Another Tsagaan Sar - Lunar New Year. I was invited to many friends' homes for traditional visiting and had a wonderful time. The University established greeting day on the third day of Tsagaan Sar. There are many rituals and protocols involved. You will notice I am in my deel, and that I am seated. Greeting is by age - eldest first, so I'm seated and very near the head of the line!

Bottz are the traditional New Year food - every meal! They are usually regular pastry white, but our new Home Ec teacher managed to dye them for our greeting. What looked like a plate of Easter Eggs turned out to be delicious bottz.

I am standing with our Director, Enkhtsetsg (to my right) and Tsotsog, a teacher in our department.

After greeting in our building and departments, we went to the Main Building to greet the President and other administrative officials.

As if all the celebration around Tsagaan Sar weren't enough, my colleague Oyuntungalag had a birthday! I was invited to a wonderful dinner to celebrate this special day. Anu, her daughter, is a possible future Columbia College woman!

Well, I am expecting an unexpected adventure this weekend - perhaps there will be an interesting post early next week.....

Last Friday was Teacher's Day. I National Holiday to celebrate teachers at all levels. What a great idea! Our University cut our classes to one hour each, and then hosted an amazing party for 400 - 500 faculty in a converted warehouse.

There was wonderful food, substantial drink and national entertainment. And, lots of loud music for dancing - and we did! I enjoyed celebrating with all my colleagues.

Well, I'm back in UB. First surprise, I was met at the airport by 7 colleagues (it was nearly midnight). I have a cozy apartment in The Teacher's Dorm. Second surprise, the school got a facelift and a new statue of two children reading a poem about teachers out front. Third surprise, I am teaching 12 classes, each 90 minutes, each week. It is good to be working here again.

Rick and I have been raising funds to establish a book ger in UB - a place where children can come and have access to books, toys, paper, crayons - stuff kids like, and need.

Thanks to generous friends and family, we were able to fund a new book ger in the northwestern part of UB. This district is especially poor. Many of the children who come to the book ger are street children, and several others live in gers with little heat. Parents can bring their children to enjoy a little heat and a lot of fun.

The book ger was very busy with children, volunteers and parents. There is a nice plaque on the outside of the building that says Lynne and Friends. And, by the way, we're working to raise money for another one! Join us.....

Well, it seems that good things do not end. I am heading back to Mongolia next week for four months. I will be able to work with my colleagues again at the Teacher's School of the Mongolia State University of Education. I am very excited to be able to continue my work and see all my good friends. I will also get to see, first hand, the Book Ger that was established due to the generous contributions of friends and family. There will be plenty of pictures of that! I hope you will join me on this continuing journey.

Today is the last day of Naadam. The races are over, the wrestling champion was crowned last night and the archers have put their bows down. Today is celebration, and on the square, it was National Dress Day. There are many cultural groups and ethnic minorities in Mongolia, and the dress is diverse and beautiful. It is also my last day in Mongolia. I leave for the airport in a few hours. So, this is the very last post. THE END.

Welcome to the Naadam horse races. I left home at 6am to catch the bus to the site. Here, Oyunsuren, Munkhshur and I are ready to work at Culture Nadaam.

Families from all over Mongolia come to UB for the races. They erect their gers and ready for the race.

There were three races this day, each for a different age horse. All riders are children, 3 - 11 years old! The races were between 22 and 35 KM.

First place winner in the first race.

The site was full of people, horses, kites in the sky and lots of khushuur and airag!

Culture Naadam is a wonderful addition to the races. We had traditional music, modern dance, and other performances. People could try archery, felt making, calligraphy, folklore and traditional art. An art installation of pinwheels was also there. A good time was had by all.....got home around 9pm....

Surprises and adventures keep coming. On Friday, Magcar arranged for a car and driver and took Odgerel and me to the site of the Naadam horse racing. People were arriving and setting up their gers. The finish line was already there. We drove around looking for horses and happened upon a family who were going to race five horses, several of whom were already race winners. They also had several babies, and the mares were milked every two hours in order to get the mild for airag. They offered us airag and soup and showed us around.

They used to have 200 horses, but most were wiped out in the deadly winter of 2010. One of the race horses is half English, and he did perk up when I asked him, in English, to pose nicely for me!

Then, on Saturday, my friend Hishge called and invited me to a concert. The main attraction was a performance by 1,024 children, all playing the horse-head fiddle (morin khuur). Amazing! This was followed by many acts - singers: individuals, groups (both small and large), modern, traditional, throat, and dancers, and contortionists. All the performers were from the Zavhan Aimag - and the whole aimag must have been there. The children performed on the Square, and will perform once more at the opening ceremonies of Naadam on Monday morning.