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Published: April 8th 2008
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Zaya's Guesthouse
Highly recommend it! $8/night for dorm style. This morning I am very hungry. i realized I didn't buy anything breakfast like and I'm too afraid to cook. Yesterday my stove caught on fire. Every time I have turned on the burners they have filled my apartment with a toxic smelling smoke and the burners look like they have had grease smeared on them. Of course, I would clean them but there is nothing in this apartment to clean with. I found two rags that are so filthy that i feel I should wash them before I use them. But there is no detergent here and I'm not even sure how to use the washer/dryer I have. All the directions are in Japanese. So today i am going to the office and I need to ask someone to contact the apartment owner about the stove. I am so hungry but the fire really scared me so I am hoping tea and fruit leather will hold me out until I can go out later.
My mood is... well, let's say I've had fitful sleep since I got here since i'm still adjusting to the time change. The tiredness and lack of substantial food is wearing on me and I
View outside
Outside of Zaya's Guesthouse feel new annoyance with my situation. This is of course normal but yesterday when I went out to get dinner, i realized just how afraid of UB I am. First of all, I went out twice and the first time I got locked out of my building for quite some time until i figured out how to use the locking mechanism. This scared me too. I realized that if i had been sincerely locked out, I had no idea what to do or where to go and no one around me speaks English. This loss of control is definitely something I am not used to and I feel so exposed, even inside my own apartment. I can handle people staring at me but not being able to handle myself in any given situation is what bothers me the most. And the lack of being able to buy food for myself.
And everything is TOO HOT! Last night was supremely uncomfortable as my apartment is still uncomfortably warm. This on top of the fact that it has been 3 days since I've had ice water (currently I am boiling all my water until i can find bottled water,) filling me
Outside #2
Zaya's Guesthouse with longing for cold waterfalls and arctic climates. I compromise by taking very cold showers.
This is of course all very whiny and self-pitying and since it's only my 3rd day I suppose I should lighten up. I just wish i wasn't dreaming about the people back home because it does create quite a hollow feeling upon awakening to know that you're not going to see them for quite some time. But then again, two months really isn't that long, as the woman from CHRD reminded me.
UB makes me want to flee into the countryside. It has been a long time since I have lived in the city and being in a city with no ability to communicate is frankly very scary. I also live on the main road in UB which means constant sounds of traffic outside my window. I am very glad I brought ear plugs and an eye mask. I'm not really a city person to begin with so this is all very overwhelming. I'm nervous that many Mongolians have said that spring is not a good time to visit the countryside because that's really the most desired part of this trip was to
Outside 3
Zaya's Guesthouse get out there and see nomadic life. But then I realized I have no idea how to even go about arranging something like that. Zaya has family in the countryside but it's not exactly something I can invite myself into doing. Perhaps I will ask Gala and he will know more about how I can do this.
Someone from CHRD is picking me up in about an hour to go to the office. I am fighting overwhelming sense of awkwardness about my own body as Mongolian women have proved to be absolutely stunning both in appearance and fashion sense. Certainly makes me feel like a tall, clumsy, ugly duckling :-) I believe this is veering into self-pity as well. In any case, wish me luck!
Ah, something else I've noticed while here: though Mongolians have the same car companies, Toyota, Nissan, etc, the class names are very different. the Toyota Grande for example and many different variations. it would be interesting to see advertisements and see what features Mongolians are interested in when shopping for a car. Obviously seat belts is not one of them as I have yet to see a single person buckle up.
So I made it to the organization today and am pleased to discover that I have a good idea of what they want me to do. I also have my own computer and internet access! YAY! I need to go to the market today and get more food. I can’t live off salami and cheese, tho someone from the organization apparently called the apartment owner about the stove so hopefully he will fix it. I don’t know if I can handle another fire.
They have given me plenty of reading supplies which is good cuz the evenings are a bit dull in my apartment all alone. I need to call Zaya and give her my phone number so we can meet up eventually for lunch or dinner. AND I need to call Carrie because she is American and here, a particularly excellent combination right now.
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