Sunday, April 25
So today we went to church with one of the missionary families here, the Heiseys. They are from Pennsylvania. Before moving to Mongolia, Leon worked as an engineer for Hershey while Heather was a small animal veterinarian. They have 3 children Sarah (11 years old), Jonathan (9 years old), and Lydia (7 years old). Sarah and Lydia were adopted as babies from China and Jonathan is their natural child. Karen also goes to this church. The church could not afford to pay for the heating and so the church service was the coldest one I have ever been to (we were blowing smoke)! You should have seen me. I was bundled up like an Eskimo, and let me just tell you, it is an act of fate to turn pages in your Bible with thick gloves on. However, I was not going take them off and risk getting frost-bitten!
After church we decided that it was way too cold to walk back to the Heiseys and so we all 9 piled into a taxi. Yes, that means 3 in front and 6 in back. One of the funniest things on the ride home was Jonathan and Sarah were discussing where they were in regards to Bible reading (they were in the life of David) when Lydia pipes up from the front seat and says, “Oh yeah, I am all the way to where Jesus wose from the gwave!” (She says her r’s like w’s.)
Once back at their house we ate a light lunch and then we played games. They received a Wii for Christmas and Lydia had a fun time creating a Mi for each one of us. She analyzed our face shape, hair color, eyebrow shape and she even added a mole on the right side of my face! We played some different board games and some that Lydia made up on her own. I don’t know if you have figured it out, but Lydia is quite the character! It was so nice to spend time with a family and have a little American food!
Fun Fact of the Day: Lake Khuvsugul in Mongolia is the second largest fresh water lake in the world.
Mongolian Word of the Day: teme—means “camel”
Monday, April 26
So today was a super busy day at the clinic. I worked on a blocked cat that had been in the previous Friday. He had stayed over night and then was sent home over the weekend with a urinary catheter. Well, he ended up pulling it out and came back in this morning and his abdomen was so taught. I passed a urinary catheter again and drained 150 mls off of his bladder! (For you non-vet people, that is a lot for a kitty cat!) The computer that we use to develop the radiographs is down and so we cannot take one in order to see if he has stones (yes, I do know that struvite stones will not show up on x-ray). So until we can get that up we will keep the u-cath in, put him on IV fluids, antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory.
Probably the most bizarre case of the day is a German Shepherd male dog named Roxy. He came in supposedly for 10 days of anorexia and diarrhea. Karen decided that an e-tube would be advantageous in this case and they worked very hard trying to get that placed. After we gave him the only injectable pain medication we had (morphine) and guess what happened next??? He vomited up a large amount of undigested kibble, potato and onion! So evidently he had been eating. Then he had a blow out of watery diarrhea complete with parasites. While he was under for the e-tube placement, we were palpating his abdomen and found what felt like a sausage in the mid-abdomen. We were very worried about an intussusception (where part of the intestine folds in on itself) and because we did not have any sort of imaging available and his color was so poor, we decided that it was better to open him up for an emergency exploratory surgery after dinner. We ate a quick dinner and then came back to the clinic for what we thought was likely to be a small intestine resection (removal) and anastamosis (reconnecting the ends of intestine).
Meg and I were the surgeons and Kellie and Karen were the anesthesiologists. Meg and I opened him up and the strangest thing happened. There was absolutely no small intestine present in the abdomen. The liver was completely displaced to the left side. The right kidney was pendulous within the abdominal cavity (normally it is tight up against the body wall). This was our supposed “intussusception”. When trying to figure out what was going on, we realized there was a hole in the diaphragm and all of the small intestine plus the pancreas were located in the thorax (chest)! We were dealing with a congenital abdominal hernia which was NOT on our differential list!!!!! If we could have taken a radiograph before surgery, it likely would have been! Meg and I removed the intestine from the chest while Kellie breathed for Roxy (when you have a hole into to the thorax it causes the lungs to collapse). There was a 4” hole running from right next to the AORTA to about midway down the right ribs. We needed an extra set of hands in order to keep the organs out of the way and the incision site open so we stole Karen away and she scrubbed in. Kellie was now the only one not sterile. She was quite the trooper dealing with all of our “breathe for him”, “don’t breathe for him”, “the intestines are too dry and need some saline”, “we need more gauze”, etc. At one point I knocked a bowl filled with blood off the table and it splattered all over the wall making it look like some crime scene. We finally got the hernia closed and then we placed the organs back in the abdomen and sewed him up. By the time we got everything cleaned up and Roxy recovering it was nearly 2 a.m. When we were leaving the clinic to walk back to our apartments, there was a blanket of snow on the ground—the perfect strange ending to a very strange day.
Fun Fact of the Day: Mongolians do not particularly like the Chinese.
Mongolian Word of the Day: mere (pronounced merd)—means “horse”
Friday, April 30, 2010
Mongolia Update #5
Thursday, April 22
Today when we were coming back for lunch, we had an interesting experience. When we were getting ready to cross the street, the two cars going each direction slammed on their brakes, tires squealing, in order for us to cross the street. Muugii said, “Interesting, very interesting. They would never have done that for a Mongolian. They don’t want to hit a foreigner!”
One thing that I have noticed pretty much everywhere I have been (outside of the USA) is that staring is not rude. Tonight as we were walking home, a young girl about 8 turned around and was blatantly staring. I could just hear her little brain thinking, “Those girls look strange!” I usually just smile, wave and keep on going. In America, we get used to seeing people from all different ethnicities. Pretty much everyone that is in Mongolia, is Mongolian!
Fun Fact of the Day: There are approximately 40,000 Christian believers in Mongolia. (Population is 3.5 million.)
Mongolian Word of the Day: more (pronounced mord)—means “cat”
Friday, April 23
Today was a busy day at the clinic. A lady from Lithuania brought in her Bengal cat because he was not chewing its food. He was BEAUTIFUL and just the sweetest natured cat (my type—he acted like a dog!). Her family (husband and 2 kids) just moved to Mongolia this past fall. Meg and Otka did a dental on the cat and it definitely had some lesions in the mouth that would make it sore enough where he wouldn’t want to chew. Then Karen and Aagie repaired a femur fracture on a dog. And every kennel in the clinic was occupied with either dogs for grooming or in being treated for parvo/distemper. It seemed like we just ran around like chickens with our heads cut off!
Tonight we went to the Moonstone concert. It is an event that showcases all the special things about Mongolian culture. There were traditional Mongolian dances, a contortionist, throat singing (you should youtube this), and various instruments that are unique to this country. I really enjoyed the traditional folk dance and the contortionist. She was crazy flexible and so strong.
After the concert, we had dinner with the Ballengers. It was so nice to have an American type meal and just to be in someone’s home, rather than eating out. We looked at pictures of their family. They have 2 sons and 1 daughter. The middle son and daughter moved with them to Mongolia in 2004. We stayed up really late visiting with them and then Richard walked us back to our apartment.
Fun Fact of the Day: The Nadam is a huge event that happens once a year in Mongolia. There are many different events, but the highlights are horse racing (5-7 year old boys and girls that race their horses over 15-32 km depending on the age of the horse), archery and wrestling.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Chi bol saikhan zaluu—means “You are a handsome boy.”
Saturday, April 24
Today we went to Terilj (pronounced Teril-ish), their National Park. It was definitely a cold day—about 20 degrees and snow flurries, but we didn’t let that stop us. Tseku (pronounced Se-ku), the cleaner for the small animal clinic, and Enchimeg (pronounced Inch-meg), one of the accountants, were our Mongolian “guides”. Tseku is Kazak, which is the most western province (ironically, or not, closest to Kazakhstan). The predominate religion there is Islam. She has been a believer for 3 years and one of her younger sisters is too. Her grandmother is Muslim. Enchimeg is from a province about 200km from Ulaanbaatar. She just finished studying abroad in South Korea for her masters in IT.
