Tastes Like Horse (ed. 2): Breakfast

egg sandwich, originally uploaded by Wanderings.

So I tried the "cream yogurt" and it was pretty much exactly what I wanted: plain, tart yogurt. Now the problem is that I'm not in the mood for my staple breakfast. I'm in the mood for eggs* and bacon with cheese on toast. Coffee is nice, too. And since I'm trying to delay culture shock for as long as possible, I've been indulging myself.

This is the first thing I've cooked in my apartment, so it feels sort of momentous. I also made coffee for myself this morning, which I've only done a handful of times in my life because I've always had roommates who (a) get up earlier than I do and (b) make coffee in the morning. While I do like coffee (a lot), I'm more of an afternoon-soy-latte-at-Starbucks drinker than a must-have-coffee-or-people-will-die person. Still ... it's good to be able to make your own coffee.

Interesting, Jen. Fascinating. Really. Umm ... why did you feel the need to create another post about what you eat for breakfast?

Well, it's because every time I do something homey in this place, I feel more settled. Now that I'm unpacked, am sleeping in the main bedroom, and am cooking in my kitchen, the only major thing left to do is laundry and then this apartment should finally feel like home (or as close as I can hope to get when I'm in a foreign country and already have a return plane ticket).

AND I thought you'd be glad to know that it's possible to make a classic American breakfast (or one of its variations) in Mongolia. YUM!

*They don't wash eggs before selling them here, so oftentimes you'll find bits of feather still stuck to the shell. Now before you freak out about that, listen to this: Carol Beth was telling me that they do this because washing the eggs removes some sort of substance that actually helps eggs stay fresh longer (especially if they're unrefrigerated). Since a lot of ger-dwelling Mongolians don't have refrigerators, this is how they preserve eggs. Interesting, huh?

roomies

Until Tuesday morning at around 10, I was sharing my apartment with these ladies -- Trina and her daughter Jessie. They and the rest of their family live and work up in one of the more northern cities. They are long-time friends of the clan and folks I've heard a lot about, so it was great to put some faces with the names. Since they left, I've been in the process of moving my stuff into the main bedroom and generally getting settled. I'll post pictures soon. It's nice to finally get unpacked, but it also feels a little quiet and empty now that they're gone.

This isn't your mom's JoAnn Fabrics store

Today five us headed over to the Zax (pronounced zahh) to do some shopping. Heather needed to get someone a birthday present and CB and one of the other moms at the co-op needed to find some fabric to outfit the younger girls for a dance they'll be performing in the Christmas program.

Zax translates as "Black Market" bit is basically an old airline hanger that functions as a sort of farmer's-market-meets-mall-meets-street-hawker's-dream. Every morning (except Tuesdays), people roll in here with their carts and containers and set up shop at their preassigned stall.

One of the great things about the Zax is that it seems to have everything and, since all business is conducted street-vendor-style, you can haggle for prices and usually come away with a pretty good deal.

It helps to have someone with you who speaks Mongolian because things aren't always easy to find and you could spend all day wandering around in that hanger. To buy ribbon for the dresses, we had to walk out of the fabric area, all the way through the clothing section, and past the hats and shoes until we reached the area that had shops selling del ornaments. (A del is the traditional Mongolian garment.)

A few hours after we began, we walked out of there a bit colder than we had been walking in, but with our arms laden with fabric and ribbon and even a birthday present for one of Heather's friends. That is what we call a successful day at the Zax.

helping with the "cake"

Happy Thanksgiving!

corn sauteed in brown butter and thyme
Originally uploaded by naftels

I apparently did not charge my camera battery the other day (or didn't charge it long enough -- everything takes longer here because of the voltage difference) and so a flickr search for "brown-buttered corn" was the best I could come up with to show you what I brought to our Thanksgiving feast today. It's a tasty dish that I first discovered here and has become a staple of sorts at holiday meals. If you've never had browned butter anything, you must try this recipe. Aside from on-the-cob, corn has never tasted so good.

I celebrated Thanksgiving today with 31 other people at the house of our teammates. The kitchen was full of food, the house was full of people and chairs and tables, there were kids everywhere. It was the closest thing to Thanksgiving at my aunt's house in California that I've experienced since we left there in '93 and it was actually a little overwhelming at first. :)

I have a lot to be thankful for this year (all of the people who helped get me here, for one, and all of you who are keeping up with my adventure via email and this blog, for another), but today I was struck by how blessed I am to be working alongside these specific families. They have made this transition much less difficult than it could have been. They've been so welcoming and today when I started crying (yes, I cried -- it was an emotional day for me), they heard with understanding and responded with encouragement.

I am already humbled by the great faith they show living in this broken-down country. And I'm so thankful that I have not been called to do this on my own.

I hope you all have a good Thanksgiving and that you are surrounded today by people who love you and whom you love.

