Saturday night and the Ballet

Saturday night was a whole lot of fun. Saturday was pretty sleepy; not having slept much on Friday night didn’t help. A band of expats were playing at a local nightclub and they were AWESOME. I danced all night and had the best time. I met some new people and danced with people I mis-read (but still had a LOT of fun nevertheless). Everything has to shut at midnight which so far is  a good things because it means a relatively early night and less of a hangover.

All in all, a wonderful introduction to Mongolian live music. Albeit expat Mongolian music. I didn’t stop smiling all night. Above – the photos to prove it.

Today was another slow day – after even less sleep last night, I had a bit of morning sleep in, in a vain attempt at catching up on some zzzzzzz’s. Once I woke up and organised myself Sarah and I wandered to the German bakery and had a bloody delicious salad and pastrami sandwich (pastrami slightly frozen but who am I to complain?). We continued our walk to the most awesome, amazing, epic, picturesque, spectacular sewing machine shop you’ve ever seen. Proof:

Yup. Bloody fantastic.

Their customer service wasn’t amazing, but I can’t complain because my Mongolian is terrible thus far. I spent a good two hours in there. There were 6 sewing machines to choose from. I automatically culled the cheap ones. It was a brand I hadn’t heard of and I wasn’t about to spend heaps of money on something so it could break tomorrow.

Above: my amazing purchase of the day. It cost me a trip to the countryside. 477800Tugs for the lot. That’s a pretty good trip to the countryside. But totally, totally worth it.

I got some scissors, pins, pin cushion and some cotton too. Now I need some material. Oh man, do I ever need material! I’m desperate! I want to get some patterns from the States (you can’t get them here), so I’ll have to wait til I can make dresses and stuff but I can make some PJ’s without a pattern. And scrunchies. I don’t care – I just want to make something! And I can! My new singer sewing machine has cruise control. No shit! You can tell it how fast to go and it just goes. And there’s an automatic button hole maker. Goodness gracious me!

I found out all this by pretending I understood a little bit of what they were saying. We pulled the machine out and had a bit of a play – she showed me some cool stuff. And then we trundled back home to go to the ballet.

And, what a night! It was amazing! For $7, it was AMAZING!

Swan Lake by the Mongolian Ballet

The theatre is beautiful as well. It’s very Soviet but has some lovely Mongolian touches as well. See below for more:

The Mongolian Theatre VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A quick video

Steppe Riders last weekend

If I was in Brisbane….

If I was in Brisbane, today I would be a lot more hung-over than I currently am. I would have made bacon and eggs with a rocket salad with blue cheese and poached pear on a super fresh, crusty white bread roll. Then I would have done my washing, cleaned my room, gone to the markets at Southbank and then a movie followed by dumplings and an early night.

But seeing as I am in Mongolia, things are a little different. Last night I went to a party where there were lots of wrestlers and lots of expats. I drank a little bit of vodka because the Indian I had for dinner made it hard to keep anything down. Then I got home at 4am and went to sleep til 10am. Ate home made muesli with UHT milk for breakfast, put on a load of washing and then washed my hair in the sink with water so cold it gave me brain freeze. Now I have a plastic bag over my head with conditioner in it because I am too scared to wash it out.

I apologise for the lack of photos. I’d hidden my bag and camera so well I was too lazy to find it to take a photo.

In between mini-spews, it was a pretty fun night. A night full of compliments as well. If I maintain modesty during the year on this blog, you’ll never get a full picture. So modesty aside, I got a buttload of compliments last night. It’s always nice to receive compliments! There was a group upon my arrival that apparently like my physique, my face and then to top it off someone had mentioned I was nice as well (heard from a friend). What a funny thing to say though! There was a group of Mongolian wrestlers that were super keen to meet me and then proceeded to sing loudly to the music in very broken and funny english. One tried to give me his phone number by typing it on his phone and showing me. I don’t know my phone number, which isn’t very handy and I don’t take my phone many places because I’m too scared it’ll get taken.

Then I had to have my photo taken by a Mongolian guy for some reason or another. Once I realised it was 3am, it was time to go home. I had three potential walker-homer-ers. Which is a good situation to be in, unless you’ve told all three guys that you definitely need them to take you home (you can’t go home alone here – even in a taxi). So then I felt guilty that I’d promised I’d walk home with three different people but obviously did not need three grown men to walk me home. No doubt they probably wouldn’t have been keen for that either. So I kind of just escaped and walked home with walker-homer-er number 3. We had a cup of tea (SO cold outside, had to warm up) and then by the time he left it was 4am and I was in bed.