The first thing we did was drive out to see the GIANORMOUS Chengis Khan statue. Now, they had told us it was big, but I didn’t think it would be THAT big!!! Supposedly you can go up a bunch of stairs and then walk out onto his mane, but with the cold and the wind, I took a rain check on that! The Mongolians were super excited to see the statue—as it was their first time. Have I mentioned that they LOVE Chengis Khan???
Then we moved onto Terilj. We mostly drove through the park which was very mountainous and absolutely beautiful. I cannot even imagine how beautiful it is in the summertime. We ate a picnic lunch in the van. Enchimeg had come prepared with hot water, coffee and hot chocolate. She taught us that in the countryside, they fold the packet up and use it as a spoon. We saw this huge rock that looks like a turtle—no lie! Then came the highlight of my day . . . I got to ride a camel—and one with 2 humps at that! It was about like riding a draft horse without stirrups, but the 2 humps provided a perfect little support so you felt pretty stable. I must have made it look so fun that Kellie, Meg, Tseku and Enchimeg all decided to give it a go! I asked Ganba, our driver, if he wanted to ride and he said no. When I enquired further, I found out that he road a camel in the military when he worked as border patrol. He decided three years of camel riding was enough for a lifetime!
We had to search high and low for a bathroom and what we ended up using was a squatty potty. Just a bit of advice: if you ever have to go, make sure you check all your pockets before you go. You will not want to go after any valuables if they accidentally get dropped in! (and no I did not learn that from experience!)
Fun Fact of the Day: The only place in the world that has Bactrian (2-humped) camels is Mongolia and they are endangered.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Chi bol hoorhon—means “You are beautiful.”
Today when we were coming back for lunch, we had an interesting experience. When we were getting ready to cross the street, the two cars going each direction slammed on their brakes, tires squealing, in order for us to cross the street. Muugii said, “Interesting, very interesting. They would never have done that for a Mongolian. They don’t want to hit a foreigner!”
One thing that I have noticed pretty much everywhere I have been (outside of the USA) is that staring is not rude. Tonight as we were walking home, a young girl about 8 turned around and was blatantly staring. I could just hear her little brain thinking, “Those girls look strange!” I usually just smile, wave and keep on going. In America, we get used to seeing people from all different ethnicities. Pretty much everyone that is in Mongolia, is Mongolian!
Fun Fact of the Day: There are approximately 40,000 Christian believers in Mongolia. (Population is 3.5 million.)
Mongolian Word of the Day: more (pronounced mord)—means “cat”
Friday, April 23
Today was a busy day at the clinic. A lady from Lithuania brought in her Bengal cat because he was not chewing its food. He was BEAUTIFUL and just the sweetest natured cat (my type—he acted like a dog!). Her family (husband and 2 kids) just moved to Mongolia this past fall. Meg and Otka did a dental on the cat and it definitely had some lesions in the mouth that would make it sore enough where he wouldn’t want to chew. Then Karen and Aagie repaired a femur fracture on a dog. And every kennel in the clinic was occupied with either dogs for grooming or in being treated for parvo/distemper. It seemed like we just ran around like chickens with our heads cut off!
Tonight we went to the Moonstone concert. It is an event that showcases all the special things about Mongolian culture. There were traditional Mongolian dances, a contortionist, throat singing (you should youtube this), and various instruments that are unique to this country. I really enjoyed the traditional folk dance and the contortionist. She was crazy flexible and so strong.
After the concert, we had dinner with the Ballengers. It was so nice to have an American type meal and just to be in someone’s home, rather than eating out. We looked at pictures of their family. They have 2 sons and 1 daughter. The middle son and daughter moved with them to Mongolia in 2004. We stayed up really late visiting with them and then Richard walked us back to our apartment.
Fun Fact of the Day: The Nadam is a huge event that happens once a year in Mongolia. There are many different events, but the highlights are horse racing (5-7 year old boys and girls that race their horses over 15-32 km depending on the age of the horse), archery and wrestling.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Chi bol saikhan zaluu—means “You are a handsome boy.”
Saturday, April 24
Today we went to Terilj (pronounced Teril-ish), their National Park. It was definitely a cold day—about 20 degrees and snow flurries, but we didn’t let that stop us. Tseku (pronounced Se-ku), the cleaner for the small animal clinic, and Enchimeg (pronounced Inch-meg), one of the accountants, were our Mongolian “guides”. Tseku is Kazak, which is the most western province (ironically, or not, closest to Kazakhstan). The predominate religion there is Islam. She has been a believer for 3 years and one of her younger sisters is too. Her grandmother is Muslim. Enchimeg is from a province about 200km from Ulaanbaatar. She just finished studying abroad in South Korea for her masters in IT.
The first thing we did was drive out to see the GIANORMOUS Chengis Khan statue. Now, they had told us it was big, but I didn’t think it would be THAT big!!! Supposedly you can go up a bunch of stairs and then walk out onto his mane, but with the cold and the wind, I took a rain check on that! The Mongolians were super excited to see the statue—as it was their first time. Have I mentioned that they LOVE Chengis Khan???
Then we moved onto Terilj. We mostly drove through the park which was very mountainous and absolutely beautiful. I cannot even imagine how beautiful it is in the summertime. We ate a picnic lunch in the van. Enchimeg had come prepared with hot water, coffee and hot chocolate. She taught us that in the countryside, they fold the packet up and use it as a spoon. We saw this huge rock that looks like a turtle—no lie! Then came the highlight of my day . . . I got to ride a camel—and one with 2 humps at that! It was about like riding a draft horse without stirrups, but the 2 humps provided a perfect little support so you felt pretty stable. I must have made it look so fun that Kellie, Meg, Tseku and Enchimeg all decided to give it a go! I asked Ganba, our driver, if he wanted to ride and he said no. When I enquired further, I found out that he road a camel in the military when he worked as border patrol. He decided three years of camel riding was enough for a lifetime!
We had to search high and low for a bathroom and what we ended up using was a squatty potty. Just a bit of advice: if you ever have to go, make sure you check all your pockets before you go. You will not want to go after any valuables if they accidentally get dropped in! (and no I did not learn that from experience!)
Fun Fact of the Day: The only place in the world that has Bactrian (2-humped) camels is Mongolia and they are endangered.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Chi bol hoorhon—means “You are beautiful.”
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Mongolia Update #4
Tuesday, April 20
Today the boys, Aagii and Muugii, took us to lunch at this Mongolian restaurant not far from the clinic. They were so funny. They do not understand a couple of things. 1) Why we do not eat more. 2) Why we only want to drink water. We ordered what we thought was like 1 small thing each and the next thing we knew they were bringing plate after plate out and putting it on the table and the stuff that we had ordered, they doubled the amount we had asked for! We had a good visit and I got to know more about Aagii. He is 25 years old, is married and has an 8 month old baby boy. He told me that his father died when he was 12 or 13 and that he lost his mom when he was in his second year of vet school. Then this February he lost 2 brothers and a sister in some type of accident. He only has 1 surviving brother left. That is a lot of loss for one young man to go through. I am so thankful that he knows the Lord and that he is working in a place where the Lord can provide a “Spiritual family” for him.
