Mongolia Trip

This morning after breakfast and a shower, we sat in a circle to reflect on our challenges, what we are grateful for, etc. Once that was over, we played some James Bond. It was really fun. I won a lot. That may have been why. After lunch, which had fries, we went to ride camels!!! I’m so excited. Once we got there they saddled up three camels to ride. Camels look so weird. Their like chickens but mammals. You sit in between their two humps and don’t fall. It was really fun and funny to watch others. Camels also always look like their smiling with a lot of saliva that is yellow. Them standing up and sitting down is a very weird feeling because you tip forward then straighten out then tip back then straighten out. You’re kinda like a ping pong ball between their humps. It was really cool though. Their fur is also short and smooth. The one I rode was white. After the camels we went for an early dinner. It was at a nice hotel but it wasn’t very good food, but it had WiFi so I was able to d...

Last night started out rough but I ended up sleeping great. I was so happy for the bed and nice mattress. Once we had breakfast which wasn’t very good, I took a quick super cold shower. I was told there would be hot water. That is false. The water was icy. Anyway after the unfortunate falsely advertised shower we started our drive to Wish Mountain. The ride was bumpy but kinda like a roller coaster with going up and down the sand dunes. It was fun. When we arrived I looked up and saw my worst enemy. Stairs. They have found me again. Why every temple or sacred thing must be on a mountain is beyond me. The flat ground is pretty too. Anyway we climbed the stairs to the first stop where we wrote down our wishes and burned them. I can’t say my wishes or they can’t come true but they were good wishes. We first tried burning them with matches but we used so many of them since they kept going out so we just used a lighter instead. Second part of the climb was to a mountain shrine which we walk...

This morning after breakfast we went to a big tank on the hill. The view overlooked the city. It is a very small city, more like a town. We all took some pictures, but then saw the playground nearby. We all went because you never outgrow playgrounds. It was more like a workout playground. It was fun though. I went down a tiny slide and climbed the weird climbing thing. Fun times. We also decided to take a fancy picture on a big fountain rock. Luckily the water wasn’t actually on so we could climb on it for the picture. After we got off though the water turned on. We were all like “dang that was close” but then saw the water mechanic person there. He waited till we got off to turn it on. He’s nice. If it was me I would’ve turned on the water when they were on the rock and said it was a timed turn on. After some of that we went back to the tank to get a lecture about the town and the tanks and statue. The big tank was from when Mongolia and Japan were fighting. The statue was of a hero...

We woke up early to get off the train and went straight to the hotel. Not all the rooms were ready so we all hung out in one room till breakfast. After breakfast we went on a long walk. We just walked straight till we hit the middle of nowhere and turned back. A bit of an exaggeration but we were in a very deserted area. Mostly because we’re in a desert. I’m not a fan of deserts with the heat and the flatness and nothingness. I prefer the mountains with grass, trees and streams. But this is still a cool experience. After the walk we all relaxed till lunch. I even got in a short power nap. During lunch we watched the Lorax. Last time I watched it was in 6th grade in Ms Nickerson’s class. Ahh the good old days. Anyway after lunch we... relaxed more. I like that we had time to relax before going to the museums. I’m not the biggest fan of museums unfortunately. First museum: Danzanravjaa museum is a museum starring... Danzanravjaa! It is filled with things that belonged to him and unfort...

Today is the day we leave for the night train. I’m excited for another first experience. Breakfast was pretty dead. We were all tired and lazy. After breakfast we all went to the mall to get some souvenirs and toiletries. Once we got there we all went to the 6th floor for some souvenir shopping. I got a nice present for Peggy. Unfortunately all the stuff I also wanted to buy was too expensive so I’m hoping Gobi is better. Later we went to the grocery store in the mall and I found... Caprisuns! I was so excited. I bought a whole pack. Yummy juice. For lunch a few of us went to a cafe and got some paninis and Italian ice. The ice was okay but also mostly ice. The panini was good cause it had pesto. Pesto is da bomb. But the ham was no bueno. After lunch we finally went back to the hotel to pack and chill. We watched a lot of Netflix and downloaded stuff. We were all out in the hall for hours till we finally went down for dinner. For a special treat we got actual good ice cream. I also to...

