A Little Bit of Life

Since the last two posts were mostly text, we decided to throw a bunch a pictures your way this time!  They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and if you are like us, you probably enjoy the pictures more anyway!!  With that said, feast your eyes on a plethora of pictures from our life and a few bits of text as well ( I was an English major, I have to write something!)

These were taken before it became Winter and are just a few views of the area near where we live.

These are in the west side of town near the home of some teammates.  We thought they looked like sand sculptures, but they were actually made of concrete.  Kind of neat none-the-less!

Here sits the fearless attendence keeper with an eye out for late comers; and trust me, we have them every week!

This murial is painted on the back wall of one of the classrooms we have used.  It seemed very unique and colorful!  We later learned that that classroom is a music room among other things, so the piano keys kind of make sense now!

 Huge green beans, home made bread bowls with clam chowder, and home made hamburger buns OH MY!!!!  Man cannot live on mutton alone (actually we don't live on it much anyway)!

Ah! Let it snow, let it snow!!  Sadly, we haven't gotten much more than this, but we had snow on the ground for Christmas! 

 Our neighboring ger covered in snow.  Check out the wooden slats standing upright next to the fence.  You guessed it!!  The bathroom!!  We just think about that and we get cold!!!  PTL for an indoor toilet and running water; its the little things in life!!

The next picture is of our least favorite mode of transportation, a microbus.  It is little more than a souped up minivan with a crazy Mongolian driver and about 20 people (or more) squashed in it!!  You can probably understand why we prefer to take the bus!

Here is proof that I do help around the house!  This may be all I do, but its better than nothing!!

Right Dear?!

See the napkins next to the sink, the white stack.  Would you believe that they have an expiration date?

Well they do!  We are good though, they don't expire for another two years!!  Nothing like a napkin past it's prime!!

You may be wondering what this is all about.  This is the light in our half bath.  We had it on one day when it went out.  We thought it might just be the bulb but found that the wire had burnt in two!!  When our landlord's son came to fix it, we learned that the original electrician skimped on his work.  PTL our apartment didn't burn down!!  The building wouldn't have gone up because it is concrete, but our apartment could have been toast!!

The Mongolian rule for crossing a road, get in a large group and then walk across regardless of what is coming.  There is a crosswalk right there too, but those mean little here.  Road crossings test a person's true metal, guts, or stupidity!!

Maybe not quite a plethora by definition, but this post is going to have to last you.  We are leaving for Thailand on January 19th and won't be back until February 17th.  We will get another one out for you to read after we get back!  By the way, THANKS FOR READING OUR BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Bit Scared

Living abroad can at times be unsettling or even scary. Whenever a person is exposed to a completely new and foreign environment it can and usually causes stress of some kind. We are very thankful that Mongolia is not a particularly rough country to live in. We have had protection and little need to fear. With that said, there have been a few occurrences that rattled our cage a little more than we would have liked. As I said last time, I am sure there have been other events that just don’t come to mind right now, but the following three occasions rank as some of our scariest living abroad moments.


One of the biggest problems faced by Mongolians and foreigners alike is pick-pocketing. Throughout the city, it is imperative to constantly be on guard for pick-pockets. Whether out of need or greed some have made it their profession to steal from others. While foreigners are the most likely targets, even other Mongolians fall prey to these events. We know of some Mongolians who have lost three or four cell phones in less than a year! When we first got here, we were warned by our country leaders to be careful and to keep an eye out for such things. We were told the most likely places to be stolen from and given tips on how to best avoid this problem. For several months we had no problems at all even though we had been to some of the “hot” areas. One day, after visiting a nearby market, I (Joshua) had my pocket picked for the first time. We had bought a blanket that was rather large and bulky. For ease of carrying, I was holding it in front of me with both arms wrapped around it. We were preparing to cross the last street before we got to our apartment building when a man stepped in front of me and stopped. My momentum carried me into him for an even more abrupt stop. At the same time I stopped, I felt a hand reach into my right pocket and pull out my wallet. There is no feeling in the world like the abrupt knowledge that someone else’s hand is in your pocket. It was that feeling alone that bothered me for the next few days. Though my reflexes may not be the quickest in the world, I was aware enough of what was going on to grab the hand after if left my pocket. Of course, I was still holding the blanket and was unable to see the hand. I turned around to look at the guy who I was holding while telling Jennifer what had happened. She grabbed the guy who stepped in front of me to ensure that neither one of them got away. At first, I thought I had the wrong guy because of his innocent reaction. It was only after making quite a scene (there were lots of people around plus at least one cop across the street) that the guy returned my wallet and then all of the money that he had pulled out of it before handing it back. Thank the Father for watching out for us! Of all times to have my wallet stolen, that was one of the only times that I was carrying my check card. It occurred to us later that we, by catching them in the act, publicly shamed those two would-be thieves. The thought here is that if a thief can get away with stealing, good for him. If he should get caught while trying to steal, shame on him. It is the responsibility of the person being stolen from to realize it. If he or she didn’t, then they deserve to be stolen from. Regardless, this event shook me up for a few days and caused us to be super protective and suspicious for several weeks.

