This is it. This is the end of our Mongolian life. We've been back in the states for almost 2 months and time has flown. People have said that when they return home the Mongolian adventure seems like a dream-- well for weeks and weeks after our return it was still very real. In fact, it still is very much real to me. It happened. It wasn't a dream.

So what have I been doing since I've been back? Well, I've gone to a few doctor's appointments: for the baby and for my lingering eye problems. The baby is doing well at 14 weeks and 5 days. It's the size of an orange! My baby belly is starting to show itself. More on Baby later. We've eaten everything we could get our hands on going to restaurant to restaurant, and having home cooked meals with friends and family. We've put oh, about 4,000 miles on my car going from South Dakota to Texas, to Virginia, back to Texas, then up and down and all around Texas. It's great to have this independence! We've applied for jobs as teachers all around the area. It's tough trying to find an open position in the middle of a semester. We hope our luck will grow starting in the second semester. And finally, I won't say this is the best part, but it's a part that made me feel most complete: Annie.

This is the abandoned kitty we found in the negative degree cold living under people's warm cars in the parking lot of our apartment in Idaho over 5 years ago. We nursed her back to health and she's been a part of the Newberry family since (in fact, she's sleeping in my lap as I type this). I was scared she wouldn't remember me when we returned home. But she was ecstatic and we fell right back into our old routines and friendship.

Okay, okay-- onto the baby. As I said, I'm 14 weeks and just started my 2nd trimester. We're both healthy and doing fine-- though the first trimester kept me grumpy, sick, nauseated and achy. Not fun. Sadly it started while we were in Mongolia, so I feel like I left Mongolia on a bad note. The smells were making me nauseous, the food was intolerable, and I just desperately wanted a warm bath. I had the munchies, but munchies and Mongolia do not go together. Living in a village where only the essentials are available, you need to make all your meals from scratch-- there is no instant snack. And I was hurting for some pickles! So being on an empty stomach made my nausea worse (little did I know then). Also getting up to pee about 5 times a night is not ideal in the colder months, when you don't have a toilet to go to, or any plumbing/running water. I am in utter amazement when I think of the Mongolian women and them going through their pregnancies without modern conveniences.

Now that my nausea has subsided a little, I can now freely think of Mongolia and not get sick (I know that sounds horrible, but that was my last association with it). I look at the pictures and see all that we did while we there, the friends that we made and the memories that we will never forget. It was a time of our lives. And we left it to begin yet another adventure.

So, I say goodbye to Life as a Newberry: Mongolia.

And hello to Life as a Newberry: Parenthood!

Needless to say, this past week has been a whirlwind of excitement, sadness and just running around crazy. So, we found out we're having a baby and our lives have and will change drastically. Unfortunately, this means that I am not able to continue my service in the Peace Corps. The medical attention the US government requires a pregnant woman to have are not met here in Mongolia. So, we are going home.

Happy? Of course! Sad? Of course. Ultimately, we feel content in the work and service we've done here in the past 17 months. We don't have any regrets in that sense. We were expecting and preparing to leave Mongolia in 8 more months-- so having that change to preparing to leave Mongolia in 7 days is drastic. We have so much stuff we were stowing away for the winter, or clothes we wanted to wear out, friends and places we wanted to visit and projects and work that needed to be completed. But it's time for this Mongolian adventure to end and a whole new one begin! We're hopping straight from one adventure to the next--with absolutely no downtime.

I can't see this any other way than exciting!

"How did this happen?" You may be asking yourself. Well I found out the same way most women find out-- in the bathroom. It's just that my bathroom is quite different than most women's. This is where I found out:

How did I tell Justin? Well, that special trip to the outhouse was about a week ago. I knew Justin was teaching at the government building until 6:30, so I prepared dinner and got our TV show ready on the computer. Also, it's chilly here once it gets dark so I prepared a fire in the stove but didn't light it--so that it would be ready to light when it got chilly enough. Inside the door of the stove I wrote a note informing him of my pregnancy. Then closed the door up so it was not noticeable.

I imagined that after dinner it would be cool enough for a fire and I could ask Justin to light it-- then he'd see the note.

And that's exactly what happened.

He was so surprised and shocked and gleaming at the same time! I am very lucky to have my man. He is a wonderful one. I am very excited to take this next leap with him.

Once we found out we needed to have it confirmed in UB with our Peace Corps Medical Officers. So we were off to UB the next business day. When it was confirmed it was time to tell our families. I love giving surprises and what better surprise is there that your daughter is pregnant and coming home to you? I had my little sister help me out with this one.

