oh hi hi hi

Happy Naadam!

So yeah, Naadam was pretty cool. It's Mongolia's biggest holiday, and includes three sports: horse races, wrestling, and archery. We got to go see the horses race out in the middle of nowhere, and it had just rained and so everything was all green and beautiful! We ended up being in the very front, which was cool, but also kind of spooky cause all the people behind us were actually on horses. I definately got slimed more than a few times, it made my hair really pretty. Then we ate some khooshoor (sheep meat fried in little turnover things) I acually only ate two, the elders ate millions. My favorite part was the the race horses have little pony tails on their heads!

It's so cute. And don't you worry, I learned how they tie it up so when I get home I can make my own horses all cutsie as well. heh. whahaha...

We also got to go see some of the wrestling and the archery. The wrestling outfits are as follows, big boots, little speedos, a very small half jacket thing, and a pointy hat. I'll let you picture that in your head for a while now...

The achery was cool too, cause the target is actually a row of little wooden blocks on the ground. They're only about 5 inches tall, and whenever anyone hits them the judges sing.

OH!! and how could I forget, when a wrestler wins he does an eagle dance.
Waving his arms really slowly... I'm not gonna lie, it kind of doesn't seem to fit with the whole "large man in little speedo" thing, but... yeah...

Ok, so my district took the morning train to Darkhan today so we all got up and 4 am... and i'm got a major head cold... and i'm trying to tell you about me week and Naadam and such but i'm having trouble forming sentences.
To me correct sentence make much hard being. yak uu? neeree, be barag uxeg baina. So I think i'm just going to call it good for this week... I'll try and give you a better update next week, right now I kind of just want to sleep. Sorry this is random.

I lot of other cool stuff happened this week. I can't think clearly enough to talk about it. But that's ok and all will be well soon enough. Oh, I have an interview with President today, and zone conference tomorrow...

Speaking of random, did you know that marijuana grows wild in Selenge and Darkhan. It's pretty crazy. But none of the people really know what it is, so they just ignore it. That's a good thing.

Ok, I love you all and I'm gonna go take a nap now. Our work is good, and this week will be even better because now the holidays are over. I send my love!

Love always,
~Sister Rachy Warnickaa

ps- i promise i'll be more alive next week aight!

sain yy? uy baina?

So, this week has been... interesting. They have been having elections in Mongolia for the past two are three months now, and last week they announced the winner... only everyone got really mad cause the winning party cheated... and then UB went crazy. I only heard little bits of what was happening. But I guess there were some huge riots and big buildings got burned down, and people were, well, not happy. The missionaries in the city were not allowed to leave there apartments for four days...

But... here in Selenge, it is the countryside, and everything was just as peaceful as ever. It was kind of weird looking outside and seeing the few cows and people, and knowing that in the city everything was chaos. But things have calmed down a bit now, I think they're going to have a complete re-vote or something. I really don't know much about it right now...

Anyway, I'm sure things will be ok in the city soon because everyone wants to have time to get ready for Naadam, which is this week on the 11th. It's their biggest holiday, and I'm excited to see it. There will be horses and wrestling and archery... :) (you know, there is also an American holiday on the 11th... 7/11 that is, so don't forget to go to 7/11 and get your free slurpee!) Yeah, but i'll let you know how Naadam went next week!
What else, oh, we planned our own 4th of July party. We didn't have hot dogs, so I got these funny sausage things, and we didn't have buns, so we sliced bread... but we did have ketchup. It's kind of weird tasting ketchup, but it is red colored. We also got these little square cookie things that are the closest you can get to oreos.... Elder Humphries and I sang the Star-spangled-banner together, and then we sang it again in a lower octave cause man, that first time it got pretty high! But yeah, it was not like at home, but it was fun. :)

We are still having the crazy rain storms every once in a while. One second it's super hot and sand is flying everywhere... then one minute you're completely soaked! It's pretty funny. My companion had an umbrella last time it happened... but I didn't even bother to grab one cause it doesn't help at all, and there's nothing wrong with getting a little wet. If we're lucky it washes off all the sand that has been plastered to our faces. (if we're unlucky it just turns it to mud... heh)
We have been working so hard in the area, and we have been meeting with some really great people. The branch here has also been working together on a lot of different activities, and that's all very fun. Things here are really great, and it will be hard to leave at the end of the month. I still feel like I just got here... crazy how time is sometimes.

Well that's about all from me this week. This up coming week will be super busy with Naadam, and then next Monday I will probably be in Darkhan for another zone conference, so hopefullyI can find a good email place there. ;)
chadna baikh aa tiim ee? za za, ta nar shuu! khairtai shuu!

Love always! ~Sister Rach W.