Sep 24 2007
chilly
The office is indeed chilly, and I blame that somewhat on the open window. It’s closed now, but my hands and feet are still in that slightly tingly cold state where you’re not absurdly cold, but enough to be irritated.
The weekend was pleasant - got to hang out with Mongolian researchers, other PCVs, and myself. I saw a sad crying puppy that I wanted to take home with me, but resolved to do so only if it was out there when I got back, which it wasn’t. That may be something of relief, as puppies are rather a lot of work, if fuzzy and cute.
My cider is fermenting apace - I don’t think it’ll kill me, but that’s hard to tell - if I post on the 30th, consider me a survivor. My bread was again pleasantly not-rocklike, my mutton stew is doing well, and my tomatoes are dehydrating. I need to remember that the pork bullion makes the whole house smell like a bacon factory, so the mushroom bullion is the way to go. Sadly, there’s no chicken bullion out here as of yet.
In addition to other random features of life of Mongolia, there is the whole expectation versus reality segment (yet again). I am learning to make my already mostly non-existent expectation level from the US working with volunteers, nonprofits, etc., perhaps negative-existent. Since there’s not too much to do, or time constraints or such things, this isn’t a big deal, but I need to remember that every time I enter a food establishment I should first ask what is available on the menu. Similarly, what’s in the market one weekend may have vanished by the next, and get used to places opening and closing roughly according to their posted hours. Rather than feel like I’m losing control of my own choices, though, it’s more like an “let’s see”-type outing. As in, let’s see if the post office will be open for internet use today, or, let’s see if there will be bell peppers in the food market.
The latest let’s see is…let’s see if the hot water mysteriously turned on earlier than expected 
