Surviving Siberian Showers

 

Why did this week's post start with a picture of our shower head, you might ask? Well, this is currently what our shower looks like whenever we turn on the hot water: absolutely nothing! Monday marked the beginning of two weeks without hot water while the city repairs the pipes.  We may have mentioned this last year when it happened, but the water isn't just cold. It's brain-freeze, headache-inducing, straight-from-Siberia cold! But don't worry, we've developed a system. Each evening we fill the bathtub so the water can at least warm up to room temperature overnight. Then we boil enough water to make it lukewarm, hop into the tub, and pour bowl after bowl over ourselves. It's not exactly luxurious, but we've got this!

We've seen Kumo Kumo stores around the city for quite a while and always wondered what a Japanese style cheesecake tasted like, so we finally decided to try one. The packaging alone felt like an event, complete with a gift bag, fancy spoon, elegant box, and even a bright orange receipt. Like many Japanese desserts, it wasn't very sweet. It's probably not something we'll buy again, but it was fun to finally satisfy our curiosity.

This weekend was a rare "divide and conquer" weekend for J.D. and me because we each had events to attend and write news stories about. I headed east of the city, about 30 miles, to attend the YSA Conference. Meanwhile, J.D. traveled northwest on a journey of more than 12 hours to Khovsgol Lake near the Russian border for a special ceremony and a meeting involving the President of Mongolia.

There were plenty of unknowns surrounding his trip, including long car rides, boat rides, and even the possibility of horse rides and mountain hikes, which made both of us a little nervous. Still, he gathered all the information he could, packed his bags, and headed out early Friday morning with six others. He won't be back until Tuesday evening, so you'll have to wait until next week to hear about that grand adventure!

As for the YSA Conference, the organizers did an excellent job as usual, and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. I stayed in a small ger, which was a fun experience. 

The first night, our friend Khongorzul and her three-year-old daughter, Anun-Ujin, stayed with me. We see them at church all the time, but she usually hides behind her mom's legs whenever we say hello. After helping her through a thunderstorm and spending time blowing bubbles together, I think we've officially become friends. It was fun to play grandma for the weekend, especially since our own little three-year-old, Remi, was celebrating her birthday that very same day.

One interesting cultural note you will see in the picture is Mongolia's traditional hair-cutting ceremony. Families gather when a young child reaches a certain age, and relatives and friends each take a turn cutting a small lock of hair before shaving their head, while offering blessings and good wishes for the child's future. The event is part celebration, part family reunion, and completely centered on the child. 

One final bit of news from Mongolia is the current fuel shortage. The shortage is linked to Ukrainian drone attacks that damaged Russian oil refineries, disrupting fuel supplies throughout the region. I should mention that this added a little extra anxiety to J.D.'s 12-hour road trip! Every gas station seems to have either a very long line of vehicles waiting for fuel or no fuel at all.  Hopefully they find a solution soon (and that J.D. isn't stuck north with no fuel!)

As I look back on the week, it strikes me how normal the unusual has become. One day you're figuring out how to bathe with buckets of boiled water, the next you're attending a conference in a ger or navigating a countrywide fuel shortage. Life in Mongolia rarely follows the script we expect, but it always seems to provide a story, an adventure, or a lesson along the way. For now, we're grateful for safe travels, new friendships, and the ability to laugh about cold showers. And who knows? By next week, we may even have hot water again.