Юу гэнэ ээ? (What did you say?)

I started Mongolian lessons this week. Yikes! I really wish I'd taken a few more linguistics classes in college because I'm pretty sure they would've helped. (Jon and Kelly, I need you!) I've never had to pay so much attention to the shape of my mouth and where I'm placing my tongue while I speak. The vowels alone are killing me. There are 13 of them (а о у э ϒ θ и е ё ю я й ы)!

Mongolian will be the 5th language I've studied. (Don't be too impressed -- I can't really remember a thing about the rest of them.) I do remember the Cyrillic alphabet from my Russian classes, which will help a lot. One less thing to memorize.

My language teacher -- Bayarmaa -- is great. I don't feel too humiliated trying to speak her language to her and she's paid a lot of attention to the technical aspects of pronunciation (how to hold the lips, where the tongue goes, where the sound is coming from), which is hugely helpful. This week I'm supposed to be studying (and practicing) the basic conversational statements you see to the right. I'm already recognizing some of the words. Now if only I could remember how they're supposed to sound...

a second birthday in Mongolia

mom & daughter, originally uploaded by Wanderings.

Yep. Less than a week after celebrating Heather's birthday, we're celebrating Carol Beth's.

So. How do I even begin to tell you about Carol Beth?! She's amazing! I could do an entire post just listing adjectives that describe how wonderful she is. I am in awe every day as I observe how gracefully she moves about her work as woman, wife, mother. I look at her and think, "I will never be like this! If I put my entire mind to the task of becoming like this woman, I would never accomplish it!" She possesses a contentment and a gentleness of spirit that is at once soothing and encouraging and inspiring. I am so blessed to be able to spend time with her and to get to know her better. Aren't you all jealous? (You should be.)

I've gathered that it's fairly difficult for the family to plan for this birthday every year because Carol Beth really is so very content with what she has. There are no wish-lists to be found in her planner and even when you ask her, she can't think of much. It is up to Mike and the kids to find gifts and treats for her that she can both enjoy and use. This year, I got to be a part of the experience while shopping with Heather yesterday. It was fun to stroll through the kitchen section of Sky together and pick out some things we thought her mom would like, but wouldn't buy for herself.

Heather also allowed me to participate in the planning and preparation of the birthday dinner. (I think she must usually do that on her own.) We settled on a menu of asian (oriental?) salad, stir-fried beef with broccoli (from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook -- yum!), steamed rice, and an apple crisp.

It was a great day and we had so much fun celebrating this amazing woman.

Happy Birthday, CB!

I'm ashamed to admit that I have very few pictures of CB and none that truly capture her spirit. I guess I'm going to have to break out the camera more often when we're hanging out. I snapped this one today as we were on our way to get some groceries for her birthday dinner.

Saturday shopping

me and heather
Originally uploaded by Wanderings

Today, Heather and I went out to run some errands and do some shopping by ourselves!!! I don't think this was a big deal for Heather, but it was a big deal for me. My first time out in UB without a grown-up to hold my hand!

It went a little something like this:

-- head out of the apartment. stop by a supermarket (which is really more of an indoor farmer's market) to look for broccoli. try to avoid the people pulling recently skinned animal carcasses out of the trunk of their compact car. especially avoid the blood dripping from said carcasses.

-- navigate through windy back streets, cross the busy Peace Avenue (see picture), and make our way to the Chinggis Khan hotel.

-- wait nearly an hour to pay for plane tickets. watch Mongolian man step in front of us to pay for his tickets first. sigh.

-- head to the other side of the building to find the Sky supermarket (which is really more like a very small mall).

-- once inside, deliberate gift options (for CB -- birthday tomorrow!) and veggies, make decisions and purchase.

-- visit three different cell phone kiosks in search of minutes only to return to the first and discover that he does indeed have what we were looking for, but mistook the word "minutes" on our list for the mobile phone company "unitel". easy mistake, right?

-- wander back down to peace avenue. hail a cab (go Heather!). direct the cab towards are next destination (again, go Heather!). arrive at destination. get overcharged by seemingly nice cabbie.

-- finish shopping and hail another cab. arrive home. not overcharged. huzzah!

-- head out again to finish shopping at two neighborhood stores: the supermarket down the street and the American Food Shop around the corner at the Bubbling Springs building.

-- arrive home again and to stay. pat ourselves on the backs. mission(s) accomplished.

He's back!

Mike the Russian
Originally uploaded by Wanderings

Yesterday afternoon, the family welcomed Mike back after a 10-day absence. Mike had gone to Korea at the advice of a number of medical professionals to have back surgery. Yikes, right? He was blessed to receive the attention of one of the top spinal surgeons in the world and now, less than a week after going under the knife, he's back in Mongolia. He's still got quite a road ahead of him -- a month without heavy lifting or strenuous activity -- and then a number of months of self-directed therapy and exercise. But the surgery went well and (hopefully) the recovery will be steady and effective.

