This, my friends, is a young Stephen Colbert:

Taken from an article about a young Jon Stewart at a Dead Kennedys concert.

Yeah, you're welcome.

**NOTE: I wrote this before my trip, just after new years. I didn't have time to put in the pictures, so I left it until now.

2012.

I've always enjoyed even years more than odd years, is that strange? Although some even years have been the absolute worst of my life, I've liked them better. Fun fact: Mongolians believe that how you'll spend the NYE is the same as how you'll spend the upcoming year. So spending last NYE alone with my cat seems pretty accurate, no?

This year, Jess and I traveled down to Dariganga to ring in 2012 with our own Sarah K. This means I'll be surrounded by friends this year, yeah? Since this year marks the final stretch of my Peace Corps service, it makes sense.

So how did I do on my new year's resolutions? Pretty well, I thought. Get shit done, genee (I said). I think I successfully got shit done. I'll mark that as a check. Taking more photos, genee. That is a not check. Jess and I are planning to keep each other creative this year (her passion being poetry). I've already started the year out pretty well:

2012 Resolutions:

-More photographs, even taking shit ones and not being so hard on myself about them

-Get even more shit done and finish my PC service out right

-Get healthier!

-Read more, watch less crap, dammit

-Swear less! no.

I'm getting ready for a mini tour of Mongolia next week: A week in Altai, and a couple days in Bayankhongor, Arvikheer, and Khar Khorin. All for nursing seminars and CPR/first aid classes, but it'll be nice to visit with friends... and work on those new year's resolutions.

Yesterday was weird. That's seriously the only word to describe it. I was so pleased with myself that I got so much work done, but yet downer things kept happening like tearing a huge hole in my nice pants because I got too close to a metal trash can (seriously, what). At least the day ended off well, with a wine-filled evening with my CPs, although I had planned to do laundry (and I did end up doing later), I decided to let it go. I haven't done that in a long time, isn't that sad? I've become a grouchy-pants. I then stumbled to the store half-drunk with a coworker who I thought didn't like me that much, but there we were, arm-in-arm making our way to the center of town and having a nice conversation.

Shin Jil was a lot more low-key this year, and a bit of a downer. I was still sick, so I wasn't drinking (mistake! but at least I didn't have a hangover). Altansuvd wasn't there because she had just had her baby (?!?!?! it's a BOY!! You guys don't know how excited I am about this), and Mukhzul wasn't there because of a family death. I enjoyed the time, anyway:

Happy New Year, folks.

Now I've done it. I've gone and bought another scarf. I want to show you my scarves. Here we go:

Too fast? OK IMA GONNA SHOW YOU ONE BY ONE.This is part of my abnormally large Mongolian scarf collection.This is the other half.I have many kinds of scarves. Regular scarfs:

Why haven't I gotten my Hogwarts letter yet? (Seriously, this is a Ravenclaw scarf. Suck it, Hufflepuff!)I would tell you where I got this one, but then I could have to kill you. (It was free... found outside of the infamous FACE nightclub... probably a men's scarf. But I took it anyway because UB has taken too many pairs of gloves from me.)Arguably my favorite scarf. I love the color.Christmas present from my #1 sister :)Mongolian sheep and camel wool scarf!The only scarf that came with me initially from America.Shawl-like scarves:

I got this one in Sunday Market in UB last Thanksgiving- apparently I'm really happy about it.I got this one in Mars this past Thanksgiving- is there a trend here?

Hat and scarf sets:

I never wear the scarf (it came with the hat!), but you can tell by how dirty the hat is that I wear it ALL THE TIME. Not pictured: the little pom-poms attached to the back of the hat.And, my personal favorite of the moment, square scarves!!This is the scarf that prompted this conversation. I got this in the market. Only $1.50!!I got this one and the next one in UB. Only $3.50 each! Work it work itWinter scarves:I'M READY AGAIN FOR -40 TEMPS! This is actually supposed to be a summer shawl. Oh well.Ok, not a scarf, but gaze upon my Mongolian rabbit (??) fur hat. Warm as hell.And finally- a goat wool poncho type thing. Still trying to figure out where I can wear this.

Lastly!! Very big congrats to Melissa and Nick who got ENGAGED this weekend!! So freaking awesome! :D LOOK I found an old picture!!D'awww :) Love you guys!

If you've never heard Gregory Alan Isakov, you should check him out. Excellent chill out music.

Anyway, what happened? Thanksgiving happened- in a blur. Lots of good times with friends. I made my amazing mashed potatoes again, and despite making something like 5 pounds of it, it was eaten so quickly I barely got any. And best thing to come out of Thanksgiving week: OLD BLAIN (sorry real not-old Blain!).

IST happened as well, which was pretty darn exhausting, I must say. I'm glad I was able to be a trainer, but I'm not sure how the summer people do it. Six weeks of that? Oy. It was nice finally getting to meet the new healthies for a longer period of time, and I got some good ideas for projects as well. Oh, and I totally had my camera the whole time but didn't use it. Bad bad bad Kate.

Speaking of projects, I have about 8-ish months left. How nuts is that? It feels so far away, yet at the same time it feels like I just got here. Katie L (fellow PCV, full-frame camera owner, and all around awesome person) made a good point in her blog- there's such thing as a "third quarter phenomenon" in which:

...I took a screenshot because it wouldn't let me copy and I was too lazy. Read the rest here. This completely explains the weird frustrations that I had a couple months ago. It's been better lately. I've been talking to other PCVs and I even had a chat with our country director, Ellen, about it. I'm glad to hear astronauts feel the same way... makes me feel a little more human.

So. I never did give ya'all a tour of my new place. Something about what I saw today made me want to:

SOMEONE had a little too much to drink and lost his head. This was in my hallway today.

So anyway, here's the rest of my place:

My kitchen! My new place is a studio. This is possibly the cleanest it's been. There's also a bookshelf to the left.Turn around, and it's my bed and my desk! Nice and cozy. I can now watch TV and cook dinner at the same time. MULTI-TASKING WHOO. Also, I have Christmas stuff up now.Turn a little more, and here's my clothes area! (?)My awesome runway carpet from the hospital, complete with mysterious black stain.My... uh... coat and random stuff area. I have no more large room to hide all of it.BATHROOM.Hallway outside my place. Scary.Door on the end of the hallway, to keep it nice and warm! How smart! Alas, two problems: 1) I'm too tall for the door and 2) now the neighbor kids play in the hallway instead of outside.Neighbor kids' doing? Kinda cute.Someone's been drinking!I'm now in the 3-8, WHAT UP NOW, 4TH BAG?! So have you ever wondered how our heating gets to our apartments? Wonder no more! They shovel coal into a large fire at all times of day and night. That's right- Titanic old school style. Those are steaming piles of coal bits. And here's my work! My commute is about 30 seconds, or I imagine 15 if I run. Also, that sand pile in the right-middle is currently where I get Mika's litter under the cover of night so people don't look at me weird. And one bonus picture from the Erdenet seminar I forgot to add:

Pharmacy for the WIN.

So here's my in-between week. Last week, big seminar. This week, home. Next week, big seminar. I'm leaving again Saturday for UB to be the Health trainer for IST (remember last year I brought Altansuvd?), and THANKSGIVING! I'm excited that next year I'll be with my family, but Thanksgiving here isn't a poor substitute. This will be the last time before COS (close of service) conference that we're all together, so we gotta make it count!

Long photo post! Whoops.

So last week, I traveled the most west I've been in Mongolia so far- to Erdenet. I've been preparing nursing skill presentations for Laura (a fellow M21) and Gracie (a new M22 healthie). I first had a stop in Ulaan Tolgoi (literally: red head) at Laura's soum and did a two day training for the hospital there:

Laura has the CUTEST most well behaved cat I've ever met. And BIG EYES! Practicing positioning with Gracie as my patient!Laura (on the left), Gracie and I with the hospital employees. (Gracie's CP, Doogie, is the one with the black dress in the back- she was my amazing translator the whole week)I had to take a picture of this. It just says "School". The school is named "School".We're cold! Sunset in Ulaan Tolgoi.

Next it was onto Erdenet! Three days of nursing skill seminars. Tiring, but it was well worth it. We covered everything from nursing ethics to constipation. The nurses were really receptive and we had some awesome discussions. It was also really nice to see the M21s I've missed (Katie, Ryan and Ali!):

And it begins! There were over 60 nurses there. Dang.View if you were sitting in the back.SKIN LAYERS WHAT UPI sometimes drifted to the back to speak just to make sure people were paying attention.Oh yeah, we had dinner! Here's Ryan and Katie shelling the shrimp.LETTUCE.Finished result- salad (with "feta") and shrimp pasta and garlic bread (not pictured). Mmm.YUMM.Gracie poured a whole bottle of something on her computer, now the backlight doesn't work. Hilarity ensues whenever she wants to do anything on her computer.BUNNY HUGZOk, ok, back to the seminar. This woman speaking is the head of nursing in Erdenet, and is best friends with Tuya and Saraa (from the health department). Small country, eh?The ER doc showed us all how NOT to transfer a patient (Gracie). Owch. Two person lift from a wheelchair. Not too bad!You can see how nervous I am. We're practicing patient falls. This is pretty much how it ended up in my hospital, too.

Alright, I'll stop killing your bandwidth with my pictures.

OH WAIT HERE'S A NICE ONE:

Children's English play... comp...compet.... competition (gaaaahhhh)

But this one was cute. (And it won)

I'm back in the BU after a tiring, but productive, week of nursing seminars in Ulaan Tolgoi/Erdenet. I will post about that later this week.

BUT FIRST

When you're a PCV, you get used to things breaking and you being the one to fix it/find a way around it. Such as using a broom dust pan to put your outdoor thermometer outside on the window ledge from the tiny high-up window in your apartment, or tumpins to catch the rain that should be falling outside.

In my last post I mentioned using my old water filter candle as a practice amputation stump:

You really don't want to see what's under there- it's pretty gross. My favorite, however, is how I figured out how to fill up my washer without any sort of hose.

Answer: A piece of hula hoop (left over from camp), cut at one end, duct taped to the facet.

TA-DA!!

Also a new store has appeared in the BU. I knew it was gonna be good but not THIS GOOD: shrimp, squid (?!?), cake mixes, and lots and lots of good (and expensive) booze. We now are officially the coolest aimag. DEAL WITH IT.

A post... about work? Timo! (Really!)

I still get asked all the time about what I do. To this day, I'm maybe still not sure. As the second year here goes on, more and more projects have come about. Non-TEFLs have the hardest time with figuring out "what we do," but perhaps the most flexibility in that sense.

So these are some of the projects I've been doing:

Seminars! (Nursing skills)Grant writing! (I had to take pictures for the water distiller project... we're getting drinking water for the patients)English club! (Check out my awesome drawing skills)Nursing skill practicing! (Yes, that is my old water filter being used as an amputation stump)Children's art therapy! (They're just happy to get out of the unit!)Stroke rehabilitation therapy! (This one is a lot of fun!)And teaching Mika how to keep his tongue in this mouth while he sleeps! (This is perhaps my most failed project so far)

Not pictured: Mongolish Club and the hours I spend on making power point presentations. Whee.

A bonus 3x1 picture from my family trip. Should have brought a basketball to the middle of nowhere!

Peace and love, ya'all. Happy Halloween!

Interesting theme this week. Not just because of the MSU/UM game (go State!!), Red Wing games, Tigers or Lions (and bears, oh my!), but of conversations had this weekend. Oh, also I'm sorry that Michigan fans got such a bruised ego... it's been nice to be on the winning side for once (or 4 times). :)

Mongolia has an addiction. An addiction that many people don't know about, unless you have lived here for a while. This addiction is one seen frequently, but rarely questioned, unlike the obvious addition to alcohol. That addiction is competition.

This weekend it seemed that competition and rivalry were a constant topic of conversation (it IS that time of year). I sat down with Jessica and her CP for lunch, and I finally asked the question a lot of the PCVs want to ask- "why, exactly, do schools have so many competitions?" Jessica's CP couldn't answer. She didn't like it as much as we did, but it was something they had always done. Jessica and I suggested she could be the voice of change, the starter of the revolution, the organizer of "Occupy Baruun-Urt" (hah). She said that she really couldn't- as much as she would maybe want it, she could lose her job trying to reduce the number of competitions.

I guess I should specify what kind of competitions they have. They have the usual stuff for the kids, which is what we generally agree with- basketball, volleyball, English, singing competitions, etc. Those are fun and good for getting kids involved in extra-curriculars. The ones that PCVs have trouble with are the teacher competitions- sports (which I think are generally fine if used sparingly) and teaching competitions. Teaching. Competitions.

I'm not a TEFL PCV, but I've heard so many of my TEFL friends talk about these competitions it's like I've witnessed them myself (and, my hospital HAS done something similar so I need to work on them too). They go like this: teacher make awesome insanely cool lesson plans with props and handouts and visuals (maybe including videos, etc). They spend hours upon hours making them. They present it to a class of their teaching peers, NOT actually in front of students (?!?!?! they usually cancel other classes too, so that the teachers can observe other teachers). The lesson plan goes in a binder, never to see the light of day again.

Now, why don't teachers do this for every lesson, I ask. It doesn't have to be flashy. It seems that if you prepared lessons that engage the children in learning, it would be better for them instead of reading straight out of a book.

It's too much work, Jessica's CP replies. We don't have time.

We then discussed possible solutions to this problem. Have Jessica and the training manager sit in on lessons and give feedback. Instead of wasting time making lessons they'll never teach, have a seminar on how to make better lessons. Have less competitions so teachers can focus on making engaging lessons. Share lesson plans. The possibilities are endless.

I remember Todd saying similar things last year, when he was frustrated that teachers would cancel classes to prepare for the teacher's volleyball competitions. During one of the most recent competitions, I heard of an incident that really ticked me off. One of the teachers ended up teaching the grammar point wrong and tried to blame it on the PCV for teaching them wrong (?! why would we do that). What's more frustrating than that, was that the PCV had to go and teach one of the teacher's classes on the fly because the teachers were arguing so much about points and who was supposed to win, that they didn't go to class to do their job.

I really don't need to point out how many things are wrong with that. And that's why we're here. We're here to suggest better ways to teach, more efficient ways of teaching. But if this society has this tradition so well engrained in their culture, can we really do anything about it? Maybe. It's the wonderful thing about being a PCV- you can literally go almost anywhere you want, when you want, and speak to whomever you want. Americans are weird, new, and people generally want to hear what we have to say. The change could be amazing.

Enough chat. Picture time. Jess invited me to the singing competition for her school- "Universe Best Song" is a Mongolian singing competition on TV that is much like American Idol, only you have to sing songs that aren't in the Mongolian language. So many of the kids did pop English songs and traditional Russian folk songs, with a little Korean pop mixed in.

This boy was getting chewed out by the Russian teacher (who was sitting next to me) for messing up the pronunciation of whatever folk song he was singing. The judging was either a "yes" or a "no", just like in American Idol. There's none of that "every child is a special rainbow" American bullshit here!These girls went to camp :) they were so good!Deliberations begin...Yep.And finally...

DANCE DANCE

A couple things. I'm almost done with Mad Men season 4, and I've developed a girl-crush:

How could you not? I think it's the red hair and/or the attitude. You just want to BE her. She makes the show, and she's probably one of the most "moral" characters (surprisingly?). I guess after this I'm going to have to try out that "game of thrones" show all the boys have been talking about for ages.

Secondly. It's October, so that means Kate switches to her October play list (I have songs for every month that I usually don't listen to other times of the year):

"October" by Broken Bells - if you like the Shins, try this band, the lead singer is the same. Good stuff.

"Waiting for October" by Polaris - remember Pete and Pete? This was that band that played the theme song and other music in the series. The whole album brings be back.

"Strange and Beautiful" album by Aqualung - Reminds me of the fall before nursing school... that weird transitional period where I was a psych major for a semester.

Thirdly. I've become a cooking fiend. My favorite meals as of late:

1) Chicken, onion and mayo sandwiches

2) Banana bread! I think I've finally gotten it down

3) Hot chicken wings (yumm)

4) Toast, used in any way possible

Basically anything with chicken is a good meal. The meat is expensive, but fruit is more so. I've been counting up what I've been spending this month and I spend more on fruit, veggies and candy (sigh) then I do chicken. Also paper towels. Those are freaking expensive (like 5 bucks for two small rolls), so never again.

And thirdly is where it ends, I suppose... time for more Mad Men.

Taken at the TEDxUlaanbaatar conference in August. He was really good.

It has been far too long. What is wrong with me- two months and no update? Another whirl-wind of months go by, and I realize how little time I actually have left here (11 months, WHAT?!). So lets back this train up, and make a (short) list of happenings:

-My CP is preggos, but you already knew that.-That same week, I proceeded to break my iPhone on a rock (v. bleak moment for me, but I got the whole screen replaced in the capital. Who knew?)-Altaa is preggos too! And the baby is due around the time that Suvdaa's is!

