my mongolian survival skills... or lack thereof

staying warm - I actually got a cold this week. I'm not sure if it was because someone was spreading a bug around or if my immune system was really low, or it might have been a combination of both. The good  news  is that my friends took me shopping, so I'm plenty warm at the moment. not sure how warm those clothes will keep me for the actual cold part of winter, but we'll see.

making a fire - lol, at first it would take me nearly an hour to get a good coal fire burning. its getting easier but I have not yet reached a 100% success rate. Theoretically, I should get up early every morning to get a fire going, but I never actually wake up in time to do that. And when I go to school after making a fire, sometimes the teachers see remnants of coal because I wiped my face, and they start laughing at me.

cooking food - I just made an amazing batch of tsuivan (Mongolian noodles) this weekend, but cooking takes a lot of time. Therefore I have developed a repertoire of "microwave meals." Bread and jelly is easy and readily available. I recently found some hot cereal that kind of tastes like cream of wheat. It's not oatmeal, but it will do. I also am very thankful for raisins. its not extremely unhealthy and it is an easy snack. I'm eating eggs alot more now, and if I'm really in a hurry I will pick up fruit yogurt at the store. And Its a good thing that I like tea, because I'm going to be drinking it a lot this winter. I just bought a teapot to put on my fire stove, so now I will use my electric boiler a lot less.

maintaining a Ger - If you know me, you already are aware that I'm not a cleanly person. Therefore, a Ger is not ideal for me because its all one room and there's nowhere to hide stuff. And in Mongolia, people often visit without any warning. My sister chewed me out for having a messy Ger, so I am trying to keep it a little cleaner - not sure how long that will last.