Feb 5, 2017
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from Azerbaijan
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Colombia
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Malaysia
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
Making faces with children is about 85% of what I do.
The periodic table of athletes
Scene: 10 AM on a Friday walking to work from a market in my part of town where the sand roads of the ger district meet the major paved road in town. I am approached by a slightly hunched, quite clearly drunk man wearing a dirt stained beanie and coat with baggy pants pushing a wheelbarrow full of sand and a shovel. Below is the abridged conversation that ensued in Mongolian, translated to English for your pleasure
Man: *Takes off glove and holds out hand*
Me: *Shakes hand* Thinks to self : (earliest conversation with a drunk man yet)
Man: Hello (followed by slurred nonsense)
Me: Hello. What’s up?
Man: You speak Mongolian!? Where are you from?
Me: Yup, I’m from America but I have lived here for a year. I work at the health department (point to the building about 10 feet away). I am a youth soccer coach.
Man: (Still holding my hand) Cool. Is Mongolia nice? What is your favorite part about Mongolia (standard question)
Me: Yes, it is very nice (standard answer). Well the people are very communal, and the food is pretty good. The summer is nice but the winter is cold.
(Both of us laugh about the weather) (hands part)
Man: Want to buy a bottle of vodka and drink it here? (points to the side of a building)
Me: I have to go to work
Man: How about we drink vodka? (grabs my hand again)
Me: Maybe tomorrow.
Man: Okay! What is your favorite part of Mongolia?
Me: Repeats answer above. What is your name?
Nyambo: My name is Nyambo. My job is to keep the sand off of the sidewalks and the road (points to the road by the gas station in a broad motion).
Me: I’m Tom, it was nice to meet you.
Nyambo: Next time I see you we will drink together. Have a good day.
And thus ends the story of my meeting of Nyambo. A man with a Sysaphean task of keeping nature in check and preventing the sand from swallowing the city. Next time I see him i’ll be sure to snag a photo of us drinking behind an abandoned factory.
Let me tell ya bout my best friend
Where to being a story that requires the pretext that you have a 6 year old best friend.......
Well it all started when this little girl started coming to soccer practices that I was hosting for several of my youth teams in Mandalgovi. She was too small to play and often ran onto the field so usually she ended up on my shoulders as I ran around giving instructions.
Our friendship blossomed when one day when she ran up to me in town asked me where I was going....I don’t remember where anymore. She then informed me that I was not going there anymore and instead she was bringing me home to meet her mom.
Every once and awhile I run into her in town and she proudly shows me off to her friends shouting “Look at my American friend!” “Tom you are my friend right?” and then bragging to her friends in complex language I only understand contextually (and tongue sticking out).
Okay so those brief insights will bring you up to speed to where you need to be.
Yesterday was my offices shiin jil (think new years with a light blue valuer suit santa) party and I decided to get my haircut to look spiffy for the occasion. The only problem with that is apparently everyone in Mandalgovi had the same idea.
I went to my usual spot however I was roughly the 12th person in line. As I was leaving I ran into my friend from the snippets above. After telling her my plight she took it upon herself to bring me to every place that cuts hair on our main street (there is about 7 and they are all clearly marked). She led me by the hand from store to store, ignoring me when I told her I knew where all of the places were and would inform me if the line was long or if the place was closed.
On the 5th try we found a place that only had a line of three people. This place was met with my friends approval and she wished me a good haircut and a happy new years before skipping down the road to continue whatever they day had in store for her.
Muus’ patented look: ice
(because Muus means ice in Mongolian...it’s a joke)
Final Can(might)did’s from the wedding ceremony
Can(might)did’s from the Melissa and Kyle’s wedding ceremony