Dear Family & Friends, Tuesday,
September 17, 2013
We departed from the Hong Kong
airport hotel Monday morning and checked into our Korean Air flight on our
journey to Mongolia . Jim
secured bulkhead seats for us on both flights (about 3 ½ hrs. each), which made
it a pretty pleasant trip to Seoul and then on to Ulaanbaatar . When
we tried to get our donation bag checked for free, we had no luck. When we discovered that this third bag was
going to cost $100, we told them that maybe we’d leave our donations with them
to pass out. This helped them to ‘get
creative’. They said that our luggage
was less than the weight limit so we stuffed the donations into our two
suitcases. We still had a small bag’s
worth left though and again tried to give it to them. They found a better way and had us add it
back into the soft bag and told us to carry it on—problem solved, although it
was a hot and sweaty exercise.
We were interested in seeing the ‘#1 airport in the world’ in Seoul . It was
huge and full of expensive looking shops, a majority of which seemed to be
selling women’s handbags. Once again
they seem to like shiny, hard floors and glass—quite modern. The Internet was free no matter where you
were sitting in the airport, and there were several charging stations among the
seats. There was a Hello Kitty store,
selling typical little girl things and kiddy foods, with a colorful play area
for the children right next door.
Shiny &
modern, Seoul , Korea
We arrived just after 10:30 PM in Ulaanbaatar and got through customs and picked up our
luggage in fairly rapid time, spotting the missionary couple, Elder &
Sister Nay, waiting for us. It is always
good to see a friendly face in the crowd and not have to worry about taking a
taxi. The road was partially paved from
the airport, but much of it was torn up, being under construction, full of
gullied pot holes. Sister Nay, after
being here for 2 ½ months, still seems a bit out of sorts about the roads,
traffic, and local driving habits. Even
this late at night it was crowded, but it didn’t seem all that long till we
reached our destination.
The Chinggis Khaan Hotel is right across from the apartments that the
couples stay in and within a few minutes’ walk to the office. Their mission president is rather young, in
his mid-30’s, and has 4 young children.
They live in the upper stories of the office building. He and his wife speak the language, both
having served their missions here as young adults.
The lovely Chinggis Khaan Hotel.
When we arrived at our hotel last night it was a cool evening, but I was
not cold. The stewardesses from the
Korean Air flight though thought it was really, really cold, as they shivered
and danced, trying to keep warm in the lobby.
The hotel is really very nice. We
are on the 7th floor, and it is one with a window that opens. We thought that the hot rooms (complained
about online from summertime visitors) would not apply to us, but they must
have central heating and it is hot and stuffy in the room. Only the upper rooms have push-out
windows—this allowed us to breathe, the air conditioning not working. Who would have thought I’d be too hot? The hotel has a nice breakfast buffet and the
room was so pretty that I took a picture.
I have no idea why, but some guy told me I couldn’t take a picture till
I told him why I was doing so. Who did
he think I was--a spy? The young man
trainee at the door that morning couldn’t tell me why either. Our room is nice and roomy and the shower is
really great and we have all the amenities including a good Internet. Even the bed is comfortable—I’m in heaven. Why do I feel so guilty? Shouldn’t we be suffering?
We met the Nays at the office and planned what to do while waiting for
our 24-year-old translator. I will call
her Mugi. That is what it sounds
like. The alphabet here is unreadable to
us, so I’ll be making up a lot of names of things and people so it will be a
‘sounds like’ translation. Mugi speaks
English very well, not just because she studied it for years in school, but
because she served a mission in San Bernardino , CA
The church has a number of cars in their parking lot and when someone
needs a car they check it out for use that day.
We traveled a ways out of town in some traffic, but it seemed pretty
normal to us since all countries we’ve worked in have massive traffic
problems. It took us a while to find
what we were looking for--a kiosk that covered a borehole that pumped water
into a tank so that people could come and fill their jugs without pumping
water—it just flows in. They either have
boreholes that pump water into a tank, or they have what they call dump
stations. They put in a tank in a dispensing
hut (nicely built); then water trucks get city water and dump it in these tanks. This particular hut had become a corrupted
project. The contractor had not only
done a horrible construction job that hardly resembled the plans, but he also
took the rest of the money and didn’t finish the job. Someone (obviously a trusting soul) gave him
the money before he was finished at the request of the local elected leader who
claimed he would stand behind it and make sure it got done (can you believe
this?). Obviously the elected leader and
the contractor took the money and left, never to return. The project does work somewhat, but many things
were not done, leaving it ‘sort of working.’
One of the
Church’s kiosks where water is dispensed.
It looks pretty cute till you see the workmanship, and the fact that it
was not completed, leaving it only partially working.
We checked out some good water points constructed by other organizations
and then went to see the newly elected leader of the area. This woman was so very concerned about what
had gone on that she really tried to help us.
Elder & Sister Nay are trying to reach the contractor, even though
if they do, he will surely deny everything; we will try to get the government
involved to expose his corruption and force his hand.
It was two hours after lunch when we decided to call it a day. Our translator took us to a great
restaurant—it was reasonable and really good food.
This is a
traditional hut or home. The little
attachment is also typical, allowing the home to be warmer as it gives an extra
opening that can keep the cold away from entering the main hut. Inside is a stove for heating and cooking,
but these are dangerous and can burn the place down. These dwellings are set in and around the
more modern homes.
Our first day here was pleasant as the temperature probably reached 65
degrees. Unfortunately, it will be
cooling off each day that we are here, perhaps ending in snow by Sunday.
More pictures to follow.
Love, from Mongolia
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