Here I am in Mongolia. Who'd a thunk it? Spent the night in Tokyo after a 10 hour flight from Portland, and a night in Ulaanbaatar at the mission office before leaving early for Choibalsan. Then we had a 10 hour ride by Toyota Land Rover over some amazingly rough roads. We banged our heads on the ceiling of the car a few times, but it was worth the view. They are repairing the main highway between Ulaanbaatar and Choibalsan but they don't provide any alternate roadway so you just head out over the plains. What should have taken 4 hours took 10....but it was worth it!
We never saw a tree but we saw herds of goats, sheep, camels, horses and cattle, tended by men on horseback. Thousands of animals over the hillsides with only a yurt here and there. (here they're called geirs. It was really quite amazingly beautiful despite the lack of vegetation. These are hardy people and animals.
After arriving in Choibalsan we met with the Mayor and his staff. It's the mayor who really wanted us to come. He is a forward thinking man who believes the only way to improve the dental health of this city is to teach prevention at an early age. He wants us to meet the children of Choibalsan in the schools and teach dental hygiene. This we will do in the mornings then work in a school clinic in the afternoon. We met with the director of the hospital and the director of the dental clinic and presented them with the supplies we brought and they were thrilled. We have been treated so kindly. Our rooms are next to the hospital and clinic and there is a little kitchen where they will feed us all our meals. So far so good.
The internet link is poor here and I can't upload pictures, so for now at least my writing will have to do. Bye for now.
Duane
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