Our country for the month of April is Mongolia! I was excited to learn more about this country, as I had friends at BYU and in Hyde Park that were either from Mongolia or lived there for a couple of years serving a mission.
Mongolia is just north of China, sandwiched between China and Russia. On the west, it almost (but not quite) touches a corner of Kazakhstan. It is the 19th largest country in the world by area, but 132nd in terms of population, which makes it the least densely populated country in the world (not quite two people per square km). Approximately 45% of the country's population lives in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. The Gobi Desert is found in the southern section of the country.
We always love the Geography Now videos, as they are both entertaining and informative. Here is the one on Mongolia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpdGIPHPBwU
However, the video keeps talking about how everyone knows about Genghis Khan, but my kids didn't. So we searched on YouTube to try and find a good kid-oriented video about Genghis Khan, and we found this excellent series by Extra Credits. My kids were so captivated that when we found out there were more episodes to Genghis Khan's story, they begged to be able to keep watching. Turns out there are 6 of them, and my kids were enthralled to the very end.
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Later, we also watched the following videos for some additional fun:
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Later, we also watched the following videos for some additional fun:
- Top Rated 10 Tourist Attractions & Destinations in Mongolia
- 15 Surprising Facts: Mongolia
- Flag / Fan Friday MONGOLIA Geography Now! (the first part)
- 10 phrases for introducing yourself in Mongolian - Easy Mongolian Basic Phrases (1)
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As I mentioned, I have a friend who is from Mongolia, so I messaged her on Facebook and asked if she had any tips on Mongolian dishes we could try to make or any stories she could to share. She gave me her family's recipe for гурилтай хоол (guriltai khool), a beef and homemade noodle soup literally translated as 'food with flour'. She even recorded a series of videos to show me how to make it step-by-step!
I had never made homemade noodles before, so it was quite an adventure, but it turned out pretty great, and the whole family loved it! Essentially, it is diced chuck roast cooked in water with spices like Vegata to make a nice broth, and then you add homemade noodles cut into 2 to 3 inch long strips, kind of like fettuccine. So tasty! The kids really enjoyed it and hoped that someday they would get to try the real thing in Mongolia!
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