I caved and got a manicure. I’m not sure I’ll ever bother again. It just took too long and now I have purple nails until I could be bothered to get it off. I also organised 3 other people to come to the gym with me and check it out. Turns out it’s actually the nicest gym in Mongolia. It’s got all the equipment I could ever want (including personal lockers and a sauna), except a rowing machine. I guess I don’t really like rowing all that much anyway.

Tomorrow morning we’re all going to join and do a morning workout. I can’t wait. Day one of eating well and exercising again. I’m sure I’m going to feel 100% better than I do now (even though I don’t feed too bad). It costs 180 000Tugs for 3 months gym. It’s also the cheapest gym I’ve found! I’m going to try to go at lunch times, which will be a good habit to get into especially for winter – as the sun will be up then and I will still be able to walk alone.

Fire trucks

My apartment is one block from the (what I assume to be) central fire station. There are six garages that I'm almost certain are filled with six fire trucks. The quality of the trucks range fairly heftily. This one is my favourite. I hear the trucks at least once a day, which is scary as there are very, very few buildings with a fire escape. The traffic in UB is such that it can (and does; eg. yesterday) take up to an hour to drive about 4km. Vehicles, upon hearing the drone of the eeeeee-orrrrrrrrrrrrr, will make an attempt to move off the road. Unfortunately this amounts to not much as most vehicles drive on all parts of the road, side road, middle road and other side of the road.

Do not fear, my fellow followers. I have devised schemes. I didn't work in the mining industry for the last three years and gain no HSE sense.

Should a fire erupt in my apartment, I will grab my passport and jump out the window. We are only on the third floor which means gravity is on my side and should I fall, I will only break smaller/less essential bones such as arms and legs. If there is a car under the window, I will aim for the roof as that will save me an extra 2m of falling.

Should a fire get out of control in my office, I will calmly boot down the fire escape door and walk down the 6 flights of stairs whilst holding on to the hand rail (mainly because I'm not sure on the quality of the aforementioned stairs).

If I need an ambulance.... Well, that's a different story. One day when I catch a glimpse of one I'll get a photo of it. They resemble what could only be described as the equivalent of a Kombi van. But they're an old Russian vehicle painted white with what looks quite rudimentary gear inside. Basically I will stay out of harms way and if the need arrives for a ambulance, I shall count my lucky stars that I lasted that long without having to call one.

To mum and dad: I promise I won't ever need an ambulance; I will make it worthwhile and at least make them fly me out of here in a jet or a helicopter. xox

First photography ‘group’ shots

So I’m trying to set up a group of people that want to take photos around the place. It’s too dangerous to get your camera out alone –> safety in numbers! Last night was our first meet up. It was about minus 5 degrees which made playing with camera buttons THAT much harder. And shorter. Hopefully next week will be warm enough to play around properly. Above: the view from our kitchen balcony looking up the main street.

Sukhbaatar Square: Parliament house (I live directly behind this building)

A man on a horse (the statue in the middle of the square) with Sky Tower in the background

The first three groupies! All set up and taking photos from different angles

Vie from the square

Chinggis and another horse statue (note: he is always disproportionate to everything around him)

The Mongolian flag, flying high (and cold!) at the end of Spring, 2011

Plastic sewing machines

Yesterday at work was a little more productive as I created my own projects and started figuring out what I wanted to talk to the boss about. She gets back tomorrow apparently, but I’m not ready to talk to her yet. My counterpart gets back next Tuesday.

Last night was hockey. Lots of fun except there’s one girl that likes to pretend her hockey stick is a whipper snipper. Because you can use both sides of the stick, she comes steamrolling in and when she misses, she swings back the other way, and if your legs are in the way – too bad! I’ve got multiple bruises popping up today. I got a bit sick of it and started sticking the elbow in, which is a bit naughty but she’d hurt everyone else enough.

Post-hockey drinks were lovely. We just sat and chatted. I’m hooked up to go on a field trip with year 2 students. They’re studying rocks and one of the girls from hockey is their teacher – blah blah, we’re going to take them on a field trip!

