mongolian family

July 25^th

P.S. I ate Starburst this week, thank you American Mom.

I talk about myself way too much, so I am dedicating this posting to my Mongolian family. Most of the time, it has been just me, my parents, and one sister, but my brother's family was around for a couple of days too. They are all pretty laid back and easy to get along with.

My dad is one of the taxi drivers here. He got an award recently from the city for being a safe driver. We don't talk very much, but he's pretty nice to me. One of the days that my brother was here, the three of us went to the black market. That was one of my favorite days.

My mom reminds me a little bit of my grandma that passed away. She is a fantastic cook, often making meals from scratch and doing so with ease. She is kind and thoughtful, but not to the extent of spoiling me. She doesn't have a job but, but she does a lot of work around the house. 

My family has a pretty big garden. They have potatoes, carrots, green onions, radishes, and maybe more. My parents are sometimes working in the backyard late at night and also in the morning once in a while too.

My sister is a computer teacher at the school, and has the summer off. I have probably learned more about Mongolia from her than anybody else. I got a lot of really interesting cultural information from her. She knows English and Mongolian pretty well, so she has helped me with understanding some of the differences between the two languages. Recently, she has been teaching me less often because I have been “studying too much.” She figured out that I am pretty shy, so she has been trying to get me to be “more free.” I have met some of her friends and played cards a couple times. Though I couldn't understand what they were saying, it was really entertaining to watch them joke around, tease each other, and laugh. 

I'm only living here for 2 months, and will miss them when I leave. Hopefully I can come back to visit a few times.