-Also that same week, I was told I was going to move apartments (I haaaaate moving)-Ashley left Mongolia :(-Went to MST (Mid-Service Training), and it was actually a lot of fun, with good discussion and painless seminars!-Went to Anhaa’s (Sarah’s CP) wedding, hung out in the houdo

-My life being spent watching episodes of TV shows: -I finished watching The Tudors (sooo good) -Started watching Mad Men (sooo good) -Re-started watching all my favorite shows this month (sooo good)

It wasn’t all bad… that same week I had the crazy stuff happening was the same week I had found out from Soyol that we were getting *two* new volunteers instead of one! And dearest Ashley came to the BU as a sort of “final farewell”… more like she was here for seminar purposes, but it was nonetheless so nice to have her here.

After packing up my whole life in boxes, thinking I was going to move that next Wednesday, but not actually moving until Friday and going to the capital on Sunday (with barely unpacking and Mika not getting to adjust to the new place), my brain was fried. I was a crazy hot mess for a couple weeks there!

My place is finally put together (after like 2 weeks of cleaning!), but I still have yet to get a kitchen sink and a shower. But I did get a carpet that makes my place look like there’s a runway in it, so I’ll call that a victory. The sink should be here eventually because my landlord’s (one of the doctors at the hospital) husband is going to be the one to do it, and he’s in China. Of course. Could be worse! Could be raining… oh wait:Rain? In my apartment?Hasn’t rained in my apartment since (scratch that- it did last night), even though it was raining this week. So, whatever. It’ll be snowing soon enough. And it has been COLD. I had a moment of “oh yeah. THIS is what the cold feels like.” It warmed up for a while, but windier than I remember it being this time last year.

Work is crazy busy and I love it. We’re really getting into the groove of regular nurse-teaching sessions, and I’m starting some cool programs in the hospital.

Enough small-talk. Picture time!

Boy racing at NaadamCan you spot the bird?Anhaa and Zorgoo... the newly wed couple and soon to have a baby :)Seriously, the creepiest men I've ever met (the two on the left). They were drunk like skunks (as you can tell) and couldn't remember/get over the fact we weren't Russian. And this guy looking at the camera wanted me to call him later. YEAH. SURE BUDDY I'LL GET RIGHT ON THAT. He was also confused on why I wasn't eating a second helping of mutton soup.Sarah and her "forever six year old buddy"FALL! Some of the only trees in the BU and they're on hospital grounds.

Happy Fall!

Today was my first day back at "work" in a couple months (I say "work" as in sit at my desk in the hospital and work), because of camp and seminars (and my family visit!) and such. It was a little weird, but I wasn't as off in my morning routine as when I came back from America.

So it was pretty normal- we're having my dearest Ashley come this a'way to do a physical therapy seminar which is sure to be fun. As my CP and I were planning, I sensed something was a little off with Suvdaa, but I thought it was probably because I hadn't worked with her since camp, and I only saw her a couple of times after. That and we were probably both tired from the weekend.

Turns out that was NOT the case, ha. Conversation went something like this:

Me: Tuya is on vacation, yeah? Where is she?S: I dunno. Maybe UB, maybe China.Me: Ah. You said before you couldn't go to China, why was that?S: Uh... (half laughs) I had problem.Me (not wanting to press it further): Ah, I see.S (grinning): .......Me: ...??S: ...I have baby.Me: ....Umm... you do??S (points to stomach): Yes.Me: HOLYS&*%WHAAAAT?!?! That is AWESOME!!!

I proceeded to freak out for a few minutes, while Suvdaa laughed at me for being so excited. I had to try not to be TOO excited because in Mongolia it's bad luck to fawn over a baby that's not been born yet (baby showers = totally out of the question). Anyway, after those few minutes, though, my mind started to wonder... "That's so cool, I get to see a new Mongolian baby!" "But that means... she's gonna take leave and probably not be back before I leave." "Aw crap." It's fine though- Travis reminded me that it's not she's moving or anything, and that she'd probably want to help me in any way she can when she's away. I also have other CPs who are awesome too that I can work with while she's on leave.

I also had to remind myself of something that I think all PCVs remind themselves at least once during their service- life still goes on while you're here. Things don't stop happening just because you came to a different country. Good and bad things happen just as they do at home. I've already known some of the lows, such as illness and death, and I've seen how my Mongolian friends have reacted. Just in the past couple months it's been nice to see the highs- new buildings, new jobs, and now new babies. :) Although, Suvdaa's pregnancy isn't the first one that I've known. Khishgee, one of the English teachers, told me today she's thinking her baby is coming next week! And basically half of Sarah's teachers at her school are preggers right now (including her main CP as well), so I guess now's the season for love? Haha :)

So that's my news for the moment. :) Now I shall leave you with a couple 3x1 photos...

Hey everyone! I'm back! Hoorah! Dariganga children's camp was a blast and half, mixed with frustration and being exhausted pretty much constantly. Now, my family is here!! And they are all doing well... maybe except for Konrad because his stomach hurts all the time and he complains about jet-lag. Ha. Welcome to my life! :D

Now... onto some camp stories. I tried to write down the more interesting stuff that happened.

Teams

The Sharks!To keep up a competitive spirit, the campers were randomly split into teams of 10-12 kids. The first task they had to do was figure out a team name, which proved to be a little difficult at first. The first session had a theme of “animals” and basically all the teams wanted to be the “lions,” or “tigers”. The second session had a theme of “everything” (we got lazy, so what), so there were still a lot of animal teams, but more interesting ones were noted, such as “Nature”, “Team Blue Sky,” (Tsinker Tinker in Mongolian!) and “The Untouchables.” The last one being Leon’s team, obviously.

The Untouchables!My teams were “Penguin Team” and “The Sharks”. The Penguin team was hilarious. They did really well, and they had some really insane personalities. Our team flag had a large penguin on it, with pinwheels made of construction paper around him. This is because, “Dariganga is too hot for penguins, so we had to make a freezer for him.” Too cute. Our motto (which every team had one) was “our motto is, just smile, just smile!” My team seemed in it to win it, though. Sarah’s team however was the “Happy Tigers,” and had Tigger as their mascot, which she was none too pleased about and vocalized her angst frequently. Her next team somewhat made up for that- “The Giants”.

Cross-dressing

Mongolia has a culture that is very homophobic, to the point that it has been said that they didn’t need gay rights passed because it “doesn’t exist.” It cracks me up, however, that cross-dressing and acting extremely feminine is perfectly ok. I suppose because they know they’re faking (they would never to think it as actual homosexuality), and as Alex said one time, being over the top and as far from the norm is the humor here. I suppose so, but still interesting. On Mongolian TV, it’s not to unusual to see a cross-dressing male. We had a Mr/Ms competition, which consisted of the chicks dressing up like dudes, and the dudes dressing up like chicks. The males definitely were WAY more into it. One of my “girls” on my team from first session, and one of the “boys” from my team second session won the competition in their category. Too funny.

Even more hilarious than the little boys (who many of them could have for sure passed as girls in real life), were the PCVs and Mongolian English teachers who participated:

Kaede, me, Carolyn and Sarah. We're some good lookin' dudes.Soyol... the scariest looking Mongolian man ever. Complete with fake nose thing.Ooo la la, Bob.

Ribbons/”Totes”

Last year, the PCVs came up with an award system using beads, which went over really well. We wanted to put our own spin on it, so we came up with the idea of using ribbons (in Mongolian, it was pronounced like “totes”). Everyday was a different color, and they were counted up the next morning in their teams.

Andrew and his Strong Tigers!Sometimes this proved to be a problem, as the kids found out early that if they were caught doing something good, they would get a ribbon. A couple days into camp, we had an awful lot of campers picking up trash on the ground in plain sight of the PCVs. Sometimes the kids would completely shameless and just ask us for one. That was the worst. During hiking day, I had two girls hold my hand and walk with me around Altan Ovoo (one of the most holy mountains in Mongolia), then ask for a ribbon afterwards. For what??, I ask. For talking to me of course, she said. It wasn’t in English, mind you, and even if it was, I wouldn’t have given her one.

Relay day!

The only time we had to take away ribbons was during the second session, when some of the older kids started to get really bratty really fast. Taking away ribbons was for (including, but not limited to) being super late to class, not coming to class at all, or generally being brats about stuff. Luckily, we didn’t have to take many away.

The last full day, we had a relay day after the final English tests. We gave out more ribbons that day, for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, which tipped the scales quite a bit. The relays in both sessions created some upsets for the final ribbon counts.

Barack Obama and George Bush, BFFs

Not actually the two campers, but my CPs, Togsoo and Degii!

Helping me out with the life skill lessons...

and all the campers boo-boos.An unlikely duo in real life, at camp, they were the best of friends. Within the first few days of the first session, the campers took to figuring out their English names. When I sat at their table for lunch, the boys excitedly told me their names… William, Andrew, Matthew… pretty standard, until I got to the end- Barack, George, and LeBron James. Basketball is a huge thing here, side note. Barack tended to be one of my love/hate relationships- he was a smart kid, but he would just talk talk talk in class. Grr. I did get to use him well in my volunteering lesson, ha.

Enforcing

Swimming!!I found towards the end of camp, I was bringing to get a short fuse with the kids, the teenagers in particular. As I learned from Claire, enforcing rules and having them stick to it was a huge deal. The campers did pretty good the first 6-7 days of camp… then things got real. It started with one of Leon’s team members skipping out on a life skills lesson- a huge no-no. They had a ton of breaks during camp, so there was really no reason for them to be skipping stuff. So anyway, Leon took care of it and took a ribbon away from him, and we had a talking with everyone during morning announcements.

We thought that would remind the students to at least semi-good, but alas- on the last day of English classes, Leon discovered that one of the kids who had been previously making a ruckus in his life skills class, was missing. Looking in the usual spots (kitchen, basketball court, and his room) came up short, and I started to get worried. We went to the councilor’s room and asked if they’d seen him. We followed them back to his room, where they lifted a blanket… and there he was- sleeping under his bed with his headphones on. I was pretty darn livid. I mean, really?

After lunch, some of the teachers and I had a talk with him and another kid who had apparently skipped life skills the day before. After chewing him out pretty good and having the teachers translate, Aldarma turned to me and imparted some wisdom: “When I first became a teacher, I was always so angry when students disrespected me… like you are angry. Now… I don’t care.”

“Poop is raining from the ceiling… POOP!” and “HOW DID I WET MYSELF?”

So blue :)Sarah and I, not being able to spend one minute away from each other, were roommates during the entire camp. We had two rooms. The first room was in the dorm the closest to the toilets and the kitchen, which was nice. What was not so nice was the fact we were the only ones who didn’t have electricity (Sarah: “Well, considering you’re rooming with me, it’s not a surprise we have electrical problems.”), and we had a weird bat infestation problem. Each morning when we woke up, there were more and more black pellets on the ground in the middle of the room. The looked speciously like the pieces of poop that Dwight found in the bat episode of the Office. It was confirmed the next night when we heard squeaking in the ceiling, above where the poop was landing.

Our second room (Maggie and Claire’s old room) was much nicer- electricity, a desk, an extra nightstand, and even an electric plug! The novelty wore off fast when it started raining- inside the room. Sarah woke up in the early morning and wondered if she had actually peed the bed. In fact, it was just leaking from the ceiling. Maybe the ceilings just really hate us.

Wait… what kind of horrig?

The food at camp was actually surprisingly really good. I don’t eat a lot of Mongolian food, so this was the best I could have hoped for. I do wish there were more vegetables, but that’s a different story.

So one night, we decided to have an “American dinner,” because frankly we were pretty sick of all the kids at that point. Usually we would sit at a different table and practice English with them. Anyway, the waitress lady hands out our food, and right away we smell something… off. It smelled so familiar to me, so it took a couple minutes. Was it…? Yes, it was liver stir-fry (horrig, in Mongolian). My host family had given it to me a couple times, once in a huushuur. It wasn’t my favorite meal. Anyway, no matter how hard we tried and how much chili-ketchup we put on, none of us (save Maggie) was able to stomach (ha) it.

Our dining hall!

It was quickly noticed by the cooks, to which we had to explain that we’re just really not used to eating geddis (the word for intestines) and such. They in turn felt bad, and wanted to cook us something different. We quickly protested, because we decided it would be a good night for ramen and snickers bars since we were thinking about having that anyway one of the days. Later that night after the evening activity, the cooks surprised us anyway, with about 10 plates of kimbop (it’s like sushi… without fish). Mongolian hospitality!

And now, for some other pictures!

Altaa watches the class as they take the final exam.Penguin reunion after camp in Sukhbaatar square!DANCE DANCE :DLife skills lessons!Me and some of the campers... I'm so tan now!

Finally, a semi-creepy wall mural inside one of the cabins.

Yes, my friends. It's been (now) well over a year since I've stepped foot on the steppes (ha) of Mongolia. Crazy, yeah? I took some time to look back at the year, at the work I did, at all the friends I've made, and I realized I'm really excited for the year to come.

Late last month, I went to UB for a nursing seminar, and to greet the M22s (the new volunteers!). We're no longer the newbies! It's a weird feeling, but honestly it feels so good. I liked PST alright, but as some M20s I met put it, "it's one of those things you liked, and happy you did it, but are glad it's over and never want to do again" things. It's nice to have my own place and work to do. I suppose it's gotta do with the "locus of control" thing... I can control more things now than I could during training, and it feels good. Not to say I didn't have awesome times! I'm excited to go down to the Z to visit during Naadam (with my family!).

Right now, however, it's all about the camp... after the seminar in UB, it was back to the BU for crunch time. We're doing pretty well at the moment, but there's more work to do before wednesday. Also! No internet for me starting on the 15th, until early July! I'm excited for camp, but I think I'm going to start to get antsy when July hits because Mom, Konrad and Monika will be coming :D I'm so excited to share crazy Mongolian adventures with them... because once I sit at the computer, I literally forget all the hilarious/crazy/WTF-moments that have happened since I last wrote a blog. Go figure.

I hope to have really neato pics from our camp. Have a good June everyone!

Pictures! *takes of sunglasses* YEAAAAHHHHHHHHH

PIZZA HAS COME TO THE BU! So we celebrated with some for Mogi's birthday. Nursing seminar at Jamie's hospital! Jamie and I with some of the awesome nurses.Hannah (who is leaving today!) and I, hanging out near Grandville. Alright, any of my A2 peeps remember this show?? This was at the arcade at the movies I went to.Waiting for the new peeps! Brian and I were the official banner holders.Aaron practicing the break through (hint: it is hard to break through burlap material, bring a knife) The boys, attempting to look like badasses for the newbies.Walk through tunnel! It stretches back, but it's hard to see since Mongolians took over half-way.They're here!! Hard to imagine that was us a year ago...Some of the CYD girls and I at Sukhbaatar Square in the capital... complete with a wrapped up Sukhbaatar statue in the background.Lastly... and oldie for you guys. Happy spring/summer time ya'all. :)

Nursing competition! Complete with dancing.Mumford and Sons... never leave my playlist, please.

Oh, shame on me. Not updating in over a month. Granted, it’s been a crazy busy one. We’re getting ready for camp, and most things are coming together. We still have a lot to do, but I figure slow and steady is best at least until the teachers finish school in June.

So I wrote this a couple days ago, but I’ve sadly gotten sick since then. Luckily this is only the 2nd time food poisoning has been this bad, and I’m really thankful I have an indoor toilet right now. I went into work yesterday for a little bit, thinking we were going to have a meeting… of course people were busy/not at work, so I decided to leave since I was about to pass out at my desk. At least now I can sit at my home desk for longer periods of time without wanting to lay down.

Bad decision of the week = watching the rest of season 1 of Dexter before bed. That show is so freaky, yet I can’t stop watching. It give me REALLY wacked out dreams. Coupled with my fever/chills combo, it kind of made for a restless night.

Since my last update, I think I was in the middle of my month of straight work. I didn’t mind, but it was nice to have a real day off after that. Between various Nursing competitions, camp meetings, and event organizing, I’ve been redonkulously busy (I know that’s not a word, but it’s my blog, darn it).Snowing on May 21st.

Since the start of May, it’s been COLD. Confusing to most of us, since April was so warm I had to keep my windows open most of the time. Now that the heat has shut off (back to tumpin bathing…) and the temperatures dropped again, my apartment hasn’t been so nice and warm. Sadly I cannot start fires in the apartment, so my little Peace Corps heater has been my best friend on the (now shortening) cold lonely nights. Today, however... it's 80 degrees. CHOOSE ONE, MONGOLIA. You're about as bad as Michigan!

Next came my birthday! I’m 25. Oi. My 3rd b-day in a row outside of America (England, Japan, Mongolia!). I should take this moment to say happy anniversary to this blog, since I remember doing a birthday blog note when we were in Kyoto! Anyway, it was a nice low-key event. My birthday (May 12th) is on the same day as nurse’s day (how appropriate?), but since we did nurse’s day activities beforehand, the teachers and Nema took me out to dinner, then my coworkers took me out for cake and karaoke. :) On Saturday, Alex brought over a cake and wine and we watched Glee with Nema.

