In Ulaanbaatar, people speak Mongolian as their first language. Some people also speak Russian or English, and many people study Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. In the west of the country, lots of people speak Kazakh, a language that is spoken in the neighboring country of Kazakhstan as well.
Mongolia uses the tugrik. Right now, one dollar is about 2,543 tugrik.
A big bottle of water costs about 1,000 tugrik
The best meal I ate this week was a delicious fried rice dish I made. I chopped up peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli, and tofu, and fried them all together with rice and a tasty sweet chili sauce. It felt good to eat so many vegetables, especially when so much of the food here is meat and dairy based!
This week, I listened to my favorite bands, Halestorm and Bruno Mars and several other artists including Dua Lipa, Demi Lovato, Lizzo and Childish Gambino. I also learned how to sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands” in Mongolian!