The adventure continues… This past week I decided to invite all my teachers over to my ger as somewhat of a welcoming party. We have 38 teachers so it was a bit of a feat to make food and drinks for all of them. I decided that I would make my famous deviled eggs, because they went over so well last time, and kimbab, also known as sushi with balogni and pickles instead of fish and cucumbers. It is quite a delicacy here. As the week continued on I became more and more nervous. I just kept thinking what if nobody comes, and then what if everyone comes and I don’t have enough food? What then? But the day of judgment finally arrived. Thursday.

After lessons I went to the store and bought 30 eggs. It was quite a sight to see because who buys 30 eggs when living alone. The storekeeper was so pleased she said that I would come back to her store from now on, right?  Being the polite and non-confrontational person that I am, of course I agreed. Once home I boiled my eggs and started preparing my ingredients. I had 11^th grade English club so I came back home with my CP Ichka who helped me peel all the eggs. After that I made the rice and started to make my eggs and kimbab. Ichka left to teach 5^th grade and as time passed I realized I would not be done in time. I became frantic and nervous sweating like everyone does but is too afraid to admit. I was finished with the eggs and halfway through the kimbab when my friend Tegshe, an elementary school teacher, came in to help. I was so thankful and relieved. Ichka came too when she was finished with her lesson. Being so nervous I wasn’t really thinking and had the electric stove, my phone, and my laptop plugged in. Just as the rice was finishing cooking the power goes out. At this point I am frantic. I just sent my CP Gerlee on a run to the store to get vodka and candy and she was the one person who knew about my ger. Thankfully after some time, aka 5 minutes of me anxiously pacing back and forth mumbling, “I broke my ger, I broke my ger,” we switched the power and it worked! Gerlee was even kind enough to make milk tea in her ger and bring it over because I was in such a frenzy.

When the teachers arrived, surprisingly on time, they all staggered in. Around 20 of them came and I was ecstatic! They loved my eggs and said my ger was beautiful. They all even pitched in to buy a winter del for me! My first real del! I gave a short speech saying that my door is always open and feel free to stop by anytime. I really try to encourage that type of atmosphere, even though I know they probably wont. The party lasted a whole 45 minutes! It was fabulous. The fact that they took time out of their busy days to come for a quick bite was really touching. After everyone left, my director stayed behind to say that she was really proud of me for living like a true Mongolian by living in a ger, keeping it clean, and now looking like a Mongolian too with my new del.

But every party needs a pooper…. When another one of my CP’s, Erdee and I were planning for our next lesson the boys showed up. They were wasted. I have seen people drunk before, but usually I am there right along with them. It was weird to be on the other side of the looking glass for once. So three of my male teachers showed up, two who most definitely would not remember being in my ger the next day. One even had his kid with him. They kept on repeating I’m sorry in English, which I was kind of impressed by. We awkwardly sat waiting for them to leave while they both fell asleep sitting up. We convinced one of them to leave but unfortunately I had no idea that he was driving his motorcycle home with child en tow. As he swerved off with his emergencies on my CP said well maybe the police will stop him before he crashes. Yes, they have a different outlook on things here indeed. Drunk #2 we had to help to his feet and out the door, only after he knocked over everything in his path. We piled him behind the driver of motorbike #2 and were rid of them. I was relieved but also worried. This is one thing I will either have to get used to or pretend it doesn’t happen.

The next day I had been looking forward to all week! My aimag mates were coming in to visit! They arrived late Friday and we chatted into the wee hours of the night. The next day we ventured off to the infamous white caves. Apparently these caves were one of the first places they found evidence of man or something of the sorts. We stopped a few times to take pictures of camels, visit gers, and pee. We saw a woman riding a camel and she let us hop on! It was amazing! Did you know that camels make sounds? Well, they do and they kind of sound like a mix between a donkey and a bear, also like they are in extreme pain. I was the last of us to ride him and I hopped right on. I knew camels were tall but never really connected the dots that I would be so high up. You could see for miles. No wonder they use them to herd other animals. It was breathtaking. They stick a sharp stick through their nose and tie a rope, which they lead them with and we walked around in a few circles. Once it was time to finish she led him in a small circle and the camel gets on its knees first to come fully to the ground. And man they hit the ground hard with their knees. I flew forward and pretty sure I bruised my pelvic bone. Was not expecting such a rough landing for one of the world’s most majestic creatures.

After that I didn’t really care what the rest of the day had in store for me. We finally made it to the caves and they were awesome! It was high up in a mountain and went pretty deep too. Nothing like Carlsbad Caverns, but just as surreal. The way back took an hour and a half, compared to the four-hour drive there. We sang songs to pass the time, English ones now that I had some backup. Once home we relaxed, napped, and filled our time with Sudoku and crosswords. After we decided to venture to the club. Unfortunately it was closed so we all decided to teach our CP’s how to play kings cup. It was a great learning experience for them, as well as entertaining. The beer helped too. We hung out for some time after that but I fell asleep on the bed, per usual. April and Joanna left bright and early to get back to the aimag. I fell asleep right after they left and hadn’t slept that well in a while.

Before they left we talked about how our outlook has changed quite a bit. There are no more thoughts of, “wow I can’t believe I am in Mongolia.” It just is now, almost like a fact you would read in the dictionary. Rarely any new surprises and a routine tends to do that to you. Although the occasional spider still scares me every time. I used the rest of my day to bag coal and do laundry because now I have a washing machine! And by washing machine I mean an Asian washing machine where you still have to wring out and rinse your clothes with clean water after the wash, put them in the spinner, and then hang them up outside to dry. But it is way faster than by hand, trust me! After fetching water from the river 3 times I was exhausted. I know I finally feel at home because I am lazy and never want to leave the comfort of my ger, especially now that I can make a fire by myself, granted it takes me 30 minutes but still.

Hope you still have adventures that fill you with glee

XOXO

            Rojo

                        Rojo