Saturday

02:00

A frantic pounding on my door woke me from a light slumber. It can be difficult to sleep during a Mongolian spring. The wind, which contented itself with being frigid but relatively light all winter, has returned with what can only be described as a homicidal vengeance. My entire ger shifts with the force of the gusts, my door shudders, the stove pipe clangs against the roof and all the while I toss and turn on my wooden-plank bed and wonder why I ever thought the sound of a windstorm was pleasant. Anyway, the knocks on my door were soon accompanied by cries of “Ash-bagshaa!” (Ash-teacher) that had me scrambling out of my sleeping bag and clumsily pulling on a sweater as I headed toward the door. Outside, I found my seven-year-old khashaa sister, her little cousin and one of my fifth grade students all huddling in my ping (a small shed-like building right outside my door that helps with temperature control in the winter). Apparently, the khashaa guard dog was sleeping in front of the door to the main house and the kids couldn’t get past it because they’re afraid of him. So, I stepped into my shoes and led them the ten feet to the house and distracted the dog (who isn’t mean at all, but he can be a little overenthusiastic when it comes to pets) while they went inside. It wasn’t until I returned to my ger and climbed back into bed that I even thought to wonder why three kids were running around outside at 2 o’clock in the morning.

09:20

Today started, as the past few days have, with a windstorm strong enough to send the photographs and cards I have over my bed cascading down onto my head. Not the most pleasant awakening; though I was having a disturbing dream so it wasn’t an entirely unwelcome awakening. Reading Stephen King before bed is probably not the wisest decision. In true weekend spirit, I decided to roll over and doze for a bit and not subject myself to reality until I absolutely had to. Though the worst of winter is, hopefully, behind us, mornings can still be chilly and I wasn’t in a hurry to leave my warm nest of blankets. Of course, the weather had different plans for me. Less than twenty minutes later it started hailing and I had to get out of bed, go outside and close the canvas flap over my windows or have hail and snow/rain falling onto my stove for who knows how long. As it turns out, it would’ve only been for about an hour.

My morning was spent comfortably lazy; aside from the hail-issue. I had a cup of coffee (instant from America, slightly less disappointing than instant from Mongolia) and turned my left-over mashed potatoes from the night before into a sort-of potato pancake to eat with my yogurt and apple. A satisfactory Mongolian breakfast, if I do say so myself. I finished Salem’s Lot; which was, after a truly wretched and slow start, not too bad of a book. I’m still not convinced Stephen King is as scary as others claim but he’s not bad once he actually gets going.

In the afternoon, my khashaa family invited me over for lunch; a very proper Mongolian meal of fried meat, rice, potatoes and eggs. We watched a few Mongolian shows then my khashaa sisters came to my ger to watch an American movie. Let me tell you, trying to get those three to decide on a movie to watch was not easy. In the end, the oldest one and I watched the new(ish) Dracula; the one with Luke Evans. I was pleased to discover that I could explain the good majority of what was happening to her in Mongolian. Some parts I could even translate word-for-word. It was a triumphant moment.

(Can we just take a moment to appreciate this man? He's epic. A great actor with a wonderful voice and a smile that's contagious. Love him!)

Since then, I’ve been messing around on the internet. Made a new blog that I’m dedicating to the small ramblings I come up with when I’m left alone/idle for too long. A VERY common occurrence here let me tell you. I’ve begun to carry around a small notebook that I can write my little philosophies in while I’m waiting for this, that, or the other to start. It was a nice Saturday. Calm (aside from the wind), not hideously cold, and I didn’t have to leave my khashaa. Tomorrow I’ll actually have to be productive. I have groceries to buy, laundry to do, hair to wash and the ever present need to sweep or otherwise clean my get.  But for now, I’ve been a good little PCV and updated my blog not once but twice and now I’ll probably go waste time on pintrest. Because it’s my day off, damnit, and I’ve earned it.