2022.11.07-09. - How we gonna paa-aay?

 Had a very busy few days - the biggest happening being that we finally signed the contract and paid the rent for the new apartment.

2022.11.07.

Had a class, then we went for a little errand-tour. First we went to the post office (interesting place) to post a letter to Hungary, then spent a good hour or so waiting for our number to be called in Golomt Bank, trying to open bank accounts. Just when it was finally our turn, the security guy came up to us and tried to tell us in very broken English (I wouldn't even call it broken English, he spoke like 3 words) that we cannot open accounts now and we have to leave and go back after 3-5 business days because they need to do background checks for foreign citizens. It was actually Google Translate that told me all this, since none of the staff could tell us this in English (or maybe someone could have, but they had other things to do). So there went all our hopes of having a Mongolian bank account for both my salary and for paying the rent right out the window.

Walked by a demonstration at Sukhbaatar square

Fancy Mongolian envelope

Once we accepted that we would need to go back to the bank (possibly several times), we went to have lunch at Agnista, then stopped by the Embassy because one of the women working there was super nice and patched my jeans (it's always my granny who does this for me but since she's not here and my thighs still touch, I needed someone to help me). So once more I have 3 pairs of jeans I can wear.

Lunch at Agnista Vegan Restaurant - we love this place

I also got my first big salary, which is always fun, but it didn't spend much time on my account as we went to the nearest ATM to withdraw basically all of it so that we could pay rent the next day. We actually emptied two ATMs completely (at least we figured we did since they just wouldn't give us more money even though we had money on our accounts). Btw, the decision to pay the rent in cash was a very difficult one to make, mostly resting on the shoulders of my husband, but I also gave my input and supported him through his meltdowns.

In the evening, I spent some time reading, and trying coconut water (again, as I've tried it once as a kid, and I have vague memories of not really liking it). Well, I still don't like it. It's weird because it tastes like water and shredded coconut at the same time, and I like both of those things, but coconut water is just wrong.

This is how they sell coconuts - easy to open, that's true

2022.11.08.

First thing in the morning, we went back to the ATMs in the hopes they put some more money in them during the night, and they must have done, because we managed to withdraw the rest of the money needed to pay 6+1 months of rent.

Having all the money (huge piles of notes, tbh, since Mongolian banknotes aren't worth a lot), I left my husband home to count it all, just in case, and rushed to the pool for a quick swim before power-walking back just in time to sign the contract and get the keys for the new apartment. It actually took quite some time, wince we had to go through all the furniture and equipment (and even things like windows and curtains, for feck's sake) and mark them on a list, and we also had to wait for the printed contracts to arrive so that we could actually sign them, but in a few hours, we've paid the money, got the keys, signed the contracts, and said goodbye to the owners and realtors, closing the door behind them in our new temporary home.

Then we had an early dinner since we skipped lunch in all the excitement, and checked out the lunar eclipse. Our realtor said that - since Mongolians are very superstitious - people aren't supposed to eat pr prepare food during the lunar eclipse, but we are neither superstitious nor Mongolians, so we had a very nice dinner in the vegetarian café near the apartment. The eclipse itself was really cool, although not very visible - the whole point was that the moon was really dark (instead of its usual luminous glory) and just a tiny part of it was actually visible (with its light dimmed). Thus, I have no pictures of it, but you can google 'lunar eclipse' if you want to see what it looked like.

Got these in CU and they are really good

Pretty late in the evening (about 11 pm), the intern from the embassy started texting me about flight tickets and her laptop problems, so we ended up inviting her over to help (I gave her my laptop to use and we also helped her look for flights). She left sometime after midnight but we stayed up reading and scrolling until 3 or 4 am or so.

2022.11.09.

In the morning, I was preparing for my class, then we made lunch together with my husband. It's a rare occurrence, it's usually either me cooking some proper food or him making something simple and quick (well, it's supposed to be quick but it always takes him way too long). Our preferences while cooking (washing utensils and dishes, putting stuff away, prepping, counter space usage) are just too different for us to comfortably work together in the kitchen on a daily basis, but once in a while we really enjoy cooking together.

After lunch, I had a meeting with Munkh, the head of department. Then I went to my office to work on my lecture material for this Friday (last lecture I have to give!), and taught a class in the afternoon.

In the evening, we moved some stuff from the apartment we've been using to the one we just rented, and we actually stayed and slept there for the first time too.