Today we left right after breakfast for Ulaanbaatar. The bus ride was long and bumpy and a we were all sick at some level. Either from the bumpiness or previous stuff. I actually felt better after taking some medicine. But others were unfortunately throwing up. Sarah, John Paul and I again binge watched avatar. Also took some naps. Once we arrived some of us ran to the nearby grocery store to grab some snacks. They had Doritos! Which I obviously bought. After the store, Sarah, John Paul and I started binging avatar again. Dinner was pizza and jamming to the Shrek soundtrack. It was Kevin’s goodbye party. He has to leave early for drum line practice/camp. We all told funny stories about Kevin and it was really sad. He leaves tomorrow morning very early so tonight is goodbye. I’m not very good at goodbyes but it’s okay. I try anyway. After dinner we binged some more avatar in the hall. And downloaded all the Netflix we needed. Soon we went to bed, in a real bed!!! John Paul an...

Today I woke up and had a horrible stomach ache. I went to the bathroom and had diarrhea. Gosh darn. It sucks. Especially with no toilet around. Anyway I was sad to leave but excited to see the others. Once I woke up, the parents and four girls and I started our drive to base camp. We didn’t go straight to camp though. We stopped in town to drop off some milk, wash the car and they even stopped to get me fruit. God I miss fruit. I’m gonna devour so much fruit when I get home, there will now be the Fruit Monster and a Cookie Monster. So you have a healthy and sweet option. Anyway, I stayed in the car for every stop because I was feeling sick and stuff. Once we finally got to camp, everyone was already there. They started laughing and saying an army of Emory’s was coming because me and the girls were all wearing sweatpants, T-shirt’s and braids (which I did). Also we’re all tan and stuff. While I was here many people have thought I’m Mongolian. I guess I kinda look Mongolian cause of the...

Today is the last full day at my home stay. It’s bittersweet. On one hand I’m excited to go to the Gobi Dessert and then go home and see my family. On the other hand I love this simple life style in this beautiful land. I can’t get enough of it. As I said before bittersweet. Anyway I again slept with my host sister. She wasn’t as cuddly she just took up a lot of the space. Also she slept in this morning so I did too. For the first time in forever... Oh they love Frozen, yesterday they were saying how one of them is Elsa and one is Anna and I’m Moana. Yay. Once I changed and brushed my teeth and stuff, I braided their hair. I practiced my French braiding on them. I’m happy to say it looks decent. After that I went to the cooking yurt and helped peel and cut potatoes. Compared to the mother though I was a snail. She was like bing band Lloyd and it was peeled and sliced. I took much longer. But it was nice to help. Once I finished that I worked on my bracelet and finished! It looks really...

Tonight was also a rough night. I slept with my host sister in one of the beds. While she’s awake she fine except she takes up a lot of the bed. But when she’s asleep it’s takin to a whole new level. She is a cuddler. She kept scooting super close to me and wrapping her arms and legs around me in her sleep. I kept having to gently push them off and not wake her up. Unfortunately I couldn’t move her over so I was squished against the side of the yurt the whole night. Not the best night but that’s okay I guess. When I woke up, I was experimenting with new bracelet designs when it started pouring like crazy. All the kids covered the sleeping yurt and hung out inside waiting for the rain to let up. Since there was no light I couldn’t read or make bracelets. So I took a nap. Well I tried and failed. Since I couldn’t nap I decided to read on my phone. Once the rain cleared, we went down to a nearby really big puddle. While walking there we heard a lot of mice around. Because of the heavy rai...