My candle was on FIRE. And singing happy birthday!Hospital peeps and some of the English teachers!Cake cutting pose.Karaoke and dancing!Just last week I took a quick trip to the capital to do work for camp. I took my dear Mika along, so as to get his manhood surgically removed. He did VERY well and I was impressed with his ability to sleep for 10 hours. I don’t know the word for neuter in Mongolian, so my CPs and I had the code word “snip snip” with hand actions. Or “no make babies” (in Mongolian). He’s pretty chilled out now, which I’m happy about. Crazy cat. I wasn’t so excited to go to the capital (had another attempted pick-pocketing, ugh), but I got to see Tim, Ned, Justin and Ashley (actually, both of the J&A married couples!). The two former I hadn’t seen since December… although it really didn’t feel like I hadn’t seen them in that long since we talk a bunch. Tim and Ned are going to be the health trainers for the summer in Darkhan (north 3 hours from the capital). I’m hoping I’ll be able to pop by to visit, maybe in August.

And summer! Summer! Swimming, sun, car rides, camel rides, horse rides… the family is coming!!Mom, Konrad and Monika are due to arrive in Mongolia on July 10th! :) I have a whole itinerary planned, which may or may not actually go well (because… well, it’s Mongolia. I know this country by now). I know they’ll be great travelers and we’ll have a great time regardless, but I want things to go semi-smoothly, at least. I wish Dad could have been able to experience Mongolia too, but I bet he’ll be with us in spirit.

Other things of note:-As much as I get frustrated in the capital city (pick-pocketers, cab drivers that rip you off, expensive everything, etc), I always know I can come back to my town and find the nicest, most caring people I’ve ever met. For example, when I pulled up on the bus, I had a bunch of stuff and right away a man with his daughter asked if I needed a ride. After taking me to my apartment, they offered to help me carry the stuff up to my place. The daughter was even brave enough to carry Mika’s carrier! (Mongolians are generally freaked out by cats) When I offered some more money because they had been so nice, the man refused but let his daughter take the money after I insisted. -I learn something new about myself and Mongolia everyday.-If there’s a new product on the store shelves, there’s a chance that you might not be able to buy it because the cashiers don’t know what it is.-Community (the show) drinking games are the best. Troy and Abed in the moooorning!-When I learn a new Mongolian song, I am guaranteed to sing it at least twice in a row on special occasions. This includes birthdays!-Tuya is my official #2 Mongolian Mom.-Empty milk cartons make perfectly acceptable barf bags.-Those 10-hour bus rides are an oddly good meditation/self-reflection place.

That's all for now. On to pictures!

Todd's going away party! After the bar... move to the club.You know when it's getting warmer... out come the billiard tables! Nurse's Day Lunch! The doctors served us food and drink. :) That's Tsolmon pouring the tea. She's incredibly nice, and she was actually my first office-mate....tumbleweed? Tiemshte! (Of course!)Sarah planning out her world adventures while Mika sleeps. D'aww :) Also, the painting in the background (right of Sarah's head), I got during the Nursing Day dinner, for my "hard work and dedication". :)The site mates getting together for some drinking games and awesome Mexican food!

...what's my name?...

Chillin' by the seaside in Hong KongHey, all. My bad with the lack of updates. If you didn’t know, I was in AMERICA. It was pretty darn awesome. I hung out with my friends every day, I got to see lots of people, drink lots of good booze, and eat lots of good food. A completely awesome trip.

Since I’ve gotten back, I’ve gotten the same questions: “How was America?” “Was it weird being there?” “Was it weird coming back?” “What was the weirdest thing about being in America?”

A lot of ‘weird’ questions. America was good. It’s still there! It wasn’t weird being there, nor was it weird coming back. I was sorta indifferent, I think. Of course, it was sad saying goodbye again to my friends and family, but on the plus side, my mom, sister and brother booked tickets for July! Hopefully Ellen’s tickets to come soon after. :)

HARRY POTTER PARK!The weirdest thing I noticed in America was not the clean bathrooms that had toilet paper, not the super awesome customer service, but the fact I tended to ignore people when I was shopping. I’m used to not understanding people around me, and I think that transferred to American stores. I felt quite dumb.

I also had a second leg of the trip, in Hong Kong to see my dear Janice. It was a really nice trip, full of equally awesome food and lots of shopping. :) We saw some of the usual tourist sights, and Janice took me to some local areas that were out of the way. It’s a super big city… much like London or New York I think (although I’ve never been to NY). Full of life, lights, and sounds.

My sister, Jack-Jack, and Lauren!I finally arrived back in UB late last month. The next day my wallet was stolen (fun times), and the only reason I was sticking around was because people were coming into town who I hadn’t seen in a while. I was really happy to get back to the BU, back to home (and Mika!), and of course, work. I got a warm reception and I’ve been pretty darn busy since then. Children’s camp, seminars, case studies to write, projects to keep up on… I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I left America!

Mommy and Jack :)Since I’ve been back we’ve had three visitors, if you can believe that. We’re not a well-traveled Aimag since we’re on the edge of Mongolia and there’s not much out here. Last week we had Peace Corps for a visit, this past week we had our dear friend Cassandra come from UB on HCA (host-country agency) business, and yesterday we had the UB embassy come for a talk about scholarship opportunities to study in America. It’s been really nice having people (read: other Americans) come by to chat. It was especially nice for me to hang out with Cass this past week- lots of girl talk. :) Dava and I were talking and we decided that we want at least one other girl site mate next year (her school might be getting a teacher-trainer, which would be really great), so we can have girl chats and hang out after work. In Mongolia, if a Mongolian woman is seen hanging out a lot with a man (foreign or otherwise), it can be construed as them being involved together… that’s why there’s a government official that had to be corrected by my supervisor since he thought I had three boyfriends. Sigh.

The usual crew! WTF Luke.Sadly, it’s not all been good news in the BU. Nate’s supervisor had a really bad stroke and at this point, I believe he’s still in the hospital. He’s such a super nice guy, and I really hope he gets better. :/ Last week, Tumbee (who used to work at the children’s center as well), got into a bad car accident in UB. Thankfully, he’s ok, but his passengers aren’t doing as well. This is kind of a doubley bad thing since Tumbee’s wife is having a difficult pregnancy and the stress of the accident doesn’t help. And to top the week off, my coworker had a death in a family, so it’s been a little stressful around the work place as my coworkers are getting ready for the nursing competition in dornogobi (another aimag, south west of us). Actually, now I can’t remember if they said it was in dornogobi or dundgobi. They’re right next to each other.

At the club, partying it up like we're 20 again, ha.But otherwise, things are good. My routines are back to normal, and I’ve even started running regularly since the weather has been SO NICE. 50’s, 60’s, even a low 70’s last week. And since it’s (literally) always sunny in Mongolia, it’s seemed even warmer. My apartment has been hot since it’s a bit too cold at night to have the heat shut off. I’m gonna be a little sad the day they turn the heat off… back to the tumpin bathing.

Mika’s been a little bugger lately. The weather has seemed to give him cabin fever, and he’s exploring any possibility to get out of the apartment. He already had attempted suicide when Sarah was taking care of him, and with me he’s gotten stuck in my neighbor’s balcony and nearly fell off. Stupid ass cat.

Lastly, if people are interested, these are my currents:TV Show: I finished Parks and Rec in record time… finished 30 Rock, now onto Arrested Development.Movie: None. I’m so ADD, and I love my TV shows. I usually flip on Oceans 11/13 if I just want background noise.Music: Really mellow stuff at the moment… Aqualung and Jack Johnson on repeat, yeah!Book: River Town, about a TEFL PCV in China. Neat story so far.

At one of the many black markets in Hong Kong!Hangin' with Janice!

Oh, and some BU pics too. This is what we did when I got back:

Now that's what I call a beer pong table....Wait. What?It's how we do it in the 'Bu.

All in a day's work.

Hey, I'll *try* to keep this blog at least PG-13-ish. Sometimes.

As I mentioned in my last post, or at least eluded to- I’m in AMERICA. It’s really not weird being here. The only time I got a little emotional over the culture was in the Korean airport when I saw Dunkin’ Doughnuts. How sad is that? It could have been how tired I was, but I guess after all these months it was really nice to see something so familiar. I also felt really dumb in the Korean airport, being forced to use English because God knows I can’t speak a lick of Korean (I don’t even know ‘hello’ or ‘thank you’). Oh well. I’m always impressed on how well Koreans speak English. Their pronunciation of words always seems really good compared to other nationalities… although in the airplane it cracked me up when the Korean guy ahead of me pointed to the seat rows and said, “A, B, zhee, D…” (How is Ezhee-Bezhee doing, Nema?)

America is awesome, just so you know. For all the bitching people do about their lives, you really have to remember how privileged you guys really are here.

Today my mum and I off to Orlando to see the Blue Man Group, and tomorrow is the Harry Potter Park! :D Then Saturday is my return to the cold north. Can’t wait! By the way- WAY too hot and humid here. Wow. I thought I would never feel this kind of weather again, but it’s been SO nice to wear sandles. We had to buy them right after we got Jimmy Johns (haha YES #9) when I got here because I only brought my big Mongol boots with me and my feet were SWEATING.

So today I’d like to share a neat selection of songs that I found/listened to on my way here. I tend to make travel playlists and listen to that stuff back to back. A lot of the songs have to do with “coming home,” which is not so hard to make out why. :)

“Coming Home” – Diddy (P. Diddy? Puff Daddy? I dunno)

Love this song. Come on, that chorus? It sounds super cheesy written out but it’s a beautiful song. For some reason the album cover and name (“Last Train to Paris”) really seals the deal for me.

“Coming Home” – The 88s

Oldie song that I had in my list (I mean, it’s just a song that’s been in my library for a long time), just it’s still oh so good.

“At Least It Was Here” – The 88s

Theme song to Community! I thought they sounded familiar, and it only took me to season 2 to figure it out! Ha. So freaking catchy, but kind of strange lyrics if you don’t look for the “live in the moment” meaning.

“99 Problems” – Jay Z

I blame Todd for my current Jay-Z obsession since he gave me his discography.

“Runaway” – Kanye West

Like a 10 minute song, but it’s pretty neat. Has a repetitive piano melody, which I love.

“Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + The Machine Found this song watching Glee (haha). When I first heard it I thought it was really strange but it grew on me.

The whole of the “Sigh No More” album by Mumford and Sons

If you don’t have this album, GET IT. NOW. When I first listened to it, it literally (seriously, literally) took my breath away. It is a gorgeous piece of work.

“What’s My Name” – Rihanna and Drake

I hate Rihanna, but this song gets in my head all the time… just the chorus though.

“It Won’t Be Long” – The Beatles Old Beatles, yeah!

“Dear Avery” – The Decemberists

The final song on their newest album. Very pretty. “Dear aaaaverrrrry, cooome home” :)

“All Day and All of the Night” – The Kinks

Um, yeah. Great song.

“About Her” – Malcolm McLaren

This is the mix that that dude did for the Kill Bill soundtrack. I re-watched the movie and started looking for the songs to download.

And of course, “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” by Peter, Paul and Mary

That’s all for now. :) I’ll probably update after my vacation…

I am such a bum. I attempted to finish this blog before I left for America, but that didn't work out at all, nor did trying to finish it before March. Whoops. But here it is, in all it’s glory- my Tsagaan Sar post.

Ok, before I begin- Happy 50th Birthday, Peace Corps!! :D

So by now, you now that Tsagaan Sar has came and went. It was honestly the craziest, most indulgent holiday I’ve participated in, and that’s counting Thanksgiving. It’s kinda like Thanksgiving + Christmas + Halloween, really. And Mongolians treat it as such.

Next to the Ovoo! All bundled up, ready for the New Year!It all started on Tsagaan Sar Eve (called “Bituun”). I went to work as usual but there was quite literally nothing going on except for people preparing for the holiday. Even the housewives that take “breaks” in the hospital were nowhere to be seen (seriously, people treat the hospital as a vacay spot- can you say: Easiest. Patients. Ever?) So instead I spent the morning (and afternoon) gutting and seasoning fish for my CPs. The smell reminded me of the good ol’ days of the AAHL (fish lab) back at MSU. Ahh, I was home.

I then chilled at home until Suvdaa called me to come to her apartment. As tradition goes, you visit your parents on Bituun, more relatives on the first day of Tsagaan Sar (TS), then friends on the second day. That totally didn’t apply to me since I did most of my visiting on the first day, but I digress.

First Sunlight of the New YearI spent Bituun night at Suvdaa’s home, celebrating it with vodka, buuz, and the fish I cooked earlier in the day. Her two children then challenged me to a couple games of huzur (spelling it wrong- it’s a Mongolian card game, similar to Hearts/Spades). I got my butt kicked so badly by her daughter it was insane.

Suvdaa's Father! Little hard of hearing :)The next morning (or actually, later that day since we didn’t go to bed until well after midnight), we got up extra early to see the sun rise at dawn. It’s a tradition to greet the New Year right by seeing the first bit of sunlight rise over the Mongolian steppe. This year is the Year of the Rabbit, and last year was Year of the Tiger (alright, no one told me that, no wonder it was such a nice year).

We went to the tallest peak in our town, which isn’t really saying much, but it gave a wonderful view of the horizon to the east. It was bitterly cold, with a slight wind, so I opted to wear a ton of layers until my deel which I was kind of paying for later since the gers I went to were blazing hot. But it was nice outside, anyway. After seeing the first peak of sunrise, the Mongolians raise their arms and shout, “hooray!” Monty Python style (literally, that’s what it sounds like… “and then they rejoiced”. I think it’s a Buddhist chant), and move their arms in a clock-wise motion, while other people threw rice and milk to the sky. I felt pretty out of place, but it was really cool that Suvdaa took me.

Tuya's Family!After getting back to Suvdaa’s home, we started the greetings of the New Year. When you welcome people into your home, you start with the oldest male adult, and move down from there (or in a circle if in a ger, but always with the eldest first). You hold out your arms and if you’re younger, you place them on bottom so you’re kind of grabbing onto the other person’s elbows. You then both say, “amar bain oo” (formal greeting) and kiss/sniff each other on the cheeks. You then sit down to eat. OH and you don’t greet the same person twice in one Tsagaan Sar. My bad for attempting that bit.

All together, I visited 21 homes. I’ve never been so tired, so full, and so overwhelmed with all the hospitality. Visits usually go as follows:

-Greetings to everyone

Too cute- Nema, Alex, and their apparent

adoptive children, ha.-Sit down, eat a piece of “white food” (aka food made from dairy) first or wait for the cup of milk tea that will be brought to you

-Start eating salat (mayo-covered egg or potato salad), pickles, etc

-Get a big thing of buuz and start eating that

-In between all of that there’s at least three vodka shots that are offered to you (seriously, it’s tradition)

-Also talk about stuff in between there with the limited Mongolian you have

-If you’re super lucky like me, you’ll get asked to sing any Mongolian songs you know

-Near the end of the visit the host gives gifts to the guests. Apparently it’s not a sign to leave, but it basically means you can leave whenever. Usually I didn’t stay at a house more than half an hour.

Gifts I got included: tons of candy/chocolate, unit cards for my phone, money (including *American* dollars!), a neat glass elephant statue, gloves, a scarf, a mini iron (found that one funny because that house gave the men cigarettes and the women irons. I can see what’s happening), leather key holder, and tons of shampoo and body wash- really useful!

-Say thank you and goodbye!

So the first couple homes I went to were with Suvdaa and her family, then we went to her parents house, and Tuya’s home after that. Umm, who told me Tuya can play the guitar?? Anyway, right after that I met up with Alex and Nema and went with them to visit the Mercy Corps people’s homes, which I knew them due to always coming to their office to take pictures of them. :)

Ger Tsagaan Sar!After THAT (still same day here people), we went to Bymba’s and met up with Mogi to go to his home and some of his friends’ homes. Yeah, by the end of that I didn’t know if I was super tired, drunk, or both. That day I went to 15 homes. Oi.

The next morning a sad Mika, sad by the fact that I didn’t spend any time with him, awaked me from my sleep. Boo. After getting myself together in the morning, I started round two of Tsagaan Sar. I went to my friend Bojo’s home, who her mother is a nurse at the hospital. Bojo lives and goes to school in UB, and was there for Tsagaan Sar. Her family was so incredibly nice, and they said they were honored that I came to their home since I was the first foreigner to visit during Tsagaan Sar. :) D’aww! And the father even gave me a book of Buddhist prayers in Mongolian script, in which he wrote a message of good luck and thanks in the cover… in script! :D It was such a nice visit. I left just as more family members came, and I didn’t have to go far to reach my next destination- my supervisor’s! The assistant mayor was there when I arrived, so it was nice to chat with them for a little while.

