Friday, September 28, 2007

Hanging out in Ulaanbaatar

No photos today as I'm sans card reader at a little internet cafe. I'm surrounded by prepubescent boys who are playing online games like Counterstrike. It's a little surreal, actually!

Yesterday we managed to get a lot accomplished- we got cell phones for the month, bought groceries for our (borrowed) apartment, went to the black market and bought a few small things like sponges and soap, and ate some really good Mongolian hooshur, a kind of fried mutton dumpling.

As we walk down the streets of Ulaanbaatar, approximately every tenth person says, "Uunder hun" ("Tall guy") as John (who is tall, at 6'9") walks by. It's understandable but I'm sure it's going to get redundant by the time we leave! At the black market, John was the talk of the town- as we walked down the aisle that sold traditional Mongolian clothes, a woman stopped us and had him try on a del (I'll post a photo of one later). One seller actually pulled out his camera and took a picture with John-- a first for me; I'm usually the tourist taking pictures!

More to come- thank you all for your comments, we're reading them diligently but due to the fact that blogger here is in Korean, I'm having some trouble figuring out how to respond. Keep 'em coming, though, it's great to hear from all of you!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rach! I've been reading your blog every day and loving it. I'm so glad to hear that things are going well :) Keep the postings and photos coming...

Cheers-
Andrea

Barbara said...

Hi Rachel,
I am really looking forward to the picture of John in a del! I'm glad things are going well. Take care and keep blogging-it's really interesting!!
Love,
Barbara

Jules said...

I am enjoying your blog. LOL, it sounds like it is going to be an interesting time in Mongolia!

Jules said...

I am enjoying your blog. LOL, it sounds like it is going to be an interesting time in Mongolia!

Anonymous said...

John's 6'9"? Why is he in computers?? Why isn't he in basketball???

-Ashish

Anonymous said...

Imagine if John and I were both there i think we would be celebrities. We experienced that in Italy and in Disneyworld.....get used to it...John is a Giant compared to most people. now only if he was Jolly and Green.