Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The holiday season has arrived, and along with it a mix of emotions. I had a great Turkey Day, up in Erdenet (north of here) with some friends. We cooked fried chicken, mashed potatoes, philipino egg rolls, salad, pie, etc. and had a generally good time. Then we came back to UB and are having another shindig tonight. I will go back to site tomorrow.

On my most recent trip in from site, we drove around the countryside outside town for 2.5 hours looking for gers. This was so we could pack the car w/ meat and pick up some herders to take with us to UB. We were lost, and so we flashed our lights and honked until someone came out of their ger and held a flashlight to the sky. The light worked as well as a flare..we found the ger promptly. But it was the wrong ger. So the guy gave us directions to another one and we headed off only to get lost again. Then we stopped to listen and look across the steppe for more gers. Then I discovered the best tool of navigation in Mongolia yet. The driver's wife asked him,

"Do you hear any dogs barking?"

He didn't, which meant we weren't too close to the ger. But we found it eventually and got to UB at dawn.

Anyhow...with the holidays here I am planning on decorating my ger and listening to lots of Christmas music. But I will miss all of you intensely. Luckily, I am planning a trip to UB so I'll be here at Christmas, celebrating with friends again.

More news then, but until then enjoy your holiday season!

Much Love,
Carrie