Supervisor's home

The afternoon was spent at Todd’s, Tunga’s, and Nema’s homes. I remember because I took pictures at every place I went to, making sure that I didn’t forget anything that happened. Good thing, too, I can’t quite remember since it’s been a few weeks. :/ So that brought my house visiting that day up to 5.

Bojo's FamilyThe third and “final” day of Tsagaan Sar (I put that in quotes because in most places it lasts much more than three days, especially in soums), we had the big “hospital greeting,” meaning everyone came to the hospital so we could do a mini-version of what you do at everyone’s homes. Kind of like seeing everyone but less mess because you don’t have to serve people or give gifts.

After that, I didn’t plan anything so I gladly got out of my deel (the buus was killing my ribs, ha) and started catching up on emails. That was so short lived because Nema came over to use the internet and tell me that the dentist, Tsolo, who was also working at the health department, asked all of us gadat-huns (foreign people, literally “outside people”) over for TS. So away we went. I decided to wear my new “stylish deel” because it was more comfortable and I felt like wearing it at least once.

Hospital greeting! One of these things is not like the other...Hahahaha :)

That afternoon was… umm. Let’s just say there were a couple bad decisions, mostly fueled by the two large bottles of vodka that the five of us consumed. I still don’t know how we did it. Afterwards we stumbled back to Todd’s to make more bad decisions, and it finally ended with Mogi and Nema walking me back before they went off to visit friends. Let’s just say I couldn’t get outta bed Sunday, and didn’t make it to work Monday. Bleh. Never again. A big part of that, though, was my back hurt from the weird positions I was doing while taking all the photographs during TS. …I realize that last sentence could have been really bad if I didn’t specify the photo thing.

Bottoms up, boys!Anyway. That was pretty much the end of TS in Baruun-Urt. I was invited to a couple homes this past weekend, but luckily it was informal. More pictures on that later because these past couple weekends were a hoot!

Some other pictures:

Mogi's family and friends- his dad is the on of the right.

The scarves he has on is all the Nadaam prizes he's won with his prize horses!Nema and his mom!Traditional Greeting...another toast??I reaaally liked her deel.Snuff bottle passing! And Mongolians smiling! What else could you want?!Suvdaa's mom and her sister. So cute. :)

Tsagaan Sar was awesome. Might not be over for me, since I'm going to visit my dear Sarah in Daranga Soum on Thursday (with Nema! Paaarty time!), and she said her Tsagaan Sar lasts 20 days there. Oi.

So here are some videos to hold ya over from the Children's Concert back in October:

Thanks Mel, Ellen and Mom. :) I know I have a lot of time to figure out what I’m doing in the future… I tend to think about it a lot since I have the time on my hands to think about such things.

Just finished up a lovely conversation with Ellen about… Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13, whist I was trying to clean my desk. Sundays are usually my cleaning day. By the way, I think 13 is my favorite! Mmm George Clooney.

As I mentioned, Tsaagan Sar is THIS WEEK. I’m not hosting my own Tsaagan Sar, but I’ve been invited to a bunch of houses already. Suvdaa’s even got her stack of 50 tug bills to give to the children who come’a knocking. Seriously, it’s like trick-or-treating for the kids, except they get MONEY. Alex told us last year kids came knocking at his apartment building, but since no one was answering their doors, the kids shut off the circuit breaker. Nice!

I also got my new deel (traditional Mongolian dress) this week. I'll have to upload those pictures after Tsaagan Sar. Remind me.

Last weekend I went to Suvdaa’s home to make bansh, which are like mini-buzz (dumplings). It was interesting to explain to her that we just have the one word for dumplings; that we don’t specify between sizes like they do.

In keeping with my new year’s resolutions, I did a photo-how-to on how to make bansh!

Start with mixing flour and water... make a dough ball! Let the dough rest... While the dough rests, take out your sturdy knives and

choice of meat (in this case, it's beef, but you can have camel, sheep, goat, whatever!)

Just be sure NOT to trim the fat! (Mongolians love it!)Cut the meat in big strips......then take those strips and cut them into even tiny-er strips...Make sure to look FABULOUS while doing it!...and cut again to make tiny cubes of MEATNow that you've chopped the meat,

put a handful of salt into a bowl of water for the onions.

Next, chop the onions into REALLY SMALL PIECES!

This is Suvdaa's daughter, such a helper! :)

Onions into the water-salt mix!

Onion-salt mix, into the meat mmmm

Now rooool it out into a desired thickness (thicker

for buuz, thinner for bansh)

While waiting that to marinate, check out the dough

that was resting, and kneed it like ya need it.

Cut the roll it into a desired thickness and press it,

making a cute little dough-coin thing

DOUGH! IMMA EAT CHOO

Now the trick to good buuz is the rolling and the pinching-

roll from the inside to make a disk that's slightly thicker in the middle.Now add the meat + onion mix...

...and pinch the top like an accordion... or something

I'm really terrible at it. So don't listen to me.



TA-DA! Suvdaa even taught me how to do the buuz folding... which I failed at. Big time.Can you tell which one I made? Ha. All that's left is to cook 'em! This is milk tea, a traditional Mongolian drink.

It's a mix of water, milk, tea from drained tea leaves, and a little salt.

IN GOES THE BANSH!Boil, and SERVE!Eat it with friends! Hom nom nom!

And that's about it! Easy-peasy yeah? So now go make your own and let me know how it goes. :)

Happy Tsaagan Sar, everyone!Сар шинэдээ сайхан шинэлээрэй!

The Decemberists new album = rockin', albeit a bit country sounding, was inspired by REM so I'm gonna give them a break.

Went to the Mercy Corps Client Day and Trade Fair during the weekend, some pictures ahead (HAHA get it?! Well, if you don't you'll see soon enough...). I got some cool stuffs, including PORK which we made pulled-pork sandwiches with and they were DELICIOUS.

Yesterday was the end of the 4th Nine (see my post about the Nine Nines)… which is the coldest Nine. Only warm from here on up, yeah? I’d like to call BS since it’s only the end of January, but it seems that it might actually be true- the weekend calls for the lows to be ABOVE zero, and highs of +23F! I don’t even remember what that feels like! Break out the bathing suits!

This little sheep went to market... Also a month from today (*ahem* this was written yesterday) I’ll be headed to the good ol’ US of A (and Hong Kong) for a nice vacation. I’m thinking either I’m going to FREAK OUT (dreading reverse culture shock) or it’ll be perfectly fine. Hopefully the latter. Although my mom said she had it when she came back from Scotland for the first time, going into the huge supermarkets. One can only hope that I freak out whist eating a wonderful Jimmy Johns sandwich. #9 with no tomatoes and extra lettuce and onion… here I come.

…Need to stop thinking about American food. Just gets depressing. I’ve noticed I get on “food kicks” here. Like I’ll eat one kind of thing for a long time then suddenly get sick of it. I once was hugely obsessed with veggie melts but once sliced cheese disappeared from the delguur (store) shelves, I’ve been mostly eating sliced veggies with a Thai sweet-and-sour sauce, sometimes with chicken if I have it. For breakfast I used to be a hard-core egg eater but now I’ve gotten lazy and, with the help of Alex’s oven I’m still pirating, I’ve been eating toast nearly every morning. Partially also due to the fact that eggs are becoming a rarity again now that Tsaagan Sar is less than a week away.

i lose mai bodie... plz help mi :(In other news we finished our grant for the Children’s Camp this week and I’m just waiting until Friday to get the final signatures so we can send it in. This week I’ll be starting another grant to address road safety in our community. When my coworker said that the hospital was interested in doing that project, I was right on board. We’re going to try for a MCA (Millennium Challenge) grant… but the deadline is April 4th, just after I come back. So I’m going to try my darndest to punch this thing out next month with the help of my coworkers.

A little random, but I had a momentary freak-out at work today. I haven’t been feeling very good this week (tired/sore throat), I don’t know if that has anything to do with this. Anyway. I had “Doctors Without Borders” on the brain for some reason so I decided to check out their website. My thought process went a little like this:

Oh this would be a really awesome thing to do, what are the requirements? *clickity click* --> Huh, two years clinical experience with less than a 2 year gap in between --> Well, that’s ok, I can do my masters before hand, then I can work for a couple of years and then do this --> Let’s look at U of M’s nursing master’s programs! *clickity click* --> shit, do I need to take the GRE? WHEN? --> wait, what the heck to I even want to do my master IN? Clinical nurse specialist in GI diseases? CNS in adult acute care? Community health? Education? --> Should I start applying now?? --> Oh, but what if I wanted to take a year off? Then I could go down to Bolivia to do the photographs for Hugh’s university --> What about those photography classes I wanted to do? *clickity click* --> What about the continuing education classes in Japan? *CLICKITY CLICK* --> What about doing a year in South Korea teaching English? You get paid for that! --> What if I want to do a 3rd year here?! I’m going to be SO OLD! I’m going to be the OLD SPINSTER with the nice career and no love/personal life, aren’t I? AREN’T I?? --> …I really should be working on that grant. *hastily closes browser tabs*

…Luckily my coworkers did not notice such a thought process.

Here's a nice picture so you can think happy thoughts after this blog post!

The local school kids are keeping warm!((re: Title: On a Simon and Garfunkel kick, so sue me))

Anyway, what a week. Back in September we all thought about the months ahead of us- October was going to be busy due to the huge amount of birthdays and English classes, November busy because of Thanksgiving, December busy because of Christmas/New Years/IST, and January we thought to be the calm before the storm of Tsagaan Sar in February. Yeah, no. January is busier than ever, and we're already half way through!

Moon at 4 in the afternoonIt's been really nice to be busy. It was a tad bit slow during Christmas and New Years, but since then it's been constant. I've been working on various proposals, and we're all getting together to start to organize the children's camp in June. English club has started up again, but it was cancelled today probably due to prep for Tsagaan Sar (as Travis told me and confirmed by Suvdaa). We're only half way through January, but I've already been warned to stock up on things such as juice and eggs. I'm going to have to really practice self-control with the eggs... I still have control of Alex's oven at the moment and I wanted to make the pumpkin pie with the mix I bought. Mmm...

LESSON TIME! Tsagaan Sar, or "White Month" is the lunar New Year. Not be confused with the Chinese New Year (which is occasionally shares the same date), Tsagaan Sar is tied closely to the Tibetian New Year, and is celebrated two months after the first new moon after the winter solstice (remember the start of the nine nines?). It's to celebrate the new year, and start fresh. I've been told that it's the "beginning of spring" as well, but this year it's during the coldest part- Feb 3rd-6th. It's the biggest Mongolian celebration, with each family spending the weeks prior stocking up on goods and making (literally) thousands of buuz (steamed dumplings). I've also been told that families can go broke during this time because families will save up and spend every tugrik they have on presents and food. Tiled banners at the 1st SchoolOn Tsagaan Sar day, people travel from house to house, greeting each other, eating, drinking, and giving gifts. Kind of like Christmas, since it's getting to be a slightly commercialized holiday now (I've seen TV commercials on the big screen in the square). It was renamed to "Herder's Day" in the Russian communist era, but it's back to the good ol' Tsagaan Sar name now.

Alex and the kids... photo walk in -15F weather! Yeah!

In other news, I had a backpacker stay with me this week! His name was Alex (Alex #2!), and he's from Spain. He's doing a around-the-world trip which I'm quite jealous of, really! Maybe after Peace Corps? Who knows. Anyway, he came down to the less-traveled BU to do a mini-project with the children. Alex had a bunch of cameras he brought with him so along with Nate, we organized to have the children come down to the children's center to participate in a photography project. The children learned about photography, did a photo walk, discussed their photos and made frames for them. They were then hung in the children's center. Overall it was a really cool project, and since it was the first time that Alex has done this project, I think he got some good ideas of what to do/not to do next time (he wants to continue to do this around the world, to show the people of Spain how the children of other cultures think of the world... neat huh?).Mongolian Woman

Switching gears again, we've passed the 7 month marker of being in Mongolia. I mentioned this to my coworker who said, "when you have lived here for one year, you will be Mongolian." Sweet! Also, only a month and a half until Florida, Michigan, and Hong Kong... so much to do! People to see! Grants to write! Mongolian to learn! Again, I'm glad it's so busy, I just hope I don't get too overwhelmed.

Peace for now... stay warm my Michigan people, I know it's getting chilly over there. Just don't expect any sympathy! :)

Happy New Years from Mongolia!

(This was taken about 20 min ago from my apartment window.)At the time of writing, there's only about an hour and a half left of 2010. Then again, we'll be celebrating a whole 13 hours before the Eastern time zone. We had pizza this evening, and because of all the festivities that were happening this week, we decided to call it after a movie. Needless to say, it was less exciting than last year, ha!

I look back at this year, and it has gone SO fast. It was also one of the better ones... the first half of the year I had a well paying job (that I was awesome at!), was taking photography classes, etc. The second half has been such a learning experience being here, and I'm grateful for every moment. I'm amazed at even though I feel like I'm not making much of an impact at the moment- I actually am. I was thanked today during a nursing meeting for coming to Mongolia and teaching them. Huh. And this week when Nate and I had a meeting about a grant we wanted to write, one of his coworkers thanked us for thinking of them and having them help us write it. Of course! We can't do it alone. After the new year, we're really going to kick it into high gear with the grant stuff.

Fireworks RIGHT OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT! ... on Christmas Eve!

So there's only really two "resolutions" I have (even though I said previously that I wasn't gonna have any):

-Take more photographs!

-Get crap done.

That's pretty much it.

There's something else neat that I wanted to share. The winter in Mongolia is broken up into 81 days, counting nine sets of nine days each. It starts on the solstice (December 21st) and lasts until mid-March:

The First Nine: Milk vodka congeals/freezes

The Second Nine: Vodka congeals/freezes

The Third Nine: The tail of the three-year-old ox freezes (owch)

The Fourth Nine: The horns of the four-year-old ox freezes (double owch)

The Fifth Nine: Boiled rice no longer congeals/freezes (it's getting warmer now!)

The Sixth Nine: Roads blacken (roads...? what are these things you call roads?)

The Seventh Nine: Hilltops appear

The Eighth Nine: The ground becomes damp

The Ninth Nine: Warm days set in (hah, right)

Currently, we're in the second nine. Not sure if it's true, but all I know is that is freaking cold (-25F at the moment, that's why I'm NOT going to the square to see the fireworks. I can see it plenty from my warm apartment). :) I will never complain about the weather again.

Half an hour left of 2010! Sarah pointed out that 2010 was the shortest year of our lives- since we're 13 hours ahead of home. :)

Bonus picture! I took yesterday for a Mercy Corps new year card... that's my friend Nema on the right:

Happy New Year!

(The things in the tree are money- it's supposed to be good luck to stick money in Christmas trees, and collect it after the new year.)

CHRISTMAS TIME IS... PASSEDSo Christmas has come and gone. Christmas itself was kind of sucky without the family, but the volunteers know how to do it right- beer pong, movies, food, and karaoke. It was nice to skype with the whole family for a couple hours, then Luke for a few, and then Ellen. :) I took Christmas Eve off of work, and instead of cleaning like I wanted to, I did the aforementioned activity and sat on my butt. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, perhaps the weather is to blame… the weather has constantly been in the negatives (for the highs as well) and like we were told previously, we’d probably not want to go anywhere in the winter months. Yep. OH but my wonderful mother and sister BOTH sent me packages! And they were AWESOME. I have enough Santa Pez dispensers to last me the next decade.

Let's get the party started!Speaking of which... New Year. 2011. Entering a new decade.... huh. After talking with Nate, I decided to not do any new year's resolutions. I'm just going to try my best and see how that goes.

Let's talk about Mongolian New Years, shall we?

Little known fact to Americans, and known to all Mongolians- Shin-Jil is a BIG FREAKING DEAL here. Shin-Jil, or literally translated- "New Year" (what does that mean again?), is the Mongolian celebration where you put out Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, and have a Mongolian Santa at extravagant company parties where you drink champagne, vodka, wine, and beer and dress up in prom dresses while dancing to waltzes, circle dancing, listen to speeches, and (if you’re lucky) receive awards.

Basically, it’s a Christmas party. I was told by a Mongolian friend recently that Mongolians think they’re the same thing. That’s ok!

Prom? Or New Years? I think the latter.Edit: So I was just reading something interesting about how in the eastern Soviet states, the New Year is a huge deal and they even have “Grandfather Frost” who basically looks like Santa. Since Mongolia used to be under Russian rule, that makes total sense. Carry on!

So what do they do for real New Years, you may ask? I’ve been told a couple things, ranging from spending it with the family, to drinking with friends, to doing nothing. I saw a sign in the square, though, that said something about a party in the square (? It’s freaking cold) on Friday at 7pm, so perhaps fireworks are in order! (Edit: it's not a party in a square I found out, but it is a party. Anyway) Speaking of which, various nights since Christmas Eve, there have been professional-grade fireworks going off right next to my apartment. Oi.

