Scenic Route

I'm free! I'm free! Even though I have had a Mongolian driver's license for 3 1/2 years, I just couldn't do it. Oh, I tried a few weekend city drives and a few trips out to the airport, but the aggressive no-rules-apply style of driving in this 3rd world country just undid me. Fast forward 3 years: hundreds of trips schlepping to meetings, getting groceries and begging rides from friends with drivers--oh! and dealing with the Wagner van schedule, well...enough is enough. I asked Randy for a car for this Friday, expecting a retired 5-speed pickup belonging to Wagner. Nope! Randy had his own car delivered to me this morning--a Land Rover Discovery that I believe is worth more than my house in USA! So be it--off I went. It was wonderful! I went to Good Price (the American goods store), Mercury (the veggie market), picked up cleaning, dropped by the IWAM library, went to lunch with a friend, made a salon appointment, stopped by an ATM--all while maneuvering through cra...

Here is what I made and mailed to our precious grandkids for Easter! They were supposed to be totally handmade, but I tossed the directions and did them totally on the machine--except for the whiskers. Then, I only had 2 weeks to get them to USA; what to do? A friend, Janine (Tawainese raised in South Africa who lived in Tanzania for 9 years before Mongolia) was moving to Kansas City, so she took them with her to mail. Holidays here are a challenge and Easter is no exception. Last Sunday in church for example, not a word about Palm Sunday nor Easter. What's up? It's not like it's an American holiday--it is the highlight of the Christian calendar! Ah well....still praying in a good International church. HAVE A BLESSED EASTER!

I know this is a few days late, but we've been out of power for about 48 hours . Another story, another time. Anyway, holidays as we know them are a real challenge here. We did manage to go over to the Grand Khaan Irish Pub (remember, I do not make this stuff up) for a pint of Guinness (OK, it's watery Guinness out of China, but the sentiment is there as you can see :) and some Chinese stir fry. You see, their power was out, too, so the the grill was down but the wok was up. The place was packed and when the power did flash back on now and then, the Irish Rovers were a playin '. My first response to the 2nd picture was " Agghh ! I look 110 years old!" Randy reminded me that he took this on his cell phone. Hmm ... The 1st picture is of my first homemade corned beef!!! My dear friend, Beverly, shared her recipe (and her corned beef!) with my Bible study group 2 years ago. It turned out stellar! I have a handful of ladies of a Certain Age that inspire me and...

Last weekend Randy & I were privileged to attend our 4 th Mongolian wedding ceremony. It was actually a 5 p.m. reception and not the actual wedding ceremony, which is usually somewhat private. This was for a Wagner Asia employee, Gerry (short for Gerlt - Od ). We were 2 of 6 foreigners in a room of about 200. Anyway, it was a lot of fun! Weddings are weddings wherever you go: 2 families blending, relatives who have had too much to drink and want to sing, exhausted brides, etc. However , the groom made calls to all his guests the next day thanking them for coming!! A few of the pics show Wagner Asia's big boss, John Karlsen , presenting a wedding gift on behalf of Wagner. Oh! See my first attempt at inserting a video--"The Wedding Singer"! Just ignore the pic that says "movie" and keep scrolling (just couldn't figure out how to delete the other picture :/