It has been a really really busy week. I have been working on two big proposals for new projects for ADRA, and a few smaller ones. We had unexpected, unknown, house guests. I have also been busy getting ready for the 5th birthday party of the year this Sunday. It struck me this evening that I have finally turned into my Mother because I made a jelly slice (with port wine jelly Mum!). Only those of you who have been around my family for a few decades will know about my Mum's jelly slice. She doesn't make it that often now, but it was one of her potluck lunch staples when we were growing up. When I Googled "jelly slice" for a recipe the first one to come up was from the Country Women's Association in Australia - and my browser knows that I am in Mongolia. So jelly slice must be an Australian thing.
Nymaa has been washing her hair at our place. When she first asked if she could wash her hair it occurred to me that staying clean during winter in the ger districts is really tough. Nymaa is not poor. She has a nice little house, drives a car, and both she and her husband have regular income. Nymaa dresses well and always has plenty to eat, but she doesn't have access to running water. To get water they have to go to the nearest town well and fill up big containers. Some people do this every day, others every few days. It just depends on how much water you can carry. On weekends I have seen people drive up to wells and unload many big water containers from their car. So the first problem is water. The second problem is warm water. Nymaa told me that in summer they rig up an outdoor shower thing, but in winter it is impossible to do this, so to get a wash they either have to heat up some of the water they have carried to the house in a bucket, or go to the public baths. These baths are crowded and it costs T2000 per shower. Nymaa earns T25,000 a day, so T2000 per shower is pretty pricey. So after being reminded of all of this I have been feeling guilty about my shower in the morning and my hot bath at night. I can't be guilty all the time though, so I have decided just to really, really appreciate my bathroom.
Today I stayed home from church to relax and thought I would get a head start on the cooking for the party tomorrow (yes, I know that this is not the most relaxing thing to do). I made blueberry muffins and 20 pink cupcakes. I did a taste test and they were all bitter. After eliminating ingredients I decided that my baking powder had gone strange. So all of the cooking went in the bin. Now, was I punished for cooking on the Sabbath or was I blessed to discover the problem when I still have a full 24 hours until the party to cook more?!!!
Tonight I transplanted the last of my seedlings from the first round of seeds. I have done really well with tomato, basil, spinach, kale, rosemary and coriander. I lost all my kholrabi to dampening off or fungus gnats. I have learned not to overwater and am starving my plants of water now to kill of the current generation of fungas gnats. Last week I started more spinach, kale, tomato and rosemary. This time I pasturised my potting soil and am keeping things dryer to avoid the dampening off problem. It feels good to be learning things and watching things grow. I also did a major prune to my rose (right back to the blooming ground as I once saw on the ABC Gardening show) and it rewarded me by sending up new shoots within a day or two and after a week I have lots of lovely green leaves. I have also discovered the benefits of mellow yellow fertlising, but I am not sure that Chris will keep that up while I am in the countryside next week!
We drove out to the edge of the city today to visit the river. It was 11 degrees. The girls were wearing their "spring" coats. I was just wearing a woolen jumper and no thermals. The river was thawing and the tinkle of water rushing under the ice cover sounded lovely. I have read about such sounds of spring, but never experienced them. After warning the girls not to step on the ice Chris promptly stepped on it and got his foot wet up to his ankle. He said it was cold....
On our way out of the city was saw a man passed out on the footpath. With the warmer weather there is more drinking going on outdoors, so more evidence of the alcohol problem here. This week I prepared a brief concept note for a new project to work in the area of alcoholism in Mongolia. It is one of the biggest problems that is holding the country back. That said, I now have a bottle of vodka in my bathroom cupboard (you can get vodka in almost any shop here) as I read that it was a very good cleaning fluid! Perhaps that could be our strategy, don't drink the stuff, use it to get clean!
Watch out for blog posts of the big party tomorrow (princess theme) and then my week in Bayankhonger looking at family vegetable gardening projects....
