Mission: Countryside Sheep Retrieval

The past few weeks have flown by. I can’t believe it’s almost the end of May (meaning I have already been here a year). It wasn’t until this month that I fully appreciated what the summer months have to offer. The trees and fields of Muron that were once bleak and depressing have been slowing turning a brilliant green. It’s amazing what a little color does for ones moral. I have been working on various projects and for the first time in a while I find myself tired at the end of the day. As I drag my feet home I mull over potential meal ideas. Constantly trying to make something new, however this can be difficult when I only have four or five food staples. Usually I’ll settle for stir fry (noodles carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic) although sometimes I go all out and splurge on a bell pepper or two. Usually meals are all the same just slightly different variations. I can make a soup out of stir fry…all you do is add water (perfect for cold days). The windy season is coming to a close (or at least I hope it is) and right now I don’t think the weather could be better. However nothing can ever be perfect so of course there is consequences with this warmer more tolerable weather…tourists! I find myself having mixed feelings about tourists who visit Mongolia. Don’t get me wrong it’s nice seeing another foreigner every now and then. I have discovered that it can be a nice break to sit down and have a conversation with someone in English. The only thing is that I don’t want to be viewed as a tourist myself. This is only because many times tourists will be taken advantage of. To be honest sometimes they may deserve this as I’m sure not all tourists are culturally sensitive and may also get a little frustrated with the many unexpected happenings that occur on a daily basis in Mongolia (also a majority of the time tourists probably don’t even know they’re be taken advantage of). I don’t want to send the wrong message. I have met some really awesome down to earth tourists but there is always that one…and when I meet this tourist I think to myself “why the hell did you choose to travel to Mongolia in the first place”
This past weekend was to say the least interesting. Every year the Health Department (that I volunteer for) has a Mongolian version of a work BBQ. You know all the workers getting together for a day to enjoy the recent change in weather But instead of cooking meat on a grill it is done with hot rocks over a fire, instead of eating bacon wrapped filet mingnon they have liver wrapped in fat, instead of cold beer there is warm vodka, and of course singing, speeches, and how could I forget the infamous potato salad (I have discovered is the universal side dish). It is done every spring once the wind dies down and the temperature rises. Many of my coworkers were very excited and made some what of a big deal of the whole thing (there was even a meeting about it so I knew it was a big deal). I was also excited for this. It would give me a chance to spend some time with my coworkers in a non work setting. But I was also excited because we would be doing “Horhog” the traditional Mongolian way to prepare meat and vegetables with hot rocks. It is by far the most delicious and delectable thing I have ever had in Mongolia. I have been in Mongolia for almost a year, thus allowing for me to have my fair share of parties. This has provided me with quite an engrossing opportunity to ascertain the differences between American and Mongolian work parties. It did not take much to spot out the differences as most are pronounced. One of the largest differences is the manner in which the meat is brought to the party. Usually (at least in America) meat is purchased at a store cut and nicely wrapped. Well as you may or may not know it is done slightly different in Mongolia. Story follows:
“Do you want to go to the countryside to pick up sheep for the party on Saturday?” These were the first words said to me Thursday morning. No good morning or how did you rest? This morning the formalities were completely thrown out the window. At first I was a little thrown off by this (to say the least it is was not what I was expecting to hear). However it all made sense when I remembered that I’m in Mongolia. How could anyone turn down such an opportunity? I of course was interested. I was actually surprised. In most cases I not asked or told anything. I am always rushed off at the last moment wondering what the hell is going on or more importantly where the hell we are going. I would soon find out that we were going to a herder’s home to pick up sheep. It may sound odd but traveling to the countryside to pick up animals is more common than one would think. The sheep would be picked up from a herders Ger and brought to the party…where they would be slaughtered (not one but two). This brings up an interesting thought. Its weird eating a meal that you know was alive only a couple hours before. By far the freshest meat I have ever had. We ended up driving for about two hours (of course in the middle of nowhere) just to pick up some sheep (Mongolians take much care in the selection of their sheep). There are sheep everywhere is this country (livestock out numbers people 5 to 1) so I was confused as to why we drove two hours out of the way. We could have easily bought two equally good sheep right from Muron and completely skipped the short adventure to the countryside. It was an interesting trip. The herder was as friendly as ever and after hog tying the sheep into the back of our van invited us in for soup, tea, and of course the inevitable vodka.
The party on Saturday was a great time and an experience I could talk in depth about…but I won’t. I do have pictures to come in the next few days. As far as Mongolian parties go it was fairly standard. Parties usually start of quite and somewhat awkward (mainly because no one is drunk yet). Eventually vodka appears… as soon as I saw my director break out the first bottle I knew it was going to be a long day (it was 11:30 in the morning). It turned out to be a great time although most everybody had more than their fair share of vodka. The sun shined, the food was delicious, and I continued to build relationships with my coworkers. Although I awoke on Sunday with a dry mouth and a headache I thought overall it was a successful cultural exchange.