Some beginning tales of my first couple days in BX:
My ger
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| my first ger fire |
I live in ger now. It's
awesome. I roughly hit my head about 28
times a day...on average. (yes I keep a tally)
I maybe should have brought my derby helmet. Anyway, after a day of not sleeping – due to
awkward plane times to BX, I arrived at my ger as the sun was rising around
it. When I first entered my ger, I was
with the school director, two random Mongolians that helped carry my bag, and
my hasha neighbor. There was of course a
plate of offerings passed around- what I thought, in my very tired state, to be
dried cheese curd. I respectfully took a
piece, and since everyone was watching me, took a small bite to be polite. Much to my surprise, I discovered that this
treat was not the dried cheese curd that I so dislike, but it was in fact, just
solidified grease. SURPRISE!
Also, my ger smells like a camel.
Given that all the bactrian camels are out in the countryside, and not
actually in the city as I originally thought, I am taking this as a win.
The hasha dog
My new hasha dog...is vicious. I
heard a rumors about the dog before I even arrived, and turns out, they were
true. terrifying. nothing like Balto. It is a very husky brute of a dog with blood
red eyes and an inward breathing growl that just creates fear. Due to its
viciousness it is kept chained to the fence.
It’s name is Bankor (for now, always subject to change). I have been slowly feeding it bites of
solidified grease every time I walk past as to get him to like me and not want
to eat my face off.
Meat soup
So I spent two weeks through this big change living out of my suitcase and
buying food from stores that I wanted to eat.
like vegetables. My awesome
personally crafted diet included very little, if any meat. The morning
i moved into my ger, my hasha family brought me over a bowl of meat
noodle soup to eat before i went to sleep.
Now, normally, i would eat around the meat, but this particular morning,
it was weird...I WANTED to eat the meat, and I found myself eating around the
noodles...I was very highly surprised by my actions, and began wondering how
much I have actually changed since coming to Mongolia...my wonder however
ceased when my hasha family also decided to share dinner with me...meat
rice. My normal self was back...wishing
that Balto was around to share my dinner with.
I took this opportunity to share the meat with Bankor, in hopes, again, that
he will now not want to eat my face off any more.
More tales of meat.
My hasha neighbor took me grocery
shopping the day after my arrival. I
picked up all my basics, like flour, rice, onions, a couple eggs, etc. And when I told my hasha neighbor I was ready
to check out, she gave me the craziest look! She asked me about what meat I
wanted to buy, as if I forgot to put meat into my basket. I told her it was ok, I would get it next
time, but that was absurd to her. She
pulled me to the meat corner, and threw a chunk of pig in my basket. I asked her how much it was, which of course
was absurd to ask, because it was meat.
turns out it was about 7000 tugs (like 5 bucks) and the most expensive
thing I would buy that day. Once leaving
the store, she pulled me across the
street to the meat warehouse, telling me that i also needed some cow. Once inside, it was rows and rows of
carcasses hanging about, and I was ushered through them to a cow table. I expressed that I have to eat the chunk of
pig before I buy cow, and my hasha neighbor accepted this statement, and was
satisfied that I now knew how to at least get to the cow portion of the meat market.
Spiders.
I think that spiders are going to be my new best friends. They are
everywhere in my ger. My former policy
for killing spiders was to live and let live, depending on two things:
1. their decisions to touch/crawl on me; and
2. if they were poisonous. (Sorry brown recluses)
However, now, there are just so many in my ger, that my policy has been
quickly revised. My average spiders
killed a night is around 18. I have a
specific kill zone for them at least, and as long as the spiders stay out of
the area, they are safe. I lie in my bed
at night before I go to sleep, and watch them all crawl around. When they get in the area next to my bed, I
strike. It's quite exhausting...kind of
like counting sheep, only a little more...rugged.
Sometimes in my sleep, I feel them crawling on my body, and I sleepily
snatch them and throw them across the room.
What to do when you put on an article of clothing and realize that it has a spider hiding in it:
- Scream, loudly
- Strip and Trip – defined as the process of taking off your clothes in such a fast, panic-ed manner, that you literally fall on your face.
- Shake out your clothes both inside and out
- Get dressed, again, but this time in fear.
Oatmeal
I love oatmeal. that is a given
fact. It is a little scarce in Mongolia,
so when I saw some in Suhkbaator, i naturally bought it, and packed it in my
suitcase to move to Bayankhongor. Well,
the other day, some Mongolians that did not speak english came to fix the bed
in my ger. One of them spotted the
oatmeal, and let out a chuckle with a confused look on her face. She asked me why I had horse food...and I
said, neigh...thats my food. She
laughed. Asking me what it was called, I looked it up in the dictionary, and
showed it to her. The dictionary translated it as some type of rice, so the
Mongolian understood. She then said
something to the extent of 'octo-mill' to which I thought was a Mongolian word
I didnt understand before I realized she was saying oatmeal.
A dry sink.
If you are unfamiliar, a dry sink is a sink without pipes or running water
that you can use for your sink needs.
There is a bucket underneath that catches the water you use, and when it
fills up, you empty it. The water in the bucket is always very nasty, and the
bucket below my dry sink is pretty gross and rusted, but you know, it does its
job. My dry sink also has a quite
abnormally large hole that the water and what not drains down. Things fall into my sink a lot, which created a fun game that I hate to play
called, will that fit down my dry sink hole. So far, here are the results:
Nail polish: yes.
chapstick: of course.
entire bar or soap: naturally
vitamin bottle: no. awesome.
toothbrush holder: surprising, when dropped at the right angle, yes.
my eyeglasses: of course. why wouldnt they.
Social Situations
It is not uncommon in Mongolia for people to drink shots of vodka...and
most times, when gathered in a circle and shots are being passed, it is normal
for the person receivng the shot to start singing a song, and then everyone
else joins in. At the end of the song, the song leader takes
the shot, and the process starts again.
I really only know two legit traditional Mongolian songs, one of which is
the Mongolian National anthem, so really, in such drinking situations - not appropriate. So the other day, my counter parts all got
together to celebrate one of the teachers getting married. I found myself in such a singing situation,
and much to my horror, before it was my turn to take the shot, someone had
already sang the only other song that I knew.
A few songs later, it was finally my turn...and I just sat there with an
awkward smile on my face, with everyone egging me, saying, surely you know
another song...and they were right, i did...Naraa Naraa Naashar...the mongol
equivalent of ring around the rosie...so I started singing, and with a laugh,
everyone joined me for a very rushed sing a long.
Fermented Mare's Milk
Actually not that bad. Maybe like a
creamy champagne?
Picture time:  |
| my fellow english teachers |
 |
| yaks! |
 |
| view from the mountain top...with yaks of course |
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