A funny story for you . . . today we were trying to find out what Muugii’s the translation of his name is. He told us and what all of us American’s heard was “Eternal well-butt”. We were so confused so we responded with “well-butt”? to which he said no “well-butt”. Finally, after deciding we were getting NOWHERE, he went and got the English/Mongolian dictionary and we figured out he was trying to say “WELL BUILT”!!! His name actually translates as “Eternal Strength”.
Fun Fact of the Day: The favorite drink here is “milk tea” which is milk, tea and salt served hot.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Ogvi—means “No”
Wednesday, April 21
Between the dogs barking, the babies crying, doors slamming, and the people on the floor above me sounding like they are doing Sweatin’ to the Oldies, I have decided that apartment living is not for me! All of these noises are hard for me to tone out, but last night was something new! No lie, at 11 p.m., I heard popping sounds. For a second I was concerned about bombs or something like that, and then in the reflection from the apartment across from me I caught glimpses of red, green, blue, white and I realized something. It was not a war, it was FIREWORKS! Like a full out 4th of July show! I have no idea what they were celebrating, but it definitely makes the list of random experiences in Mongolia!
Today Meg and I went out with Tsek and the other large animal veterinarians to the LA clinic. They just built this clinic and it has been open for only 2 years. It doesn’t have set hours yet, they just go out whenever someone has called into the office. Hopefully, the clientele with build up and they will be as busy as the small animal clinic. Well, today we went out and it was VERY cold—windy and it actually had snow flurries coming down. We arrived and got all of our things ready for the horse (we were supposed to be seeing ONE horse for a uterine culture—remember this, it is very important). Then we waited, and waited, and waited for the client to arrive. I am sure it wasn’t that long, but when you are freezing, time seems to go by much slower. The boys noticed that I was turning into an icle, so they asked the man that stays in a ger (the Mongolian house) on the clinic grounds if we could go hang out inside his place. The ger is probably about 15 feet in diameter and is very warm from the stove they burn coal in. In the countryside, up to 8-10 people can and will live in one of these. While we were sitting in there, Sunny Boy passed around a white bucket that had bread in it. I thought to myself, “I am going to take a small piece in case I don’t like it.” This proved to be a strategic plan! Meg, however, had not eaten breakfast (she was worried about getting carsick) and so she took one of the biggest pieces. The bread was very stale and kind of tasted like the smoke from the coal stove. I thought to myself “How can I get rid of this: 1-feed it to the dog, 2-throw it in the stove, 3-put it in my pocket and dispose of it later?”. Then I started feeling guilty and thinking that most people would be thankful for a piece of stale bread. Later when Meg and I were talking, we both had had the exact same thought process!
Finally the client arrived with not 1, but 3 horses for us to look at. These were bigger than the typical Mongolian horse (more like a small thoroughbred). The first one he wanted a pregnancy check on. She was CRAZY and nearly killed herself and us in the process of getting in the stocks. Finally, the boys gave up and we moved onto the next patient. This one was a mare and she had an abrasion or laceration injury over her hock. She had a young foal with her, and they attempted to separate them to facilitate the exam. This proved to be a bad idea as both mama and baby got very upset. Strike number 2. The last mare was the one we had come to see. She had not be able to get pregnant and had some discharge. I helped Tsek, and with the help of some chemical sedation, we were able to obtain a sterile culture of the cervix and uterus. In the process, a man in traditional Mongolian get-up comes riding on a horse chasing another horse with a rope around its neck. He finally catches it. Two men who looked to be fairly wealthy were there and the owned the 2 horses that just came riding up. They were worried that the horse could be colicing. After treating that horse, they asked us if we would come to their place too access lameness on one of their race horses. By this time it is 2 p.m.
We get to the place and they have probably close to 50-60 horses. They had never used V.E.T.Net and had used what we would call in the states “alternative medical therapies” to try and treat their horses, but had not had any success. The first horse had a pulled tendon which requires 6-8 months of rest + anti-inflammatory therapy. Then we started a parade of horses and by the end, I am pretty sure we looked at almost every horse that had ever been sick on the farm! Very good for V.E.T.Net. Current time was 4:30 p.m. and we had not had lunch—much like the previous Wednesday when I had been out with the LA vets. It made me laugh because I am learning to expect the unexpected and to let go of my plans.
While I was out in the countryside, Kellie was at the small animal clinic. When we finally got back together at 5 right before the student Bible study, she told me a most interesting story. There was a little Golden Retriever puppy that we have been treating for a bite wound for the past week and a half. It came back in today, and we learned that this wasn’t just any dog. No it was the PRIME MINISTER of Mongolia’s dog and that the wife was coming to the clinic. Come to find out, they want V.E.T.Net to come out to their house and do training with their family and staff on how to care and train the puppy. Karen and Gerelee (pronounced Gary-le) are going to go out once a week. Talk about a huge open door to influence one of the most influential people in all of Mongolia! God is so good!
Fun Fact of the Day: This winter was the coldest winter in 30 years for Mongolia.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Odriin mend—means “Good afternoon”
Today the boys, Aagii and Muugii, took us to lunch at this Mongolian restaurant not far from the clinic. They were so funny. They do not understand a couple of things. 1) Why we do not eat more. 2) Why we only want to drink water. We ordered what we thought was like 1 small thing each and the next thing we knew they were bringing plate after plate out and putting it on the table and the stuff that we had ordered, they doubled the amount we had asked for! We had a good visit and I got to know more about Aagii. He is 25 years old, is married and has an 8 month old baby boy. He told me that his father died when he was 12 or 13 and that he lost his mom when he was in his second year of vet school. Then this February he lost 2 brothers and a sister in some type of accident. He only has 1 surviving brother left. That is a lot of loss for one young man to go through. I am so thankful that he knows the Lord and that he is working in a place where the Lord can provide a “Spiritual family” for him.
A funny story for you . . . today we were trying to find out what Muugii’s the translation of his name is. He told us and what all of us American’s heard was “Eternal well-butt”. We were so confused so we responded with “well-butt”? to which he said no “well-butt”. Finally, after deciding we were getting NOWHERE, he went and got the English/Mongolian dictionary and we figured out he was trying to say “WELL BUILT”!!! His name actually translates as “Eternal Strength”.
Fun Fact of the Day: The favorite drink here is “milk tea” which is milk, tea and salt served hot.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Ogvi—means “No”
Wednesday, April 21
Between the dogs barking, the babies crying, doors slamming, and the people on the floor above me sounding like they are doing Sweatin’ to the Oldies, I have decided that apartment living is not for me! All of these noises are hard for me to tone out, but last night was something new! No lie, at 11 p.m., I heard popping sounds. For a second I was concerned about bombs or something like that, and then in the reflection from the apartment across from me I caught glimpses of red, green, blue, white and I realized something. It was not a war, it was FIREWORKS! Like a full out 4th of July show! I have no idea what they were celebrating, but it definitely makes the list of random experiences in Mongolia!