Today at work was less productive (work wise). Ulnaa and I went to the post office. That was a big enough job in itself. My 20 letters were apparently addressed wrong, so I had to buy 20 new envelopes and re-address them, with my personal address written in cyrillic on them as well. We production-lined it and had them done in no time. $30 later, the letters were posted and we were on our way back to pick up some work people for a lunch. My work has a car and a driver that is practically a free taxi service. So we spent an hour going about 4km to drop them off. The traffic is horrendous.

We went to the VIP Mobicom centre. Apparently I classify as a VIP. It just means I got served a lot quicker, they were a lot nicer and it wasn’t in a room with a million other people. I’ve got a plan of some sort on my phone now.

Lunch at a delicious bakery and then confirmed that I am destined never to use a sewing machine in Mongolia. The one that the department store had for sale was apparently a returned machine that is made of plastic and won’t work very well. My only other option is to buy an industrial sewing machine, which is highly unnecessary. But super unfortunate. I would have loved to sew. Nevermind; must think of new hobby.

This evening I’m off to a museum opening and then to conduct my trial photography group. There are 4 people showing up tonight. I gave them all homework last night (research ISO, Aperture and shutter speed). Hopefully it’s fun!

And then on Sunday, AND next Sunday, I’m off to the theatre to see the Mongolian ballet perform Swan Lake and Tara Chojin respectively. It cost 10,000tugs/seat which is about $7aud. Crazy cheap. I am SO excited!

Sans hot water

The hot water's off. I was actually surprised we had any at all, but then I kind of got used to it and now we don't have hot water and I'd really love a shower. Instead I have a lot of water boiling on the stove ready for my first (of many) sponge bath. At least it's warm water.
Top rated sponge bathes ever:
1. In Vietnam in Binh Dinh village after days of trekking and learning and sweltering in the middle of no where, I got back to my mattress-free bed and was ready to change in to my PJ's and sleep in grime when my host lady came to the rescue. They couldn't even afford to put doors on their house, or mattresses on their bed. But they could boil water for me to have a bucket bath in the toilet that was right next to the pig pen. It was, by and far and far and by the best, warmest, most comforting shower/wash/bucket bath that I have ever, ever have. I also don't think I have ever felt more grateful in my life.

2. In Kenya after days of safari with some completed retarded people (not including my sisters; they are cool), we still had no running water. Our tour guide was an absolute tool and we were staying in a national park where you could literally be killed by: lions, elephants, scorpions, leopards and god only knows what else. If I was with anyone else, they would have clocked me on the head and told me to just deal with being grimey and go to sleep in the stupid little tent with the stupid little mattress. But no, Tegan and Nikki shone the torch outside in the cold (so I could see and so they could watch for lions) while I used a bottle of water to wash the grime off me. It was a quick wash, but it was a great wash. It was also one of those 'I am beyond grateful for my sisters' moment.

3. I'm afraid that tonight's bucket bath will not make it to number 3 on the list. I haven't had a tough day and I'm not super dirty. But I need a shower. At least this one will be warm.

4. Under Mt Kilimanjaro (Kenya side), we'd had a pretty rough time the previous few days, made it to camp only to find out that even though we were in a compound, the lions would still get in if we made ourselves a target. Target or no target, we had to shower. There was a SHOWER! It was a tap on the wall above your head. It was cold, and it was without pressure but dear lord - it was amazing! There were spiders everywhere and little microbats but in between them was the 4th most amazing wash I have ever had.

5. All the warm showers I have had post-full day of geological mapping/hockey playing/bike riding/field tripping/skiing in the icy cold.

Ode to showers: I love you.

Work wasn't amazing. No one's there so I just sat around and played on the computer and read some articles. I got the internet set up, scored a proper mouse and a proper keyboard and then made my way home. I ran into 3 Aussies working in a coal mine in the South Gobi. Some typical construction workers - super friendly, really keen for a chat. We chatted. They told me they could get me a job. They told me they earn TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY. I told them I'm volunteering. They insisted on getting me a job. I had to INSIST that I didn't want a paying job.

It almost killed me. These guys legitimately could have helped me get a job that would have paid me more money than one can fathom in a day - and I had to say no. Because I'm doing a good thing. Volunteering. I'm not even doing it properly - I get an allowance! I'm doing the easy version of volunteering!

But I still had to say no. I was shaking for two hours afterwards and ate a whole packet of (the equivalent of) Jatz. I'm over it now. But goodness gracious me. What a predicament.
I also had a nightmare last night re: my old work. My boss' boss' boss (so the big guy) cut loose and went nuts at work and quit and we all didn't know what to do. It doesn't sound nightmarish but it was. I guess because I still really like that joint, and really want to go back - and anyone that challenges that upsets me. And if THAT guy challenges it, then I'd kind of have to believe it.

