Life is good in Chinggis town. Sally and I have now been at
site for 2 months. We have grown accustomed to all of the unique features of
our town and are comfortably beginning to call this home. Let me tell you of
some of the things that may not make it into other blog posts.
Bathing requires us to use every water warming device we
have since we do not have hot water. Usually this process involves two stove
burners, a rice cooker, and an electric kettle (water boiler that holds about 2 liters). The kettle which brings
water to a boil in under ten minutes is used repeatedly to add hot water to
large pots on stove. Once everything is close to boiling point it is all dumped
into our tub that is large enough to sit cross legged in. During the summer
Sally and I grew accustomed to bathing in 2-3 liters of water in a plastic
tupon bath. Now it is true luxury to bath in 15-20 liters (cold water is added to boiling water via bath tub spicket to regulate a
nice hot bath).
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| Three of the possible four surfaces for warming water. |
Electric kettles are amazing for heating up water, but if
you accidently turn it on without water, be prepared for chaos. I have now done
this twice. The second time, instead of melting in a cloud of smoke like the
first one did, the kettle actually burst into flames which I tried to beat out
on the kitchen floor burning holes in the linoleum before dousing it in the
sink… Tomorrow, I will go back to the store and buy our third electric kettle.
I may need to hang up a sign in the kitchen with instructions for myself…
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| Burnt a hole in my foot too. |
Laundry is a therapeutic experience with our Chinese
machine. One starts by filling a large bucket full of water from bath tub 4 or
5 times and pouring into the washing portion of the machine. Then soap and
clothes are added and agitated for 15mins. Then the water is drained via
bucket, and fresh water is added. Once
the clothes have been rinsed, they are placed in the spinner portion of the
machine which spins most of the water from the clothes allowing them to dry on
a rack in less than 24 hours. What luxury! You may think I am joking, but I am
dead serious. After two months of hand washing laundry, this machine is a
godsend, and really is quite therapeutic. There is something satisfying in
manually moving so much water.
Weather this October has not been too bad. It was chilly in
the beginning of the month, but the past few weeks have had sustained highs in
the mid 50’s and 60’s. Mongolia, being a landlocked country, has seen a
significant change in temperature due to global warming. The winters while
terribly cold are not as terribly cold as they once were. The summers are much
hotter every year. This is good because it is not as common for whole herds of
animals to freeze, and in the case of puppies, may reduce the chance of
pupsicles… Oooh, Oooh, I know you are laughing on the inside.
Pupsicles to food… Our diet has
become more vegetable based in Mongolia than it ever was in the states. We are
easily able to obtain bell peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, cabbage,
garlic, and onions (in the winter it may
become harder to find some of these items). Veggies are cheap and less of a
hassle than meat. When we do eat meat, it is primarily in the form of imported
chicken (legs and thighs, who knows what
happens to the rest of the bird) and sausage. Last week, I made a veggie
and cheese based pasta, stuffed vegetarian bell peppers, and pizza. I have been
experimenting with yeast and may have a decent pizza dough figured out.
Red meat can be complicated. I was buying a hunk of beef (Үхрийн мах) in the local store (Дэлгүүр). When I asked if it was
beef the shop attendant said, “Тийм, үхрийн мах гэдэстэй.” I thought Гэдэстэй,
гэдэстэй why does that word sound familiar and why don’t I know what it
is? It was not until I had left the store that I realized that гэдэс (geddis) means internal
organs, so I had purchased a hunk of beef with internal organs. The shop keeper
had tried to warn me. When I got around to boiling the meat I was able to
determine what looked like part of the pelvis with some of the pelvic cavity
attached. Disgusting taste and smell.
Grocery shopping is usually done on an as needed base,
meaning that once or twice a week I will stop by one of the “super” markets on
my way home from school. I have been choosing not to use taxis while the
weather is good, so often I am walking the 1-2 miles home with my backpack
loaded in groceries and a twenty pound bag in each hand.
Pushups and yoga videos have been our most recent form of
exercise outside of lugging groceries home. I am able to download any video off
of youtube with a program I have, so Sally and I are experimenting with a 30
day yoga challenge. Although, I was disappointed to find that yoga only burns
about as much calories as a walk through the mall.
Free time has been spent watching TV shows, movies, playing
Super Mario on a SN emulator, and reading. The peace corps community does a lot
of data sharing in the form of TV show downloads and movies. Sally and I
recently watched “Jurassic World”, so we are not feeling as disconnected as we
thought we would be. I have been reading
prolifically and will publish a list of books read this year in a later blog
post.
Social events have been plentiful. Tomorrow, I am going to
the river with some of my English teachers to hang out for a few hours before
the weather gets too cold. At least once
every week or so, Sally and I meet up for dinner with the other PCVs in our
city. These are our site mates of which we have two. Living in a foreign
country can be hard, and it is always nice to speak with other Americans. A few
days ago, we met at our apartment and enjoyed homemade pizza.
Herein lies a taste of life in Chinggis Town as autumn
swiftly flees before winter.
~Caleb (Кэлиб)
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