Today Meg and I went out with Tsek and the other large animal veterinarians to the LA clinic. They just built this clinic and it has been open for only 2 years. It doesn’t have set hours yet, they just go out whenever someone has called into the office. Hopefully, the clientele with build up and they will be as busy as the small animal clinic. Well, today we went out and it was VERY cold—windy and it actually had snow flurries coming down. We arrived and got all of our things ready for the horse (we were supposed to be seeing ONE horse for a uterine culture—remember this, it is very important). Then we waited, and waited, and waited for the client to arrive. I am sure it wasn’t that long, but when you are freezing, time seems to go by much slower. The boys noticed that I was turning into an icle, so they asked the man that stays in a ger (the Mongolian house) on the clinic grounds if we could go hang out inside his place. The ger is probably about 15 feet in diameter and is very warm from the stove they burn coal in. In the countryside, up to 8-10 people can and will live in one of these. While we were sitting in there, Sunny Boy passed around a white bucket that had bread in it. I thought to myself, “I am going to take a small piece in case I don’t like it.” This proved to be a strategic plan! Meg, however, had not eaten breakfast (she was worried about getting carsick) and so she took one of the biggest pieces. The bread was very stale and kind of tasted like the smoke from the coal stove. I thought to myself “How can I get rid of this: 1-feed it to the dog, 2-throw it in the stove, 3-put it in my pocket and dispose of it later?”. Then I started feeling guilty and thinking that most people would be thankful for a piece of stale bread. Later when Meg and I were talking, we both had had the exact same thought process!
Finally the client arrived with not 1, but 3 horses for us to look at. These were bigger than the typical Mongolian horse (more like a small thoroughbred). The first one he wanted a pregnancy check on. She was CRAZY and nearly killed herself and us in the process of getting in the stocks. Finally, the boys gave up and we moved onto the next patient. This one was a mare and she had an abrasion or laceration injury over her hock. She had a young foal with her, and they attempted to separate them to facilitate the exam. This proved to be a bad idea as both mama and baby got very upset. Strike number 2. The last mare was the one we had come to see. She had not be able to get pregnant and had some discharge. I helped Tsek, and with the help of some chemical sedation, we were able to obtain a sterile culture of the cervix and uterus. In the process, a man in traditional Mongolian get-up comes riding on a horse chasing another horse with a rope around its neck. He finally catches it. Two men who looked to be fairly wealthy were there and the owned the 2 horses that just came riding up. They were worried that the horse could be colicing. After treating that horse, they asked us if we would come to their place too access lameness on one of their race horses. By this time it is 2 p.m.
We get to the place and they have probably close to 50-60 horses. They had never used V.E.T.Net and had used what we would call in the states “alternative medical therapies” to try and treat their horses, but had not had any success. The first horse had a pulled tendon which requires 6-8 months of rest + anti-inflammatory therapy. Then we started a parade of horses and by the end, I am pretty sure we looked at almost every horse that had ever been sick on the farm! Very good for V.E.T.Net. Current time was 4:30 p.m. and we had not had lunch—much like the previous Wednesday when I had been out with the LA vets. It made me laugh because I am learning to expect the unexpected and to let go of my plans.
While I was out in the countryside, Kellie was at the small animal clinic. When we finally got back together at 5 right before the student Bible study, she told me a most interesting story. There was a little Golden Retriever puppy that we have been treating for a bite wound for the past week and a half. It came back in today, and we learned that this wasn’t just any dog. No it was the PRIME MINISTER of Mongolia’s dog and that the wife was coming to the clinic. Come to find out, they want V.E.T.Net to come out to their house and do training with their family and staff on how to care and train the puppy. Karen and Gerelee (pronounced Gary-le) are going to go out once a week. Talk about a huge open door to influence one of the most influential people in all of Mongolia! God is so good!
Fun Fact of the Day: This winter was the coldest winter in 30 years for Mongolia.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Odriin mend—means “Good afternoon”
Mongolia Update #3
Saturday, April 17
I am learning some Mongolian words and phrases. I have decided that what makes a lot of languages (ex: German, Dutch, Mongolian) so difficult for us Americans is the fact that we do not use our throat (insert hacking sound here) when we speak English. They are very guttural languages. I always feel like maybe I overdo the hack/throat sound and am always worried that I might accidentally spit on the person I am talking to!
Today we worked at the clinic from 10-3 and had an early dinner. It was nice to actually get back to our apartment around 6 and be able to have some down time. They took us to this cute little store called Mary and Martha’s. It is run by Christian women and they sell Mongolian things that are fair trade. They have some neat stuff, so hopefully I will be able to go back before I leave.
Another American is arriving late tonight. Her name is Meg and she is a 2007 graduate of Michigan State veterinary school and is currently working as a vet in Arizona. She will be here until May 1.
Fun Fact of the Day: Monoglia is the size of the US east of the Mississippi River and has a population of 3.5 million and 1 million of those live in UB.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Ezen taniig ireeg—God bless you!
Sunday, April 18
We had most of the morning to veg and read, as we did not get picked up to go to church until noon. We went to eat with Pagma and Daavka and their 13 year old daughter. She was such a beautiful girl and I got a kick at her response to my question of what her hobbies were. She said, “watching t.v.—I am not going to lie”. After eating we went to their church called “Holy Way Fellowship”. The church was all Mongolians except for us, but they did have one girl translate for us. I am very impressed with the people who do translation for things like sermons because the person talking does not stop for them to translate and so they have to have one ear listening to the message and then their mouth talking in English something they had said minutes before. Most of the time we understand the general concept.
Tonight we had dinner with Narra. She is a teacher for V.E.T.Net and just the cutest woman. She is currently living in Melissa’s (a veterinary technician missionary from the USA) apartment and so she fixed us a lovely dinner of chicken and vegetable soup. I was so so so excited for CHICKEN!!!! Mongolia is like a man’s paradise. The staples are meat, meat and more meat (with a little bread and milk in there occasionally). They eat all kinds of meats: beef, chicken, pork, lamb, goat, horse, camel. I have only had the first 4 since being here.
Fun Fact of the Day: It is tradition in this culture that when you enter a person’s home you take your shoes off at the door and put on slippers. If there are a lot of people at the house and no slippers available, you can just wear your socks.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Tanii neriig hen gedeg ve?—means “What is your name?”
Monday, April 19
Today was Kathryn’s (the Australian vet) last day with us. She leaves in the morning for the countryside and will be gone for 3 weeks. She is going to the Gobi desert. It will take them 2.5 days to drive there. Before she leaves she is stalking up on some dried fruits (remember I told you they do not eat many fruits and veggies?). She will get back after Kellie and I leave for the States. She has been such a pleasure to work with and I have really enjoyed getting to know her and learn more about Australia. I told her if she is ever in the States, she must come visit. We went to a pizza place tonight together to eat and celebrate our time together. It was the first “western” food that I have had since leaving America.
Today I asked Karen a random question: Was there anywhere to possibly get my eyebrows waxed? I mean to tell you, mine were looking very bushy and I forgot my tweezers at home. I was definitely sporting a unibrow and just did not know how I was going to handle it for another 3 weeks. It just so happens that she goes to a little salon close to her house which is open until MIDNIGHT! Crazy huh! She made us appointments and so we visited the “Wax Museum of Mongolia” tonight! I got three things done for like $12. It was actually a nice time to sit and visit with Karen and get to know her better.
Karen is a 2001 graduate from Texas A&M Veterinary School (WHOOP!) and has been in Mongolia since 2003. She serves as a foreign advisor over the small animal hospital and Bright Future House. She mentors the Mongolian veterinarians and is very active in her church. She shared with me that she is working on her Master’s from Azuza Pacific University and has been taking a class on inner healing ministry. It was neat to be able to share about the Restoring the Foundations curriculum that Mercy uses. Her parents much of her family are atheists. I just commend and am so blessed to watch her following her calling to serve as a missionary abroad, despite the fact that her family does not completely understand why she is here. Please be praying for her and for her family: for her perseverance and for the hearts of her parents to be softened to the Lord. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2:14
Fun Fact of the Day: Every part of Mongolia that is outside of Ulaanbaatar (the capital city) is referred to as “Countryside”.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Minii neriig Bethany gedeg.—means “My name is Bethany.”
