Fall in Mongolia

I know I've been a slacker about posting things this week. I guess I've been busy (imagine that!). I do have some great ideas for things I want to blog on. Those are gonna be really good (I promise) once I get the pictures to go with the posts. The story I have for you today, is rare. It's about fall. Mongolians always claim that there are 4 seasons here, just like in the US (I should say, the Midwest). In my two years living here, I never saw 4 seasons, I only saw winter and summer, and those were pretty extreme! Upon reflection, I think there was a week of fall and spring, but those were so quick, they can hardly be called seasons. However, the weather has been so warm here recently (70F today), that I can actually see fall! The oddest thing about the weather is that no one knows what to do. The government turned the heat on in all the buildings on the 15th (last year it snowed in early September). So my apartment is sweltering because it gets lots of sun and the radiators are cranking out heat! I shouldn't complain, it'll be cold soon enough!

On another topic that has to do with global warming, it was a "no car" day in Ulaanbaatar yesterday. Of course, the government forgot to inform the general public so there were these insane traffic jams. They blocked off all the traffic in the heart of the city, forcing all the cars to the outer roads. I don't think there were actually any less cars on the road, but the "no car" day did give kids a chance to ride their bikes on paved roads, and it allowed pedestrians to walk freely without the fear of being run over by a speeding car.
Here are some nice photos from this weeks Hash that show fall in Mongolia. The pictures were taken just outside Terelj, a national park near UB.

Look closely at this one. You can see me walking Pepa and Tsagaana and his owner.

At the risk of having this blog turn into one like my brother-in-laws (http://regalvizsla.blogspot.com/), I also had the pleasure of taking Pepa, the fearless, yellow lab for the weekend. She accompanied me on the Hash. There was another dog that did the Hash too. His name is Tsaagana (White one or Whitey). Tsaagana was a street dog and his owner took him in a more or less domesticated him. There is some discussion over whether or not Tsagaana is part wolf. Here is a picture, judge for yourselves.

Pepa was pretty scared of Tsaagana, because Tsaagana is pretty aggressive and protective of his owner. Pepa stayed close and basically dragged me up and down steep hills for 3 hours.

I've got a fun week coming up! I'm going to a huge Mongol Hip Hop show tomorrow. I promise to put up some pics and clips from that. Next weekend is the Gobi Marathon and that should also yield some good pictures and stories. Additionally, I should note that everything is going well on the research front.