Today is the start of Naadam. The national holiday for Mongolia. There will be horse racing, archery and wrestling for three days.  Ulaanbaatar is calm right now. People are still in the dark as to the final outcome of the elections. The state of emergency has been lifted and everyone is more interested in Naadam than politics.

Two buildings were destroyed during the riots and five people killed. Hundreds have been arrested and there are rumors of torture. When the state of emergency was declared all the local t.v. stations were closed down except the "national station". Only one side of the story was available.  The ruling party (former communist party) tried to shut down Eagle TV (Christian) for good. They claimed that the station encouraged the rioting.  However, they were not able to. PTL! Most Mongolians watch this station because it is fair and honest. Also, Fox News is on that station during the night until around 9 a.m.

During the riots one of the buildings that was burned housed very valuable Mongolian musical instruments  and costumes. It was a very big loss for the people of Mongolia.  Several cars were also torched.

I have eight Mongolian teachers that I am working with this summer. They all live in northern Mongolia. I will write more about them later. It has been raining here a lot. I don't remember it raining so much ever before during the 10 years that I have been coming here. Will close for now. All is well. Blessings