Last night we had some rain. It was enough rain that as I was going to sleep there was really the sound of raindrops on the roof of our ger. The day dawned much cooler, and as we walked to the laboratory at 9 this morning we noticed that the mountain peaks around Ulaangom all had snow on them where yesterday there had been no snow. We have experienced such dramatic weather changes within less than a month’s time.
It is close to 6 p.m. local time as I write this and we have just come from the laboratory where we examined the sheep fecal samples for third-stage helminth larvae. We went to the lab around 9, worked all day until 5:10 with a break for lunch at an eatery nearby. The parasitology expert for this area, Dr. Bolormaa, worked with us and was very helpful.
Children like to come up to us and say hello, and when we reply they shy away. Yesterday where the shops are a woman in her 30s greeted me and asked if she could introduce herself to me. So of course I replied, „Please do,“ and she proceeded to introduce herself and the man with her. I told her my name and she asked the usual questions about where we are from etc. We enjoy speaking with the people here, and by now we recognize some of the shop keepers, people from the neighborhood, etc, and they recognize us.
I have been thinking about what the word „home“ means. I have gotten used to Ulaangom and the way of life here, so when we drive out among the nomads, and return to our ger, I feel like I can relax because right now that means I am „coming home.“ When we leave to return to Berlin that will be going home to Germany.
On Thursday we will go back to the nomads where we did our first work with the sheep. The strange thing for us who are not nomads is that they will have moved in the meantime. They told us the last time we were with them that they were moving the next day, but the local veterinarian would be able to find them. Right now is moving time among the nomads here as summer quickly comes to an end. We saw lots of gers being packed up when we were out in the countryside over the weekend.
Linda Weistroffer
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