This morning I woke up to a screaming baby. The girl I was sleeping with was also a blanket hog so I also woke up cold. Despite the rough wake up, I was still excited because today is our group get together. The whole Experiment group is going to the lake to swim. Finally. For breakfast we have mutton. I walk in and right there is a sheep head. No body just the head. Not the skull, no the head, with eyes and skin and everything. Internal thoughts Ahhh. Outward expression, smile. I still ate the sheep though. Finally we started the drive to base camp. Once wall meet up and go crazy. I think it’s being out of contact with English speakers we’re a bit crazed. We all talked about our homestays and they were all surprisingly different. It was really nice to see them though. We all talked so much. We went down to the lake and it was cloudy. We are a cursed group. Every day has been sunny and great and the one day we go out to swim it’s cold and cloudy. The lake was freezing and we got out pr...

This morning I slept in and we watched some Korean TV. Leah and Marthla came to visit and check in this morning. Everything is going really well so it was just them talking to my host family. After they left, we had some breakfast. It was animal organs, which I’ve already tried and almost barfed up. So I decided to skip on that. Later that morning there was a huge bug thingy on one of he blankets in the yurt. It was really funny because the older brother picked it up no problem and the girls were shrieking. I was internally shrieking. Anyway he started waving it by his wife who was shrieking and trying to get away. It was really funny. Finally Arvinkh took it outside. But it was one of those small memorable moments and also reminded me of how my family and their reactions to stuff like that. Like the lizard incident. For the afternoon everyone was kinda just doing their own thing inside, so I took advantage and went outside to make a bracelet and listen to music. I love how the weather...

Today when I woke up, I pretended to be asleep. I slept on the floor with three other girls and I didn’t know what to do if I woke up so I pretended to be asleep. I waited till everyone woke up and most people left before getting up and getting dressed. Once everyone was up, the mom and sister in law put up all the blankets and mats. Why would you do that if your gonna pull it out again tonight. I don’t know. But it’s one of the many things I’ve noticed is different here. Another is people are a lot more comfortable seeing each other undress here and they go to the bathroom anywhere. It probably comes with the communal/everyone living really close life style they have here. Lucky for me I found a private plane to go to the bathroom. Also they treat their dogs way differently. They hit, pull and push their dogs and occasionally pet them but very rarely. The dogs are usually gone and only come back when they want to nap by the yurt. Anyway after breakfast, I taught the girls how to make ...

Today is the day we leave for our home stay. I’m freaking out man. We woke up a dm all of us are super nervous. We get one last language lesson before we leave, never to be seen again. Just kidding. Hopefully. Anyway all the families came at 11am. We all said hi, got our stuff and left. Just like that we were off. My family had a car. The drive was about 20 minutes. During the drive me and their 11 year old daughter, Arvinkhishig, kinda talked. We used a translating app for a lot of it. I learned she likes to draw and can play the piano. We arrived at one yurt and unloaded my stuff then drove to another yurt up the hill. This is where her 24 year old brother and his wife and kids live. I know they have one baby but there are three other girls and I’m not actually sure if their his kids because they don’t act like his kids. As in no hugs or kisses or anything. Also their 9,8 and 4 and he is 24 so I doubt their his kids. After I said hi to them we went back down to the first yurt and had...

Today we left for our home stay. It was a six hour drive! So much traveling. Anyway, Sarah, John Paul and I binged avatar. We had a system down. Watch three episodes, nap then watch another three episodes, nap. Great system. We stopped at the Chinguus Khan statue. It was boxy and metal. We climbed to the top. So the statue is him riding on a horse and the opening where you can look at the view is where his crotch meets the horse. So I stood in Chinguus Khans crotch. Joy. It was an amazing view though. The landscape. Not the crotch. After we went back down, we had some lunch. I wasn’t super hungry though. Lunch was done and we were off again. The bus ride was okay. I got some good naps in. I almost fell off the seat a lot due to the bumpiness of the road but I didn’t fall. Success. We got to the camp and it was literally in the middle of nowhere. Like I could take pictures of it from different directions and it would all look the same. Oh look north, grass. South, grass. East, grass. ...