Sort of like the Mongolian Rockettes!Anyway, back to the Shin-Jil party. My first inclination that this stuff was gonna be serious was when my wonderful mommy sent me my “old” prom dress because I had seen pictures in PST of people at New Years parties dressed up like they were waiting for the next limo to take them to the after party in some swanky hotel room. The second was that the party cost each person 20,000 tugs (about 15 bucks). For my small PC allowance, that’s quite a bit. So I had come back from UB that Tuesday, and so work on Wednesday (the morning before the party) was… uh interesting. We learned in IST that they were probably going to have programs of some sort, and this was no exception. And then I saw it. My name, on the program… TWICE. Eek. An English song and a Mongolian song. In front of nearly 200 people.

Double eek.Shots shots shots shots shots shotsBasically that ended with me taking vodka shots with the kitchen workers (who are awesome, and since my office is right next to the kitchen, I get to see them every day), singing Jingle Bell Rock (TWICE) and not one, but TWO Mongolian songs. My coworkers know, however, to not ask me to sing more than two Mongolian songs, because those are the only two I know. Need to work on that. But now the whole hospital thinks I have a voice of a rock star. Whoo! That’s right world, watch out, Kate’s a-comin’. I had a really fun time dancing, singing, drinking, etc. All the hospital workers are amazing, vibrant people who know how to have a good time. I look forward to introducing them to my family and friends this summer! :)

I also got an award… neat, yeah? I got a cakes (the word for cake in Mongolian is English cake but plural) and a bottle of sparkling wine! I was half paying attention, when all I heard was “Peace Corps” (in Mongolian) and my name, and my table started shouting at me and pointing towards the stage. Hah. CAKES! AND WINE!

Actually, a lot my introductions go like this (Mongolian in italics):

My Co-Worker: This… is [person], he/she is [does this job] ((Her English is getting really good!))Me: Ahh, how are you?Mongolian (turns to my co-worker): Does she know Mongolian?Me (to him): Yeah, a little.Mongolian: Really? AHHH VERY GOOD!Me (thinking): Please don’t ask me anything complicated.Mongolian: blah blah blah where blah*Me: Oh poops. I don’t know. :(

*in super fast speedy Mongolian!

Suvdaa and I going sledding at IST!Usually, when they talk that fast, I can just understand that they’re talking about me. I’m usually also good at guessing what about, if something has happened that I did that they found funny, or otherwise.

Lately I’ve been getting called “Russian” more lately. I joked that I’m going to get "Би орос хүн биш" or, “I’m not Russian” tattooed somewhere in Mongolian script. Perhaps not a joke, though.

<---This hat must be at fault for some of the increase.

So, happy New Years, my friends. May the new year refresh your spirit, and may you avoid falling in open manholes.

Hey everyone! Long time, no post. I blame it on the weather. It's been in the constant negatives (even for the highs!), and it looks worse when I change my settings to C, so I'll stick with my F, thank you very much. It was a high of 2F today, which was pretty darn enjoyable.

Sitemate lovin'Anyway, the main reason I didn't post much this month is because I was back in the U to the B again. And I got sick, again. For serious, that city is wack. I've been told it's the most polluted city in the world (most particles in the air), and is SHOWS. I wish I could have taken a picture of the view I had when I was coming back from training- there was a THICK cloud of gray over the entire city. Oi.

So- training. Our M21 training group had training at a hotel near UB (thankfully outside of the city some, but I was still stuffy the whole week), of which we bring one of our coworkers, usually the one that you work with the most. I brought Suvdaa, the head of nursing, and who I work with the most for sure. She's so motivated, and this week really helped our working relationship. The week was SO BUSY. Sessions all day, and meetings at night. We did manage to chill out, drink, and play cards almost every night though! So the sessions were pretty awesome... we went through the whole process of making a legit project, getting funding, etc. Suvdaa and I really got some good ideas for projects as well, and I think they'll be totally doable.

All the healthies and our CPs!

On the Thursday night of IST, we had a free night, where we could pick what we wanted to do. Tim, being the ever-planner, asked the CPs (counterparts- our coworkers) what they wanted. Mongolians LOVE talent shows and competitions. Maybe a soviet throwback (there's a lot of that here), and of course, they wanted a talent show. The TEFLs had one during their IST, but there were twice as many of them as us, so that was feasible for them. We were all pretty weary about having a talent show but since we were going to have a dance as well, we conceded to make fools of ourselves.

Oh, and did I. In spades.

oh what the crapStarted normally enough- each sector (health, business, and youth development) had to do something and none of us wanted to. The business one ended up being pretty funny- Jon took one of the team and showcased his talent of downing 3 beers in succession. Good times! The CYDs (children and youth development) did a Jingle Bell Rock dance, which I was somehow tricked into coming into the middle of the dance and dancing with them, ending with jazz hands. Let that sink in a little bit.

Baby, it's creepy insideAnd then it was the healthie's turn. Even more surprisingly, although all the boys were dragging their feet about the whole thing, we put together a show- "Baby it's Cold Outside" performed by yours truly, Matt, Leon, Ned, and Cody. We rehearsed it an hour before the show, and many drinks and one thrown-out shoulder later (sorry Leon!), it was ready. It was pretty darn hysterical, and personally I think it was the most entertaining.

The cutest performance, however, goes to the CPs. They each took the time to write out a poem for their volunteer, in Mongolian, and translate it. It was a little confusing at the beginning since they started in Mongolian, and I heard my name... twice! I turned to Justin, asking if he heard that, and I looked at Suvdaa, who nodded enthusiastically at me. This was my poem she wrote me:

The CPs doing the poems!Dear Kate, kind and cheerful Kate,

She amazes people by singing 'motherland' song well,

She likes Kazakh handicrafts,

This became her big hobby.

I about DIED with happiness and laughing at how accurate/cute it was! It completely melted my heart and it was the talk of the town all the next day. Suvdaa hit the nail on the head, and I gave her a huge hug after everyone was done.

That was basically the IST. Good times, good food, good friends.

Suvdaa and I!

So cute. He was trying to do the "flirty eye". Oh, and don't mind the meat, they just went and slaughtered a cow for the winter!

Today, I've been in Mongolia 6 months. Wow. Half a year. Time has been flying, and I suspect that soon enough I'll be on that plane back to America to visit, and quickly after that my family and friends will be visiting. :) It's gonna be a good year already.

Thanksgiving was in a word… spectacular. I have to say, though, I really missed my family. It’s hard enough without dad around, and I have to imagine it was different for them as well since I wasn’t there. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite (I mean, next to Christmas)… baking, watching football, relaxing with some cheese and crackers and shrimp (mmm), and passing out or going to a movie afterwards. Basically just one whole day of nothing but family. Spending time away from my family makes me realize more that you have to keep them close. :) That’s probably why I call them all the time! They were super turkey-coma-ed when I did talk to them over Thanksgiving, however, haha :)

Ashley and I on our way to UB!

So my Thanksgiving- spend with over 100 ‘Mmerricans at the apartment complex that houses all the embassy workers. It all started last Wednesday when I traveled to Khentii to see my dearest healthie girl, Ashley… I don’t think we stopped talking the entire time! So much to catch up on! The next day we took the early bus (HOLY CRAP IT WAS COOOLD) to UB, where it was slightly warmer. I got a nice warm welcome from my healthie guys, and a nice clean bed (thankfully- they had told me it was trashed from the night before, but the lady who runs the hostel cleaned up… they said tried to clean up for me though, so that was nice). First order of business- burgers at AB&F. My first red meat in months. Oh so good.

Thanksgiving dinner. MMMMOk, I don’t really want to bore you with the extra details, but the rest of the weekend was spent spending a shit ton of money (UB, I swear just GRABS it from you… mostly because of food and drinks you haven’t been able to have… MMM pizza and SALAD!), drinking (anything but vodka, thanks!), dancing, catching up with “old” friends, and getting to know ones I hadn’t known too well before. Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful, and I was so geeked with seeing everyone that I didn't go get seconds... I miss that turkey already.

My host family! (Minus my dad)On Sunday I traveled down to Zuunmod to see my host family, which was an adventure in itself. I’m so proud of myself for getting down there and back safely… not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous, but my crappy Mongolian skills win again! I first met up with Oogii, and we talked and walked to my host family’s apartment. It was strange, yet… not, being in Zuunmod. It was so nice to see someplace so familiar, like going home after college, yet it seemed so in the past that I had forgotten it somehow. Walking up the stairwell seemed so natural, even though it had been over 3 months since I had last done it… I even remembered to avoid the hole in the 2nd set of stairs. And my host family- they’ve changed too- my littlest duu had his ceremonial hair cut a couple of months prior and could TALK (!!), my older duu was getting taller, my host mom’s hair was much longer, and my host dad looked a lot better than he did before (he had a major surgery not that long before I got to Mongolia). It was such a nice visit. They kept saying how thin I was getting (hah), how I should wear more clothes because it’s cold, how I should eat more meat (I got the 3rd degree on that one), and how my Mongolian has gotten a lot better (that’s a bit surprising, really, doesn’t seem like it). I miss them all, and I told them I’ll come back in January for a weekend or so. Jugi (older duu) was sad I couldn’t stay a couple days to go ice skating with him… next time!

Oogii and Ochiko!

At this time of writing, I’m listening to my coworker listen to “Jingle Bell Rock” through her headphones and sing along with the words I typed out for her. I’m going to be teaching some Christmas carols to my classes, which should be a fun time… I love carols! Suvdaa said that maybe if we practice, we’ll do a song for the Shin-Jil (New Year) party at the hospital! Who knows... I’ll keep you updated on that one.

In less than a week and a half, we do it all again… back to UB for PC training. I’m just recovering from the smog there… UGH… we described it as being in permanent bon-fire smoke that you can’t get away from. My throat is not doing too well, and I’m coughing, but other than that, I’m doing well. Hopefully it’ll clear up before I have to go back. I hope Mika will be ok… I’m either going to take him with me to get him sniped-sniped, or I’ll do it in January when I go back to visit my host family.

Karaokeing it up.Some other stuff cool that’s going on: 1) I’m going to be doing nursing lectures at one of the hospitals in UB where a PCV is now. My first one is going to be after training, and I’m quite nervous, but I think it’ll be a great experience since I want to maybe be a nursing instructor one day. 2) Currently in my 4th year of internet secret santa… I got a dude from the UK, so hopefully he’ll be cheaper to ship to! I hope I get something good too : ) 3) My Christmas tree is up! Ok, so it’s not mine, it’s Alex’s, but he’s going home for Christmas and he said I could borrow it! It really makes things look more festive. 4) I got Mika this cute blue collar… he is turning into such a fattie though. Oi. I’m not even feeding him that much!

Finer Things Club: Mongolia.I really need to start taking more pictures, I am lazing about for serious. I’m a little paranoid about taking my nice camera out into the cold of Mongolia, but after seeing some of my fellow photographer friends do it, I think I’ll do a walk after it snows sometime. If it ever snows, I mean… it has, just hasn’t melted since it’s been consistently running around ZERO degrees F for the past month. Alex said the average temp in Mongolia is zero degrees C (freezing) because of the huge range… we were at nearly 100 F this summer, and now we’ll be at -40 F in the winter. Crazy, huh? Apparently when you get down to those cold temperatures, it just feels freaking cold and doesn’t differentiate itself, like being in the negatives and the single digits can feel different.

So for today, I’m gonna be super productive (I love Sundays, they are MY DAY and I usually spend them cleaning and/or doing nothing) and do my laundry, and write Christmas cards. ^^ Watch for those in the mail people! Also I wouldn’t mind getting some as well. :) Love to ya’all and happy holidays!

Also bonus pic of Mika and his new collar... he's getting so big!!

I'm headed off to U to the B (Ulaanbaatar) today with the other volunteers to celebrate Thanksgiving! I'm stopping off half way to stay with Ashley, which I'm super excited about since I haven't seen her wonderful face in THREE WHOLE MONTHS! Not to mention my other wonderful healthies, who I will see soon on Thursday!

I miss and love you all at home very much! I'm thinking about you guys all the time! Have a happy Thanksgiving :)

Frustrated today. Not really sure what the exact issue is, really. I think it started yesterday when I didn’t have power at my apartment. It really wouldn’t have been a big deal, except for the fact that it was probably the 4th time that week that it had happened. I think it’s the “locus of control” thing we talked about during training- I have a lot less control over a number of factors than I did in the US, and I think my apartment I feel is something I CAN control, at least in the way of taking care of it, so when it's something seemingly simple as electricity, it makes me frustrated. The weekend was so incredibly busy which was just as busy as the week before and so I only got a few hours to myself on Sunday to unwind. So anyway, at lunch yesterday I kept dropping things, which made me even more a little peeved. My Monday english class went well, however, and when I’m working I don’t bring my personal problems in with me… Mr. Moore would be so proud. After work I fully expected to have my power back on since the REST OF MY BUILDING had it… but nope (I was so excited too because I could see from the street that everything was lit up). Something had died. After some calls, my landlord came over, but since he (and I) didn’t have a key to the electric box outside my apartment, I was SOL. Todd was nice enough to bring me some candles… and so I had a romantic dinner of apples and peanut butter with my cat, while reading a book by candle light.

The English language has also been somewhat of an issue lately. Maybe not having to do with the english language, but I’m noticing that a lot more people are calling me Russian. They think I don’t understand, but it’s almost laughable when a group of old men (it’s always the older men too) stare as they walk by and say “orse-hun” (Russian person) under their breath. Sigh. I CAN understand you… heeelloooo. I usually don’t take the time to correct them, because I should, but usually by the time I’ve heard them, I’m already walking past them. I suppose that’s ok anyway… Russians have very nice European style clothing, which I’m severely lacking (go go sneakers ahoy!), so if they want to believe that, whatever. It’s because I’m white… isn’t it? ISN’T IT?! (hah) Also, this town isn’t that big and volunteers have been here for quite some time… you’d think the rumor mill would have run its course and they would have known I’m American. I can forgive the soum-ers though. There are lots of people coming from all over the province all the time so they probably have no idea who I am or why there’s some random white chick chillin’ with the doctors and nurses. My favorite part is usually when they pass my office door, look in, do a double take, walk by again slower, and sometimes stand in the doorway. So usually I smile and say ‘sain bain oo’ (how are you?), but then they have the look on their face like I have two heads. Ah, and that is the life of a PCV Mongolia… thank goodness for my counterparts and my coworkers in the hospital. They are completely awesome and I really couldn’t get through anything without them.

Oh, one more funny story about the staring thing- sometimes I just like to stare right back. But usually this ends with me breaking the staring contest because I think it’s rude to stare. Welp. Once I was walking back home and this little boy was walking near me and staring straight up at me, while walking. So what happened next? Oh course he almost face planted, but he just tripped hardcore and then kept on walking, looking forward that time. Also, once a kid at the store was staring at me with his mouth wide open, the kind of thing I only thought I saw in the movies. But alas, a fly could have landed in there and he wouldn’t have noticed. Then he got knocked over by another shopper because it was rush hour. Moral of the story kids- only stare if you know you’re not going to get the crap knocked out of you.

Attendance for my English classes has lessoned much as of late. A little disheartening? Maybe. This is pretty typical of any English class, or so I’ve been told. Those people who are there towards the end are the troopers, the actual people who want to stick it out, be patient with my (new) teaching methods, and learn English. So, I’m teaching for them. Also, sometimes the schedule of the class impedes them coming… sometimes doctors and nurses come during their work time and have to go back to the unit if a patient comes.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m learning two languages- Mongolian AND English. Seriously, English sucks. It is an awful language that doesn’t make any sense at all, and the rules are ridiculous, and there’s too many exceptions and slang and idioms (and I didn’t even know what the heck that was until I got here). I have a lot of respect for my students because that is a lot to take in (Mongolian is so vastly different in structure and words… there are twice as many English words as there are Mongolian). So needless to say I’ve been learning what all the tenses are, etc while making my lessons. I’m hoping after this main class is over (I’ll still have my other classes and tutoring), I’ll be able to work on what I really want to with my counterparts and what they want to improve. After my site visit, it sounded like that was what they wanted to do too.

I suppose that covers things for now. My mind is kind of mush at the moment. I need to make more lists, because I hate feeling like I have a billion things to do and I therefore get too stressed about it. Hm. Peace and love and deuces ya’all. :)

Quickie post, I uploaded a video of one of the dances I saw at the children's concert. They were AWESOME! There were some kids playing instruments and singing, too, so I'll try to upload those as well as my internet allows.

