Stuck In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Okay, so I was on my way to visit some friends in Germany when all of the sudden, the flight information thingy they had playing on the screen on the back of the seat in front of me changed. Instead of heading for Munich, we started going towards Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia! What the Heck! The pilot got on the intercom thing, and told us that because there was so much ash above most of Europe, we were headed to Mongolia, whose shys were clear enough for us to land. Well, we added about four hours to our flight, and once we touched down, I had to make a few long distance phone calls explaining why Lufthansa flight 5909 from Los Angeles didn't touch down at 6:00 Germany time. One that was out of the way and I got bored from sitting, I headed out to the main part of the city. When I got off the bus, I ran into a few kids who were asking for money. They looked freezing, and I felt bad for them. They told me that their names were Bagii, Itgel, Nandin, and Byambasuren. They were looking for cans and bottles in an alleyway right off the bus station, and I ran into them when they came out. I invited them to dinner, because I could see they were hungry, and they didn't have many bottles and cans in their bag. They willingly accepted, and we went into a local resteraunt, and I let them buy whatever they wanted. We talked about why they were living on the streets, and how they were survived the winter. Bagii said it was hard, but he and his group went their separate ways, and they were all able to find enough food as far as he knew. The same goes for Nandin but not so for Byambasuren. He was not part of a group, he wandered the streets with his brother, Ankhbayar. Over the winter , he left his brither at home, but he is planning to get him when the weather turns warmer. We had a good dinner, and they gorged themselves like they hadn't eater in a week, which may not have been far from the truth. It was great to meet these kids, and learn their stories. I really hope their situation gets better, I couldn't stand living in a steam pipe. I have finally found a plane that will land in Munich no matter what, so I will be joining Maria and her family tomorrow. For now, I will be on a flight. some of the kids' friends who live on the street. Ulaanbatar