Dust storms yesterday, several inches of snow this morning. I opened my curtains this morning and was genuinely surprised to see a blanket of snow making everything outside look clean and soft. It was early enough that the snow had not yet been disturbed by too many cars or footprints, and the footpath sweepers were not yet at work. Keira had woken me up, and had to sit on my hip while I took a few photos before she got her bottle. I have no experience to comprehend the climate and environment here. My perception of snow is deep winter, but I think that here a good snow shower may be a substitute for rain. By lunch time the snow was only visible in pockets of deep shade. This is due to a combination of energetic sweeping of footpaths, cars clearing the road with their tires and bright sunshine.
I wasn’t working today. Alesia is a bit sick and didn’t get up until 9:30am (the lure of Playschool). We had a nice quiet morning with me pottering around the house doing things I don’t usually get the chance to do. Keira went down in my room and Alesia and I added more flowers and butterflies to the wall mural. At lunchtime we went out with Natalie. The blue skies and bright sunshine were deceptive from our windows. The wind was bitter and neither Natalie or I had hats and gloves. Both the girls were dressed ok though, as I know that my clothing choices for the girls are checked out by the ADRA women as we pass the office on the way outside so I always overdo things just to be on the safe side. The ground was wet from the melted snow (good for the bits of straw that passes for grass in front of our building). Industrious guards in our compound had shovelled the snow into piles next to the wall, so Alesia had fun stomping through those and picking up snow off the tops of her boots. Many cars that had not been wiped down had an interesting mix of snow and dust covering them as markers two days of distinctive weather.
We shivered through the wind to a new café. This one was inside a Buddhist Centre. It was recommended by someone with kids as a good place because of the box of toys available. It was a great little place, clean, bright, quiet (until Alesia and Keira showed up) and a great little corner with a kids table and the promised box of toys. There was a good library of English books in the corner available for loan (with a hefty deposit for each book that ensures they either never get borrowed or always come back) and the usual feel-good Buddhist paraphernalia on the walls. Natalie commented on how the Buddhist cafes we have been to (so far only two) only serve vegetarian food, whereas Mongolian Buddhists eat meat. We figured that we must be in a place run by “missionary” Buddhists from elsewhere.
The menu was simple. Toasted cheese sandwich. Toasted cheese and tomato sandwich. Toasted cheese and pineapple sandwich. The breakfast menu was a bit more extensive, and they did have some nice cakes on display – but we were looking for lunch. Our toasted sandwiches arrived (with the toppings put on top of the cheese, nice home-baked bread though) accompanied by a great mango lassi and a whopping café latte for Natalie. She could only drink half and I did try to have some for her but I am just not a coffee girl.
Meanwhile Alesia and Keira demolished the toy box, climbed the furniture and charmed two complete strangers at another table so much that they presented the girls with chocolates. Alesia thinks she is living in some kind of lolly heaven, as Mongolians love sweet things and love sharing sweet things, so she often gets lollies from strangers. We will have to do something about that when we get home, where stranger lollies are much more sinister.
After lunch we set off to achieve our real purpose for going out. You may have noticed in some photos just how shaggy Keira is looking. Her hairdo has been reminiscent of a shaggy mullet from the seventies. It was at the point where we couldn’t brush it out of her eyes anymore, and she won’t wear hair clips or a headband. So we arranged for Aryuna (one of Natalie’s work friends) to take us to a hairdressing salon for a cut. Keira’s hair is dead straight, so I figured a simple bob would be ok. We went to “The Busy Beauty Salon”, a cute little place up a narrow and steep set of stairs near our house. After deciding that a shampoo was not necessary Keira sat on my lap and the hairdresser followed Aryuna’s instructions on the style. Overall Keira sat very well, sometimes I held her head still but mostly she behaved like a little angle. At one point we had the entire staff and other clients of the salon standing around and commenting on how to get the back of her hair even while she wriggled. Now she looks like a little lady. This was Alesia’s first visit to a hair dressing salon, and she sat on the steps and ate an ice-cream (Aryuna brought it for her). Alesia will be four in a few weeks and she is yet to have a proper hair-cut. Keira is 15 months and I think we will be taking her in for a trim in a few months when her fringe is back in her eyes. At only $3 for her haircut I think we will be able to afford it.
I lugged my camera with me to record the hair cut. Somehow something happened to the memory card and the camera will not read the images stored on it. I am working on getting an SD card reader to see if I can get the images off the card via computer before reformatting the card. So if there are pictures in the salon with this blog then you know I was successful. If there are not then you know that I tried and you will just have to imagine the whole adventure. At least there are some photos taken at home later with a spare card….
