"I'm gonna go American on all you're asses!!"
the web informs me that it has been 27 weeks since my last confession.
I decided that I didn't have much to say generally in the sense of a mass email update, and Sam reminded me that this exists. so here I am.
I suppose that this would be a good time to talk about stories that I can't talk about in the "family version." but really I was way more excited to watch dung beetles actually rolling a ball of dung across the road (alas no pictures) than recount the several evenings of drunken debauchery I've enjoyed with fellow 20 somethings. and I have enjoyed them. turns out the government can forbid the sale of alcohol, but they can't stop people from buying and drinking it. the ban would need to be way more than 4 days to dry this place out. if you just stand around a shop and wait for the Mongolians to leave, they are quite likely to sell booze to you. its that easy.
despite stories about chlamydia and adultery; the dung beetles stand out. maybe my old anthropological fascinations have become jaded. or more likely, its just that I'm still part of my old culture and very far from integrating into a new one. I am still very much the tourist. albeit, a mildly literate tourist.
in Mongolian, they use the same word for "mark or tag" "gift" and "genitals." So 'penis' literally translates to 'man genitals' but I prefer to translate it as 'man gift.' same goes for ladies; 'woman gift.'
today I went to the bank. people here don't really recognize lines. especially foreign people don't count. not that Mongolians share the same sence of "personal space" that Americans do anyway, they stand RIGHT BEHIND you at the ATM or teller. they don't mind using elbows, or simply getting in line in front of you. So four of us went and made an Impenitrable Wall until we had all withdrawn our money. we made no friends. esp. with the drunk guy who forgot to button his shirt.
Naadam is tomorrow and the rest of the week. I will get to see wrestling, and archery, but probably not the horse racing. I'll try to get a couple good pics for y'all. Uh, that Texan has me typing it now!
The other great thing I've done was make Bloody Marys. It actually worked alright (esp after the fourth one). Since nothing here tastes the same (everything is "-ish") I decided it needed a new name. From now on, Mongolian tomato juice, cheap Russian vodka (seriously $1 a liter), cholula, and some "cajun spice" out of Nathan's bag will be known as "Chenggis' Menstrual Cycle"-you want one now don't you? We drank and watched "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." That show made my week (see blog subject line).
I decided that I didn't have much to say generally in the sense of a mass email update, and Sam reminded me that this exists. so here I am.
I suppose that this would be a good time to talk about stories that I can't talk about in the "family version." but really I was way more excited to watch dung beetles actually rolling a ball of dung across the road (alas no pictures) than recount the several evenings of drunken debauchery I've enjoyed with fellow 20 somethings. and I have enjoyed them. turns out the government can forbid the sale of alcohol, but they can't stop people from buying and drinking it. the ban would need to be way more than 4 days to dry this place out. if you just stand around a shop and wait for the Mongolians to leave, they are quite likely to sell booze to you. its that easy.
despite stories about chlamydia and adultery; the dung beetles stand out. maybe my old anthropological fascinations have become jaded. or more likely, its just that I'm still part of my old culture and very far from integrating into a new one. I am still very much the tourist. albeit, a mildly literate tourist.
in Mongolian, they use the same word for "mark or tag" "gift" and "genitals." So 'penis' literally translates to 'man genitals' but I prefer to translate it as 'man gift.' same goes for ladies; 'woman gift.'
today I went to the bank. people here don't really recognize lines. especially foreign people don't count. not that Mongolians share the same sence of "personal space" that Americans do anyway, they stand RIGHT BEHIND you at the ATM or teller. they don't mind using elbows, or simply getting in line in front of you. So four of us went and made an Impenitrable Wall until we had all withdrawn our money. we made no friends. esp. with the drunk guy who forgot to button his shirt.
Naadam is tomorrow and the rest of the week. I will get to see wrestling, and archery, but probably not the horse racing. I'll try to get a couple good pics for y'all. Uh, that Texan has me typing it now!
The other great thing I've done was make Bloody Marys. It actually worked alright (esp after the fourth one). Since nothing here tastes the same (everything is "-ish") I decided it needed a new name. From now on, Mongolian tomato juice, cheap Russian vodka (seriously $1 a liter), cholula, and some "cajun spice" out of Nathan's bag will be known as "Chenggis' Menstrual Cycle"-you want one now don't you? We drank and watched "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." That show made my week (see blog subject line).