Notre Dame Orphanage revisted

Not too far from the city centre, across an inconspicuous bumpy dirt road, stretch the humble gates of Fraternite Notre Dame, the home of 25 Mongolian orphans.  (There are more than 40 such orphanages in Mongolia).  Much has happened since we were last there but I am happy to report that despite Sister Marie Francoises' sudden departure after 7 years of service at the orphanage, that the children have adapted well and have been doubly blessed by two replacement Sisters who seem to be cut from the same extraordinary mould as Sister Marie Francoise.

The surrounding neighbourhood as seen from the window

Girls dorm below. Recreation room above.

The purpose of our visit  was to deliver a new organ donated by a Catholic parish in Brisbane who responded in kind when hearing about the needs of the children. 

After the nights festivities, it's easy to see how much ongoing joy this donation will bring to the daily life of the orphanage.

We brought with us food, drinks, party hats, poppers and friends. After sharing a delicious meal we were treated to a medley of songs in English, Mongolian and French! 

The national anthem is sung with such reverence!

...so angelic

Ole And Colin

All the children signed a Thankyou.

"The Choir"

Julie Veloo and Sister

Introducing Khushuur...

a very popular  Mongolia snack food, similar to a fried meat pie.  It's made from a simple mix of beef or mutton, flour and onion.  Looks much like a pastie.

Moi!

No one started until all food was dished out, drinks poured and prayers were said... such impeccable manners :D

Cutie!

Robyn

Scrummy!

And last but not least, a special guest, The Most Reverend Bishop Jean Marie .  When we arrived he (aka the picture!) was downstairs in the main building.  Somebody cared enough to bring him up stairs to join in the celebrations!

The Bishop founded the Fraternite Notre Dame religious congregation in 1971 and now operates humanitarian missions on four continents.

Night out at the OPERA

This pink Romanesque building was built by the Russians in 1932.  It's centrally located on the east side of Sukhbaatar Square and is fondly referred to as the Ulaanbaatar Opera House and is the domicile of the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia.  

By all accounts it hosts the most prolific schedule of ballet, opera and theatre performances in the world!  Well maybe not,  but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more fecund theatre group!!  You could attend twice a week for a month and never see a repeat show!!!

We have seen two productions this week, Carmen and an Anthology of Classical Musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, Romeo and Juliet, Cats, Don Juan and Chicago. I am staggered that such multifarious productions can run for 2 nights only, (sometimes even one as in the case of Carmen!!).

"CARMEN"

Backstage 

CATS

Right next door  to the Opera house is the Central Tower building which locals call the Shangri La as it was originally built to house the Shangri La Hotel. However there's no  hotel, only offices and a shopping mall with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Zegna. Its glass walls and clean lines are in sharp contrast to the  Opera house which clearly belongs to another time! 

There is a bar and restaurant on the 17th floor which offers great views of the city and surrounding hills.  On the 3rd floor they have a pub called the Square Grill which we like to frequent for late-night drinks.  It has a lovely view of Sukhbaatar Square.

Taken from the 17th floor

Yakety YAK

There are five traditional herd animals in Mongolia: horses, sheep, goats, camels, cows/yaks. 

Today I'm posting my pictures of the yak as both Sim and I mistook this creature for a long haired cow!!  So if you are in doubt yourself, here's how they look!  They are quite timid creatures.

There's always a black "yak" of the family it seems.....Ignore the horse!

Close encounter of the yak kind