Rain Drops, Traffic Cops, and Convenience Stops

Mongolian Countryside - Photo by Bernie Anderson

This has been one of the wettest summers in Mongolia in a long time.  Or at least that is what the locals tell us.  It has rained nearly every day since we arrived.  There have only been a handful of days that it hasn't rained, and the storm drain systems in the big city aren't keeping up with it all.  On the plus side, the weather is cooler and every thing is lush and green.  I've never seen grass in the city of Ulaanbaatar, until this year.  Landscaping and grass & flower planting is happening everywhere.  We actually saw a man with a lawn mower, which is a first.

The Water Line Outside the Garage Door

When the rain comes down, it just pours from the heavens. The street outside the Grain of Wheat Community Center/UBean Coffee House & Roasterie turns into a river, and all that water flows down the driveway and into the basement of the building thru the garage door. This has happened twice this summer, and despite the mess left to clean up, God has shown us through the staff at GOW/UBean how to be thankful even in tough circumstances. When Denise and the staff saw the water running down the driveway towards the garage they jumped into immediate action.

They ran for the basement, and when they opened the basement door, water began spilling out into the hallway. This was bad, because under the stairs there is a large 220v electrical panel very close to the floor. Denise, Mashka, and two teenage boys dove into the basement room, closing the door quickly behind them. In constant prayer, they were on a mission to save the green coffee beans. The water inside the garage was now quickly rising and time was running out. The burlap bags of coffee beans are extremely heavy, weighing over 100 lbs each. Using some left over pallets in the back of the garage, empty window sills, and pop bottle crates and a ladder, they got the beans up higher than the water and saved all the beans. The water got up to 7-8 inches deep inside the garage by the time the rain stopped.




When the garage door could finally be opened, all the staff at GOW/UBean, 4 teens who are regulars at the community center, and three other Mongolian friends all pitched in to scoop out the water, by hand, into buckets and garbage cans, which had to be hauled up to the street and dumped.


When the initial clean up was finished and Denise finally stopped, she burst into tears. Her friend Bayarmaa asked why she was crying? Bayarmaa had been so cheerful and smiling during the entire clean up, as were all the other workers. Denise explained that she just needed a good cry after something traumatic like they had just been through, to release the bad feelings. She was scared about the electrical panel and everyone standing in water, and nearly losing all the coffee beans to the rising waters. Bayarmaa pointed out how much there was to be thankful for and told her not to worry.

She was right, there was a lot to be thankful for. It was good to be thankful that no one got electrocuted, or hurt moving the heavy bags of coffee beans. It was good to be thankful the large bag of flour got put up higher, to be thankful for the extra pallets in the basement, to be thankful for all the help in cleaning up, and to be thankful "Cookie," the cat at the center, survived another near death experience. Denise was most of all thankful to God for hearing her prayers, and for others around the world who stopped and prayed when she sent out an urgent message on Facebook.

By the way, in case you're wondering, this was Cookie's third "near death experience." Her first one was when she got stranded on top of a telephone pole when she got out of the center. She'd been missing for a few days when they found her on top of the pole. But after some skillful cat wrangling with a makeshift Mongolian lasso using some pipe and a computer network cable, Gary and Erik got her down from her lofty perch. Her second NDE was in the first flood, when she was rescued from the rising waters in the basement, and now again yesterday in this latest flood. The crew that showed up yesterday helped to fill some sandbags at the top of the driveway, so hopefully this is Cookie's last run-in with the flood waters.

During the great flood, Jim was across town working at the CAMA offices. It was an interesting day of phone calls with people who did not speak English, auditing records, and playing "international charades" with a Mongolian lady who came to the office to get some funds for an upcoming building project. We're going to be taking a crash course in Mongolian in a couple of weeks, but we have a feeling "international charades" will still be a regular part of life in Mongolia, when the language barriers invariably arise. 

