Yes Dad...I'm still alive...

...but only half thawed out.

We have now entered the point in Mongolia where it will continue to get colder and colder and colder. I'm a little nervous about how I will survive the winter in my ger, in the central region (which gets colder than my old place out East). I know I will be fine but still, when I wake up at night because I just had to have those last 4 cups of tea before I went to bed...and I take less then a minuet to pop outside to pee (no need for the outhouse in the dark of night!)...and return shivering and slightly miserable as I try to warm up enough to fall back into raptor haunted sleep...I get nervous. This is nothing. What is -11 when you know -40 is still ahead. My "dad" and "uncle" when out to the...well actually I dont know where they went, but the came back with my winter's supply of wood, and next week "dad" and I are gonna go buy me some coal. I won't freeze to death, but still I was pampered my first winter.

I wear make-up everyday I teach. It is interesting. In America, I rarely wore make-up, and when I did it was usually just mascara or eyeshadow. But here in Mongolia, ugly women just don't get jobs, or respect, regardless of their qualifications. Oh she is the prettiest, lets hire her. As it is I already feel like I giant beast in comparison to my co-wokers, the majority of whom have the figures of 15 year old girls, and my wardrobe, while nice, is hardly the height of fashion in Mongolia. So an extra 5 minuets in the morning to apply a full face of make-up is worth being able to feel at an even level with teachers, and its professional. I haven't quite gotten to the "I look kinda like a retired street walker" level of make-up application that is prefered by many Mongolian woman, but that is probably a good thing. LOL!

Now the big task for this trip to the city: can I find a pair of winter boots that a) I can afford, b) I can fit into, and c) dont have 3 inch heels?????