Nevermind, I'm in Mongolia. :)

My first Mongolian mistake

My first day at Origin was organised months beforehand. I had to meet at the office at 335 Coronation Drive, Brisbane, at 9am. My boss would meet me downstairs and we would go from there.

This morning is my first day at the World Bank. It’s 9:24am. I was up at 6:30am, ready at 6:50am. I walked to work (10min walk) in my heels (bad idea, Sally. Heels are never, ever comfortable unless you’re rip-roaring drunk). I sat downstairs and called the office twice and sent a text message. The lady who has been organising my placement is in Washington on a work trip with what seems like the entire office except for Urnaa. Urnaa eventually called me back and told me that I’d have to wait until 10am because she won’t be there til then and no one upstairs can speak English.

So I packed up my stuff and trotted home. What I should have done is call Urnaa last night and confirm everything. I might have found out my start time a bit more accurately. I was told 9am (and no earlier). Promptness does not often pay off, and this morning it certainly didn’t.

Nevermind, now I’m at home and I think I’ll watch an episode of gossip girl.

The key to my heart

Actually, not really. Above are the photos that are the 'key to my apartment’.  (clockwise from top left: the stairwell and front door of our apartment; the front door of the building our apartment is in; the local Russian Caravan; the lowest building in the photo – just so happens to be our local supermarket.

Beautiful day today – 17 degrees outside and the sun is shining. I’ve got the house to myself for a few hours which is lovely. Not that I don’t like my housemates – it’s just always nice to have your own time. I’ve organised some paperwork, been to two different supermarkets (just to check them out), vacuumed, cleaned my room, made some lunch with leftovers for tomorrow and read a little bit.

I really wanted to make something to take to work with me tomorrow. I’m out of ideas though. I don’t feel 100%. I attempted scones and choc chip biscuits. Both of which were sub-par and would never be given as a gift to my new workmates. So they’ll have to wait. Maybe one day when I’ve got a bit more cashola up my sleeve, I’ll make some mini pavlovas. That also requires me finding some whippable cream.

Bayartai (goodbye)

I got tick’ed

Steppe Riders - May 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I got a tick in my hair! It’s the second tick I’ve ever had and it was totally not welcome. Luckily it got pulled out within a few hours of it trying to make home on my head.

Horse riding was great. But I don’t think it’s as great as I imagined. There’s a lot of skill that I don’t have (i.e. none) and there’s a lot more physical exhaustion and pain involved than I had ever imagined.

It was still really cool. The landscape is as beautiful as it looks in the photos, but better. It’s sparse and dotted with the occasional ger and wild horses. And we were only about 15km out of UB.

We rode for a couple of hours; I wish I had worn two sports bras like I considered this morning. My horse was pretty responsive. For half of the year the horses go wild; for the other half they’re herded and saddled up. They’re not trained as such. Mine didn’t like going the direction I wanted it to but I got better at telling it what to do. It stopped and started when I wanted though. And all that was running through my mind was dad saying ‘motorbikes don’t have temperaments’. And now I understand why. Cranky bastards they are!

I walked a lot and then I started to trot. Turns out trotting is probably the most uncomfortable thing in the world, and if you canter (or gallop, I don’t know – the one that’s faster than the trot) it is way more comfortable! You just have to hold on real tight and trust the horse a bit more.

We ate lunch there and then drove home. I’m pooped! And I’ll be SO sore tomorrow! I’m heading out for all you can eat Brazilian food right now. Hopefully it’s delicious.

My first plan-free weekend!

Today marks the first day we've had free since we arrived. It also marks 1.5months since I finished work in Brisbane. It ALSO marks 2 days til I start my new job.

SCARY! I know they're all lovely, but looking at my schedule for the next year, I don't think I'll have much time to do anything other than work.

Last night I went to bed at 8:30pm. There was a party on that I wanted to go to. It's a real hassle to get anywhere at night here. You can't walk out alone, and you're not suppose to catch a taxi alone - so how do you get anywhere? You've got to have others in on the deal. And I don't have any good enough friends to say 'if you come with me tonight, I'll go to the next party you want to go to'. Nevermind, I'm not far off it - we finally have time to ourselves and I can start sorting myself out.