There have been a lot of things that are different we have had to get used to here in Mongolia, and there are a lot of things we have learned that we have taken for granted. One big adjustment has happened as we have been unable to secure driver's licenses so far. Up until now, it has always been easy for workers here to get a Mongolian Driver's License simply by providing their existing license along with the necessary paperwork. 

When we first applied, it was delayed because the traffic police office wanted a letter from CAMA stating why it was necessary for us to drive. It seemed odd, but we quickly had the necessary letter drafted and returned with it to the traffic police office again. Unfortunately, this time we were told that they have decided to stop issuing driver's licenses to foreigners for the rest of the year, they had met their quota. This is the first time anyone here has heard of such a thing, but that's the situation for now. Next month, we will try to submit the paperwork again to see if it is possible to get the driver's license request to go through. After driving about 40,000 miles a year for the past 16 years, it has been truly strange for Jim to not be able to drive. At home, we just took for granted that we can have a driver's license. There's nothing like losing something you took for granted, to help you better appreciate how you have been blessed. And whether we are able to get licenses or not in the end, we will manage, and we will make do. One silver lining is we haven't had to drive in traffic like we're showing in this video here! 

Other than our driving situation, we've had to learn to make a few other adjustments, primarily in regards to convenience. Our meals are changing because we aren't able to find many of the things we used to have at home here, or when we do, it's just too expensive. There's no sandwich meat like we're used to, and we can't get much in the way of affordable packaged food items, so most everything needs to be made from scratch. It's been a bit of adjustment, but we're finding that we're really enjoying the meals put together from scratch. One of our new family favorites is curry chicken - something we never used to have at home. We also have been making Mexican food a lot. We make up our own salsa with fresh tomatoes, chopped green chile peppers, onion, and garlic that we've really been enjoying. If we had had the choice we wouldn't have ever ventured into cooking from scratch, but in the end we've found that the food tends to be a lot more enjoyable, and we're sure it has got to be healthier without all the extra preservatives.

With all of the rain, we've had a little bit of leaking from the ceiling to contend with too. It's just a side effect of living on the top floor, and really it hasn't been that bad - nothing that some towels and buckets can't manage. Besides, the views of the city from the top floor are really great! This picture was at the end of a fairly recent rainy day here. It really turned into a beautiful sunset!




The hardest thing for us to get used to so far was when our hot water was out for ten days. Because the heat and hot water in Ulaanbaatar are supplied by large central heating plants, periodic maintenance has to be done each year to the pipes. The hot water was shutoff here in the Golomt complex (5 buildings) for repairs at the end of June into the first part of July. It wasn't fun, but it wasn't the end of the world either. We heated water in our electric hot water pot and on the stove for doing dishes and for washing ourselves. We still had clean, running water, which is a blessing that most of us take for granted. There are many places in the world where that is not the case. We also experienced something that wouldn't have ever happened at home - genuine joy when the hot water came out of the tap after 10 days! 

So, through the raindrops, the traffic cops, and when the conveniences stopped, we learned something about ourselves. We really take a number of the blessings in our life for granted. We have a lot to be thankful for each day, if we'll choose to take the time to notice. 

One big blessing for us coming here has been how friendly and helpful our Mongolian co-workers have been to us. Two weeks ago was the big national Naadam Festival here in Mongolia. We got to enjoy the first day of Naadam going around UB with one of the staff members from UBean Coffee House, named Ariuka. We went down to the wrestling stadium but were unable to go in as seating had already sold out days before. 

Outside the stadium was a lot like a state fair with a little bit of Rendezvous mixed in (our Wyoming friends will understand). Lots of vendors, food, drinks, and even cotton candy!

Ariuka took us around and we got some huushur and airag (traditional Mongolian food and drink), and then in the afternoon we walked over to Suukhbaatar Square for a free concert. Ariuka proved to be a very hospitable guide for us, and we really appreciated her taking the time to help us experience our first Naadam!