It's been a bit surreal to observe the family over the past few days -- to see how their entire rhythm is thrown by the absence of their dad/husband -- and so it was especially encouraging for me to be there for dinner last night and to see and feel everyone relax into the familiar.

Dad's home. Everything's gonna be alright.

Tastes Like Horse (ed.1): Adventures in Eating

As many of you know (or could guess), some of the food choices over here are a bit ... different. Mongolian food is centered around their livestock and consists mainly of meat and dairy. (Farming doesn't really work out for nomadic people ... all that getting up and finding new land, I guess.) You already know that fermented mare's milk is a favorite drink among the Mongolians, but they don't stop with the horse's milk. They also consume horse meat. I've had it and it's not bad -- the flavor is something of a cross between beef and elk.

When I was trying to come up with a name for my blog, I received two suggestions from friends. One became the title of the blog. The other -- Tastes Like Horse -- became the title for my soon-to-be regular food posts.

And so, without further ado, I give you: my breakfast.


It's a fairly simple meal, really. It's the one thing I don't get tired of when it comes to food (and I think this is only because it takes me so long to wake up in the morning that my taste buds aren't at their most discerning and my stomach just wants to be filled). Granola and plain yogurt. That's all I need. And it's exceptionally easy to find in the States. Things are a bit more difficult here. CB (mother of the clan) makes her own granola and will be teaching me to make my own in the next few weeks. So that's covered. The yogurt, however, is a bit more complicated.


What you see above is actually our second attempt since my arrival to find a good yogurt. The first, I'm sorry to say, was a disaster so unfortunate that I won't go into the details here. Suffice it to say that it looked like plain yogurt, but it sure didn't smell like plain yogurt and it really didn't taste like plain yogurt. *shudder* The second attempt shows a bit more promise in that it is produced by the same company whose milk CB buys. If you look closely, you will see that it is "flavoired yogurt" and I am hoping to find plain, but for now I'm just happy to have something to eat for breakfast.


Mmmm. We are on the right track. Next experiment: "cream yogurt" by the same company.

out on the town

originally uploaded by Wanderings.

a birthday in Mongolia

heather, photo by Mike S.

Allow me to tell you a little bit about Heather. She's quite an amazing girl -- kind and generous and helpful. Always willing to give her mom an extra hand with her younger siblings. Always thinking about how her actions might affect the people around her. She's also girly and fun and even throws out some sarcasm now and then. She already has so many things figured out that I wrestled with well into college. (I'm a little bit jealous, to tell the truth!)

Not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings by planning a small party for her birthday (and therefore having to leave some people out), she opted for some girl time with her mom, two of her younger sisters and me. She and the sisters got manicures and then the 5 of us went out for lunch at Millie's -- an American-style restaurant and a favorite among the ex-pats for their hamburgers and grilled chicken sandwiches. Little did Heather know that at home Cam was baking two cakes (one carrot, one chocolate) in preparation for the surprise party her mom had suggested earlier that morning. He and Caleb spread the word at school and later that afternoon, we walked home to find a house full of teenagers waiting to celebrate.

The number of people willing to change/cancel their plans at the last minute so that they could be there to surprise Heather is (I think) a testimony to how wonderful this girl is. I'm so excited to get to know her better over the next 7 months.

Happy Birthday, Heather!

I'll be here for most of the family's birthdays and am hoping to tell you a little about each of them as their birthdays come and go.

I've arrived: highlights from the journey

After 36 hours of travel, I arrived in Ulaanbaatar Saturday morning at 11am.

Highlights from the journey include:

• arriving early at the airport (because of a goof on my part)
• having three empty seats next to me on the flight from L.A. to Tokyo (and sleeping almost the whole time)
• eating airplane food with chopsticks on the flight from Tokyo to Beijing (thereby impressing the Japanese man sitting next to me)
• watching that same Japanese man stick his extra bottle of wine from dinner into his coat pocket to take home (and suggesting that I should ask for a bottle and do the same)
• sleeping on a row of chairs in the Beijing airport (along with 10 other weary travelers)
• discussing politics and socialized medicine with an older Canadian gentleman (who was on his way to Ulaanbaatar for his first visit)
• seeing Cam's face through the doors at the baggage claim area (I babysat Cam and his siblings before they moved to Mongolia)
• having all of my luggage arrive on time and in good condition
• being greeted by CB, Caleb, Cam, and Holly when I finally got out of the baggage claim area
• stepping out into the sunny 10°F weather (at least it wasn't below zero!)
  
• showering, settling in, spending time with the rest of the family
• greeting (at church this morning) some of the people I met this summer
• staying up until 10pm (take that, jet lag!)
  

It is good to be here. Unreal, but good.