playing in the city

August 25, 2008 It’s my birthday! I’m 31 this year. I don’t know how I got to be this age. I sure don’t feel it. My mom called me this morning. What a surprise. It was good to hear from her. She reminded me of something that I meant to write before. Whenever you call me, you have to dial 011 in front of the number that I gave you. This morning, I asked my director where I could get a haircut. She must not have had much to do at the time since she decided to walk me over and show me where. On the way, the sky opened up and it began to rain and hail. I still don’t have an umbrella. When I got to where we were going, I had dirt all over me. Where in the heck did this come from? It was from the rain. There was so much dirt in the air that it caused the rain. I felt like a bum for the rest of the day. One of my friends told me that it was snowing where she was. Oh, and the haircut lady wasn’t there. Maybe tomorrow. If not, I plan to go to the city this weekend and will find a place there. Dang it, I’m a jerk! I just wrote out a whole lot of stuff and when the computer asked if I wanted to save, I clicked the wrong button. Doh! I’ll try to redo it. My day at work could have only been easier if I’d have stayed home. I spent the first few minutes printing off some forms, then the rest of the day checking emails, updating my blog, surfing the web, talking to my director, and learning a few new words. This afternoon, we went to the other part of our town to do something for work, but that only took about 15 minutes. When we left, we went to the store. They don’t sell any beer in the part of town I live in, so we got some there. I bought a big beer for myself and my director bought 10 for the celebration that was on TV. All the Olympic athletes came home from Beijing, China, today and there was a big to-do for them in UB. People had made plans to watch it this evening and when they found out today was my birthday (I’d told my director a few weeks ago and she remembered and told everyone), they decided to do it at my place. Five of us drank five beers, and then everyone went home and left all the other beers with me. Hmm, now what to do? I drank one by myself, then another lady that works in my building showed up with a present of shaving crème and aftershave. I was surprised. Partly because the smell wasn’t repulsive. I was expecting something like Old Spice. (And contrary to what Miles thinks, Old Spice wasn’t made for my generation. I’m glad that we got his wife to help us make fun of him enough to quit wearing it. Man, that was funny stuff. If you weren’t a part of that, I wish you would’ve been.) One of my friends called to wish me happy birthday, and I enjoyed the conversation as much as ever. A few others texted me, and I enjoyed the silliness. I guess I could tell you about how cell phones work here. Everything is on a prepaid basis. One unit costs 1tg. One in-country text message costs 19 units. I’m not sure, but I think one minute of talk time costs somewhere around 150 units. Most of us have service through MobiCom. A very few have service through Skytel, because they are the only ones who serve the area where those people are. When we got our phones, there was about 5000 units on it already. Within a week, I’ve blown through those. We have to pay for our extra units ourselves. Today, I went to find the dealer in our town. The dealer told me that 1000 units costs 1200tg. Jigga, do what? And that’s how I found out that there are licensed and non-licensed dealers. I’ve told you already about how we pinch every tugrik we have, so I vowed to not buy from that guy anymore. The bad thing is that the only licensed dealer is in the other part of town. When I was over there, I was sure to buy a lot more at the cost they are supposed to be. We’ll see how long they last this time. I was used to having unlimited texts in the U.S., so it will take some bit of self-control for me to cut back on how often I do it here. I finally bought a dish sponge and detergent today. Until now, I’d been washing dishes with laundry detergent and my hands. It worked, but I didn’t like it. And I was always worried about rinsing it off good enough. I feel much better about it now. August 26, 2008 I really must learn the language for dealing with someone who cuts my hair. During my lunch break today, I was told the lady was waiting for me, so I went over, sat in the chair, and made a few hand motions about what I wanted done. When she was almost done, everything looked good. On the crown of my head, I always get the hair cut just a little bit shorter. If I don’t, I get horrendous bed-head and it’s just generally hard to control. So, I tried to tell the lady to cut that one part just a little bit shorter. She seemed to understand when she pulled out a clipper guard and asked me if that’s what I wanted. I said yes and trusted her to her work. She then proceeded to buzz my entire head before I even realised what she was doing to be able to say anything. Dang it, man! So, here I am with hair that is hardly a half-inch long. Oh well. It’ll grow out eventually. I’ll make it a point to learn that language before I get another haircut. August 27, 2008 The last couple of nights have been chilly, so I’ve had my heaters on. I have one small space heater that the Peace Corps gave me, and the guy that was here before me left another radiator type heater. With both of them turned up, I’m not totally cold. It’s so weird that August isn’t even over and it’s as