Family

I open the door to reveal the man that has encouraged me to come all of this way, but still far from the extent of the journey. “сайн уу найзаа” he says, greeting me as a friend while guiding my eyes to the food with a pointing of his finger to the backseat. “I know how much you want to try my family's recipes, it's there if you want it,” He starts the car “The rest of the food we will pack when we get to my home.”

“It is tempting; however, I'll have to wait a bit because I will get too sick on the drive.”

Erdene gives me an assuring look with a playful smirk and nods as the car makes its start on the road back to his home. I watch the scenery of this other country as we pass by this land that is so foreign to me, a refreshing new everything feels like I've finally gotten a chance to break out of the societal cycle. I doze off unknowingly, as I'm woken up with a jolt from the radio that had started blaring, Erdene laughs, but apologizes for the joke as he mentions that we are a few minutes away from his home. I stare out the windshield as a city comes into view, I turn back with the food staring back at me as I bring it to my lap, and, with a glance from Erdene, I dig in.

“Buuz,” as it's called, is the steamed dumplings of Mongolia with a family recipe from Erdene. Ripping the packaging off with a growling stomach, as the steam shoots up, hitting me with a dampness pressed onto my face. I begin to eat with the savory flavors flooding every part of my mouth relentlessly. 

Pulling up beside his home, Erdene walks to his front door with a casual demeanor and disappears inside before coming back out to signal my entrance. His house is called a yurt, and is the traditional home of many middle Asian areas, with its circular, tent design. Upon walking inside the warm, cozy living space, His family welcomed me inside with the force of an army, as they started handing me packaged food and flooding out to the car to stock us up. All of the food that we need is in the car, combined with gallons of water, and a folded yurt for our nomadic adventure. Thanking them for their hospitality, me and Erdene leave our goodbyes and set once more towards our place of destination.