GeR LIfE iSn't EasY~

Ger life is very time consuming. Since last blogged about it, I got myself a ginormous water bin that I fill up once or twice a week at 100 tugrigs a pop (that's about 10 cents). While I really quite enjoy utilizing as much water as I want, the water well times are not super conducive to my schedule. It opens at 10:30, closes at some point and then opens back up at 4 and closes at 6:30. While it is customary for children to be budged by adults, I somehow cannot bring myself to do it. This means that I am waiting 30 to sometimes 45 minutes just to get my water bin filled up. This is not going to be very conducive to my new schedule, that has me going in at 9 in the mornings Tuesday thru Friday, and not leaving until 6:30 or later Tuesday thru Thursday. I clearly will need to be planning ahead if I want to keep enjoying an everlasting supply of water. Since I also manage to use an insane amount of water, this means at LEAST once a day I have to empty my dry sink bucket so it does not overfill and spill nasty dirty soapy water all over my carpet. The last thing I need is moldy dishwater stinking up my Ger. Beyond that, there is the everlasting supply of dirt that seems to be trekked in; every time a human steps in my home, or I bring in wood. I do not have a vacuum so this means depending on how much debris sneaks in, is directly correlated with how many hours of my life a day I spend sweeping up the dirt off my rug. If I become a hermit and miraculously don't ever have to leave my humble abode, the time I spend sweeping per week could be utilized to write my own book, paint my Ger, run a marathon...you get the picture. Cooking is a whole other issue. I tend to cook on my fire when it is going because if you remember, my oven tends to like to blow fuses. This means if I don't have a fire going, which is every time I get home form an outing or a day of work, I need to build one. There are in fact days that this happens rather quickly. However, since it has started to get colder (there's snow here people), my fire seems to be rebelling. Once I hear that snap crackle popping of the wood, it's like music to my ears and I know it won't freeze to death in my sleep. To get a good cooking fire going, it takes a little longer than just lighting a fire. If I am lazy and not starving, a little fire that gives off just another warmth will work to cook the food.  However, it may also take an hour to appropriately cook the food so I don't get salmonella. Make the stove hot enough to cook quickly on and sauna like temperatures will make you a participant in naked cooking my friend. It's an ongoing dilemma for me, although given the choice, I would much rather be too hot then too cold! My friend Will's mom and aunt came and brought a thermometer for all of us PCV's. When I got my stove really going the other day, it topped out at 105. If you come visit me, don't fret about being too chilly. Likewise, don't complain about the heat. I like it. Last but not least..cleaning. Picking up the odd's and ends, doing the dishes etc. I have never been a super neat person. I sometimes call my style organized chaos, but living in the small quarters of a Ger (think a small one bedroom) having a place for EVERYTHING is a necessity. I find myself making my bed almost every morning (you'd be proud mom) and putting everything back in it's place after I use it. If I don't do this right away, I will clean the moment I get back home from whatever it is I did that day. Ger life seems to be suiting my needs for now, and I am truly in love with my Ger and warm and friendly Hasha family. As for living this lifestyle for the remainder of my life I absolutely, positively, could NOT do it. Having lived like this for the last couple of months I have gained a lot of respect for Mongolian family's that live like this permanently.