We got up and drove another 4 hours to the village of Erdene Dalai. In the middle of nowhere, in the desert, was this beautiful Buddhist shrine. I am amazed by the artistic approach and care that goes into all things Buddhist here. As we made our way there, we also saw a bunch of creepy vultures on the side of the 'road' (the word road is a huge exaggeration). They. Were. ENORMOUS!!! Imagine a large lab sitting, and that's how big these vultures were... at least. They were so creepy - and if you know of my fear of birds anyway, you would know exactly how creepy they were!! UGH!!
When we arrived at the village, we went into the church (the only registered Christian church in the Gobi) and the kids were in there - hanging out and singing. They were singing "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" in Mongolian and doing hand motions to go along with the words - it was SO neat. Then, this beautiful little girl (maybe about 7 years old) did a traditional Mongolian dance for us - she was all dressed up in gorgeous traditional garb and very serious about her performance. It was the coolest thing - she was such a little performer at the time, and then ended up being one of the most shy.
Afterward, it was time for the kids to go over to the 'feeding center' (the building behind the church) and have lunch. While they had already cooked lunch, we did get to help serve it to the children and be apart of their blessing before the meal, which was really neat.
The Gobi children were alot different from the city kids. While the kids in the city were sweet, and happy, the boys were quick to fight and you often heard "I'm going to kill you" being spat at another child over something as simple as someone losing a game. In the Gobi, kids were giggling more, intrigued by these white 'eagles' (they call white people eagle because they think our noses look like beaks!) and trying to figure us out. After lunch we passed out gifts for the kids, gal loon baggies filled with goodies for them, an important gift since many of these kids possess nothing of their own. I sat down along with the other girls and our nail polish of sparkly pink and bright green, taking some of the more trusting girls by the hand for a manicure.
Soon the little girls were giggling and talking to each other, choosing their color and blowing on each other's nails. In the grass, boys were playing soccer with the guys, some were being tossed around, and others playing a game of tag. Tim & Joey did their best at balloon animals, making dogs, swans and swords--all instant hits. The language barrier seems to melt when it comes to play....We were able to have the face painting a little better put together this time, since Julie drew up a template with about 8 options for them to point & choose. It's funny the things that seem so common and obvious to us. This children had never seen nail polish, never blown bubbles, and never ever had a balloon.
Everything was a new lesson & a new treat. Watching them chase each other blowing bubbles, or gasp & giggle every time a balloon popped, you almost didn't notice the severe wear in their clothes, the scars and cuts from so much labor at the age of 6, or the fact that almost no one had bathed anytime recent. Another interesting thing about the Mongolian people, is how much they still adhere to tradition and superstition. There were several times with the children, especially in the Gobi, where we would mistake a small boy for a little girl. Evidently, if they have a young child die (especially another boy) they will dress their next son as a little girl until they're about 6 to confuse the evil spirits. You also saw both little boys & little girls with very, very long hair. They don't cut the children's hair for the first couple years, as a good luck measure. Then, when they girls are 6, and boys 5, they shave their heads completely. Everything here has a specific meaning behind an action or a story for explanation. Such a different world! For dinner, we had a meal locally prepared for us. Noodle something and fried goat's stomach--with onions! I tried it, I ate it, I would probably pass it up next time. The food here is definitely not something I'm fond of. (It in fact is quite disgusting and I will be happy to eat some good Italian when I get home!)After hours spent with the kids, we packed up and went back to go to sleep for the night, a new village destination set for the morning,
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