Things that go bump in the night

So, this week has ticked along alright, only had one lecture this week, and have been having my work review, and have designed a whole new teaching agenda for myself - created a proposal, with rationale, which was very well recieved by my colleagues, and the new regime starts next week.

At the end of the meeting, which was attended by my VSO programme manager, talk turned to how I was getting on at work.  My colleagues were very happy with me, they said, it seemed that this was more because I am beautiful (their words!) and eat everything that they give me, than that my work was good, but they said I worked very hard, and was always punctual, which was nice to hear, especially since that very morning I had been half an hour late.........

They said that they would "mongolise" me, which to be honest, I think is happening already quite naturally.

On Monday, for lunch at work we had this AMAZING mongolian dish.  It is big chunks of meat, on the bone, ribs and the like, cooked in a tightly sealed iron pot, with stones, and potatoes, and some water.  The meat becomes incredibly tasty and tender, and the potatoes are lovely, perfectly cooked, melt in the mouth and infused with yummy stock flavour, soooooooooooo gooooooooood.

Before we ate, the stones were removed, and my colleagues picked up a stone each, still very hot, and flipped it from hand to hand for a while before putting it down and pressing their hot (and now greasy) hands agaist their heads, necks and foreheads.  The hot stones, they explained, had healing powers, the heat balanced their Qi.  So I did it too, and Khulan, who had cystitis, wrapped one of the stones in a piece of cloth and put it down her trousers.

The meal was so lush, the meat was tastier than I have ever tasted, I cant express enough how super wicked and awesome it was.  We also had a bottle of wine with it, I love lunch at the office!

I have had a quiet week really, the pub quiz on thursday as usual, which we didnt win, but the quiz master is now enamoured of me, and followed me around after the quiz, until I had to just go home to escape his drunken attention.

Friday I was being filmed for an english language TV show, that is broadcast on the Mongolian National Channel.  I was talking about health issues, and the life style choices that young people can make to avoid long term health issues.  I am terrible when I have a camera pointed at me, and also had my colleagues sitting watching, and also, the guys who were filming are my mates, who I have a laugh with, so I was just in fits of giggles throughout.  We eventually got a good interview, but I will be cringing fit to bust when I see the programme, me, facing camera, earnestly extolling the virtues of eating healthily, staying active, abstaining form smoking and drinking alcohol responsibly.  I hate my face and voice on film, and seeing it will probably make me spontaneously combust from sheer horror at what I really look and sound like, eeeuurgh!

That evening I had a chinese dinner with Kate, and a couple of drinks on a veranda bar, quiet early night.  Last night we played Monopoly at Dave's (the english pub) which was ace, apart rom the fact that I am such a ethereal hippie I am no good at making money so was out early on, and was just having a little dance for myself while the others wheeled and dealed.  We were playing with Tugrugs, to make it "more interesting" so I lost 5,000T, which is what I usually lose at poker, so I wasnt that fussed.

I dont know if I have said before, that there are no coins in Mongolia, only notes, so "small change" is actually a wad worthy of a street drug dealer, this is me with about a tenner in english money.

What went bump in the night, was ME when my bed collapsed underneath me.  It was quite a shock let me tell you.  The next thing to go bump, the following night, was my downstairs neighbour, banging on my door at 1am because water was coming through her ceiling.  Now, for once, it was NOT because I had been retarded whilst doing laundry, it is because there is a leak in the pipes, so I have been trying unsucessfully to get hold of my landlord ever since, and in the mean time have turned off my water.  Ho hum. 

I am now off to go and get a burger for lunch with Kate, she was partying last night, I was home and in bed soon after midnight.  This afternoon I am going to play scrabble with some other VSO's. 

Could it really be that I am becoming sensible???

Don't count on it.