Bringing in the new year...dangerously...

So, yesterday we got up very late. We had survived our first Mongolian Karaoke experience. It lasted until about 5:30 am. It was as ridiculous as it sounds. Maybe more on that at a later date.

After we woke up in the early afternoon we went to get some pizza. There is a place that makes a reasonable facsimile of pizza (you just have to get used to pepperoni that tastes more like ham). On our way home we stopped at a street vendor selling fireworks. Apparently, giving small oranges and boxed cakes is customary on New Years in addition to lighting off a small nuclear arsenal of explosives. We decided to forego the oranges and cakes, choosing instead to celebrate with some
fireworks.

OK, one firework: the Wizard Horse. Jessica got a "party popper" as well, which throws confetti. But it was the Wizard Horse, with its mystical name and many warnings about safe use that was truly intriguing. I mean, come on, it is a horse that is a wizard. The actual device looked like one of those rockets on the Tom and Jerry cartoons. It portended greatness.

We made it home safely with the Wizard Horse and prepared to go to dinner with our friends Amra and Sheridan. On the way to dinner we passed a giant statue of young Buddha (Maybe 60ft tall). Even such a peaceful being looks menacing at that size. Like maybe he would just decide to crush you. Luckily, he stayed put.

We first tried a restaurant out of the city. The place was shaped like a giant ger. It was quite impressive, with metallic dragons on the support beams and adorned cattle skulls on the wall. Unfortunately the cook had left. In hindsight, it seamed odd that no one else was in the restaurant.

We headed back into the city, and back under the cloud of palpable pollution. You can feel an immediate difference in your respiratory health when you take your first breath. We settled on Los Banditos, Mongolia's only Mexican and Indian Restaurant! It turned out to be much better than I expected.

After dinner we headed home. Amra and Sheridan had to leave for Korea the next day at about 6:30 am. Before they left for the night, we pulled out the Wizard Horse. It was time to let it out to gallop magically across the sky. Oh yes, it would be magnificent. After some adjustment and readjustment I took out the matches and set it off. Everyone scrambled as the wick spit and hissed to life. Then it raced toward the sky and exploded into a halo of colored sparks. It was the largest firework I had ever lit off. I instantly regretted only buying one. But that was just the beginning of the night’s light show.

About an hour after we got home the clocked flipped to midnight and 2007 arrived. Instantly we could hear the report of explosives outside. When we looked out our window there were fireworks near and in the distance throughout the sky. From the building next to us, people were firing roman candles and other fireworks off their balconies. Then fireworks began appearing from below us. People from our building were firing from balconies beneath us. This continued for at least 1/2 an hour. It was quite a sight, if you could forget the certain death that a fire on a floor below us would cause. This is compounded by the fact that there are no smoke alarms in our building. Yeah.

Jessica fired her party popper, which was more impressive than expected, and we rushed from window to window to watch everyone firing their incendiary projectiles. It quite jovial, hopeful, and exciting.

We hope all of you had memorable New Years Eves, minus the fire hazards, of course.