The old men here are adorable! Nearly all of my conversations so far have been with random old men we met on the street. Yesterday on the afternoon walk we met this awesome dude who spoke no English, but it was okay because we spoke no Mongolian. We just jabbered at each other and everyone was laughing and smiling. I think he told us to go to Sabatska Square, so we did later. It's hilarious, all the contrasts here. There will be a grand, stately buildings, with huge pillars and bronze statues--and it will be cotton candy pink! There will be a dilapidated shack, covered with graffiti and faded paint, and a woman wearing a haute couture dress and 6-inch heels will walk out.
Everyone does whatever wherever; right now there's a guy smoking in the kitchen and a lady breast-feeding in the lobby(uncovered...) Here, you can buy a Book of Mormon in Mongolian for 1000 tuks (about 80 cents) from another random old guy on the street, and also Calculus books in Cyrillic. (Sam bought the Book of Mormon!)
Alright, I'm running out of time again. Gotta tell you this last story (and the source of the title of this post). This morning, a bunch of us went out to buy water, but the previously reliable 24-hour supermarket was closed for a reason stated in Cyrillic and thus I have no idea why. So we walked a little farther to this ghetto little store. Inside, we found everything was way cheaper, and the lady spoke really good English. As we were getting ready to check out, this old man came in, walking with a cane. He may or may not have been drunk (at 8 in the morning) but he was really nice. He told us, through the cashier, to travel as much as we can, and to ride horses instead of cars. He told us like six times to have a good trip, and he taught us "khoy"--great--and "mo"--bad. He told us to drink airag, but that vodka was for old men only. At that point, he bought a giant bottle of vodka, and we all went through the blessing ceremony-- dip your ring finger in vodka, then dab it on your forehead. Then he proceeded to down a HUGE shot of vodka-- and reminded us that vodka is only for old men.
Hey Mom, email me!
Emily Cackler
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Emily, reading your blog comments is almost as good as being there. I can tell you are really embracing the whole experience and starting the "life-changing" experience everyone has been torturing you with! I will e-mail you if I can. So far, it is same old-same old here. Love and miss you, Mom
Avery says you shouldn't accept vodka from old people.
Emily,
You are such a good writer! Thanks for sharing this story with us!
-Kathleen
(Killian and Jeannine's mom)
Post a Comment