A Drive to the Countryside

Hi all! I had a great experience yesterday. My host family was not at home when I got home from class yesterday about 5:30. (There were however a host of other people; when Tsetsegee (my host mom) is gone (and sometimes when she's here), her sisters run the internet cafe and take care of me.) About 10 minutes after I got home, Tsetsegee and Bolormaa (my host sister) came rushing in from Ulaanbaatar (UB) and tell me we're going to the countryside in a few minutes when Tuya (my host dad) gets back. They had bought Bolormaa's plane ticket to go to the US, and she was leaving the next day (today). For dinner, they brought me a couple of pirogies from a shop in UB, which were awesome (shredded beef!--my first non-mutton meat meal since being with my host family). A few minutes later we piled into Tuya's extended cab truck, we picked up some other guy (I have no idea who he was--that happens a lot; I go where they tell me, I do what they tell me, and usually don't know what's going on--Mongolian is a difficult language!), and we were off. We drove about 35 minutes east til we reached this incredible shiny, silver, metal, giant statue of Chingis Khan on a horse. It sat on top of a round, white, greek-looking building. It had to be 15-20 stories high. It was incredible. We drove past Chingis and turned onto a dirt road and drove another 20 minutes through the most beautiful countryside. There was a winding river in a valley with a forest on one side and green mountains hovering over the river. We drove past herds of yak, horses, cattle, sheep, and goats. I don't think I've ever seen a yak before. It is a huge, hairy beast. Just incredible. We eventually left the dirt road and went over grass. Growing up in the mountains of Virginia, I've been four-wheelin', but it can't hold a candle to Mongolian highways (yes, the paved ones) and its dirt roads. To say it was bouncy is an understatement. More about Mongolian roads and driving in a minute. We got to this ger camp that was about 500 yards above the river, snaking through the valley. It was stunning! There were some people camping down by the river, and there were several tourist camps with either little cabins or gers grouped together. I went into my first ger. It was quite large with a single size bed, a couch, a cabinet/kitchen area, a wardrobe, another little table, several stools (used for sitting and as tables), and of course the stove in the middle of the ger. We had milk tea (of course), and I was offered some cookies (which are sort of deep fried donuts but not as good as donuts) and some white lumpy and liquidy stuff. At first, I just took one of the cookies. Earlier that day, I had tried this white milk product stuff that tasted like sour milk. It was not good, and I was afraid of my reaction if this milk product had a similar taste. But I was forced to try it. It is very difficult to say no to food here. I think it's considered rude to refuse. The bowl of cookies and the bowl of white stuff was moved to right in front of me (perhaps they assumed I hadn't taken any because I couldn't reach it; or perhaps they wanted to see the amerikaas' reaction) . So, I tried it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was creamy and buttery tasting. It was not soured, thank god. You just have to give everything a try I guess. Unfortunately, because we flew out of the house, I didn't think to bring my camera. I'll ask if we can go back. Bolormaa told me that you can take an elevator to the top of Chingis' head. Can't wait! Now a brief note about Mongolian roads and driving. The other day I was looking out the window and saw a car swerving all over the road. I thought, "That guy must be drunk." Then I noticed that all the cars were swerving in a similar fashion. Mongolians do not drive straight. They avoid the pot holes, which are huge and could do serious damage to the car. So everybody is swerving all over the road. They even swerve into on-coming traffic. It looks like you're going to collide, and then at the last second, one of the cars gets out of the way. I guess the drunk drivers are the ones who drive straight through the pot holes! Ha! The roads are also crazy-bumpy. I made prodigious use of the "oh-s**t" handle on the roof of the car by the door yesterday. And we brought Dolguun, my host brother, back with us. So, 4 of us in the back of the extended cab. Quite the adventure. Well, I've been on-line for quite a while, and I've got Mongolian language homework to do yet. Talk to you all later! Bayartai!