I am learning some Mongolian words and phrases. I have decided that what makes a lot of languages (ex: German, Dutch, Mongolian) so difficult for us Americans is the fact that we do not use our throat (insert hacking sound here) when we speak English. They are very guttural languages. I always feel like maybe I overdo the hack/throat sound and am always worried that I might accidentally spit on the person I am talking to!
Today we worked at the clinic from 10-3 and had an early dinner. It was nice to actually get back to our apartment around 6 and be able to have some down time. They took us to this cute little store called Mary and Martha’s. It is run by Christian women and they sell Mongolian things that are fair trade. They have some neat stuff, so hopefully I will be able to go back before I leave.
Another American is arriving late tonight. Her name is Meg and she is a 2007 graduate of Michigan State veterinary school and is currently working as a vet in Arizona. She will be here until May 1.
Fun Fact of the Day: Monoglia is the size of the US east of the Mississippi River and has a population of 3.5 million and 1 million of those live in UB.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Ezen taniig ireeg—God bless you!
Sunday, April 18
We had most of the morning to veg and read, as we did not get picked up to go to church until noon. We went to eat with Pagma and Daavka and their 13 year old daughter. She was such a beautiful girl and I got a kick at her response to my question of what her hobbies were. She said, “watching t.v.—I am not going to lie”. After eating we went to their church called “Holy Way Fellowship”. The church was all Mongolians except for us, but they did have one girl translate for us. I am very impressed with the people who do translation for things like sermons because the person talking does not stop for them to translate and so they have to have one ear listening to the message and then their mouth talking in English something they had said minutes before. Most of the time we understand the general concept.
Tonight we had dinner with Narra. She is a teacher for V.E.T.Net and just the cutest woman. She is currently living in Melissa’s (a veterinary technician missionary from the USA) apartment and so she fixed us a lovely dinner of chicken and vegetable soup. I was so so so excited for CHICKEN!!!! Mongolia is like a man’s paradise. The staples are meat, meat and more meat (with a little bread and milk in there occasionally). They eat all kinds of meats: beef, chicken, pork, lamb, goat, horse, camel. I have only had the first 4 since being here.
Fun Fact of the Day: It is tradition in this culture that when you enter a person’s home you take your shoes off at the door and put on slippers. If there are a lot of people at the house and no slippers available, you can just wear your socks.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Tanii neriig hen gedeg ve?—means “What is your name?”
Monday, April 19
Today was Kathryn’s (the Australian vet) last day with us. She leaves in the morning for the countryside and will be gone for 3 weeks. She is going to the Gobi desert. It will take them 2.5 days to drive there. Before she leaves she is stalking up on some dried fruits (remember I told you they do not eat many fruits and veggies?). She will get back after Kellie and I leave for the States. She has been such a pleasure to work with and I have really enjoyed getting to know her and learn more about Australia. I told her if she is ever in the States, she must come visit. We went to a pizza place tonight together to eat and celebrate our time together. It was the first “western” food that I have had since leaving America.
Today I asked Karen a random question: Was there anywhere to possibly get my eyebrows waxed? I mean to tell you, mine were looking very bushy and I forgot my tweezers at home. I was definitely sporting a unibrow and just did not know how I was going to handle it for another 3 weeks. It just so happens that she goes to a little salon close to her house which is open until MIDNIGHT! Crazy huh! She made us appointments and so we visited the “Wax Museum of Mongolia” tonight! I got three things done for like $12. It was actually a nice time to sit and visit with Karen and get to know her better.
Karen is a 2001 graduate from Texas A&M Veterinary School (WHOOP!) and has been in Mongolia since 2003. She serves as a foreign advisor over the small animal hospital and Bright Future House. She mentors the Mongolian veterinarians and is very active in her church. She shared with me that she is working on her Master’s from Azuza Pacific University and has been taking a class on inner healing ministry. It was neat to be able to share about the Restoring the Foundations curriculum that Mercy uses. Her parents much of her family are atheists. I just commend and am so blessed to watch her following her calling to serve as a missionary abroad, despite the fact that her family does not completely understand why she is here. Please be praying for her and for her family: for her perseverance and for the hearts of her parents to be softened to the Lord. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2:14
Fun Fact of the Day: Every part of Mongolia that is outside of Ulaanbaatar (the capital city) is referred to as “Countryside”.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Minii neriig Bethany gedeg.—means “My name is Bethany.”
Mongolia Update #2
Wednesday, April 14
This day involved a trip to the countryside. I was super excited to get to see more of Mongolia than just Ulaanbaatar. I went with the large animal veterinarians to check some Mongolian mares for pregnancy. It was 250km to the farm and it took us about 3.5 hours to drive. Kellie and I had fun visiting with Boldoo (prounounced bal-toe) and Sunny Boy (the translation of his Mongolian name which is way easier to say!), the two youngest large animal vets. Once we arrived, the Lord was very gracious as the sun was out and it was not windy. They had these spectacular thermal overalls which kept Kellie and I warm. The Mongolian horses are much smaller than what we are used to in America, but let me tell you, they are feisty! For about 20 minutes, I watched as the herders and the young vets roped and wrestled them. It was like watching a rodeo! Then they made make-shift stocks using a gate as one side, and a wooden pole on the other. I will have to post some pictures for you to see how resourceful these guys are! All of the mares ended up being open (not pregnant) except for one that was almost ready to foal (give birth). By the time we finished, it was after 4 o’clock and we were starving! We ate and then got back on the road and arrived back in UB at 9:30 p.m. A full day indeed!
One thing I have learned since being here is that boys are the same no matter where you are! Yesterday, one of the guys walked into the work room at the clinic and let out a huge burp. Men just stop and pee pretty much wherever they want to. And on our way back into UB, the boys were in the backseat wrestling with each other. Boys will be boys!
Fun Fact of the Day: Darkhan is the second largest city in Mongolia and was the destination of our farm call today.
Mongolian Word of the Day: timo—means “Really?” They say this all the time here!
Thursday, April 15
Tax day in America! As of June I will be joining the working world and will come to loathe this fateful day. But until then, I will continue to report on my time here in Mongolia! Honestly, the day started out a bit rough for me. I think getting sick right off the bat had contributed to a little bit of homesickness, but after letting out a few tears and praying, I felt much better.
The interesting case of the day in the hospital was a turtle that came in and was very sick. The owner (a foreigner) had gone on vacation and whoever was supposed to be watching after the turtle did not feed it for 6 months. Its shell was extremely soft (indicating extreme malnutrition) and its eyes really puffy (indicating Vitamin A deficiency). Kellie was actually overseeing the case with Muugii the Mongolian vet, but since I know NOTHING about turtles except that they are good carriers of Salmonella, I figured I should expand my knowledge. So this is what I learned . . . Resuscitating a turtle involves things: 1)Water, 2)Warmth (heat lamp), 3)Calcium treatment 4)Vitamin A treatment and 5)Force feeding. And I also learned that a turtle’s daily water requirements are ¼ that of domestic animals!
We have treated a ton of puppies for parvo virus infection since I have been here. We have limited resources in treating them. The clinic has many good things, just the drug selection is somewhat limited. All drugs are OTC here, and so you can pretty much get anything you want from a pharmacy, however, knowing if the drug is truly what it is the issue. Karen said that the Russian drugs are usually fine, but the ones from China you never know about.
