Only one more week...

Wow, only one more week until I leave Mongolia. I will be really sad to leave Jaspal, but hopefully the next five months will speed by and then he'll be back, too.

I am, however, looking forward to getting back to my "real life" in San Francisco. Much of this includes watching American TV (I'm sure the the thrill of that one will last about an hour), hanging out with my friends and family, driving, having a whole closet of clothes to choose from, and eating lots and lots of Mexican food.

If you know Jaspal, it will come as no surprise that he's already thinking about the places we'll go to eat when he comes back home. Taqueria Cancun is high on that list, as are Zachary's Pizza, Gordo's Taqueria, In-n-Out Burger, Tandoori Chicken U.S.A., Juan's Place, Mitchell's Ice Creamery, Swensen's, Mario's La Fiesta, Chipotle, Picante, the Vietnamese Sandwich Shop around the corner, Papalote, Avatar's, Sophie's Crepes, Krispy Kreme, Fenton's, Top Dog, Kingpin Donuts, Lanesplitter Pizza, LittleStar Pizza, Gelateria Naia, Cha-Ya, G-Gate, Burma SuperStar, several burrito trucks around the bay, IKEA (I'm guessing for their cinnamon rolls)...

"That's a good start," he says.

Mongolia is not exactly foodie heaven (especially for a vegetarian), but there is one food I've definitely grown attached to: бууз (pronounced "boze"). They are these litle dumplings that are generally filled with meat, but I found veggie ones at a hippie vegetarian cafe called Ananda (it's also a meditation center). They are really tasty. I think I might try to make them at home with Grillers Crumble. I love that stuff.

We're taking one last trip to the countryside (ok, so it's only trip #2, but whatever) before I go. We'll spend Thursday through Saturday, along with our friend Sunmin, in Bayanhongor, where the Health Department is having an anniversary party that Jaspal needs to attend.

I'm hoping there won't be any spiders there.