Choibalsan has eggplants?

Some time back I made myself an omelet. It featured zucchini, Edamer cheese and locally grown tomatoes. My omelet fell apart several times in the pan. But it was delicious. The omelet made me think of Choibalsan as a whole… not pretty, kind of crumbling, but full of yummy things.

Sometimes my sitemate Cassandra and I marvel at our ample cupboards and comfy apartments. We wonder if we ever joined the Peace Corps. At the moment, many of our friends are trying to cook themselves pickles in their gers. Meanwhile, we revel in Choibalsan’s culinary delights.

Perhaps I wouldn’t consider my meals so extravagant if I hadn’t lived in the countryside for two months. But let me tell you what I ate on a typical fall day:

• Breakfast: oatmeal, apples, sourdough bread with black-currant jam

• Lunch: Chicken lentil basil soup with cheese (homemade)

• Dinner: The teachers take me out to one of Choibalsan’s decent Chinese places. We have soy roasted short ribs with bell pepper; chili garlic cucumber carrot salad; and doughy mantou dumplings.

• Dessert: Kiwi ice cream; sweet rolls with Russian chocolate cream cheese

Where do all my yummy goodies come from? Well, Choibalsan lies in Mongolia’s northeast corner. The China-Russia railroad runs through the town, so fresh food bundles its way into the city. But they say the border will close for winter.

Lentils: haven’t seen ya for a while. Eggplants: baikhgui.

Gouda cheese, why hast thou deserted me?