Today I went to the outdoor market with Badmaa and her parents for a few last-minute items, including a fur hat. Before the trip, friends who have traveled in winter in Central Asia told me that fur is really the best way to keep one's head warm. So with Badmaa's help, in the space of 20 minutes, I acquired a white furry top. I also acquired ten numb fingers in the process. The fact that this is a year-round market boggles the mind.
In the afternoon, I decided to take a long walk to test out the layers. Well, most of the layers. What I discovered in the process is that this combination of gear might look a little bit unusual on the streets of Ulaan Baatar. It is impossible to tell where someone is from under all those layers unless you can see their eyes. So passers-by would do a subtle (but not-so-subtle) "UB onceover" which inevitably ended in making eye contact: either starting with the black rubber boots that have a tiny bit of reflective piping, or with the big white furry hat, they'd check out both, then search for the eyes, as if to reassure themselves that this person is from somewhere else. Just wait until I'm wearing a deel instead of my black wool coat...
Much to my delight, I saw that Sukhbaatar Square - the main big plaza downtown) has an ice rink on one end (by the street). Also, there's a six-foot-high structure made out of ice; it has stairs to the top, and slides coming down either side. Children were playing on it with much laughter. There were also several other ice sculptures nearby. How cool is that!
Speaking of ice, and hard-packed snow, I have noticed that people around here tend to slide across hard-packed snow. For example, when coming upon a patch - I'm not calling it ice, because it isn't, but it is equally slippery - people do sort of a horizontal glissade across it, as if skateboarding. On purpose. (I do this only involuntarily, at moments when the surface becomes slippery with no notice.)
In the afternoon, I decided to take a long walk to test out the layers. Well, most of the layers. What I discovered in the process is that this combination of gear might look a little bit unusual on the streets of Ulaan Baatar. It is impossible to tell where someone is from under all those layers unless you can see their eyes. So passers-by would do a subtle (but not-so-subtle) "UB onceover" which inevitably ended in making eye contact: either starting with the black rubber boots that have a tiny bit of reflective piping, or with the big white furry hat, they'd check out both, then search for the eyes, as if to reassure themselves that this person is from somewhere else. Just wait until I'm wearing a deel instead of my black wool coat...
Much to my delight, I saw that Sukhbaatar Square - the main big plaza downtown) has an ice rink on one end (by the street). Also, there's a six-foot-high structure made out of ice; it has stairs to the top, and slides coming down either side. Children were playing on it with much laughter. There were also several other ice sculptures nearby. How cool is that!Speaking of ice, and hard-packed snow, I have noticed that people around here tend to slide across hard-packed snow. For example, when coming upon a patch - I'm not calling it ice, because it isn't, but it is equally slippery - people do sort of a horizontal glissade across it, as if skateboarding. On purpose. (I do this only involuntarily, at moments when the surface becomes slippery with no notice.)
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