Gobi Night


Our rig is down for the night. 200m of pipe down the hole. Threads are busted. Drove over to Iain's rig to see if they are finished and can move theirs over to ours to get the pipe out but they aren't done coring yet. On the way out of his site, our headlights burn out and we're stuck for a bit in the Gobi night while Khukkenbataar (in english it translates to Woman Hero, but we just call him the Lady's Man, since he's my driver) fools with the wires. Twilight will end soon and I can't help but stare at the crescent moon setting to the west. It gets larger and larger, magnified through the Earth's curved horizon, orange and tall. We all pile out of the Russian minibus to get a picture, but we've lost to the night, we'll have to store this one in the soul. Khukkenbataar, Burged and Ultse get in the bus and we roll on back to camp, the three of them excited to join their girlfriends and I looking forward to resting my ankle, now a little soar from all the chaos.

Back at camp a foreign minibus sits outside the parking zone and there's an argument among 10 Mongolians. In the center, a single woman cuts the loudest, obviously upset about something, spitting distinct ch's and uck's, storming off...."zaa, zaa, zaa, zaa!", which means something like "get out of my life". Selenge, the night shift interpreter, tells me that four Mongolians were travelling through the area on their way to Dalanzadgad but had engine belt problems. All four arrived to camp drunk, looking for assistance but were turned away by our security guard. They had tracked up the camp, driven off road, which is not allowed because of our agreement with the governer of this county. So they were told to leave or at least stay with their vehicle which is parked halfway up a hill, top heavy with merchandise they plan to sell in DZ. I think some kind soul gave them a new belt and they'll probably have it fixed by morning, or by the time they sober up.

Salivating over pizza, I am so happy to have some familiar food, even if the toppings are sliced hotdogs, pineapple, canned mushrooms, barely-cooked bacon, and Asian beans. The cheese and the crust with a coca-cola is just plain comforting, but I'll be hatin' it tomorrow when I can't run it off. Although I'm getting good at one-legged jump-roping...anything to get the heart rate up.

Tess or Hammer, whether you are a normal person or a driller, is camp's favorite dog, very spoiled, about a year old, something like a mix between a retriever and a shepherd. Tess has a boyfriend, another dog from the driller's camp, with a similar personality. Last night when I came in, Tess's boyfriend was hobbling outside on three legs. Not accustomed to coming inside the gers, I coaxed this dog inside with beef jerky, a treat that I brought that hardly anyone has touched because apparently it's only an American thing. Since I've been getting to know our first aid kit pretty well, I knew I'd be able to help this dog out but didn't know if he would freak on me if I touched his wound. So I took a long look at it and gave the dog plenty of lovin'. He came around and looked at me as if he knew I would help. I tested him out by dropping a little iodine on his foot. He got nervous and walked around but he didn't whimper or growl or hide. So I quickly doused a cotton with iodine and taped it around his foot. He immediately began pulling it off with his teeth and Tess walked circles around us, wagging her tail, nudging herself between us. Then I opened the door and let them both out. I was sure the bandage would be off in 5 minutes. But a few hours later, I saw the dogs playing around and he still had his bandage on! I couldn't believe it! I haven't told anyone what I did - I like it to be my secret. I'm glad that dog won't be getting Gobi dirt in his gash. I don't know why I'm writing this story. But it's on my mind. It was a little success, a chance to nurture. I related to him since we both have gimp feet. And I enjoyed the affection - I love dogs!

When I got back to camp yesterday morning, they were assembling three new gers. I got a chance to snap a few pictures of Zorigsaikhan and his crew. And the other day, one of the Mongolian's herd of goats and sheep came through camp. They've been hanging close since 10 of them were killed by wolves.