The dinner this evening was one of my favorite times since I have been here. V.E.T.Net has an apartment rented and calls it the Bright Future House. 4 girls live in the apartment and then each Thursday, girls from the University come over for dinner. There is time of fellowship and then a devotional is shared. Many of the girls that come are not Believers, but the goal is to get them in fellowship and get them thinking about eternal things. This night in particular they had 20 young ladies present. The woman that shared during devotional time talked about dreams for your life and setting goals, thinking about what will be the mark of your life. It was neat to watch them all interact. I wish there wouldn’t have been a language barrier and that we could have all dialogued freely together. Karen translated all that went on to us. It was just so neat to me to see this hand of the ministry of V.E.T.Net—to let young women know that they have a BRIGHT FUTURE ahead of them and that the way to make it is through JESUS!
Fun Fact of the Day: The Mongolian language uses the Russian alphabet, but has its own complete language.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Saihan amarsnyy? (pronounced san hamers-no)—Did you sleep well?
Friday, April 16
Each morning from 9-10 the staff at V.E.T. Net has a devotional time. We sing 1-2 worship songs and then someone gives the teaching. They have each individual from a shuttle (short-term trip) share about their family, home, hobbies/interests, and their testimony. This morning I gave the devotional. I put together a powerpoint presentation, complete with pictures, and they had a translator for me as well.
Fun Fact of the Day:
Mongolian Word of the Day: Sain bainyyo (pronounced san ban-no)—Hello
This day involved a trip to the countryside. I was super excited to get to see more of Mongolia than just Ulaanbaatar. I went with the large animal veterinarians to check some Mongolian mares for pregnancy. It was 250km to the farm and it took us about 3.5 hours to drive. Kellie and I had fun visiting with Boldoo (prounounced bal-toe) and Sunny Boy (the translation of his Mongolian name which is way easier to say!), the two youngest large animal vets. Once we arrived, the Lord was very gracious as the sun was out and it was not windy. They had these spectacular thermal overalls which kept Kellie and I warm. The Mongolian horses are much smaller than what we are used to in America, but let me tell you, they are feisty! For about 20 minutes, I watched as the herders and the young vets roped and wrestled them. It was like watching a rodeo! Then they made make-shift stocks using a gate as one side, and a wooden pole on the other. I will have to post some pictures for you to see how resourceful these guys are! All of the mares ended up being open (not pregnant) except for one that was almost ready to foal (give birth). By the time we finished, it was after 4 o’clock and we were starving! We ate and then got back on the road and arrived back in UB at 9:30 p.m. A full day indeed!
One thing I have learned since being here is that boys are the same no matter where you are! Yesterday, one of the guys walked into the work room at the clinic and let out a huge burp. Men just stop and pee pretty much wherever they want to. And on our way back into UB, the boys were in the backseat wrestling with each other. Boys will be boys!
Fun Fact of the Day: Darkhan is the second largest city in Mongolia and was the destination of our farm call today.
Mongolian Word of the Day: timo—means “Really?” They say this all the time here!
Thursday, April 15
Tax day in America! As of June I will be joining the working world and will come to loathe this fateful day. But until then, I will continue to report on my time here in Mongolia! Honestly, the day started out a bit rough for me. I think getting sick right off the bat had contributed to a little bit of homesickness, but after letting out a few tears and praying, I felt much better.
The interesting case of the day in the hospital was a turtle that came in and was very sick. The owner (a foreigner) had gone on vacation and whoever was supposed to be watching after the turtle did not feed it for 6 months. Its shell was extremely soft (indicating extreme malnutrition) and its eyes really puffy (indicating Vitamin A deficiency). Kellie was actually overseeing the case with Muugii the Mongolian vet, but since I know NOTHING about turtles except that they are good carriers of Salmonella, I figured I should expand my knowledge. So this is what I learned . . . Resuscitating a turtle involves things: 1)Water, 2)Warmth (heat lamp), 3)Calcium treatment 4)Vitamin A treatment and 5)Force feeding. And I also learned that a turtle’s daily water requirements are ¼ that of domestic animals!
We have treated a ton of puppies for parvo virus infection since I have been here. We have limited resources in treating them. The clinic has many good things, just the drug selection is somewhat limited. All drugs are OTC here, and so you can pretty much get anything you want from a pharmacy, however, knowing if the drug is truly what it is the issue. Karen said that the Russian drugs are usually fine, but the ones from China you never know about.
The dinner this evening was one of my favorite times since I have been here. V.E.T.Net has an apartment rented and calls it the Bright Future House. 4 girls live in the apartment and then each Thursday, girls from the University come over for dinner. There is time of fellowship and then a devotional is shared. Many of the girls that come are not Believers, but the goal is to get them in fellowship and get them thinking about eternal things. This night in particular they had 20 young ladies present. The woman that shared during devotional time talked about dreams for your life and setting goals, thinking about what will be the mark of your life. It was neat to watch them all interact. I wish there wouldn’t have been a language barrier and that we could have all dialogued freely together. Karen translated all that went on to us. It was just so neat to me to see this hand of the ministry of V.E.T.Net—to let young women know that they have a BRIGHT FUTURE ahead of them and that the way to make it is through JESUS!
Fun Fact of the Day: The Mongolian language uses the Russian alphabet, but has its own complete language.
Mongolian Word of the Day: Saihan amarsnyy? (pronounced san hamers-no)—Did you sleep well?
Friday, April 16
Each morning from 9-10 the staff at V.E.T. Net has a devotional time. We sing 1-2 worship songs and then someone gives the teaching. They have each individual from a shuttle (short-term trip) share about their family, home, hobbies/interests, and their testimony. This morning I gave the devotional. I put together a powerpoint presentation, complete with pictures, and they had a translator for me as well.
Fun Fact of the Day:
Mongolian Word of the Day: Sain bainyyo (pronounced san ban-no)—Hello
First Update from Mongolia
Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11
I spent these two days flying the friendly skies from Houston to Ulaanbaatar via Chicago and Beijing. Beau took me to Houston Intercontinental and we got my bags checked and I made it through security with no problems. I slept the entire flight to Chicago, and had only long enough to make it to my new gate right as they started boarding the plane for Beijing. The flight took about 13 hours and I flew pretty much on top of the world (like literally over the north pole)! I slept probably half the time and the rest of the time read and watched one movie.
Once I was in Beijing, I was SO confused. I didn’t know where the heck I was supposed to go and all of a sudden I had this realization that I was in a foreign country ALONE and I didn’t speak the LANGUAGE! You would’ve thought I would’ve thought about this beforehand! Everyone had to fill out a “health questionnaire” and walk through these upright poles that were supposed to detect whether you had a fever. I am not convinced they worked since we walked through as a herd! I tried to go through the “international transfer” line, but they wouldn’t let me because I didn’t have my boarding pass. They told me to go through the “special line” where they stamped my passport giving me a temporary transit visa. After that I walked with the masses towards a destination I did not know of. I tried to ask the United Airline stewardess and she did not have any clue either. I boarded the tram and went to baggage claim. I had thought I remembered them checking my baggage all the way to Mongolia, but I was so confused in general. I looked for someone I could possibly ask and found two friendly looking men. They told me that they suspected that I would just walk out and then go upstairs (since we were in the international terminal) to get my boarding pass. They were very nice and asked me why I was going to Mongolia. I then asked them why they were in China and they said they worked for John Deere and one of the men was from Plainview! Small, small world huh! I finally made my way through the throngs of people and went upstairs where I wandered aimlessly looking for the Mongolian Airline ticketing counter. A sweet little Chinese worker asked me if she could help and then told me that they would not be able to issue my boarding pass until 3 hours prior to departure (it was only 3 p.m. and my flight left at 9). I then went to Starbucks and wrote in my journal, read and drank a coffee during my wait. Around 5:30 I went and sat by the ticketing counter. Some really sweet foreigners asked me while I was standing in line what I was going to be doing in Mongolia and told me that they worked at the International School and that if I needed anything during my time, to contact them as they understood what it was like to be in a country you didn’t know with a language you didn’t speak. After I secured my boarding pass I migrated back through immigration and security and made my way to the terminal. It was FREEZING in the airport and all of a sudden I got hit with an undeniable sleepy-attack! I laid on my backpack, put my hood over my head and dozed off. I awoke to a flash as some of the Mongolians were taking pictures of me. I am sure that they thought I was being RIDICULOUS thinking it was COLD in the airport!
