Due giorni da solo

This weekend everyone went to the meditation center in the national park. I stayed home because I had to deal with the Chinese embassy on Sunday, since I lost my passport and have to do this visa business alone.

I was walking to the embassy in the morning with almost $200 in my bag to pay for the visa and some other stuff, when I first got accousted by a group of mini thugs half my size who were trying to stomp their little feet and demand money. I just laughed them off. Less than a minute later, a group of seven or eight filthy-looking men stood in my path. One of them stepped in front of me, threw his hands in my face, while the rest of them stood behind looking intimidating. This I could not laugh off, and when I tried to get through, they held me back, making manic gestures with their hands and faces. I was afraid to open my fanny pack because there was so much money in it, but I finally did because I didn't know what else to do. I gave him 1000 Tugrik, which is only a dollar or so, and fortunately he didn't try to grab any more. The group went wild after seeing they could get money out of me, so when the first man left, another took his place. But in the group was a woman, about my age, who had a beautiful face but had clearly been through a lot. She pushed the man out of the way and gestured for me to hurry. I was so grateful. After I paid for my visa and started walking back, I saw the group again. This time I took out 5000T ahead of time, and handed it to her as I walked by, making a gesture of thanks. She had an amazing smile.

Our group is fundraising for the local women's shelter, trying to buy webcams and skype headsets so the five shelters in Mongolia can communicate with each other. By fundraising I mean asking people in our group and people we know to contribute. If you would like to donate, let me know and we can arrange something.