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on Sarah in Mongolia (Mongolia), 17/Jan/2010 05:37, 34 days ago
So having complained I have had nothing to do, I have suddenly 6 thousand things to do! I have 2 proposals due in in the next 2 weeks, another one that is being sent to Mongolian companies and meetings with embassies and funding organisations. I am also doing work with VSO on fundraising and child protection, as well as getting involved with Amnesty International and Scouts of Mongolia.with all the work I have had going out hasnt been on the radar this week. I managed dinner out on Tuesday and Friday after the volunteer committee meeting but by Saturday I was very ready for a break. It was Sarah's birthday so we decided to do a spa day and dinner out in the evening. I thought it was a clothing optional spa so I had my swimsuit all ready to go, only to be told it was a no clothing allowed spa!! Once I got over the initial shock it was absolutely fine. It was so relaxing to be in a warm room, with warm baths, steam rooms and saunas - no cold and lots of moisture - my skin feels so much better than it did yesterday. I also had a foot massage (clothed!), the first massage I have had from a male masseuse, and it was pretty painful! He started on my back and shoulders, and today I still am sore where he pummelled my back! THankfully the foot massage was much more relaxing. It didnt quite compare to the Slieve Donard - no nice music, lots of screaming children running around and no individual rooms.But it was relaxing and a really nice way to spend a day.In the evening we went to The Bull restaurant for dinner. It is an asian hotpot restaurant and most of us hadnt been there before. Basically everyone gets a pot of soup/broth and you have a heater in front of you and you order lots of different meat and veg - they have everything from Mongolian mutton to bulls penis!! We ordered the meat and veg in groups of 4/5 and then each person adds the bits they want to their soup and you cook it whatever way you want. We had chicken, pork and beef along with veg, Buuz and noodles. It was a really fun way too cook, although we were slightly worried about putting volunteers alcohol and flames together! Noone got burnt too seriously and it was pretty cheap so all was good! We also had cake for Sarah and the staff looked a little concerned when we had the sparkler type candle shooting sparks into the air. It was quite funny - they then produced the most enormous knife we had ever seen - not quite sure what they were expecting us to cut with it, but one small cake was no challenge to it!We then headed for cocktails, in a non-VSO budget pub, but apparently the cocktails were pretty good, but I dont think we will be back regularly! It was a fun day in total and I enjoyed it.Today there are a few of us headed to see Avatar on the big screen now it is out. We are trying to save our money for our trip to Khuvsgul in February which will be a big undertaking but hopefully well worth the money!