The other day I was talking to a student about all the travel I had hoped we would do within Mongolia, living here for three years. First, we were mentioning places we’d been, and I realized everything I was talking about was from our first stay here, four years ago. Then I was talking about … Continue reading How our world has gotten smaller
The vanishing Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal just before sunrise When we decided to go to India for winter break, one place I was sure I wanted to see was the Taj Mahal. I suppose it’s a bit of a cliché, but I enjoy beauty, and, from photos, it had always seemed to be one of the most ethereal … Continue reading The vanishing Taj Mahal
How our traveling has changed
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know a lot has been going on the last two years. I mean, besides the obvious (we’re looking at you, Covid-19). Around two years ago, Devin and I started to realize we were both autistic and had ADHD, as well as some assorted other comorbidities. We were both … Continue reading How our traveling has changed
Animal exploitation: Sloth bears in India and civets in Vietnam
This is the first of what will probably be a few posts about our trip to India over the winter break. We needed to go somewhere warm, and we’d never been to India, so it seemed like a logical choice. We spent the first three days in Delhi, our port of entry, and then went … Continue reading Animal exploitation: Sloth bears in India and civets in Vietnam
It’s Chinggis Khan’s birthday!
With the stainless steel Chinggis Khan in 2018 The day after, actually. Well, sort of. No one’s really sure when his birthday is, but there are some good guesses, and there is a customary holiday in November to commemorate it. The range seems to be November 8 to November 27, in the ten years since … Continue reading It’s Chinggis Khan’s birthday!
Working at a Mongolian university
Arriving at MIU before sunrise Next week is Chinggis Khan’s birthday, to be celebrated on November 24, which also happens to be the US holiday Thanksgiving. Mongolia International University (MIU) set its fall break to coincide with this national holiday and another national holiday, Republic’s Day, which falls on Saturday, November 26. Usually, we get … Continue reading Working at a Mongolian university
Noodling around town
I haven’t posted much about Mongolia in a while, and I want to get back to it. I have a lot of ideas to write about, but this fall got so wrapped up in health issues that I didn’t have much time to think about other things. But during the past few weeks, Devin and … Continue reading Noodling around town
More adventures in health care
It’s been over a year since we started trying to figure out what is ailing Devin. I went back to read the first post I wrote about what’s been happening, just to refresh my memory. We’re definitely not in the same place, but we haven’t made a huge amount of progress yet, either. We seem … Continue reading More adventures in health care
International schools and white savior complex
An ad at the old international airport; it reads "Empowering Students to Make a Difference" The other evening was Back to School Night at Devin’s school, and I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was the first time I was able to attend one of these since 8th grade (they’re in 11th grade now). It … Continue reading International schools and white savior complex
Our first two weeks of gluten free eating in Mongolia
We’ve made it through the first two weeks without gluten pretty easily. We had one spectacular fail, where we tried to make a pizza using a pancake mix we brought from the US. It had all the ingredients of a flour mix used in a pizza recipe I found online, so I thought it could … Continue reading Our first two weeks of gluten free eating in Mongolia