Contentment

Contentment. Gratification. Joy.

It is half past 1 PM on good ol’ Mongolian time, Saturday afternoon here in Sukhbaatar. For those of you on the west coast, it is Friday night at 10:37 PM. That still blows my mind. The concept of time, that is. I have witnessed a sunset that you guys will get to see in due time. Isn’t that crazy? I dunno. Maybe that is just my strange mind that begins to wonder.

It hit me yesterday afternoon, that it is the weekend. I have only been here at my training site for 6 days. It feels like months have passed, except that I still can only communicate by miming and spitting out random phrases like “Co-pee” (coffee), “Saken Amisnow?” (did you rest well), “Mackh” (meat), and “Bee boroond dorktee” (I like the rain).

Speaking of which, I am sitting here on this glorious Saturday afternoon watching the rain fall outside my window. I love, love, love the rain. The reason I was so excited about the weekend, is because I don’t have class or work. I literally was confused with what to do with myself last night. I came home after walking around town with some friends and realized that this is the first time in almost 7 years that I haven’t had a steady job. I mean I will after training but for right now I am just living. Training. Getting adjusted. If I were to come back home, I would be forced to fill out an application and search for work. That hasn’t happened to me since I was 15. It blows my mind. I do not have to put on a uniform and apron tonight and deal with public service. WHAT?!?!?! No more, “can I get you another blah blah blah”. HUH?! It feels nice and slightly scary at the same time. I rarely took off weekends during work. Weekends = money. Now I sit here in some random place in Mongolia, 15 kilometers from the Russian border, watching rain fall. Man how time can change our priorities. I love it. I love change. Newness. Revival. Which is probably why I love the rain.

Everything changes after a good rain. Dirt and filth from the days, weeks, or months that have built up since the last fall, are all washed away. Colors brighten the gray skies. The paint of the buildings are bold, wet, and clean. Things come to life. The grass perks up. All comes out to enjoy the cleansing. They embrace this sporadic occasion. Life springs from every tiny speck of the land. It is like seeing that piece of the world in a new light or for the first time. My entire body, mind, and heart smiles. I LOVE THE RAIN. =)

This week has been difficult as many of you probably guessed. Adjustment is hilarious. New places, new faces, and mixed feelings. I could watch people for days. Each of us has our random quirks or ways in which we conduct daily tasks. It is so funny to watch someone else perform the same task as you, in a completely different manner. We naturally want to think that the other person is “doing it wrong”. Is there really a right way? Today, for me, it was washing clothes. I will look forward to Saturdays because that is cleaning day. For 7 days my only form of washing is baby wipes. No shaving of the legs, no soap, no clean hair, and the same clothes over and over. But we all do it. It is life here. We have to walk a ridiculously long way to get water to fill one giant metal container that sits in the front room. We need enough water to boil in order to eat and drink for the whole family all week, so daily cleanliness is not even an option. Management. Organization. Sacrifice. Minimal use. It’s beautiful.

This morning, I realized that I am so wasteful. I take little things like washing machines and daily showers for granted. I had to literally mark off over 2 hours of my morning to sit over a bucket and rub my socks, pants, and underwear together. I dump out the dirty water, get just enough to dissolve the little amount of detergent that I have, and scrub some more. After hand scrubbing each garment, I then still have to rinse each piece of clothing. Then, have to ring them all out and hang them to dry. My back and arms ache in places I didn’t even know existed. Hunched over this tiny bucket, scrubbing and wringing non-stop is a challenge. I put on a sermon by Francis Chan and imagined what life was like two thousand years ago. Imagine what fetching water was like for them. Wow, how we have progressed. Or have we? I do love modern technology. I mean it allows me to communicate with you guys across the world, but has it blinded us to what is really important? Organization. Sacrifice. Using as little as possible. Relying on others and ourselves rather than man-made machines that are able to do everything for us. The concept and preciousness of time. I don’t know if we have just lost sight of what is important because we always want to multi-task. Right now I am learning to enjoy each moment for what it is. Not for what else I could be doing, but for what I am actually accomplishing. Man it feels good. Living in the moment. Looking at each sock and seeing progress. Watching the rain fall.

Enjoy life. Find joy in all projects no matter how big or small. Forfeit. Let go of things that don’t really matter. Things that do no good. Help one another. Try something different. See life from someone else’s perspective. Be patient. Find time and soak up each moment. Sit and watch the rain fall. I urge you.

Life is precious. Work for what’s important but delight in time. Be happy to be alive. Don’t take the tiniest measure of each day for granted. Feel the burn. Be selfless. Ache. And know that I am trying to do the same.

I love you all.

-Me.