Soooo April went by quite fast, quite busy with all the jobs. It was also a relief to feel the breath-very strong, very forceful breath-of spring upon us after the long long cold.
There was still snow for a while though. Here is the city I've learned to call home:
My birthday did occur on April 23, as usual, even on the other side of the world! I had a birthday dinner with my 3 Swiss (Steven, Brigitte, Nadine), 2 of my Mongolian coworkers, Tugsuu and Nina, and my German coworker Andrea, my Turkish friend Boorak, my Mongolian friend Bulgaa ("B"), and my Peace Corps friend, Christiana.
The cake Steven, Boorak, and B fetched for me from the bakery.
None of us were very photogenic that night, but you get the idea. We dined on Chinese food. I brought a book and asked them to sign that they had been there for posterity... Each person wrote in a different language or two: Steven in Swiss-German, Nina in Russian, Tugsuu in Mongolian Script, B in Mongolian Cyrillic, Christiana in Italian, Boorak in Turkish, Kurdish, and Arabic, and Andrea "in English, with a German hand". Afterwards we parted ways with Tugsuu, Nina, and Andrea, and went to Baikal Pub for drinks with our Mongolian friend Ognii. He also had a big piece of cake with a candle waiting for me! A bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka later, we caught the grocery store just before it closed to restock our apartment, and headed home where my friend Jizo joined us. There are no pictures from that night for very good reasons, and though it held little sleep for any of us, it was extremely unforgettable!!
The next event of note was Jaisri's beautiful wedding!
The ceremony was Ba'hi, held in the restaurant of Jaisri's brother. This was the altar. The ceremony was mainly readings of Ba'hi prayers in Mongolian and English, with music as meditation and reflection, and presentation and signing of certificates. The bride and groom sat in these chairs for the ceremony, and then were considered married when they stood, holding hands and said, "We humbly submit our lives to the will of God."
Left to Right: Hitomi (Japanese), Nadine, Japanese-whose-name-I-will-try-to-remember-later, Jaisri the Bride in her post-ceremony kimono, me and Brigitte. We were essentially the bridal party.
Jaisri and Keichii and their family members who attended the ceremony in Mongolia. Jaisri's brother (first on the left) lives in Mongolia. Keichii's parents, (first lady on the left, last gentleman on the right) flew in for several days from Japan.
A famous morin-khuur player played for them after the ceremony.
Khishigee and I
Brigitte and I
Jaisri, in her wedding dress though you still can't see it... and her new mother-in-law
Friends and colleagues from 19 School English Language Department.
Nina and I
The adorable flower girl and I
One of our coworkers at 19 School is a singer and performer in Mongolian traditional music. She came fully attired in traditional garb.
My crazy roomie, Steve, and Nadine
The Bride and hers and her husband's Japanese friends in kimonos
Boogi and I. She was very happy to have caught the bride's bouquet, and I was very happy to have avoided it. :-P
Many, many more pictures of delightful people, and descriptions of the ceremony, but I think they'll have to wait for another day.
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