Yesterday was one of those days. I needed some hiking boots, some comfy everyday shoes, tea towels, towels, bowls and of course some new earrings. I was actually looking for a sewing machine and definitely did not find one.

The plans for this weekend: making pancakes for breakfast and leftovers to take for morning tea (no muesli bars in the Mong). Heading off to horseriding in the steppes at 10am. Spend the evening reading documents for work. Tomorrow I will be organising my wardrobe for work, reading some work documents, reading some journal articles for work and making some lunch for work.

Learn the Mongolian alphabet with me!

 

 

Learn the Mongolian alphabet with me!

 

 

Above: A video of me saying the alphabet (most exciting thing you’ll ever see; I suggest you watch it at least twice).

Below: the cyrillic alphabet written out for you to refer back to after you’ve familiarised yourself with the above video.

 

Cyrillic alphabet for Mongolians:

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mongolian.htm

Post-shopping reflection

Post-shopping reflection

Above: Some photos the other guys took in Terlej. I’m looking 100% trendy. I was definitely warm. The little boy lives at the ger on the weekends, and goes to school in UB during the week. He’s very bossy and super cute! The photo on the right actually has two kid goats in it; a blacky and a browny. He was trying to pry them both off me and was pulling at their heads so hard I thought their necks would pop out! Hence my “surprised” face.

Talking last night over dinner (we had a Mongolian friend over), Ryan mentioned the snake’s blood he drank fresh in Japan. The Mongolian friend was mortified, thought it was really weird – and when I said ‘but sheep head/palette is totally normal, right?’ – he agreed. Note to self: I’m sure I do things that are totally weird and wacky and disgusting to other cultures. I will make an effort to figure these things out.

The no-mercy massage

Sorry my updates have been few and far between of late. I haven't even been busy - that's the problem. I mean, yes - I have been busy. But I haven't had things organised for every minute of every day. Which means I've been doing other things, like writing letters to people, buying things for the house, eating at different restaurants to find my favourite, baking things to get the ingredients right. Those sorts of things.

So - to describe my week: language classes at our house at our dining table, til lunch time. Lunch at home or at a local cafe to test out local cuisine. Afternoons: writing letters, practicing Mongolian language, reading things for my new job that starts on Monday, organising house. Etc etc.

Today I made dinner. Our Mongolian friend whom we met in Canberra came over for dinner and we had a stir fry (a little too hot; not enough colour; not enough cashews; slightly overcooked in part) and then an apple pie (pastry too thick; apples too dry - note to self: Mongolian apples need to be stewed with extra sugar before being baked as they are not moist enough to make their own pie mince). But we drank some vodka, chatted, laughed, played a board game (and was yet again reminded of why I should always follow my rule of playing board games and card games with only family including the Stokes'........ I am so impatient and bossy).
It was really lovely! Now it's midnight and I'm still away. Bugger.
Also: find of the night. Ryan was looking for a 'drain snake' or something of the sorts to unblock our sink, and found a very random collection of pornography - not very well disguised and definitely not belonging to us! I didn't believe him (so naive - I know). I do now. It's definitely what he says it is. And it can go right back in the cupboard it came from! But, good story.

Re: our weekend in Terelj. The ger was SO hot - the fire was SUPER efficient. Especially with the pre-cut pine that was the only wood available. So it would light, go absolutely CRAZY, almost cook us and go out within a few minutes. Horseriding would have been fun if he let go of the reigns and actually let me do my own thing. I did find two really cool rocks though - gypsum with what I could only think would have been obsidien underneath it (but of course, my lack of technical geological knowledge is well know). It could have been anything. But it was cool.
While we were waiting for our horses, two school students got in a fight over a girl (who was also hit, kicked, punched and slapped in the course of the fight) - that was broken up by a school teacher who came racing in and elbowed one of the students in the head. Owch.
So - re: the no-mercy massage. Sarah and I finally got around to getting a massage today. It was INSANE. So much poking and prodding and pulling. I had fingers in my ears, deeper than any wet-willy should go. I was sat on so much that I couldn't breathe. You get the drift.
But you know what - I feel great!
Oh. I didn't mention the no-mercy bit. WHOLEY DOOLEY it was painful! And when it was painful, she just used more force the next time. An elbow instead of a thumb. OWCH!

We're going horseriding again this weekend. I can't wait. And there's about 6 of us meeting in the square on Wednesday night to take some night time photos. I'm going to teach some people how to take long exposures. If I can put my patient boots on, it'll be great. I'm sure I can - that's what my anti-stress tablets are for! :)

I have a constant sore throat. If it stays at that, I'll be happy.