My flight from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar went without problems. All my luggage made it and I had no issues going through immigration and finding the V.E.T.Net people. One thing I didn’t notice immediately though was it was VERY cold! I opened my suitcase and doubled up on jackets! We made it safe and sound to the apartments that V.E.T.Net has for their shuttles that come over. I was very excited to see Kellie (my good friend and classmate) She got married in January and has been traveling with her own alternative track. She is interested in public health and is actually working on her Masters in Public Health from Minnesota. Both of us were so thankful to the Lord for His protection and peace and for a bed to rest our heads!
Fun Fact about Mongolia: All the heating in Ulaanbaatar (offices and residential) is supplied by the city through radiators. They turn off the heat to the office buildings in April and then to the residences in May.
Mongolian Word of the Day: bavrllaa (pronounced bart-la)—means “Thank You”
Monday, April 11
This was my first full day in Mongolia. We ate breakfast (after working for 20 minutes to get the toaster working to which we realized that it was not plugged in!), dressed and then walked a short jaunt with Kathryn, a veterinarian from Australia here doing a short term shuttle for 2 months, to the V.E.T.Net van that would take us to the office. We got to meet Richard and Mary Ballenger who are long-term fieldworkers with CVM. They are a very sweet couple. Mary is a veterinarian and works with the Continuing Education aspect of V.E.T.Net and Richard works with the Business/Accounting Section. Richard is VERY tall and when I asked him how tall he was, I found out that he had played basketball for . . . Texas Tech University and was from Tulia! Another small world scenario! We turned in all our id’s, wallets and credit cards. Pick-pocketing and theft is a big problem here, and so they take the utmost precaution and lock all of those important documents and things in a safe. They have mandatory devotional time for their staff every morning from 9-10 with the subject matter and style differ from day to day. This particular morning they discussed the previous Thursday’s message. Kellie and I were put into one of the small groups with a translator, but struggle to understand the accent and subject matter. I just know it was about Jesus!
After devo, Mary gave us a tour of the Office building which has the offices of the veterinarians, I.T./Computer staff, Accounting, and Education. V.E.T.Net has about 80 Mongolians working for it and is a Mongolian NGO (non-governmental organization). While they do a lot of veterinary work and education, their heart is whole-istic in nature. They have teachers that go out every summer into the poorest counties and put on summer schools for the children. Narra, one of the head teachers, showed us a video that she made of their trip last summer. It was amazing, and I can truly see how God is using this ministry to change Mongolia. After everything they do, they share about the Gospel. They have also started a newer aspect to the ministry called WWW (Watering With the Word). This is where they go in and help the new believers and new churches learn how to grow up in their faith. It is the discipling arm which you all know I am extremely passionate about. A little bit of religion in Mongolia—it was a communist nation until 1990 where they became a democracy. By far the major religious views are Buddhism, Shamanism, and Atheism. Since the early 90’s, not only has Christianity come in, but Islam and Mormonism.
Then we were taken up to the small animal clinic which is located at the bottom level of an apartment complex near where I am staying. The clinic was hopping as we arrived. We got a brief tour and instructions on our role in the clinic from Karen Smirmaul, another long-term CVM fieldworker who is an Aggie (WHOOP!). We were to be like the intern/resident/clinician and oversee the young Mongolian veterinarians. The Mongolian’s graduate vet school with very little, if any clinical experience. So you can imagine how overwhelming that can be trying to tie book knowledge into practical clinical working knowledge. Our orientation was cut a little bit short as they were doing an emergency surgery on a dog that had a pyometra (infection where the uterus fills with pus). It was neat to watch, but I started feeling a little bit woozy. I thought that the feeling would pass after eating lunch, but it only got worse until I got sick. I thought I was better but then I started getting nauseas and pale. The workers kept telling Karen that I didn’t look well, so they sent me home to my apartment to lie down, from which I did not leave that position until the next morning!
Fun Fact of the Day: While there are official taxis here in UB, you can pretty much get anyone to pick you up and serve as your taxi. While we would call that hitch-hiking in America, it is totally normal here.
Mongolian Word of the Day: bavartai—means “Goodbye”
Tuesday, April 13
Morning devotional was given by Bayara. She is a Mongolian veterinarian and just recently traveled to the States where she met up with Karen during her 3 month furlough. She shared about her experience in America. I laughed as she described feeling sick upon her arrival (I definitely could relate to that!) and as she talked about sheep dressed fancy (show lambs) and that Americans have good coffee (they drink the instant stuff here).
During down-time during the clinic hours, we usually take the young veterinarians and any student interns aside and do lessons on various medical issues. This helps them learn to think through cases rather than jumping to a snap diagnosis and also to learn/practice their English. There are 3 veterinarians that are in their first year out of school. Because their Mongolian names are very long and hard for us to pronounce, they go by Muugii (pronounced Mo-gi), Eggie, and Aagie (pronounced Aggie). I am sure throughout my time here, you will hear stories and see pictures of them.
V.E.T.Net sets up a schedule where we are taken to eat with Mongolians each night through the week. It provides a neat way for us to build relationship and to see more of the Mongolian culture. My first meal was with Pagma (a teacher), her husband Daavka (carpenter) and their four year old son Tooshee. He of course captivated me, as I watched him eat 2 ice creams and barely anything of sustenance! Love for sweets knows no prejudice! He was very busy and pretty talkative. He said the sweetest prayer and was singing songs and counting, all things he learned at the V.E.T.Net daycare. Pagma spoke English and so she was the main one I dialogued with. She told me that she grew up in a Buddhist home and that since she has become a believer, a few of her family members have also believed. I have been amazed at the boldness with which these Mongolians share the Gospel, even to their own family, which many of us know is sometimes the hardest ministry field.
Fun Fact of the Day: The national dog is the Tibetan Mastiff.
Mongolian Word of the Day: oochlaarai (pronounced ooch-lar-i)—means “Sorry”
I spent these two days flying the friendly skies from Houston to Ulaanbaatar via Chicago and Beijing. Beau took me to Houston Intercontinental and we got my bags checked and I made it through security with no problems. I slept the entire flight to Chicago, and had only long enough to make it to my new gate right as they started boarding the plane for Beijing. The flight took about 13 hours and I flew pretty much on top of the world (like literally over the north pole)! I slept probably half the time and the rest of the time read and watched one movie.