cold as it is. The other day, when my director was here, I was serving the obligatory candy and only had my small stool to put it on. She told me that I needed a table and she would get me one. Today, I went with her son over to the Culture Centre and got one. It’s not in the best shape, but it doesn’t look bad. I’m glad to have it. Now I have something to put my feet on while I’m watching TV. Haha, just kidding. I haven’t done that, yet. Yesterday, I was looking for some meat, but all I could find was huge chunks of it. I only wanted a half-kilogram. When I told my director what I wanted, she got on the phone and called someone, then she told me that I could go home and wait on them to deliver it to me. Wow, what service. It wasn’t bad that the delivery girl was kind of cute, too. It’s probably a good thing I don’t know that number. August 28, 2008 When I woke up this morning, I went to unplug the heaters that I’d left running through the night. I hadn’t noticed that they’d stopped working. When I looked at the power strip, I saw that the cord was discoloured and had melted the carpet. Hm, I guess it’s a good thing the place didn’t catch on fire. I heard a story about the guy before me having his space heater catch on fire. At MCG, I saw first hand how that can happen when you let those things run all the time. So, I guess this is a warning to all of you: be careful with those things, and give them time to cool off. When I got to work this morning, my director was going to the city and had planned to take me with her. We were going to go yesterday, but things happened and we didn’t. So, after some confusion and lots of scrambling, we were finally on our way. Our first stop was in the other part of town, where we switched from a taxi to a microbus. It was the hospital’s microbus and we had it to ourselves, with a policeman to drive for us. I found out later that we were doing a bit of scamming the system. There is a toll booth between us and the city, and hospital vehicles don’t have to pay the 5,000tg fee. Smart thinking. It took us about an hour to actually get to the city, but another 30 minutes to get downtown. Like any big city, it’s sprawled out. Our first stop was at some kind of government office. It’s time for schools to start, and all the government workers have been getting their paperwork together so their kids will have part of their university tuition paid for. Like in the U.S., they get benefits like that. Here, the government pays for 60%. Not bad. We had a huge notebook of papers that we had to turn it. I’m sure my director was glad to have that done with. When we finished, we decided to find some lunch. As we parked the vehicle and got out, the PCV that used to be in my town just so happened to be walking by at that exact moment. What a coincidence. We were all surprised to see each other. He had to take care of something quickly, and then went to lunch with us. We went to a place called Modern Nomads. From what I understand, the place is owned by an American. It’s really good, and has the prices to prove it. But it was so worth it. We had Mongolian food, but it was so much better than any that I’ve had cooked for me so far. I think the biggest reason is that they use plenty of spices. Also, the restaurant donates a big portion of its proceeds to youth development. You can check them out at www.modernnomads.mn. I think that’s the address. Oh, and the best part was that my director paid for lunch. Can’t beat that. I’m sure she will write it off as “business” and be reimbursed. After lunch, I got to do some shopping. That was the biggest reason that I went along, by the way. I had stopped at the Trade and Development Bank (one of the few places that takes American debit cards) and withdrew the only money of my own that I plan to use while I’m here. I was planning to make a significant purchase: a washing machine. We went to some kind of big indoor market and looked at all the different models and prices, talking to several different vendors. I settled on one made by Haier that cost 130,000tg ($112.85). That’s not a bad deal at all. It’s metal – whereas most of them are plastic – and has a 1 year guarantee. Washing machines here are different that those in the U.S. I’ll take a picture for you. Here, there is one piece, but there are two compartments. In one, that’s where all the washing happens. The other compartment is the spin-cycle. It’s kind of odd, and initially makes you think that it’s inferior to U.S. washers (actually, it probably is, all around), but it works pretty good. There’s just a bit more work involved. But, hey, at least I don’t have to wash my clothes by hand. Not only does it suck to wash my clothes by hand, but it’s bothersome and reduces the longevity of them. I also bought a flash water boiler. That will make my life easier, also. Before, whenever I want hot water, I had to put it in a pot and put in on the stove. To warm my bath water, shaving water, dish washing water, and tea water took a while. Now, I just put it in this thing and it takes just a few minutes. It heats two litres to boiling, very fast. I also bought another power strip. I think the one I got is a bit better quality than the one that melted this morning. On our way back to the government office, my director got a call with some bad news. A microbus full of people from our town had been in a terrible wreck and many had died. At first, we were told that there was only five, but she got another call later saying that the count