Time Just Flys When Your Busy Hunting

"You haven't up dated your blog in a week, you must of been busy" a friend wrote in an email to me a couple of days ago. In reading those words I realised that a week has just gone by very quick, yes I have been busy.

So let me tell you what I have been up to.

Getting settled into the apartment I am starting to feel like a new women, back to the Domestic Goddess I know. Not being settle really took a toll on me. I was feeling really depressed and looking back on those weeks I felt I c see ouldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel and I hadn't really started to experience life here.
In the first couple of days I sorted out the apartment to the way I wanted. I decided to move some of the furniture around, do a lot of cleaning and worked out what I needed to buy extra for the apartment. I ended up starting a list so when I did go out hunting for the items I wouldn't forget.

The list
Clothes dryer
Another fridge (bigger then the bar fridge already in the apartment)
Small table for computer to fit into the selected space
Sofa bed for Paige's playroom
Non stick pots and pans
Cooking utensils
Plastics storage containers
Plus food items

In Australia you might head for the nearest Kmart or Target but here there are a couple of stores similar but not a lot of choice. So looking around dose take time, plus being able to book a van for transport isn't always easy as they are not always available when you want them so I had to consider that when planning my trips.

I was watching a show on TV about hunters the other day, the equipment they use, tracking animals and going through the bush not knowing if the animal would jump out at them and I could relate this in my shopping experience here so far.

I can just hear the narrator now;

The Domestic Goddess checks her equipment before heading off on the hunt. Purse tucked away in jacket, phone charged, thermals on and tucked in, woolen hat pulled over her ears and her best walking boots on to cope with the slick footpaths. She is ready to hunt. She strolls along the street watching both her footing and any open man holes. People coming thick and fast at her she does her best to get out of their way as they wouldn't care if they walked right into her. She spots a building that she thinks may contain what she needs, but from the footpath isn't too sure so feeling brave opens the door and steps into the unknown. "Oh a computer store", she tells herself. A lady looks up from her desk and without any hesitation the Domestic Goddess is out the door on the hunt again making a mental note about this store.

Walking a little further she spots a store that she heard another hunter (lady) talking about so she heads for the door and opens it to see what awaits.

A small supermarket she finds before her so she scans the area and starts at the back of the shop and works her way out. She stops in her tracks, in ore of what she sees, could it be, bending slowly with excitement in her eyes, she picks up the small colourful box and translates the American wording "Corn Starch" it takes a few seconds to compute "That's the same as Corn flour" she thinks and inside she jumps for joy as it has only taken her two weeks to find this product. Over joyed she whats to share her good fortune with her hunter friends and reaches for her mobile. In a couple of minutes the word spreads "You found what, Where , I cant believe you found that I will head past there to get some" another hunter replies on the phone. She searches the rest of the store but she will have to be satisfied with only finding the one item.

She steps back onto the street and continues the hunt...........

I think you have to see the funny side of doing the painful day to day tasks like shopping here. I have come to realise that there are a couple of simple rules here. When you see an item you grab it and if there is more then one packet you grab that too as it may not be there next time. Stock up when you can.

Having looked around the shops its amazing how many products you cant buy here, I thought it was hard finding things in Indonesia when we lived there for two years but here it is a lot harder. Items such as some herbs and spices, cream, baking soda, self raising flour, tasty cheese, just to name a few. Sometimes I am so glad that a number of items have pictures on the product as most of the wording is either in Russian or German.

Picture: Some items we can buy here

The other item I had trouble finding was a clothes dryer. You would think that being so cold here everyone would have one to dry their clothes, not so as they are really expensive to buy here so the stores don't stock them very often. The wages per month for Mongolians isn't very high for example a Professor at the University may only earn $180 per month. In Australia you can buy a dryer for about $300 - $350 but here they cost about $500 so most families would use drying racks in their living area which I had been doing but I thought if I was able to find a dryer then that would be a better option. I hunted around many of the stores and I was able to locate two dryers in the whole of UB city. I wasn't to happy at paying the high price but I figure its better then having washing drying over the limited space in the apartment we have.

Picture: Tomato Paste, check out the writing