7 Weeks and counting!

Hard to believe we've been here for 7 weeks already. We were talking today that we both feel like we have adjusted well, and are so grateful for that. Although we miss friends, family, and nursing at times, we really like it here!

We have taken midterms in all of our classes 2 weeks ago. They were difficult but we actually did surprisingly okay being that came in halfway through! We're getting the hang of this new difficult language, sort of! I think this is our last week meeting with our tutor that is helping us catch up to our classmates, so now we have to catch up on our own! But, instead of 24 hours of language school, we'll only have 18 hours.

We had 2 friends currently residing in Eastern Europe come to visit us. We had so much fun with them and are so glad they got to come visit. Here we are at the square across from our house.

The weather can't make up it's mind. One day we're wearing flip flops, t-shirts, and the pant roll - the next day we need tennis shoes, socks, and a fleece jacket. Although it is VERY dry weather here, we have been getting a few rain showers here and there - which is nice, but hard when you have to bike out in it. We've invested in some SWEET ponchos made specifically for bikes. It is one of the smartest buys we've made here!

We celebrated our 2 year anniversary on May 14th. The last two years went by so quickly. After class (lame) we went to a fancy massage place. We got a room together. They had us change into these cute little outfits (see John's pic) and then gave us complimentary coffee. We soaked our feet while we got our shoulders and arms massaged (they are way too good at finding knots). Then we got a foot rug WHILE another person massaged our scalp and neck. It ruled! Then we went to a fancy dinner and feasted on steak, sushi, real bread, real cheese, pecan pie and pretty much anything you can possibly imagine that is good.

Here's our neighborhood on the weekend:

Thanks for checking our blog. Tune in next time!!!

What to eat: Camel hump, sheep back, dog stew, pile of mutton with bones, donkey dumplings, or yak?

The title of this blog is of different meat dishes we've had the pleasure of enjoying while in this city (that we know of)! The most recent being yak, which is the dish you see. Down our street is a Tibetan restaurant with a nice and bright atmosphere. The symbol you see on the dish goes back generations ago (originally an ancient Indian religious symbol)... and means "well-being" or eternity; and has been used to ward off evil spirits. It was obviously corrupted during WWII and is strange for westerners to see on their temples here!


Have you ever seen the movie The Mummy? The part where the bad guy blows a sandstorm at them. (Or was it huge bugs? Can't remember.) This is how Dana perceived last weeks wind. We never knew what being in a sandstorm was like until we moved here. The clouds look dark and full of rain, only no rain would fall. You cannot see in the distance, all you can see is the sand coming at you. You can either take cover or dare to endure! It was creepy because no one was outside during these windy days. The only noise you could hear was the effects of the wind! The picture looks like we put it in a beautiful sepia color, but it is natural sepia!


National (other than America) labor day was last Friday. In addition to this, our University had a huge track meet. So, we had Wed, Thurs, and Fri off from school. One of our American friends competed in the 10 K, so we went out to support him. The stadium was packed full of Asians, all wearing cute white hats or visors! The energy there was unreal. Every time a person would pass by, the crowd would go nuts!

To our excitement, there is the best vegetable in the whole world in our city, green chili! We bought some and tried roasting it a while back. The ovens here are tiny (2 pieces of toast maxes it out), so this was a challenge. Dana likes to think of it as our Easy-Bake Oven. Not only that, but it's in Celsius and the way it heats is different. So, we made some dehydrated chili's the first time. The second time was not cooked enough, but got some meat out of it... enough for our spaghetti Dana made. Hopefully third times a charm! Wish us luck!