Another busy end to the week. Friday night was Alex's birthday, and so we had a party over his place, complete with awesome chocolate cake made by Julie. Saturday I had class per usual, and after a little downtime, did my laundry at Todd's, dragged my crap back to my place, then everyone was treated for dinner by the heads of the english club that we're teaching for. OH and it... kind of snowed. A dusting, I suppose. Sarah texted me this morning and she said that it had snowed in Dariganga (the soum about 5 hours from us in our province). It's getting steadily colder, even though a couple days this week it was too warm for my coat, so I got to wear just my fuzzy fleeces. ^^

Today we're having our site visits... at time of writing, it sounds like they haven't gotten here yet. At 8 tonight, I'm going to the children's play at the theater which my Mongolian tutor's kids are in. I'm pretty geeked because Mongolian kids are adorable and I love Mongolian dances and songs.

Enough of my chatter... onto the pictures...

My hospital got me a lab coat! It is seriously a kick-ass lab coat. It's one of those old school nursing ones with the high collar and the buttons down the side. AND it came with a nursing hat. I never got a nursing hat in nursing school, so I feel like I'm compensating or something. It fit awesome, except that I have a busty chest so it wouldn't button around that area... so that sucks. We're gonna get it tailored though. :)

Suvdaa making me pose for pictures...

A freaking awesome nursing hat!!

Also, people have been wanting pictures of my town (whoops, have been kinda bad about that), so here we go! And some videos too!

This is the back side of the hospital, newly paved. My coworker's son was admitted for a while for low blood sugar (he's fine! he's back to his perky 12-year old self), and this was the view outside his room.

So, on my walk home... this is outside the main part of the hospital. Also newly paved!

The main door, and just inside is the emergency room to the right.

The way back to my apartment. This is right across from the hospital, and it's a one way road... a little scary for people walking! Also, the road is really hard to walk on in high heels, by the way. I don't know how people do it.

MAN HOLE! A couple of those on my walk. Don't wanna fall down those things! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... lalalala...

Some new apartment buildings...

Sukhbaatar Square!

Government building...

The main stretch... the square on the upper right!

Sukhbaatar himself!

Our huge TV screen that was playing really strange 80's music and videos at that time. Hm. The song right before this one I swear was that Meat Loaf song, "I'd do anything for love". Freakin love this country.

My apartment building! Next to the photo store!

My balcony is the one with the missing windows... not too safe. At least it has a roof!

My door to my building. :)

My apartment building to the right, and the other buildings... it's like a big rectangle of old buildings.

So I attempted to upload some videos, but my internet sucks so it's taking forever. So I'm gonna try to put them on youtube and see if that goes faster. Hold on tight for that!

And at the time of this writing, I just came back from the children's concert. Mongolians are amazing in the fact that even the 1st graders can sing on pitch all the time. All the acts were awesome, and I took some cool videos for that too.

Work tomorrow with site visits, hoorah! (As I taught Dava's class) - Deuces ya'all!

Blog post, so long overdue. I'm sorry... it's been a crazy busy month. It's mid October already! I've been here almost 5 months, which is crazy to think about. I've been getting a lot of the "do you miss home" question from the Mongolians, and how can I answer no? It's definitely the longest I've been away from home (even in college I managed to make it home once every couple months), but I think I've been fairing well for the most part. There's been good and bad days, as you all can imagine.

I can see this entry is going to be hard to do, since I did a crappy job of writing down what I have been doing. Poops. Honestly, it's hard to describe what my experiences are like... as I think I said before, there's something that happens everyday that bluntly reminds me that I'm in a totally different culture than my own. Most of the time those moments are so amazing to me.

Working at the hospital has been really great lately. I've been busy making my lessons, and in between and I have pretty lengthy conversations with my coworkers, Suvdaa and Tuya:

Coolest nurses in Mongolia.

This week has been a lot of talk about the differences between my old hospital and our hospital. Break rooms, med rooms, (I had an old coworker take pics for me), salaries, amount of doctors and nurses, etc. Our hospital has a lot of things going for it, for sure. There are so many good ideas, so much construction already going on, and lots of room for improvement that Suvdaa has already identified. I'll be working on a mini proposal this week to possibly get some respiratory equipment/ventilators and/or trainers to come to our hospital to train about them, thanks to Travis' mom (the volunteer who was here before me) who is part of a respiratory group. I'll let you know how it all goes. :)

Lately, I've been doing a lot of english teaching. I know you're saying "Katie... you're a nurse, what the hell!" but hear me out! That's what they want, I will give it to them. Most days actually it's a lot of fun. I've been teaching some english songs (one woman wants me to teach some Beyonce!). Saturdays and Mondays are my hospital english class, Tuesdays are Dava's class, on Mondays and Wednesdays I have tutoring with people, and Thursdays and Saturdays are the community english class. Yes... that means my only full day off is Sunday! This week I was really pooped so I decided this would be my day to myself. I had to turn down a couple people for lunches, etc but I think I deserve some reflection time. I did spend this morning on a 4 hour skype call with my dearest friends from home. :) That was really nice, thanks guys. :)

'Ohhhh yummy food stuffs... holy crap mac and cheese!!

I got "the" package from my mom this week... with my lab coat! I started doing some observing in the surgery unit this week. Since I don't have scrub pants (pretty sure I tossed those old things when I left my old hospital), I sacrificed a pair of my pajama pants. I wish I had brought my camera that day (I got a new P&S, thanks mum!)... I looked a little hilarious, but cool- white and blue checkered pants, MSU nursing lab coat, my coworker's scrub hat and my black shoes from the black market in UB.

Also, big shout out to MSU for beating Michigan last week. Sorry mom!

Pictures!

Poker night with the MTBA! ...also with a 3D Where's Waldo? puzzle

...Nema playing with my camera...

Mr. Potter, Satan, and Princess (Nema, Alex and Chimgee)... we didn't play poker that night, but fun with hearts instead. I still get your chips next time, Todd.

My community English class! Enee is the first on the left, and she's one of the university english teachers. She translates my english babbling!

Some of my students from the hospital!

MIKA! Who looks a lot like...

Pippin!! This picture on the camera cracked me the hell up... he looks terribly pissed to be having his picture taken.

Homework assignment for you guys... what am I gonna be for Halloween?? Ahh maybe crazy cat lady? Also, I've put up a list of cool stuff you guys could send me. :) Love you all!

I had the strangest thoughts when I was walking back to work after lunch today. I somehow had a train of thought that was about the future, and what was going to happen, or if it would happen. And then I suddenly felt lost, like a small child, like those ideas I was thinking about were so far ahead in the future that I couldn’t possibly be that old yet. I then thought about what I had already accomplished in my life (which, sure, it seems like quite a bit I suppose), but that I really have much more and I have no clue how I am going to fit it all in. And then I felt depressed.

Blame it on the sad British pop I was listening to.

Speaking of which, I’ve given that 500 Days of Summer movie another try, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was initially. I like playing it in the background for the music. I hate to say it (Ellen will yell), but Regina Spektor is slowly crawling to a predominate place on my playlist.

At the time of writing, I am at work. I supposed to be working on a translation for my English class that starts next month. There is a huge stack of meat on the windowsill to the right of me. I love this country, truly. There’s always at least one happening a day that reminds me that I’m on the other side of the world from everyone I know.

The heat is going to be turned on next month, which for the past week I am looking forward to. I can even tell you the last hot day- last Monday. Ever since then it has been 60’s, 50’s-ish, and I’ve been missing the sounds of the kids at the square late at night as I fall asleep. That has been replaced by Mika making a racket in the hallway. Mika has been doing well, and he loves playing in his litterbox of dirt a little too much. At least he’s white and not brown like when I got him!

Right now it is freaking freezing in our work room. Even during the days that it was in the 80’s, this room was freaking cold, making my nose and fingers cold. And you all know how much I hate when my nose and fingers are cold! Tuya, Altansuvd and I have been taking to boiling lots of tea in the past couple days. I don’t exactly have a jacket (unless I want to wear my hard-core winter one now), but one of these days my friend Dava is taking me to meet a lady who can sew a coat for me.

What I would give for my hot tub right now. Ah, that would be wonderful. Anyway, I shouldn’t complain because it’s gonna get a hell of a lot colder. Then I will complain haha.

I just saw the most glorious bathroom ever, in the pediatric ward. I wish I could upload a picture, but it had two washer machines, a lovely toilet with seat cover, and possibly the most beautiful shower I have seen in Mongolia. Scratch that, it is the best bathroom I’ve seen besides my host family’s bathroom. That shower had (what looked like) hot water (probably from separate boiler), with glass doors and removable shower head.

(Written the next day) We got internet at work yesterday at the end of the day… currently installing the required Yahoo messenger. My M20 site mates joked that when you come to site, the Mongolians actually only make sure you have three things- a place to live, a door to that place, and Yahoo messenger.

Last night was a bit rough. I got home after going to the meat market with Altansuvd, which I’ve been before, but I’ve always been on weekends where no one was there. Today, however, I was slapped in the back with dead sheep bodies no more than 5 times because it was so crowded. Hm. I got a kilo of some mystery meat (I think it was goat) for Mika, and when I got home I discovered there was no water. I got it back this morning, but it was a little sad having meat fingers and having to use my nice filtered water to wash with.

THEN since it’s been so cold, I remembered I had my space heater… so I turned it on and WHAM YES HEAT… for 30 seconds. Then it died. But it started back up this morning just fine, so… I think I had a shitty night I suppose!

‘Tis all for now. Going to work on my English lessons (class starts next week, ahh!).

The internet has once again hindered all my productivity including doing blog posts. Hm.

Things I do on the internet:

-Facebook (sad I know)

-CNN/news

-Email and lots of it

-Flickr

-Various message boards

-INTERNET RADIO!

And I'm about to get internet at work as well... which actually would be a good thing, because I could do grant stuff and look up English language activities. Instead of trying to think of my own and using the same book and playing spider solitaire. Actually, the spider solitaire thing won't change. I don't have it on my mac, and I love it so! Along with hearts. I will kick your ass around the corner if you dare to play hearts with me.

Anyway, today was pretty darn busy. I taught a bunch of English to one of my counterparts, and then in the afternoon I met with an english teacher who is going to help me with grammar explanations (because I seriously need it- present perfect WHAT). Days have been going pretty steady now, but it's still going to take some time before I figure all this stuff out.

This weekend I was SIIICK as a dog. Food poisoning, I suspect. For sure the worst I've felt since I've been in Mongolia, but nothing life threatening or anything.

In other news, I HAVE A KITTEN! My site mate Todd had the hook-up from one of the teachers at his school. I have named him Mika, for he reminds me of the singer. He is a little storm, as all kittens are. I actually have to stop every other sentence to either stop him from climbing all over the keyboard or clawing my leg off. This thing does not stop purring, it's so adorable. This morning he feel asleep in my arm and was half-purring still. So. Cute.

Weird thought today as I was going through my photos... I've definitely grown a shit ton in my ability to take actually ok photographs since I started only a couple years ago. Man I love this hobby.

What a not insightful blog post. Oh well. Maybe next time with more detail!

September already? Oi geez.

At the time of writing, it is September 1st. That can only mean one thing for children this time of year- the first day of school! (And it is for the whole country!) I looked out my window this morning while I was making breakfast only to see moms with their children dressed up in their best suits. Usually that time in morning is populated by the old men stooping across the road at the social insurance building. They are interesting to watch too, really. But anyway, while I was walking to work I could see one of the schools decked out in balloons and tents with Akon blasting in the background. Huh. I wonder if the parents are excited for them to get back to school like American parents.

Not much is happening at the moment. My hospital is pretty busy this month because inspectors are coming mid-month for accreditation purposes. Kind of like JCAHO, I suppose? Anyway, I’m kind of finding my own stuff to do, like helping out with English classes at the schools or whatnot.

This past weekend was interesting- Saturday, the whole town had a huge celebration to commemorate the Mongolian win against the Japanese that ended in 1945 (World War II? My counterparts said no, so there must be some history that I’m missing?), also the 5 year anniversary of the zinc mine that is near my city.

So bright and early, my counterparts (CPs) look me to a part of the steppe just outside the city to watch two horse races- one for “older” horses, around 6 years, and one for “younger” horses- 2 years old. All the horses are manned by children (so maybe the word should be “childrened”?), and sometimes that’s a problem because with the more competitive races the parents might pull the children out of school to practice. Anyway, the race was as cool as ever, you could start to see the cloud of dust rising from the horizon, which meant they were probably 10 or 15 minutes away yet. The dust isn’t just from the horses- they are also from ambulance and police cars, waiting in case a child falls from the horse (which isn’t uncommon- you see horses come back rider-less all the time).

After the races, there was a… um, not sure what you would call this, not a demonstration because that sounds like there was riot or something. I guess the closest phrase would be “military parade”. Basically, the military put on a show to show off their mad skills, like punching through fire bricks (for reals), saving people from terrorists (complete with fake rounds in their guns that scared the kiddies as well as my CP), and parachuting into the square. Actually, I’m not totally sure what the point was, but I was quite impressed with it all.

A couple hours later there was a military concert at the theater. It was jam-packed with Mongolian dances (which I absolutely love, I can’t get enough), singing and Mongolian instruments (which I also love!). There was supposed to be another show in the square that evening, but the weather was pretty crappy and freakishly windy.

Sunday was spent doing a lot of cooking and a whole lot of nothing, ha! I have started to become a chef, and I imagine that when I get back home I’ll have a whole slew of recipes I can use. I think we really take what we have for granted- I’m lucky because in this town we have quite a range of food options, including brown sugar (!!), and the occasional chicken drumstick. Oh, and I’m for the most part vegetarian now since I’m mostly too lazy to prepare meat. Mmmm eggs and peanuts. Anyways anyways (aww I miss Oogii), I made honey-Dijon chicken with veggies and rice pudding for dessert. Hells yeah!! I. Am. Awesome.

Lately I’ve been a little lazy, because I’ve mostly been eating fried potatoes with ketchup and lots veggie melts (grilled cheese with veggies in them… mmm). Need to expand my horizons!

Even though I’m a health volunteer, I’m going to be teaching a loooot of English. I don’t mind, though. Today I was talking with my counterpart and the ENT doctor (ear/nose/throat) and the doctor had just completed a two month course on English, so that kind of made her even with me in terms of language. Anyway, we somehow got on the topic of how you pronounce “corps” (as in Peace Corps). In English you don’t pronounce it with the ‘S’, but in Mongolian you do. So anyway, the doctor looks up the Mongolian word for “corps” and my CP and her keep saying corps with an ‘S’. So she hands me the dictionary and points to an unfamiliar Mongolian word. Next to it is “corpse”. Ugui! (No!) We all laughed pretty darn hard though. Just goes to show you that English is HARD (and so is Mongolian… the words for “husband” and “dog,” as well as the words for “sheep meat” and “human meat” are crazy similar).

Das ist alles (for now!). Love you all :D

This is kind of an extension to the post I did yesterday, so read that one first (it’s directly below this one).

So after our placement ceremony, of course all of us were feverishly looking through the packets that we were given about our place of work. Turns out I’m replacing a PCV who extended for a third year, and who will be living in UB. So it’s been pretty cool getting to know the town through him and my new site mates. Funnily enough, I have all male site mates which is not unlike my entire summer with the Zuunmod crew (minus Ashley!), so it’s not gonna be a problem. Speaking of Ashley, she’s on the east side with me, so we’re going to be making lots of visits, me thinks.

After a few more days of trainings, we left for UB on Tuesday morning. I was quite sad leaving my host family that day, to be honest. I feel like I’m starting over, like reversing back to when I got to Mongolia, with a new home, new city to get used to, etc, except I don’t have the safety net of a family to live with. My Mongolian family came to the school to say goodbye, along with Ashley’s host family who I’ve been close to as well. Turns out Ashley’s Mongolian cousin is from the town that I will be living in, so she’ll come visit in September. After many goodbyes and promises to visit Zuunmod (which I totally will!), we gathered our things on the bus and left.

In UB, although I’ve been there before, I again had the comfort of my host family to guide me, but not this time. We went on a tour the first day, but I quickly became confused as they showed us where the markets, movie theaters, and restaurants were. I was actually thinking of Ellen at that point, because I’m sure she would have known where we were going!

Of course, there was an alternative to the walking- taxis! The drivers didn’t know any English (most taxis aren’t even legit taxis- they’re just cars), so we got to use our mad Mongolian skills. I did pretty well, considering, and even if I didn’t know the name, you can just say “go straight, go left, go right”. Most importantly, I didn’t get ripped off! Whoo, go me! :)

The next day we were to meet our supervisors. They gathered us in a room not unlike the gym in Zuunmod (actually, the school was a carbon copy, including the placement of the bathrooms. I suspect the Russians built them?), and put all of us PCTs on one side. They called out our Aimag (province), city or soum (small town) and the place where we were going to work. My supervisor is a doctor and the head of the hospital, of which this is her second or third year (I think). She used to be the head of the pediatric unit before that. She’s a super nice lady, and her English is pretty good and we were able to have good conversations!

