Could it be? I think I like kids!

Yes it's true. I think I'm finally starting to get why people like hanging out with those slobbery, smelly, undersized creatures that are kinda like pets only you'll be arrested for trying to pawn them off to your neighbor. Either that or four days with no shower in a bumpy jeep through the dry heat of Mongolia has left me without all my mental faculties.

Our driver, Natsikturch (at least we think), convinced us to reroute our itinerary to stay at his place the first night instead of Ogyi Lake. Of course by convinced, I mean he talked to us a lot in Mongolian, pointed at the itinerary, then drove us to his home. And of course by home, I mean a ger (aka a yurt), in the middle of Mongolia. We stopped only briefly to pick up his two-year old son (so we think) named Tawasheroo (also so we think). Tawasheroo was not a fan of smiling and liked trying to imitate his father by banging on the steering wheel and playing with the gear shift. We were not off to a good start.

But a camel and a horse ride later, plus a walk through the plains to a setting sun, and my mood had warmed up considerably to Mongolia. I found Tawasharoo trying to climb on the back of one of the girls I was traveling with, and she was having none of it. Remembering how fun piggyback rides were when I was a child, I scooped him up and ran around until he giggled hysterically and was swinging from my arms like a monkey in the trees.

His slightly older cousin named Anurag, or close enough, politely declined her turn, but very eagerly accepted my offer to chase the family's herd of goats/sheep together instead. This involved a lot of skipping and baa-ing. Speaking of the herds, they love standing near the roads so that when we drive through one every five minutes, we're honking the horn as several dozen goats or sheep or horses or cows or yaks frantically scatter in front of us. It's quite amusing. Anurag and I chased some goats, sang to the one English song she had on her cell phone, then went back holding hands to the ger for dinner.

So clearly, it's not that I like kids all of a sudden, it's just that I miss being one. Or perhaps, as my roommate Jake once said, my ovaries are ova-reacting.