Mongolia, A Report from the Field: The People You Meet in the Darndest Places Part Two

Trina

I’m approaching the exit doors of a restaurant in Moron (Mörön), Mongolia, that everyone calls the Edelweiss, even though there are signs all over declaring the new name is The 50° 100° Hotel and restaurant. 

A Caucasian woman enters the restaurant and as she passes I say hello.

She responds with a very American “Hello,” and we stop to chat.  Her name is Trina.   As these kinds of things happen, she lives in Khatgal, the very place we are headed to at Khovsgol Lake.   She and her husband Michael have been in Mongolia for 12 years.


Trina says they’re from the Carolinas, she originally from Michigan, which segues nicely into one of those no-coincidence serendipitous things because both Cap and I are from Michigan originally.  

Trina said they found their life’s mission when they visited Khatgal and bought a closed, dilapidated woolen factory.  

Trina from Michigan, now living in Khatgal

 

They are refurbishing it into a multi-purpose building (it is huge) and plan to have teen summer camps, leadership training, community workshops, and other projects to benefit the community when completed.  

One end of this large building.  You can see that some of the lower floor windows look new.

And the other.

Trina and Michael's comfy cabin adjacent to their life's work, and a nice supply of firewood.

Trina and Michael's comfy cabin adjacent to their life's work, and a nice supply of firewood.

With a very nice European-style wood stove.  It and the massive wall behind it are a heat sink that will keep a house warm for hours.

With a very nice European-style wood stove.  It and the massive wall behind it are a heat sink that will keep a house warm for hours.

After a brief chat with Trina, we're back in the van and heading almost due north.   We have about two hours to our destination.