Last Friday was our Swearing-In Ceremony. During this summer, we weren’t actually Peace Corps Volunteers, but rather Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs). A woman swore us in who was from the US Embassy, using the same oath that people who work for the government are given. After speeches and lots of translation, us M21’s (we are the 20th group of Peace Corps Volunteers in Mongolia) put on a show of traditional songs and dances. Everyone did extremely well, and I got some pretty awesome shots since I was in the front.

Later that night, the M20s had organized a party at a skating rink (roller, not ice, but STILL it was awesome!), of which most of us drank, skated (not such a good combo), and danced our hearts out, because we knew that it was the last time we would all be together until the end of our service. I thought a lot about the future, hoping that we would all make it to the end, hoping that our sites will treat us well, and hoping that we can make some sort of difference in this country.

Ah, and we have cell phones now! It’s been a real blessing, because apparently we’re one of the few Peace Corps countries to get them because of how remote we are. We’ve been told multiple times that this is one of the hardest PC countries, if not the hardest, because of the language, remoteness, and the weather. Texting has been awesome these past couple days, because I’m already missing the Zuunmod crew. Those boys (and Ashley) were such a good support system and I’m going to have to keep tabs on them and make sure they’re not getting into any crazy trouble. ;)

Anyway, early the next morning, Sarah (our soum-er, who is about 5 hours from us in the city), Nate and I packed up in a pretty sweet charter bus headed to the east. The ride was about 10 hours, and my supervisor said the driver was “hurrying”, so I’m guessing the ride can be quite a bit longer. Most of it was fine, and I didn’t get sick, yay! We also saw some camels on the way, along with the typical goats, sheep, and groups of horses. The land also became flatter and flatter. The end was the most interesting, because we had no idea when it was going to end. All of a sudden, a large stone pillar appeared as we went over a small hill, and in the distance we could see the outskirts of the city. As we drove past, my supervisor pointed out my apartment building, the square, the hospital. It was a lot to take in, and I’m still trying to find my way around.

Now I’m all moved in. My apartment is seriously awesome, and although there’s not much water pressure, I’m thanking the stars that I actually have running water. I start work tomorrow, and my counterpart, the nursing supervisor is to walk with me to the hospital. I’m going to be working with her and two other counterparts in a room. I’m nervous, of course, but I’m really excited to start working with them.

That’s about it for now… I hope everyone is well!

Hey ya'all! I finally got me some internets. Not at my apartment, though, so hang tight for that. Holy crap, so much to tell. Where to start?

Let's see... last Sunday was when the craziness started, but lemme back up a little before that. That Friday was my lil duu's birthday, of which Ashley and I made a wonderful cake, made from a modified brownie reciepe and my american frosting I got in UB way back at Naadam time. It. Was. Amazing. Not quite as amazing as when my mom pulled out fried onion rings (that I taught her how to make) and fried chicken! Mmmm.

So the next day (Saturday) was pretty uneventful except for us Healthies and CEDs frantically trading movies and TV shows so we won't be so bored in the winter.

Then Sunday. Oh yes, Sunday. It was the day to find out all the mysteries that Peace Corps had in store for us. Kind of like Lost, I suppose, yeah? First off, we had some announcements and such, but it was a little obvious that people weren't paying that much attention. We were all a little nervous to see how we did on our language tests we look the Thursday before. Well, turns out I passed! And I didn't just pass, I got one higher (you had to get Novice-High to pass, but I got Intermediate-Low), which was pretty crazy to me since I didn't think I did that great. But anyway, Oogii was very proud of us, and all of her original class passed as well! :)

The rest of the day there were sessions, but not as important as what was going to happen at 4:30. Our site announcements! I was a bit nervous, because this was where I was going to be living for the next two years! Turns out I'm in the East, whoop! (We're not supposed to say exactly where we are according to Peace Corps) I'm actually here right now at the moment, in an Aimag center, which is like the capital of the provience. I'll be working at the hospital directly with the nursing staff (as well as the doctors).

I seriously couldn't be more excited about this assignment. My supervisor, who is the head of the hospital, seems super motivated about things she wants changed in the hospital. There is also a ton of oppertunity to work with my site mates at the school and community centers.

Seems that I have to go... I'll update more tomorrow (I hope!). Peace and love :D

These past few weeks have been jam packed with some awesome happenings. Last weekend I went to the countryside with my family (the countryside is called the “houdo” in Mongolian, and it kind of sounds like it makes for a phrase similar to saying “ghetto”… “I’m going to the houdo this weekend,” or “My brother is in the houdo”.) I of course got super sick from the car ride, which sucked because I didn’t have my drugs with me. There are not a lot of paved roads in Mongolia… there’s the one that connects Zuunmod and UB, a handful going to other places, but the paved roads are as smooth as the dirt road leading up to my house in Michigan. I’ve never experienced real “off-roading” until I came to Mongolia. Basically, you drive around the mountains and through the steppes, following the dead grass that was left from the previous car.

Anyway, I digress. We first went to a Buddhist holy spot that had an Ovoo, of which you throw a rock on top and circle around it three times. We then walked a short distance to a huge rock, where my mom gave me a 10 tugrik bill and started scraping off pieces of the large rock onto the bill. After getting some pieces, she folded up the bill and told me to put it in my wallet. Apparently this gives you good luck with money and will make you rich. But, uh, I don’t think that’s going to happen to me because this past weekend, Cody, in all his wisdom, when the folded up bill fell on the floor after I pulled out some other bills, he unfolded it, the rocks falling on the ground. Sad day. Justin said he would have done the same, so I can’t be mad. I managed to salvage a little bit at least!

After the scraping of the rock, we traveled for another hour or so to a larger spot, where I noticed there were signs for “Eej Had” (Mother Rock). I posted pictures on facebook, but I have to get some on here for the non-users. But basically, it is a large rock formation that looks just like a person, along with a face. They had built an open- circular house (maybe ger-like?), and dressed the mother in a deel. There was a large table in front of the mother, where people placed boov (cookies) and lots of candies. In the back was a place where people put noogon tsae (green tea) and lit candles. After a while, my host mom gave me some rice to throw on the walls, inside and out. People also threw milk on the walls as well.

The most interesting part was that there was a men’s side and a woman’s side to the mother rock. People lined up accordingly and took turns whispering to the mother about their wishes, hopes, and dreams. Of course, I took a turn, but I’m not telling what I wanted. :) My littlest duu took a turn too, and he was hilarious, because when my mom held him up to the mother, he kind of just “whispered” a bunch of nonsense, because he’s two. Actually, he’ll be two on Friday, so that means vodka time!

So yeah, that was my last weekend. This past weekend was spent working on our tooth-brushing clinic for 15 children, which went as well as it could have, considering. The children actually seemed like they enjoyed themselves, and we even got a little show at the end where our doctor had some of them sing and say poems for us. So cute!

I’m everywhere with the topics, sorry. So much to write!

Anyway! Also this past weekend we had the host family appreciation day! A bunch of us met at the school early in the morning to start working on food for the families. We made pizza, onion rings, fried apple pies, pasta salad, jello shots, fresh lemonade, and brownies! Ashley made the brownies, but they were such a big hit that I didn’t get to have any. But maybe next time! So yeah, the event went off without any big problems. While cooking, we kind of had to battle the space with a group of Koreans who were there doing volunteer work for the week. We also had to battle a giant pooh-bear. Just kidding, but there really was a pooh-bear- Korean dude in a costume. Yeah.

After finishing the food and cleaning the kitchen, the rest of us went to sit with our families and enjoy the awesome food. That was a little short lived, however, as we were all called up to perform our Mongolian songs that we knew. The Mongolian people LOVE when you know their songs. The families were clapping along and singing with us too. After our songs, Oogii said we should sing an American song, so we chose “Hey Jude” (not exactly American, but close enough!). And, I uh, ended up singing pretty much solo on that one in front of 30 or so Mongolians. And I didn’t even have any alcohol! Hah :)

After the singing, there is always dancing at Mongolian parties. We did the Mongolian waltz and a kind of line-dance-ish thing that we were taught. I got to dance with my host mom, which was uber awesome, but I’m crap at those dances… note to work on that!

A little hilarious (kind of) note… yesterday my littlest duu tried to totally cop a feel. Like not just cop a feel, like put his hand down my shirt! Apparently little kids do that… my host mom laughed and said in Mongolian, “he likes boobs” (and yes, there is a slang term for breasts… “hoch”, which is also the color dark blue). He’s still the cutest little thing on two legs so I’ll let it slide! Hah :)

So that brings us to this week. Thursday is our language test and technical interview. Bleh. Not excited, and I’m getting a little nervous. It’s actually not a huge deal if you don’t pass, because they give you more money for a tutor and you take the test again in December when everybody comes back together in UB. I’ve heard that we’re doing better than last year’s group, but I have no idea how I’ll do. Meh. Reminds me hardcore of Japanese oral exams, and especially Melanie knows how much I hated those!

Speaking of Melanie, I totally got your letter today! It really made my day! Melissa’s told me that she’s sent a letter as well, so it really makes me happy that my bestest friends have sent me these heartwarming letters :) OH and I got Ellen’s last and 11th postcard from Nova Scotia! Someone needs to send me sticky tack for walls so I can put all the notes up in my ger/apartment!

This Sunday we find out where we’re going. Ooooh boy. I’ll try to update ASAP when I find out, but with 70+ people wanting the internet, it might have to wait until I get to UB next week. I’m so freaking excited! And then the planning of trips begins :) And I’ll be sure to update my address as well and send lots of letters to the US of A! Peace and love my peoples!

Thank you, Decemberists.

Be prepared, my topics are kind of scattered since I basically typed whatever came to my head.

We started our language classes back up full force at the end of last week, with different teachers. It’s been a little hard since I’ve gotten so used to one teaching style, but it’s been nice to hear other dialects of speech. So as Helen has told me, my main drag at the moment is language. We’ve been told that Mongolian is one of the hardest languages of Peace Corps volunteers, and I’m inclined to agree 100%. Mostly though, not a lot is written the way it’s spoken; because the Russians came in and made people learn the Cyrillic text, which they still use. There is a traditional script that the Mongolians use, however. It looks pretty confusing, but really pretty (our teacher said there’s a class that students take to learn it). A lot of volunteers end up getting tattoos of script words. Next tattoo anyone??

This past weekend was awesome. Saturday my family took me to UB to get new shoes (hooray! My flats were falling apart) and material to make my deel for swearing in. We did a bunch of errands first, and then went to the black market, which isn’t so much a market as the biggest-place-you’ve-seen-that-sells-literally-everything-maybe-minus-human-kidneys …place. So anyway, shoes. My feet are big in America (9, 10 or 11 in womans), and my feet in comparison are larger here! Needless to say, it was a bit of a struggle, but I managed to find a pair of dress shoes and sandals in size 42 (cm, I think?). AND my mom haggled the guy for my sandals, because she’s pretty awesome.

Ah, and the black market is known for foreigners getting their shit stolen (actually, UB in general, tons of pickpocketers as we’ve been taught several times already), so my mom was LITERALLY taking me by the hand the entire time. She also insisted to take my purse, because I was like a walking target.

After acquiring my kick-ass footwear, we headed down the rows and rows of every piece of clothing you could imagine. Most of it was from China, however, so you have to be careful of the quality. It’s interesting- Mongolians pretty much hate China (most will tell you openly), but they’re kind of forced to use their products because China borders them (along with Russia) so it’s pretty much the only stuff around. It’s also a but funny because (and a lot of PCVs have said this) that the stuff that we brought from home was mostly made in China, so it seems that we can’t get away.

Anyway, some of the shirts they had there were hilarious. For example, totally obvious Hello Kitty knock-off shirts with the word, “PENCIL” above it. Really now? Or my favorite- one of those long shirts that women sometimes wear as skirts had a stylized French anime-type character with “COLBERT” written below it, with the words “SHE MARRIED HER BOSS” in smaller letters below that. I mean, seriously. What.

I bought Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix the other day here. 6,500 tugs (~5 bucks). So worth it. Also random thought: my youngest duu has a serious obsession with slamming doors and stuff and it’s annoying. I can’t remember- all kids do that, right?

Kind of off track. So, black market. I ended up getting this really awesome orange with silver cloth for my deel (the traditional Mongolian outfit), and got it fitted at a seamstress a couple days ago. I’m geeked! In the past couple days I’ve kind of spent a lot of money, or at least in tugs. There are some sweet stores in Zuunmod that I would have never had known about it if it wasn’t for the CEDs (business sector) who went to those places as part of training. I bought some handmade leather boots (suitable for horseback riding!) and ordered a pair of hand-spun and made wool slippers for indoor use.

So the topic of conversation this week (ok, and every week to be honest) has been site placements (that and poop, but that has lessened as of late). We had our final site interviews, and it sounds like they’re looking at a hospital for me. There’s no sites in the west for healthies (aww no speaking Kazak for me), and there are soum (small village) and aimag center (larger towns) placements. Oh, and someone was told during their interview that we have no English-speaking counterparts (the term used for our main people we work with). That means my Mongolian is going to get pretty sweet me thinks.

In other news, we taught English yesterday to the nurse in our clinic. It was our second time, so we went over what she learned the last time, which started out a bit rocky, but she remembered after some reminding. We then went into some phases that we know in Mongolian as well (where are you from, what do you do, etc) so it was pretty easy for her to catch on. They’ve told us that we’re going to be doing a lot of that at site.

This week has been balls-to-the-wall hot outside. Holy crap. It’s been 34-38 C (93-100 F), which has been killing me. My suntan lotion seems to attract bugs to land and die on me. Yeah. Fun. Luckily the cement buildings are a kind of air conditioning, but not so much when your family has a whole skinned sheep on the table. That smell is, er, interesting. Even my father thought it smelled bad. The innards were separated into different buckets, which reminded me of my days at the fish lab. So nothing new. Should have took a picture, though, you know, to gross you all out some more.

Lastly, something I found creepy/hilarious: we get the UB Times (that is in English) weekly for one of our classes, and I like to read the horoscopes occasionally. Well, mine read for this week, and I QUOTE: “…This week also begins 26 months of slowness in work, employment, and health zones. …” For REAL? How did they know we have 26 months left of service (and I’m in the health sector??)?? I swear a PCV must have written this. It’s too funny and… awfully accurate.

I should have some more pictures up next week, so watch for those!

This past week, we had the whole group come together again (sans one person, who ET’d (early termination)), which it was nice to see other faces. Some people we’ve seen for shot day, but the TEFLs we haven’t seen since we left for our host families. For dinner one of the days, we had a kick ass BBQ of beef (yay! I’m really just not a big fan of mutton. I can eat it, but I’d rather not, but I digress), veggies, a super awesome salad and watermelon (which I have gotten quite attached to, even though I wouldn’t eat the stuff in the states). Yumm, so good.

My mom gave me some airag (fermented mares milk)… ok, maybe not as bad as I thought, but the ending is really what I don’t like about it. It has a wine smell and at the beginning, it does taste like it, but the aftertaste is like a really really sour/gone bad yogurt/milk. Not my favorite. But I can tell you what IS my favorite- marmot! Yes, it is a rodent, but a delicious one at that. I had it twice this past weekend when we went to some “summer houses”- I guess that’s the closest thing I could think of the houses would be, kind of like going up north to a cabin or something in Michigan. On Friday night, we went to a roast in the countryside (“ the houdo”), at my dad’s father’s cabin. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the land around us was beautiful. There are some neato pictures of the marmot roast I’ll post me thinks.

That day on Friday was a really awesome bonding experience for the family. I was able to learn a card game while at another trainee’s house, and it came in handy as I played with my mother and her friend. It was so fun, as we laughed at the same thing, but saying it in different languages. Another touching moment- as we were eating the marmot, my dad asked if I liked it. I replied in the affirmative, because, really, it was quite good. He appeared happy, and in his Japanese/Mongolian language (that we both use) he told me that I was also his child, that we were all family. D’aww :) That made me quite happy since my dad’s been pretty quiet around me until now.

Saturday was spent watching the horse race in Zuunmod (their Naadam is earlier than the “actual” Naadam which is the 11th, 12th, and 13th of July). My duu ran up to one of the winning horses, and touched it, and then touched his and my forehead. Yeah, it doesn’t smell so good, but it’s good luck for the whole year! We then went to another family friend’s place for the day and played lots of cards. They were building a outhouse at the time, so I had to use the “Mongolian toilet”, as my mom explained to me. Basically you go to the other side of the hill (which was part of a bigger mountain) where no one could see you and pee there. I am an expert squat pee-er, thank you very much. It was a little strange at first, but really, it’s not that big of a deal. People were right when they said you get used to the lifestyle of your host country pretty fast.

