miscellaneous monologue

Still no home internet but getting closer.  Because our apartment is owned by my work, we need to jump through a few extra hoops (and pay a bit more) because we need a business connection.
Here I am at a public site again.  This time a dodgy local gaming site that costs 60c per hour!  Nice.  Might do a virus check when I'm done though.
Snowed overnight last night yet temperatures are still fine.  Just like NZ winter.  or NZ spring.  or even NZ autumn if we're honest. 
Mercy Corps gave everyone a flash Colombia Jacket (worth US$290!!) through some deal, but it hasn't been cold enough to wear yet. 
Of course the temperatures are only downhill from here.  The rabbit hole has been entered.  The next trip to the countryside might be a bit more fierce so have started planning.  Managed to find a duck down sleeping bag for $90.  Its thick and bulky, not high quality down, but should be perfect for cold nights, or the vehicle breakdown that sometimes happens.  I was pretty excited about it last night and wanted to try it out, but the buildings are kept far too warm.  Perhaps I could have slept on the balcony.

Had some visitors today- Bilgorn is 5 and loves Spiderman, and his Grandma Otgon likes to hang out with Belinda.  They live in the same apartment block which is convenient.  Had some pikelets (are they of British decent?  Thats what I told her!) and lots of colouring-in and lego.

The food in Mongolia is actually pretty good.  Plain but perfectly nice.  But I've been struggling a little with breakfasts.  The UHT milk tastes funny for starters.  Maybe I'm being fussy but I've been poking around the dairy industry (thats my job afterall) and finding lots of stories about mislabelled milk.  Quite a percentage of "fresh" milk is actually re-hydrated milk powder for example. Perhaps Im tasting the melamine from the Chinese milk powder?  It's quite easy to become a little racist against Chinese here.  Mongolia gets the crap that the Chinese can't sell to anywhere else it seems.  And the track record of even "good" Chinese stuff...
So back to breakfast.  Cornflakes are available but imported, stale, and very expensive.  Trying to eat fatty dumplings first thing in the morning - not possible.  Luckily, Belinda has accidently become a food technologist and created the best muesli in the universe. 

the next group of VSO volunteers arrive in a few days.  I've been tasked with the walking city tour.  No longer am I the newbie.  feel pretty at home here.  families great.  Jobs great.  Haven't got robbed yet. 
Might get to convince the VSO powers to have us join them on a trip to the countryside again soon.

We've just heard about an ice festival in Hovsgol in February.  Trying to figure out how to make the 18 hour drive with the family.  It may be affordable to hire a Russian jeep/truck for a number of days.  That way the kids can kick around in the back and pass the time with Indian legwrestling and games of tag rather than sitting still in a single seat which doesn't sound much like fun.
Will think on that one

ok.