Once I was in Beijing, I was SO confused. I didn’t know where the heck I was supposed to go and all of a sudden I had this realization that I was in a foreign country ALONE and I didn’t speak the LANGUAGE! You would’ve thought I would’ve thought about this beforehand! Everyone had to fill out a “health questionnaire” and walk through these upright poles that were supposed to detect whether you had a fever. I am not convinced they worked since we walked through as a herd! I tried to go through the “international transfer” line, but they wouldn’t let me because I didn’t have my boarding pass. They told me to go through the “special line” where they stamped my passport giving me a temporary transit visa. After that I walked with the masses towards a destination I did not know of. I tried to ask the United Airline stewardess and she did not have any clue either. I boarded the tram and went to baggage claim. I had thought I remembered them checking my baggage all the way to Mongolia, but I was so confused in general. I looked for someone I could possibly ask and found two friendly looking men. They told me that they suspected that I would just walk out and then go upstairs (since we were in the international terminal) to get my boarding pass. They were very nice and asked me why I was going to Mongolia. I then asked them why they were in China and they said they worked for John Deere and one of the men was from Plainview! Small, small world huh! I finally made my way through the throngs of people and went upstairs where I wandered aimlessly looking for the Mongolian Airline ticketing counter. A sweet little Chinese worker asked me if she could help and then told me that they would not be able to issue my boarding pass until 3 hours prior to departure (it was only 3 p.m. and my flight left at 9). I then went to Starbucks and wrote in my journal, read and drank a coffee during my wait. Around 5:30 I went and sat by the ticketing counter. Some really sweet foreigners asked me while I was standing in line what I was going to be doing in Mongolia and told me that they worked at the International School and that if I needed anything during my time, to contact them as they understood what it was like to be in a country you didn’t know with a language you didn’t speak. After I secured my boarding pass I migrated back through immigration and security and made my way to the terminal. It was FREEZING in the airport and all of a sudden I got hit with an undeniable sleepy-attack! I laid on my backpack, put my hood over my head and dozed off. I awoke to a flash as some of the Mongolians were taking pictures of me. I am sure that they thought I was being RIDICULOUS thinking it was COLD in the airport!
My flight from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar went without problems. All my luggage made it and I had no issues going through immigration and finding the V.E.T.Net people. One thing I didn’t notice immediately though was it was VERY cold! I opened my suitcase and doubled up on jackets! We made it safe and sound to the apartments that V.E.T.Net has for their shuttles that come over. I was very excited to see Kellie (my good friend and classmate) She got married in January and has been traveling with her own alternative track. She is interested in public health and is actually working on her Masters in Public Health from Minnesota. Both of us were so thankful to the Lord for His protection and peace and for a bed to rest our heads!
Fun Fact about Mongolia: All the heating in Ulaanbaatar (offices and residential) is supplied by the city through radiators. They turn off the heat to the office buildings in April and then to the residences in May.
Mongolian Word of the Day: bavrllaa (pronounced bart-la)—means “Thank You”
Monday, April 11
This was my first full day in Mongolia. We ate breakfast (after working for 20 minutes to get the toaster working to which we realized that it was not plugged in!), dressed and then walked a short jaunt with Kathryn, a veterinarian from Australia here doing a short term shuttle for 2 months, to the V.E.T.Net van that would take us to the office. We got to meet Richard and Mary Ballenger who are long-term fieldworkers with CVM. They are a very sweet couple. Mary is a veterinarian and works with the Continuing Education aspect of V.E.T.Net and Richard works with the Business/Accounting Section. Richard is VERY tall and when I asked him how tall he was, I found out that he had played basketball for . . . Texas Tech University and was from Tulia! Another small world scenario! We turned in all our id’s, wallets and credit cards. Pick-pocketing and theft is a big problem here, and so they take the utmost precaution and lock all of those important documents and things in a safe. They have mandatory devotional time for their staff every morning from 9-10 with the subject matter and style differ from day to day. This particular morning they discussed the previous Thursday’s message. Kellie and I were put into one of the small groups with a translator, but struggle to understand the accent and subject matter. I just know it was about Jesus!
After devo, Mary gave us a tour of the Office building which has the offices of the veterinarians, I.T./Computer staff, Accounting, and Education. V.E.T.Net has about 80 Mongolians working for it and is a Mongolian NGO (non-governmental organization). While they do a lot of veterinary work and education, their heart is whole-istic in nature. They have teachers that go out every summer into the poorest counties and put on summer schools for the children. Narra, one of the head teachers, showed us a video that she made of their trip last summer. It was amazing, and I can truly see how God is using this ministry to change Mongolia. After everything they do, they share about the Gospel. They have also started a newer aspect to the ministry called WWW (Watering With the Word). This is where they go in and help the new believers and new churches learn how to grow up in their faith. It is the discipling arm which you all know I am extremely passionate about. A little bit of religion in Mongolia—it was a communist nation until 1990 where they became a democracy. By far the major religious views are Buddhism, Shamanism, and Atheism. Since the early 90’s, not only has Christianity come in, but Islam and Mormonism.
Then we were taken up to the small animal clinic which is located at the bottom level of an apartment complex near where I am staying. The clinic was hopping as we arrived. We got a brief tour and instructions on our role in the clinic from Karen Smirmaul, another long-term CVM fieldworker who is an Aggie (WHOOP!). We were to be like the intern/resident/clinician and oversee the young Mongolian veterinarians. The Mongolian’s graduate vet school with very little, if any clinical experience. So you can imagine how overwhelming that can be trying to tie book knowledge into practical clinical working knowledge. Our orientation was cut a little bit short as they were doing an emergency surgery on a dog that had a pyometra (infection where the uterus fills with pus). It was neat to watch, but I started feeling a little bit woozy. I thought that the feeling would pass after eating lunch, but it only got worse until I got sick. I thought I was better but then I started getting nauseas and pale. The workers kept telling Karen that I didn’t look well, so they sent me home to my apartment to lie down, from which I did not leave that position until the next morning!
Fun Fact of the Day: While there are official taxis here in UB, you can pretty much get anyone to pick you up and serve as your taxi. While we would call that hitch-hiking in America, it is totally normal here.
Mongolian Word of the Day: bavartai—means “Goodbye”
Tuesday, April 13
Morning devotional was given by Bayara. She is a Mongolian veterinarian and just recently traveled to the States where she met up with Karen during her 3 month furlough. She shared about her experience in America. I laughed as she described feeling sick upon her arrival (I definitely could relate to that!) and as she talked about sheep dressed fancy (show lambs) and that Americans have good coffee (they drink the instant stuff here).
During down-time during the clinic hours, we usually take the young veterinarians and any student interns aside and do lessons on various medical issues. This helps them learn to think through cases rather than jumping to a snap diagnosis and also to learn/practice their English. There are 3 veterinarians that are in their first year out of school. Because their Mongolian names are very long and hard for us to pronounce, they go by Muugii (pronounced Mo-gi), Eggie, and Aagie (pronounced Aggie). I am sure throughout my time here, you will hear stories and see pictures of them.
V.E.T.Net sets up a schedule where we are taken to eat with Mongolians each night through the week. It provides a neat way for us to build relationship and to see more of the Mongolian culture. My first meal was with Pagma (a teacher), her husband Daavka (carpenter) and their four year old son Tooshee. He of course captivated me, as I watched him eat 2 ice creams and barely anything of sustenance! Love for sweets knows no prejudice! He was very busy and pretty talkative. He said the sweetest prayer and was singing songs and counting, all things he learned at the V.E.T.Net daycare. Pagma spoke English and so she was the main one I dialogued with. She told me that she grew up in a Buddhist home and that since she has become a believer, a few of her family members have also believed. I have been amazed at the boldness with which these Mongolians share the Gospel, even to their own family, which many of us know is sometimes the hardest ministry field.
Fun Fact of the Day: The national dog is the Tibetan Mastiff.
Mongolian Word of the Day: oochlaarai (pronounced ooch-lar-i)—means “Sorry”
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