On Sunday, my mom and dad took me to Naadam in the big ‘ol city- UB. It was crazy awesome, and my dad was really into the wrestling. We got to see the opening ceremonies, with people riding horses (plus doing archery and jumping on either side of the horse while it still moving), wrestlers, dancers, lots of traditional wear, and even skydivers (??). The funniest moment was when one of the skydivers undershot his mark and bowled over 10 of the young dancers during landing. They were ok though! Oh, and there were so many Americans, and I couldn’t stop staring. It’s something I’ve picked up living in the big Z. Every time there is someone not Mongolian, everyone stares at them, including me now. Although we’ve been here for almost 6 weeks, we still get lots of stares and I don’t really mind anymore.

Anyway, after watching the ceremony, I got to ride a horse (hooray!), and have decided if I’m in a soum (small village), I’m getting a horse and that’s that. At the very least, a cat. But anyway, we then went out to dinner at a wonderful chicken place… holy crap, chicken sandwich. Freaking awesome. You really start to appreciate the small things when you don’t have them around as often. My mom then took me to the local huge shopping center, which had a ton of American products. Better believe that I dropped 30,000 tugs (about $25) on the following: two cans of diet pepsi (there is NONE in Zuunmod), a can of funfetti frosting (don’t know what I’m going to do with that yet), tic tacs, Heinz ketchup, soy sauce (Kikkoman), box American chocolate, a can of pineapple chunks, a can of corn, a chunk of mozzarella, and a jar of strawberry jam. Ahh. I saw a HUGE box of Frosted Flakes that was going for 28,000 tugs ($23) but that is SO not worth it. Oh well. I’m going to stick with my egg for breakfast.

Something a little more sobering- last week a couple of Americans (not PCVs) went hiking from Zuunmod to UB, and they (apparently) spent the night and the next day one of them wanted to rest and the other one went on to UB. Long story short, he was reported lost by the guy who made it back and they found the first guy a few days later, but he had died from hypothermia (prelim autopsy reports say). I wouldn’t probably mention the story otherwise, but I met those two last Saturday and I helped them get to the monastery where the park was. They were super nice, and like I mentioned, non-Mongolian people in Zuunmod isn’t that common so I struck up a conversation. The police still want to bring me to UB to make a statement, but that hasn’t happened yet. Kinda crazy stuff. I’m praying for his family, which is really the best I can do at this point.

So that’s kinda been my week up to this point. It was a lazy day today, including making pizza (again! SO good) and cinnamon rolls with the left-over dough. They gave us a bunch of days off for Naadam, which has been a good break from language learning (hard-core style), but I’m starting to get ready for round 2. Only 4 or 5 more weeks until I find out where I’m going to be living for the next two years!

Still forming my "Mongolian Soundtrack" but it seems Modest Mouse is in the lead...

My 4th of July was as cool as it could be, sans fireworks and BBQ. Ahh BBQ. I'm currently skyping with Luke and have told him I want Sweet Baby Rays sauce. Mmmm. But anyway, I spent most of the day with Americans doing the American thing and drinking beer and talking about how much we want BBQ. Heh.

An interesting thing has happened concerning some people I met on Saturday. Hmm. Will update when I can about that (if I can, I guess).

Our language test was today, which went as well as it could have, I suppose. I suck at remembering verbs! Hooray! We have the rest of the day off, which I'm trying to spend without taking a nap because if I'm bored, I watch movies, read a book and nap. Mmm. The weather is really nice though (I'm getting a crazy awesome tan, btw), so maybe I'll try to spend it outside.

I lost another kilo this week. I'm not going to be anything by the end of two years!

Mid-center days is tomorrow, and Naadam is this weekend. I guess I'm not going to UB for their Naadam because my mom says it gets really hot and it's really busy. Ah well!

Will post probably after the weekend, since it seems it's going to be hella busy here. Peace!

Although it's not actually the 4th in either country, I might as well type it now since I'll probably be busy later!

Let's see... this week has been busy, busy, busy. Besides getting ready for our pre-LPI (language test!), we have begun to do some projects at the local family clinics. Lemme take you through my typical day!

5-5:30a: Wake up because the sun is shining through my east-facing window... wonder what time it is, then fall back asleep for another two hours.

7:30/6:30a: If I need to "shower" then I wake up at 6:30, hit the snooze button until 7, then make my bath- I boil a liter or two of hot water, mix it with the freezing cold water, then pour the water over my head while kneeling in the bath tub. Works like a charm!

8a: Breakfast! My mum usually cooks me eggs :)

8:30a: Out the door for class, pop in my ipod for a little bit of excitement, then remember I probably should have put on sun-tan lotion because it's freaking sunny

8:45a: The healthies assemble and usually have some interesting stories about the night before, mostly either about food or some miscommunication!

9-1p: Our awesome language teacher teaches us some Mongolian... ahhh it's so hard :(

1-2: I come home to Oochko (my littlest duu) running towards me screaming "kaaaaaadaaayyy" (he's almost 2... he can kind of say my name!) and Jugi (my other duu) greeting me with pokes, etc. Then lunch! Usually a noodle dish of some sort.

2:30-5:30p: School again... usually health system talks and important cultural stuff.

5:30-10: I either: 1) read (I've finished 5 books already, whoo), 2) study, 3) hang out with my duus/the fam or 4) take a walk... really should study more though but my brain starts to hurt.

Rinse, repeat.

I love the weekends, ahh. Some time to really chill.

Oh yeah, I finally got around to converting the kilos into pounds, and the scale says I lost about 15-20 pounds since I've been here (can't quite remember how much I weighed beforehand). Hah. We made pizza yesterday (holy crap SO good), and it upset my stomach a little since I hadn't had cheese in a month. Whoops! Some of the healthies are off to UB (the capital) today, so they said they might bring back more cheese so we can make other awesome dishes.

Speaking of food, a lot of people have been sick this week. Two of the healthies, and I think 3 or 4 of the CEDs (business peeps) have been having things come out both ends. Luckily, not me so far, just stomach being upset now and then. But I'm sure I'll have my turn. Bleh.

Tim, Brian and I (Blain and I's clinic went on a month-long vacay so we disbanded to other groups) did our first project yesterday at our family clinic- doing hand washing! Hoorah! It went really well, despite a pretty big language barrier. One of the doctors spoke a little English, so that helped a ton. We taught to eight little kids, some of which I recognized as my duus friends. They got biscuits and coke for washing their hands correctly, so we're going to have to do teeth brushing next we think.

This week is sure to be fun... besides Monday and Tuesday, I mean. Monday is our mid-training interview, and Tuesday is our pre-LPI test. *Everyone* (yay!) is coming back Wednesday and Thursday for some more training sessions, but that's going to be really nice seeing everybody again after a month. Friday and Saturday is Naadam here in the big Z, then UB Naadam is Saturday and Sunday (I think?), so maybe I'll get to go with my family (big rule- can't go to UB without a family member and prior permission).

Otherwise, weather has been a little cooler this week, a nice change from the 100 F weather last week. Things are looking up?

I just got off the phone with my mum, Luke and Ellen and it sounds like there was an earthquake in Michigan (technically in Canada, but was felt in MI) a couple days ago?? The world is ending, isn't it? Poop. I had so much more to do, too.

In other news, we actually had thunder AND lightning for like 20 minutes one day, it was awesome. I really missed it... going to sleep during the thunderstorm is the best thing ever. Sadly there wasn't any rain with the mini-storm but it was really windy and so it got pretty dusty. Earlier in the week there was a huge dust storm but followed by rain so the dust settled down. The weather has been really hot for the past couple days- in the 90's (97 yesterday! UGH) but it's not humid so it's pretty tolerable.

During one of my walks to school, I saw (what I think was) a cow leg bone... with hoof still attached. Oh Mongolia. Bones are a really common thing (people throw them out the window and dogs will chew on them), but I hadn't seen an attached hoof until that point.

On Wednesday we went as a class to our local hospital, to the traditional medicine branch. There we saw them do acupuncture, moxibuston (totally spelled that wrong I think, but it's like acupuncture but with a burning tip to create pressure) and cupping (putting pressurized cups on areas of the body, which is supposed to improve circulation, but creates a really huge bruise as well. We watched some actual patients get these treatments, which made for an interesting conversation afterwords. For example, one lady had bad GI issues, which we were told after acupuncture and diet changes she didn't have pain as much. But is that the acupuncture, or is that the diet change? Or both? I'm interested in people's thoughts on this...

Friday the healthies did some karaoke... or at least for 10 minutes and then the power went out... in the whole of the city! It was entertaining for about 15 more minutes and then we decided to leave, using our cellphones (which are now glorified alarm clocks) as our guides back. I payed for that night on Saturday morning though... the elevation of Mongolia makes it so you can't tolerate as much alcohol as you would in the US. Whoops. But the afternoon was nice, full of good discussion.

This week one of the PCVs (who is going home next month) is hooking us up with some food stuffs from UB (the capital, which we are not allowed to go to under any circumstances as trainees until the end of our training), like mozzarella cheese... can you say awesome pizza? Food has been a big topic of discussion lately. I could so go for a Jimmy Johns sandwich right about now. :( I wonder if they could do the freaky fast delivery out here.

Ah, and shout out to the PCV parents reading my blog :) Apparently I have some fans!

Peace!

...that she cut up for meat.

Not really. Ashley had to sing in class today, and she chose that song so it's stuck in my head at the moment. We played a card game (with Mongolian words) in which the loser had to sing or dance. Blaine did some juggling, our teacher sang a song, and I did the Soulja Boy dance that Monika taught me.

Some neat things that I think Ellen would find interesting/awesome/not awesome:

-Horses are eeeeverywheeere in this town... last Friday, Ashely and I were coming back from the square (which has this sweet light-up fountain where all the kids hang out and throw water on each other), and we saw a huge herd of horses running by being followed by a dude in a saddled horse. And uh, apparently you can get a horse. So yeah. I want one.

-Animals aren't kept as pets. Dogs are freaking everywhere and they are dirty as hell. But they are more workers/scavengers, so not pet material. I want to pet them so bad, but then I remember I haven't had all my rabies shots yet and I don't want to get bit. Oh, and Mongolians hate cats. So they're really easy to get as a pet. Score!

Language is hard as ever, but I think that's going to be another reoccurring theme. Lots of studying this weekend, hoorah! And perhaps movie watching too... I watched Across the Universe (thanks Ellen!) and Men Who Stare At Goats this past week.

Ahh glass. One of the banes of my existence now that I've almost cut my foot on it. Mongolia is quite sparkly if you look at it right... but it's really just glass shards everywhere. Trash is a relatively new concept in Mongolia, so taking the trash to the hills is just one way they get rid of it here. Oh, and my mouth- yesterday at Matt's ger we were all studying and Cody thought it was a good idea to open the bottles of beer on the stove... which broke the top right off leaving a cut-glass rim around it. Yay! :) ...what is that iron taste in my mouth?

I might do some hiking today, who knows. Peace for now!

I'm at a lack of creative titles... the actual lyric was "heart" but I heard "home" and got confused. That particular terrible english song was blasting outside of a grocery store (sounded like it could have been out of the Wiggles or something). Huh. On our way to the other school we heard Linkin Park. Imagine that.

More shots, and my arm hurts. At least I'll be awesomely prepared for whatever biological weapon- rabies, japanese encephilitis, hep A, typhoid, and meningitis. Heeelllss yeah.

Language was better today, although I feel like I don't have a ton of time to study, because I want to go to sleep so early because my head is full of information!

Ok, peace all :) Time for benkyooshimasuuu (that's japanese, but oh well) :)

Title says, "I'm Katie" if you're wondering. :) I could type a lot more, but I'm so not used to the Mongolian keyboard.

Tired today. They've been keeping us quite busy with 4 hours of language class a day, then 1.5 hour lunch, then 2-3 hours of health training. With homework... oi! The weekend was a nice break, although my studying was lacking for sure. Today I felt a little down about language learning, but I'm sure the group studying later will help.

I love the seemingly random English songs that Mongolians use on TV. In the background of commericals, etc will be Green Day (apparently very popular with the teenagers when I talked to them, along with Linkin Park) or even semi-obscure stuff like Lupe Fiasco. Huh. The Korean soap-operas seem to be my host mom's favorite, and my duu (little brother) likes Dragonball Z... dubbed into Mongolian from English. Being so close to Japan I'm not sure if I get that one, but I digress.

I know some of the people have told us not to look at facebook, which I haven't much, but it does make me realize how much I've been missing the short while I've been here. I'm sure that'll be a recurring theme- I've already given up at remotely keeping up with any of my TV shows. (So no spoiling!!)

So, yeah. Same stuff. More shots tomorrow. Weather has been up and down, but generally sunny and warm! Peace :)

As I'm writing this, my host brother is tring to tickle me to death and and poking my stomach. Seriously. And I'm saying "yo yo yo yo" (ow ow ow ow) to try and get him to stop. :)

We got our shots a couple days ago, if anyone was wondering what we got- Hep A, Japanese Encephilitis, and Rabies, hooray! Some people had to get more, like Hep B, but I already had it.

My host family is really cool- I'm living in an apartment with the mom and dad, and little brothers (10 years and 1.5 years, aww). My host mother doesn't speak english (which is good- I want to learn as much as I can!), but she DOES speak Japanese, so we've been communicating in a Japanese/Mongolian language so far. I'll be living with them for 3 months... seems like a long time since I've only been here a week and feels like I've been here forever so far.

We had our language lesson this morning, and now we're done for the weekend. I think I really need to work on my Mongolian alphabet... sooo that's my homework for this weekend.

Other observations:

-Milk tea (which actually doesn't have tea, just a kind of salty warm milk) is growing on me.

-Pogs are still all the rage.

-So is Dragonball Z... and scooters!

All for now!

Yeah, it's been raining quite a bit, but we've been told it's nothing to complain about since it never rains the rest of the year. So yay!

Been good so far... a little tired of meat, but I never go hungry and the meals are pretty tasty. The Korean place last night was reaaally good, albeit spicy.

The language learning is getting a bit overwhelming at the moment, and it's driving me nuts that I keep trying to use Japanese instead of Mongolian. Just need to keep practicing!

A bit homesick at the moment, but that's kinda confusing since I've only been here a week! Geez!

That's all for now. Moving in with my host family tomorrow, which I imagine will speed up my learning process a lot. Peace!

Or actually, I've been here for a while... second full day in Mongolia!

Quick note, so I can let the other PCVs use the computers. I'm going to be stationed at the same place we're doing training now, so us and the other healthies are going to have phones and internet. :)

Weather was cold today... rain! Whereas yesterday I got sunburned because it was 80 out. Truely wacky weather.

Quote of the day:

"Well, we haven't had much time to get culture shock. I mean, there's a cow right there, but..."

People are cool, still feels like summer camp, but since we started talking about our actual sections (mine being Health) it's starting to sink in that I'm here for the long haul. Now I just need to master this language. :D

I'll keep updating as much as possible, but it might be long between because of how busy we are. Peace!

Not like we're exploring the city or anything, but I'm totally putting it on my map of places I've been... sorta. :) Chillin' in the airport for now. Flight is at 6:30p, and it's 5:10p right now. My time zone sense has gone totally out the window after flying from EST to Cali time (pacific?) and now to Korean time, which is the same as Japan (13 hours ahead of EST).

It's pretty funny traveling in a group of 70+ people, of which yesterday one of the speakers said it was like "herding cats". Um, familiar much? ;) So after another 12-hour flight, I feel like I never left Japan (Koreans look markably different than Japanese, however), except I can't speak any Korean. And also, too tired to drag out my camera for any sort of pictures. Don would be sad.

Ok, maybe some pictures. We'll see.

Peace!

Here I am, sitting in my hotel room in San Francisco. No time to check out the trollies, though. Orientation was all day today.

Saying goodbye to everyone was really, really hard. I know it's not forever, and we're going to be (hopefully) talking throughout my service, but it's difficult to imagine that I can't just call up someone or hang out with my family anytime I want. Meh.

And uh, thank GOD for Melanie, for her text message woke me up because my alarm didn't! I obviously got there on time and ok, but that was a little scary there for a while.

Everyone seems really awesome, and there's even a guy who was a photographer and a healthie as well! So I predict I will be getting some lessons and keeping up with my photography! A bunch of us went to a reaaaally good burger place (seems really local), and I can already tell I'm going to miss it. Hm.

AH! ADDRESS! Here is my (temporary) address, please no packages but pictures, letters and perhaps hard candy (for my host fam) would be much appreciated:

Katarzyna M Borkowski PCT

Post Office Box 1036

Central Post Office

Ulaanbaatar 15160

Mongolia (via China)

Katarzyna M Borkowski PCT

Знх Tайвaн Кopпyc

Tөв Шyyдaн

Шyyдaнгийи xaйpцaг 1036

Улaaнбaaтap 15160

Moнгoл Улc

Mongolia (via China)

NOTE! Probably easier if:

-Use a FLAT RATE box!! It will be cheaper with sending packages!

-Write out (or type is easier) BOTH the addresses!

-If using a package, wrap the whole thing in clear tape many times... a lot of the packages get opened in-transit.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'all on the flip side (aka SOUTH KOREA AND MONGOLIA!)