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