We are now halfway through April, which is just wild, and the weather lately reflects that. Mongolian spring weather is generally unpredictable. Our first year in UB, I remember being at work and looking out the office windows as outdoors morphed through every season in a couple of hours–sun to rain to hail to dust storm to rain to snow to sun. We’ve enjoyed some lovely mild temperatures, which feel positively balmy after winter, and then the past few days have been wintery once again.

Beyond that, we’ve been taking the time to take care of some medical things. I had five moles removed from my face, neck, and ear earlier this week. A friend helped me get through the registration process, but I’ve gone through the following appointments by myself. Although it’s probably for the best to have these growths removed, it does feel like I’ve lost something of myself as I’ve had these marks for decades now. Until Wednesday morning, I also get to feel like a pirate with the stitches on my face.

Oh! Here’s an element that most folks in the US will probably find unusual. The clinic I went to gave me the option to have the moles biopsied or not. I wanted to have that done because some of them were super funky looking, and then they presented me with the prepared sample and told me where to bring it–across town. So I got to hop in a taxi with my skin sample in a bottle and bring my moles to a related pathology lab. Ha! For some reason, this didn’t seem all that out of the norm in the moment, but when I shared the story with some friends back home, they were definitely caught off guard.

In other news, as we approach summer, we are gearing up to return to the US for a year–roughly June to June. I hope to continue to update this space as we go and in the time leading up to our departure. It’s been such a busy year that I’ve barely posted.

Cheers,

B