Are we there yet?

On Monday I went with my second graders on a field trip to the 13th Century Village. I LOVE going on field trips especially in a different country! So on Monday morning we loaded up 14 kids and 3 adults onto the school bus. Then the adventure began. You should know by now that the driving in Mongolia is a little like NASCAR and bumper cars put together! Also, it seems that most don't care about seat belts or the usual car safety rules. So we spent the entire ride there and back telling the kids to sit down. I assume the source of us repeating SIT DOWN and STOP SPEAKING MONGOLIAN was due to the excitement of the field trip and not the lack of listening skills! Another idea to remember is to NOT let boys sit in the back of the bus (not a good idea). We had many arguments over the fact that the boys were not sharing their snacks with each other (did I mention that they weren't supposed to be eating their snacks yet). We were hoping that since they were allowed to bring ipods, cameras, and cell phones ( yes, the 2nd graders have nicer phones then I do) that the trip might be relatively quiet. (Did I mention that some of them had an iPhone?)  Our thought system was WAY off base with that! So we decided to try to distract them with "Hey, who can see the train?" or "Who can see all the lambs and goats?" That didn't work very well either.

We are still on the road in the countryside when we hear those dreaded words "I have to go to the bathroom!" Now there are no rest stops in Mongolia so you have to make your own. So we stop and take the bathroom break with the first boy back on the bus declaring that he "was the winner!" So everyone is loaded back up and we start going again. IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. We learn that in fact we are not going in the wrong direction NOW but we were before. (I'm glad we knew where we were going) So we find our way again and get to the largest statue of Chinngis Khan in the world.

We take a break to take photos and then we have the kids run up the stairs and back to get ride of some of their energy. So we get going only to pull off the side of the road to discuss the directions to the village with a lady in front of a Ger. (Obviously Map Quest doesn't work here)So we continue on for what seems like an hour on an unpaved road in our bus in the middle of nowhere. Then we finally see the gates! We finally made it to the guard station. Here the kids (and adults) were able to dress up in costumes. The kids were extremely cute in the outfits.

Then we got back on the bus to go to the kings palace. It was a very large Ger! We had lunch there and discovered a CAMEL and a horse. After lunch, we got our pictures taken on the camel (it was sitting on the ground) and the kids got to ride the horse. The boys were very excited by the fact that the camel peed on the ground! We then went to the Shaman camp where the kids tried to scare each other by saying the ghosts were going to get them (the joys of boys!). Next we went to the educational Ger. Then we went to another Ger where they made clothing. I found a cute little guy there!

Since we visited all the Gers and tried to tire the kids out, we decide to get on our way. So we are getting on the bus and the 2nd grade teacher and I are the last ones to get there. We then have a kid yell to us "There are strange people on the bus!" Now that's always a comforting thing to hear! Obviously it is okay to pick up strangers and give them a ride to the city in Mongolia on a school bus. So after making the boys move up to the front if the bus we are on the way. We decided to stop at the huge Chinngis Khan statue so the kids could call their parents, use the restrooms, and maybe climb Chinngis Khan. So after calling the parents, I take the first wave of kids up the stairs (there were a lot!) to go to the restroom. However I speak no Mongolian (except I do know hello!) and I don't understand why the man is not letting us through. I then see the ticket booth. We find out that they won't let us take the kids to use the restrooms unless we pay. Now remember there is a bus full of 2nd graders that need to use the restroom before we finish the 2 hour bus ride. So what do you do? You let them use the bathroom outside! Needless to say the kids didn't get to climb Chinggis.

We make it back to the school with the usual SIT DOWN and STOP SPEAKING MONGOLIAN and only have to wait for one kids parent to come. So we wait and then decide to call the mom. There was some kind of confusion and needless to say neither the mom or dad where on the way. So then the mom tells us to leave her child at a Ger next to the school (they are related somehow) and she will pick him up later. So we get the situation figured out and I finally get home at 6:45! Oh it was lovely and very long day!

Laura