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”