How Far?
Today I was struck by how far we’ve come in two months. Four days from leaving and we are confidently off on adventures. Today we walked out to find the Mary & Martha warehouse based on simple, but seemingly clear instructions on their blog. Remember Mongolia (like the Rez) is more fond of landmarks than actual street names or addresses. So we were trying to find a way around a corner hotel - fenced all the way around- to some buildings behind it. I decide to take an unlikely looking shortcut around the building in between where we want to be and where we are and Chas supportively joins me. As we slip between a close fence and the building wall we come out into a deadend. A smoking area deadend, where three women are having their break. As we look and Chas emits a very Mongolian expulsion of air and sound “UUF!”, we females start laughing. Surprisingly, two Mongolian guys come out of the same space we just left and are caught up short at the 5 of us standing there chuckling. They shake their heads and head back the way we came.
So we’ve gone from hiding in our tower apartment overwhelmed by culture shock to being so confident Mongolians are following us into dead-ends! That’s quite an accomplishment if you ask me. We carelessly stroll into 5pm traffic and play Mongolian Frogger with deft skill. We are both able to pick up words in Mongolian conversations, even make accurate guesses of what is being said in some situations. Chas has found a favorite Mongolian dish, which I will learn to make in the states. I even drank a whole cup of milk tea without gagging! We have connected, we have confirmation, we have direction, we still need details, but those will fall into place.
Six days until I hug two of my sons! What a sweet moment that will be. I’m looking forward to taking several days to just soak in being together all four of us. It will be so good to just hear their laugh, sing with them, play some games, watch some movies, walk walk walk and hug them whenever the mood strikes me! Next steps will come no matter what, but I get to enjoy those days with them.
I had a thought that my return to the states is when I will experience the culture shock that Chas felt the first couple weeks here. There is so much that I admire here. There is so much about Mongolian lifestyle that appeals to me. There are so many things wrong in the states that I haven’t missed. It will be interesting to see how that goes. The conveniences there are nice, but none of it is a necessity. Will I be able to continue the healthy changes we have adopted here out of necessity? How will I process what we’ve experienced here when I am faced with life there? How bad will the grief be? So many thoughts spinning.
For now we have three more days of work to finish here. The effort to not be distracted from final details in our work, by thoughts of home and travel details. Managing small responsibilities well so that He will see us worthy of greater responsibilities. Even small things can bring Him glory, hoping our small efforts will bring Him any glory at all.
So we’ve gone from hiding in our tower apartment overwhelmed by culture shock to being so confident Mongolians are following us into dead-ends! That’s quite an accomplishment if you ask me. We carelessly stroll into 5pm traffic and play Mongolian Frogger with deft skill. We are both able to pick up words in Mongolian conversations, even make accurate guesses of what is being said in some situations. Chas has found a favorite Mongolian dish, which I will learn to make in the states. I even drank a whole cup of milk tea without gagging! We have connected, we have confirmation, we have direction, we still need details, but those will fall into place.
Six days until I hug two of my sons! What a sweet moment that will be. I’m looking forward to taking several days to just soak in being together all four of us. It will be so good to just hear their laugh, sing with them, play some games, watch some movies, walk walk walk and hug them whenever the mood strikes me! Next steps will come no matter what, but I get to enjoy those days with them.
I had a thought that my return to the states is when I will experience the culture shock that Chas felt the first couple weeks here. There is so much that I admire here. There is so much about Mongolian lifestyle that appeals to me. There are so many things wrong in the states that I haven’t missed. It will be interesting to see how that goes. The conveniences there are nice, but none of it is a necessity. Will I be able to continue the healthy changes we have adopted here out of necessity? How will I process what we’ve experienced here when I am faced with life there? How bad will the grief be? So many thoughts spinning.
For now we have three more days of work to finish here. The effort to not be distracted from final details in our work, by thoughts of home and travel details. Managing small responsibilities well so that He will see us worthy of greater responsibilities. Even small things can bring Him glory, hoping our small efforts will bring Him any glory at all.
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