How Many Sheep Have YOU Slaughtered This Year?

Paraphrasing the words of a former PCV from Mongolia whom we met recently, Peace Corps is more of a diplomatic agency than it is a development agency. What this means is that, sure, we're hear to help the people of Mongolia in any way that we can, but the more important reason for why we are here is to show Mongolians that there is more to America than what they see on television. This diplomacy cuts both ways, though, because when we eventually return home, we can share Mongolia with America.

In this spirit of diplomacy, every day here in Mongolia is an education in cross-culture. We are constantly learning about Mongolian cultural norms, both what is accepted and what is taboo. Most people we meet seem fascinated by the fact that we have chosen to live here for two years and they have tons of questions. They know we come from a place where life is "easier," a place where we had a machine for everything -- from the big (cars, washing machines, heaters) to the small (laptops, PDAs, and iPods). As a result they are constantly interested in how we are adjusting to life in Mongolia.

Every day at school every teacher I greet asks me the same questions:

1) How is your house? Is it warm?
2) How many fires do you make?
3) How much coal do you use?

Every time they ask, I assure them that Ashlee and I are both doing fine. We have plenty of wood and coal, and we make three fires regularly every day. In fact, we now even have a thermometer in our house that reads the temperature both inside and outside our home. Whenever the inside temperature dips below 65 degrees F, we know it's time to make another fire. Sometimes, at night and with a proper fire, we can get our house roasting to 90+ degrees F! It's glorious considering that the outside temperature can be -30F.

So yeah, I think that many people see us as fragile Americans and they are amazed when we tell them that we are getting along just fine, albeit with Peace Corps' help.

Another thing that fascinates the locals is our diet. We are constantly asked more of the same questions over and over.

1) How much meat do you eat?
2) Where do you buy your meat?
3) Do you eat horse meat? You really must eat horse meat in the winter.
and the real kicker that I have only heard once
4) How many sheep have you slaughtered this year?

While Mongolians are Buddhists and Kazakhs are Muslims, I think they both worship meat. They are all about it. They eat it at every meal and they constantly rave about its health properties. As a result, they are a bit thrown when Ashlee and I tell them that we're not too crazy about meat. Don't get me wrong -- we used to eat the occasional hamburger back home, and I do miss my sandwiches, but there is just something about Mongolian meat that just turns us away. Hmm, maybe it is because for 10 weeks straight over the summer we both ate enough mutton to last us a life time.

So when the inevitable meat questions do pop up, Ashlee and I both try to be perfectly honest. No, we don't buy meat and, no, we don't eat meat every day. Instead, we try to say, we rely on eggs, milk, yogurt, and nuts for our source of protein. "Protein? What's that?" they ask. Ha, nevermind.

Something that really throws them for a loop is trying to explain tofu and other types of soy products. When we traveled to Hovd for Thanksgiving, some of the PCVs there proudly took us to their local vegan restaurant. That's right, there is a vegan restaurant in Mongolia. In fact, not only was it a restaurant, but it was also a little store where you could buy vegan foodstuffs. Ashlee got a little excited and she bought 5 bags of dehydrated "soy meat." We've been eating it ever since -- Ashlee will put it in stir frys, chili, and other similar dishes. Well, we had a Kazakh friend over recently and we showed him the bag and he just couldn't stop laughing. The label in Mongolian translates into something like "meatless meat." He just found it hilarious.

So yeah, every day is a cross-culture day. The beauty of it is that cross-culture is a two-way street. We are trying to educate Mongolians about Americans just as much we are trying to educate ourselves (and you, indirectly) about Mongolians.

From this perspective, our service so far has been a success.