Work on Monday. I'm excited but scared. Same same as a normal job. The fact that I have a job to go back to in Australia is such a relief though. It just makes me feel that a year isn't that long. And I haven't said goodbye to the lifestyle (and friends!) that I love. And that my career isn't at a standstill - it's being helped along. It kind of just feels like I'm on a massive holiday. Which is all it is up til now. I haven't worked since April 1. That's 1.5months of holidays before I actually start work again! It's going to be a massive shock to the system. Especially with the lack of flexibility that I so loved at Origin. I guess it will make me appreciate it that much more.
Much more to say; must get some sleep. xox

A little embarrassing… I can take it.

My room–in UB

Now, we all know I’m not afraid of being the centre of attention. But when it comes to putting my video camera on a tripod and pressing play – well….. it’s slightly nerve racking. Ever since I heard my own voice on 2MG radio in Mudgee in year 1, I’ve not been particularly fond of the recorded version of my own voice. Couple that with actually going ahead and filming myself. Well. Look. I’ll get over it. I might even get good at it.

But for now, here’s a video of ME and MY room in UB.

Have I mentioned that ‘Ulaanbaatar’ means ‘red hero’? Probably not. It’s the only reason I remember how to pronounce the colour red in Mongolian. ‘ulaan’ means red. Too easy, 99!

A video is worth a thousand words–is it not?!

I still haven’t got around to writing about my weekend in Terelj. I have been fighting with Windows Live Moviemaker; it keeps freezing on me – I’ve uninstalled, reinstalled and it’s still driving me nuts.

Anyway, I got far enough to create the movie – it just has no comments (except for a couple at the beginning). The quality of this move is - pardon my French - shithouse, because I've had to reduce the size so it would upload. Believe it or not, I have actually spent every spare minute/hour since Sunday night trying to upload this. It's the best I can do: just watch it on a small screen and you should be able to get the picture.And I’m not fighting anymore so I will commentate:

The movie starts with the journey to the ger. Then you see inside the ger where we are served milky, salty tea (tastes and funny as it sounds) and the women start to make our lunch – of carrot, potato and home made noodles.

From there you see the grandfather using a blowtorch to get rid of the wool off the sheep head. It was pretty stinky because wool doesn’t like to be burned. Then we’re back inside the ger and there’s more food making going on. Then there’s a game of ankle bones – man vs man. I think what’s next is the horse – a close up for anyone keen on little Mongolian horses and their riding gear.
 
There’s some footage of little kids and lambs being fed and then the view from the hill we clambered up (so spectacular). From there it would cut quite quickly to the ger camp we stayed at for the night – a bit further down the road, in a very touristy ger camp.

I am so not making another video until someone else figures out how to fix my dumbass moviemaker. So enjoy this one while it lasts.

Today: language lesson at my apartment. I made scones that turned out okay – not amazing as I haven’t figured out the potency of the baking soda yet but they were pretty edible. Post – language lesson I had a nap then Tsegi from work picked me up and we sorted my work visa out. Wholey dooley, what an effort. An hour of running around in the same place from one counter to another – paying a lot of money, getting receipts, taking fingerprints and photos. Finally it was done and I get my passport back next week. Woohoo.
I came home to watch another episode of Hellcats (courtesy of Tegan) and turns out the episodes finished at number 4 which was super duper disappointing. They must not have downloaded properly. Nevermind, someone might have more of them for me. I hit the gym – not the gym at the school down the road as it costs $150/month. Yup.

I walked 15mins down the road (too far for winter so I’ll have to sort something else out) and paid 6000tugs to get in. I know why it was cheaper too. Most equipment was for sale. It wasn’t often plugged in. Weights didn’t work; they didn’t have much of anything and then other things were broken. Anyway, there will be enough to keep me occupied for a little bit. Hopefully.

Came home and wrestled with my stupid new computer for hours and hours and hours and hours. Enjoy the video – it may well be the last.
xox

Terelj et al

My computer seems to have a heart attack every time I try to make a movie. I have two great (albeit Sally-style) videos I want to make and upload but I can’t seem to do it. Will figure it out ASAP and let you know.

Busy busy weekend; lots happened – lots of photos. I’m too tired to write so will make a picture story and will update you in words later.

		Terelj et al VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL