Packages + Heat = A Very Happy PCV!

So I got another care package last week!  It was from Mary and Susie Silberhorn, the wonderful ladies who own and operate Susie's Garden Patch in Garden Prairie, IL.  I have spent basically every summer of my childhood and young adulthood working at the farm, and the Silberhorn's are close family friends.  Thanks so much for the package!

There is a sort of funny story that happened when I received this package.  As you can see in this picture, the bottom of the package was all taped up in "монгол шуудан" tape, which says 'Mongolian Post Office."  I was concerned that my package had been opened to check for food (which is not supposed to be shipped into the country...sad, right?), and since I knew that there were spices inside, I was pretty concerned! 

I also noticed that every time I moved the package, some sort of sandy stuff would leak out.  Now I was really confused.  Did the package fall off a truck or something and get dirt/sand inside? Is that why the package was resealed by the post office?? There was nothing to do but open it up and discover the mystery of the sandy package!

So I cut through the post office tape and got to here: lots and lots more of this sandy stuff.  Still no clear explanation.

I blew away some of the sand, and saw I got a card!  How nice!  It has been great decorating my desk at work, and I can always use more cards!

I opened the box all the way and soon found the culprit--Mary knows that I love hot chocolate and coffee, and so she sent me a great mint-hot chocolate cappuccino mix!  Unfortunately some sort of squishing during the transport popped the box open, and the mix got over everything.  After a few minutes of laughing at myself for sort of believing my box was full of sand, I unpacked the contents.

So many seasonings!  Mongolian cooking has very few seasonings, so it is difficult to find a lot of spices here.  All of these will (hopefully) improve my cooking, and remind me a bit of home!  I also got several soup mixes and instant oatmeal.  Yum!

 

So there was a bit of a mess in the form of hot chocolate mix, but it is always the thought that counts.  I am so very lucky to have such a great family and group of friends who are watching out for me from across the globe, and that means a lot to me.

And I got to enjoy a great meal of hot chocolate and potato soup!  Thanks again, Mary and Susie!

On a related happiness-inducing event, my heat finally kicked on!  My apartment is nice and warm, and I don't have to wear layers and turn my space heater on to avoid shivering!  The heat (which is centrally controlled) was supposed to turn on city-wide on October 1st, but the pipes leading to my building were not working correctly.  This led to a giant hole right in front of my door into the building.  By the way, the hole is still there almost a week later.  I think its being kept open in case their fixes don't work correctly.

 

Why yes, they did dig underneath the stairs into the building, and under the building itself--I don't know much about construction, but this just feels wrong!

 

It was a large project.

When I was taking these pics, I noticed that there was a skull just chilling in the courtyard-type area.  This is pretty common, since stray dogs are everywhere and we have several that live by the apartment building and eat our garbage.  I hope my puppy didn't have too much to do with this skull!  It looks like it is probably a sheep skull.  I am getting better at recognizing bones and skulls from different animals, both because I see them on the ground all over, and when I buy my meat it is the easiest way of telling what type of meat it is!

There are several boys around the age of 7-9 that live in my building and they love to play outside with the puppies.  There always seems to be some puppies around.  The other day, they found a little puppy, and built this shelter for it to sleep in overnight.  It actually seems pretty warm, but the puppy doesn't really approve--he spends most of the night crying. 

Also, I got two cards the same day as my package!  They were from Al and Darlene Henninger and Sharyn Geske, all of whom I know because we are all members of the Illinois State Grange.  It was so thoughtful of you to send me a note, I really appreciate it!  It is great to hear from people and stay in touch with what is happening at home.  I hope that I will be able to send you a note back soon!

So in the course of the weekend I received a great package, two very nice letters, and the wonderful warmth of a heated apartment.  All in all, one of the better weekends I have had in Mongolia! 


This week in Khentii, there is a disaster preparedness conference going on.  It has meant that most of my English lessons are cancelled, but I have gotten to see some pretty cool things, such as about two hundred workers from different agencies learning how to march military style with survival backpacks and matching military uniforms.  I am not exactly clear on how this is disaster preparedness, but I am sure that will be addressed at some point this week.  But, more about work-related adventures in my next post.

As Mongolians like to say, sleep well!  Have a great week!