Small Successes

While someone applying to the Peace Corps may think they will soon be changing the world, life in the Peace Corps is all about appreciating your small successes. For example, waking up in the morning to be greeted by a thermometer showing the weather outside is -26F plus windchill and still deciding to head out to the outhouse for your morning constitutional is a rather large small success. We've had a couple other small successes lately to help us pass the time.

Ashlee and I love oatmeal -- back at home we practically ate it every morning. This past August when we learned we were being placed in Olgii, our friend and sitemate Laura tipped us off that while you can buy oatmeal in many places around Mongolia, you cannot find it in Olgii. She suggested we stock up on this precious commodity while we were still in UB.

Ashlee and I took her advice and brought a few cans along with us to our new home. Although we rationed it sparingly -- it became our Saturday treat along with some pan-fried cinnamon apples -- we ran through our supply quickly. By October, we were oatmeal-less and quite sad.

In November when we traveled to Hovd for Thanksgiving, we were elated to discover that Hovd is one of those cities in Mongolia where you can buy oatmeal! We sort of got carried away and we came home from Hovd with as many bags of the stuff as we could fit in our luggage. It was a happy time for us.

When we got back to Olgii, we took a closer look at our loot and we realized that the Russian brand of oatmeal we bought in Hovd is the same brand that produces the rice and lentils that we buy at our local supermarket right here in Olgii. Hmm, could it be possible, we thought, to ask said supermarket to order oatmeal?

December came and went and we were so preoccupied with our trips to UB for training (where we bought even more oatmeal) and the holidays that we forgot about our idea of petitioning the supermarket. However, now that it's mid-January and things are getting back to normal -- and we have increased our consumption of the cinnamony goodness that is Ashlee's oatmeal specialty -- getting our hands on more of the stuff has become one of our top priorities.

To aid us in our efforts, we enlisted the help of our friend and Kazakh language tutor, Nurbol. We asked him to pen a letter that we could take to the supermarket introducing ourselves and explaining our dilemma. In the letter we asked Nurbol to explain what oatmeal is and how to prepare it -- apparently the Russian instructions on the bag tell you to make deep-fried oat pancakes. Nurbol performed flawlessly. The letter said that Ashlee and I will be here in Olgii for another year and a half and that we would buy at least 20 bags of the stuff. The bottom of the letter asked the store worker to please write a response that we could take back to Nurbol to have translated.

This past Monday I took the letter with me on a little shopping trip. As I was checking out of the store, I presented it to the cashier. She read it, smiled, and wrote a response. I took that as a promising sign. Yesterday we had our usual Tuesday Kazakh lesson with Nurbol and I showed him the cashier's response. He happily told us that the store used to carry oatmeal and, yes, they could order more from Russia. It'll take some time to get it in, but we can check back in March.

Success! Because of our efforts we have now not only guaranteed our supply -- not to mention the supply of any future Olgii PCVs -- of oatmeal for our next year in Mongolia, but we have also made yet another step in the two-way street that is cross-cultural education: we explained the importance of oatmeal as a breakfast food for Americans. Who knows, maybe Ashlee can get her recipe translated and we can introduce cinnamon apple oatmeal to all those Kazakh families who eat deep-fried oat pancakes...