David Speaks

Gillian and David count together.

Here in Ulaanbaatar, one of my sister’s fellow English teachers is also a Speech therapist. When she found out I would be stuck in Mongolia until the end of March, she asked if I would do speech therapy with a four-year old Mongolian boy who was adopted a year and a half ago by an American doctor here. He had a cleft pallet, and has already had three surgeries to repair it. I thought that would be a fine thing to do, and so, David and I meet everyday! David is a very hard worker. We do speech drills intermingled with games to keep things lively. We practice making s, sh, g, k, t, and th sounds together. It is difficult, but David is a real trooper. He likes things orderly, so I always draw up a plan, which he can then cross out as we finish each part! Sometimes he gets stickers for his hard work. Picking stickers is serious business, David takes his time and studiously examines the stickers finding just the right one. David makes progress everyday. He is a blessing for me, giving me the opportunity to serve someone each day.

Four grrrrreen cattsss in the bag!

The fish game is our favorite! It helps properly form sounds.

The very serious business of sticker selection.

Oh Mongolia!

Munguu, myself and Tegshee

Mongolia is fabulous as far as countries go. Big open spaces, beautiful smiling people, cold, sun, wind, snow, stylish girls in big sunglasses, guys with edgy haircuts, country people in red, purple, green deels. (Traditional robes). The wrestlers palace beckoned and I heeded the call, witnessing Mongolian wrestlers grapple, and fly like eagles around the ring when they won a match.

One snowy night in Sukhbaatar Square, the central square of Ulaanbaatar, as I photographed Ogedei Khan, third son to Chingis, enthroned upon his bronze throne for perpetuity, a “Hey what’s up” brought me to pause, and turning I saw Munguu and Tegshee grinning at me. We chatted in the cold wind until it froze us out. We met two times in the following week and a half, culminating in a trip to the National Museum of Mongolia. After experiencing the wonders of Mongolian history, a truly fascinating subject, I gave them each a new testament. They were very pleased, and mentioned that some of their friends have recently become Christians.  I told them to read John, and I will answer their questions when I return. As we parted they informed me I am their “best foreign friend”. I really enjoyed meeting Munguu and Tegshee, it was a real pleasure to speak English with them as they were eager to learn.

And now, a brief language lesson. Ulaanbataar means “Red Hero”, supposedly a nod to Damdin Sukhbaatar, who expelled Chinese forces, and other foreign forces threatening Mongolia, and then got cozy with the Communists. So, Ulaan (or Ulan) means red. Baatar means hero. Sukh means axe, so Sukhbaatar = Axe hero. Tomorrow I will be travelling from “Red Hero” to “Red Gate” the meaning of our beloved Ulan-Ude! Hurrah!