was up to nine. She was visibly shaken. That caused a lot more work for her, with letting the government office know and all that kind of stuff. On our way home this evening, we saw the vehicle that had hit the microbus. It was one of those truck-like things. The cab was all smashed up, and the bed wasn’t even attached anymore. As a result of the deaths, our Naadam was cancelled. It was supposed to be tomorrow. That was lots of work by everyone that is down the drain. I asked her if it will be rescheduled, but she doesn’t know. I will be surprised if it is. It’s started to be cold. If it happens, it will have to be within the next few weeks. Last night, I made some Ranch dressing. Thank you so very much, MCG. Man, I love Ranch dressing. The directions call for mayonnaise or sour crème, and I can’t find either here. Luckily, we got a cookbook from Peace Corps. In it, there are lots of substitution suggestions. It’s a good thing that people have been here for years, having withdrawals from the same kinds of food that all Americans don’t realise they love until they can’t have it anymore. It says that yoghurt can be substituted for mayo or sour crème. Fortunately, that stuff is everywhere. I mixed two packets worth and let it set over night so it would be better, and I want you to know that it really took some patience for me to do that. Tonight, I had made some pinto beans and put lots and lots and lots of Ranch dressing in them. Oh my, it was like heaven. I wanted to turn up the bowl and take a big gulp of it. Yum, yum!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. While we’re on the subject, if there is such a thing as dried mayo or dried sour crème, and you just happen to be making up some kind of care package to send to me, please put some of that in there. I guess, just make sure that all I have to mix it with is water, or milk, or something else simple. If not, no biggie. More packets of dry Ranch will always be appreciated. I will go through whatever hurdles necessary to make it. August 29, 2008 After waking up and cooking my breakfast, I broke out my new washing machine and got to work. I’ve already told you a little bit about the difference between this kind of washing machine and one you might find in the U.S., but let me tell you more. First of all, there are no water connections. It just sits in the middle of the floor, and you plug it in for electricity. I don’t know how many gallons it takes to fill the agitator side, but it was several trips between the sink and the washer. If you want hot water, you have to make it yourself. Luckily, I have that nifty little flash boiler now. When you get it full, you turn the knob and it churns the clothes all around, for up to 15 minutes. When it’s finished, it just sits there in the dirty water. What I did was take the clothes out, soak them in a tumpin full of water for a bit, and then emptied the water from the washer. There is a tube that comes out of the bottom and when you turn the knob to the appropriate position, all the water comes out. It takes a while because you have to keep the tube kind of low to the ground and let gravity do it’s work. I emptied it into another tumpin, making about three trips before it was empty. I put some clean water through there, just to clean the dirt out of the line. After that, I put the clothes back in the washer, filled it up with water, and turned on the agitator again. When that finished, and I’d drained the water again and put more clean water through it to clean out the dirt, I put the clothes into the spinner. It is less that half the size of the washing compartment, so it took about three loads to do all of the clothes that I’d washed. And it’s very easy to make it unbalanced. My first try had the machine shaking all over the kitchen. But the spinner works pretty good. It only does it for about five minutes, but the clothes turn out much drier than I had expected them to be. We’ll see how long it takes for the clothes to continue drying. There are some lines on my balcony that I have them hanging on, but it’s raining today. The wind is blowing pretty good, but I’d bet that it will still be a while before they are dry. No matter the extra time, I’m still glad that I don’t have to wash my clothes by hand. Mostly, I’m glad because the life of my clothes will be much longer now. August 30, 2008 I’m in the city. When I was here the other day, I didn’t get to just hang out like I wanted. So, I made plans to come here today. I woke up early so I could get on the microbus as soon as possible. I got in at 8:15. We waited on more people to fill it, then left around 9. The microbus goes to the black market. From there, it took me 40 minutes to walk here to Café Amsterdam. I think this might be my favourite little café. Partly because it has free wi-fi. That’s always good. When I’m finished here, I will walk around the city, do a little bit of shopping, find some kind of cool place to have lunch, then go home. I will probably be home before 6. If I can figure out where the train station is, I might get back at 7. I would stay later, but there isn’t any kind of transportation that leaves later. I could spend the night with one of my friends here in the city, but I don’t want to just drop in unannounced. If they were Mongolian, that might be okay, but Americans usually don’t like that kind of stuff. Anyway. I’ll post this now. I hope everyone is good. Write when you can. P.S. I’ll upload some pics, also. Check them out when you have time.