there were flies baked inside both loaves!!  SO there is the answer.  Baking bread makes the house smell so good anyway.  The tricky part is baking it at a time when everyone isn't ravenously hungry, and devours it as soon as it comes out of the oven.  Then I would have to bake bread every day!

The Little Things

Did you say a quick Thank You to God this morning when you took a hot shower?  I did.  Every summer about this time the hot water goes off so they can clean the pipes at the power plant.  The first two summers we were here the hot water was off for 8 weeks, but thankfully now that we have moved into an apartment it is only off for 2 weeks. We have no control over the water here, the city controls it.  There are no hot water heaters here in every house, so when it is off, it is off.  But now it back on Praise God.

  My washer went out on Sunday, so yesterday (Monday) we called a repair guy who said he would come in the afternoon, so when he showed up at 10 this morning, :)  He found it was an electrical problem that happens quite often, so he should bring it back this afternoon and I will be able to wash clothes with hot water... Thank you God ....He gives us all the little things, we just have to open our eyes to see them.