I am staying in the "luxe" suite in the hotel. If you reserve a room in a Mongolian hotel, and someone shows up before you they usually get your room. This happened to us on our arrival in Bayankhonger. After some hasty negotiation I was given the "luxe" suite. I have a bedroom with a double bed, my own sitting room with a couch and two easy chairs, my own dining room with dining table, chairs, fridge and tv, and a bathroom as big as two standard rooms. No hot water though, just a big hot water heater that taunts me with its dangling power cord and no power point in the room. I tried to wash my hair over the bath but the water was so cold that my shampoo wouldn't lather and both my hands and head hurt. I got most of the dust out though.
Today was our Food Security and Micro Enterprise Development Open Day. We showed up just as the event started in a hall near the ADRA office. It was a great day. I had no official duties other than to wander around being a dignitary. I got some great photos watching people pick up a rake or a hoe and demonstrate its use to each other. There was a free-for-all when seed packets were distributed. After the tussle the ADRA staff member in charge of the seeds sorted through the box under his table and only handed them out to those in the know - a small group of illicit seed recipients that huddled around him. Jannie and Bek made recorded statements for the local tv station (they use a video camera identical to mine). All the locals attending seemed to be having a good chat. We had to avert injuries in the crush of people around the table where they could register to be part of the gardening project. You don't queue in Mongolia.
After the open day closed up I met some representatives from JCS - Joint Christian Services. They have some agricultural projects here. Later they invited Tamara and I out to dinner. One couple have been here for five years, with no plans to leave. The other couple have been in Mongolia for two years. I asked how long they planned to stay - the answer "Forever". All of them were volunteers, mostly funded through supporters in USA. We had a great chat. I found them inspiring and humbling. One told me he travelled many places, waiting for God to tell him where to serve. He felt God calling him when he visited Mongolia. I would like to know certainty like that...but I am too scared to really look for it. Easier just to keep busy.
So I am lying in my presidential bed pondering this while listening to Bernard Fanning sing "Watch over me". My presidential bed? Yes, this morning Turuu (our driver) came into my dining room for breakfast and told us that the president stays in my room when he is in Bayankhonger. Apparently his security guards sit in the leather couches outside the door. I am not sure how I feel about this, honored or uncomfortable? I hope the president enjoyed the icy cold shower, the toilet that runs on loudly unless you twist the flush knob just the right way, and the splendidly hard bed.