Another problem in Mongolia is alcoholism. A majority of the male population stay drunk a large portion of the time. This is a very sad truth. It is not uncommon to see a man, even in nice clothes, passed out drunk on the sidewalk. One time, I moved a drunk man’s legs out of the road because he had passed out with half his body sticking out in a busy thoroughfare. Others stay just sober enough to be able to work or drive. During our class last spring semester, we would take a taxi home from the school every night because the buses had stopped running. Most taxis we took were decent enough and the drivers friendly enough. However, we had a more interesting drive one night. Our teammates were in the States, so another female teammate joined us to assist in the lessons. After hailing a taxi and telling the driver where we needed to go, the girls climbed in the back seat while I sat in the passenger seat. Shortly after leaving the school, it became obvious that the man was highly intoxicated. Traffic in UB is mostly crazy to begin with. Mixing that with a liquored up driver made for a most frightening ride. The driver however did not see any problem. In fact, once he figured out that I could speak some Mongolian, he made a continual effort to carry on a conversation with me. Later we realized that keeping him occupied with conversation was probably a good idea. Needless to say, all three of us were uplifting the whole way home! Most taxi drivers and rides are fine. Aside from the nightmarish traffic and a little daredevil driving on the side (sidewalk sometimes!), taking a taxi is not a bad idea. However, after that event, we chose to take the bus as often as possible.

The last event takes us back to just after we arrived in UB in 2009. Mongolia seemed new, unfamiliar, and in some ways frightening. We didn’t know any of the language and were living smack in the heart of town. The day or two after arriving, our country director cautioned us to not venture outside after 11 pm or open our door for anybody except those we knew, at least for the time being. As I said before, Mongolia is mostly a safe place, but we had not fully become aware of that. Combined with our jet-lag fatigue, those cautions took on a whole other level of fear in our minds. I think we said at least once or twice “What did we get ourselves into?” However, we had little to worry about. We had no strangers come knocking during the day and we did not venture out after dark. But one night either our first or second week, we were awoken by what sounded like a knock at our door. We had left some windows open in the front room and thought that they had caused the fright. While checking on them, there seemed to be a sound at the door, but we were both so sleepy that it was hard to tell for sure. We closed our bedroom door and crawled back into bed. A few moments after closing our eyes again, we heard a loud bang at our door. Doubting our hearing yet again, we just lay there listening. A moment or so later, we heard the noise once more. Knowing that nobody we knew would be visiting us at 2 in the morning, we decided it would be best not to answer the door. Shortly the noise stopped and we were able to go back to sleep, after much uplifting of course. More than likely, it was probably a drunk person who either had the wrong door or knew that new foreigners were living in that apartment. Either way, answering the door was probably not the best idea, and it did cause our hearts to beat a bit faster for a little while.


As I said above, we are very thankful that nothing major has happened during our time living here. We have heard many stories far worse than the ones that we just shared and are thankful that these are the worst we have to tell. However, please continue to uplift us and our safety.


Next post, we will share numerous random pictures and a few random stories or facts!