My sister designed a cake and wrote in Mongolian 'I am pregnant. I am coming home.' (with my help). She gathered the family together and showed them the cake.

We gave hints. Hint 1 was the cake. Hint 2 was this:

"Check your E-mail"They all ran downstairs to check their email.

In their email was a link to a Mongolian-English translation website and they were to translate the cake. And figure it out themselves...Which they did:

And that's how I told my family. I loved that my little sister was able to take these pictures for me! They speak volumes! I am so happy that they are happy and I can't want to be happy together with them!

Now, according to our Mongolian Fortune Teller friend that came and visited us last spring (check the blog post about that) this first child will be a girl. We'll have to wait and find out!

Justin and I have been really busy these past 6 weeks. They've been really productive and proving this to be a great school year! We (by we, I mean Justin) got a government English class started from scratch that teaches 6 nights a week for 2 hours a day. All PCVs rotate teaching with one Mongolian counterpart. There are over 60 students who attend, rotating days. We've also been successful at starting our English clubs with a school pairing program so that 3 students (at least one from each of our schools) and one teacher will be able to go to America for 2 weeks during the school year to learn about different cultures and have new experiences. I've been able to create a curriculum for Community English classes for all PCVs to use, including unit exams and a final exam, as well as a curriculum for students who are preparing for their nationwide English Exam at the end of the year. Justin and I were able to be apart of a Teacher's English Seminary in Omnigov, teaching teachers about the 4 language skills and using available resources in the classroom. While we were down there we took part in running the Gobi Marathon (half & 10k). And last but not least, we found out that we were going to be parents.

Yep, that's what I typed: We are going to be parents!

I am typing this from a Guesthouse's computer. I'm in UB for yet another eye exam. I have no idea how this exam will go-- but I'm hoping it will finally put my eye troubles to rest.

We've had such beautiful weather here! UB has trees and the trees are that magnificent color of gold and red and brown. There is a slight cool breeze that picks up the leaves as you walk. You can wear a long sleeve t-shirt and a scarf and be completely comfortable.This is autumn!!

But Wednesday brings snow and a temperature drop into the 20's. I'm eating it up while I can!

Speaking of eating...I think it's time for me to go find a cheesy croissant and bacon.

...Something I will never take for granted ever again. Last night while Justin and I were walking home from our weekly English speaking practice night at a cafe (we call it 'Monglish' where anyone in the community can meet all of us PCVs for dinner or drinks and practice their English speaking skills informally--and make friends!), it was dark and chilly. We passed by an apartment building.

When I'm cold and outside at night--could be walking, or driving-- I like to see lights coming out of windows into the darkness and imagine a comfy warmness inside of it. I was doing this exact thing while passing by this apartment window last night. The curtains were shut, but light was protruding to the outside darkness and on the window seal were trinkets: vase, picture frame, small figurines.

It hit me kind of hard. It's something I don't have and miss having. Never again will I see a window seal as just a window seal. When I'm lucky enough to own a window seal I will use it to its full ability. It's so useful. I don't have shelves in my ger, no where to just set things and no windows and hardly any sunlight. I will make sure my dream home has window seals and sunlight to the max! I'm making quite a list of requirement for my dream home. I hope it's not too much to ask.

While driving hours through the desert I wondered what these HUGE marks here, up close they are camel tracks. Not a place wasn't touched.What an adventure of a weekend this past weekend was! Justin and I had been planning to run in the Gobi Marathon (half & 10k races) for several months now and last weekend was the much anticipated date. It wasn't just play though-- we worked our way down there and rewarded ourselves with the Gobi run (rewarded?).

It all started early Thursday morning. We made our last meal in the ger, packed all of our things and were out the door by 12:30pm on our way to the gas station. Why are we going to the gas station? Well, there isn't direct transportation to Dalanzagad (Southern Gobi Province Capital) so we basically had to hitch-hike a ride. We knew that the bus coming from UB to Dalanzagad was due at that gas station at around 2pm (but you're never sure of a time in Mongolia, so it's best to give a a few hours leeway). So we sat and waited. And waited. And 4:30 comes around and no bus. Several other buses and cars had passed by, but none were going to Dalanzagad. We finally asked someone when the UB bus was coming and they told us it wasn't going to come. We were pretty upset we were sitting in 40 degree weather for hours. We were also a little nervous because we HAD to get down to Dalazagad. We were teaching at a Teacher's Seminar and needed a day of preparation. We called our teachers and other friends to ask them how we could get to Dalanzagad since the UB bus never came. No one knew. There isn't a lot of transportation between provinces here in Mongolia. Finally, someone let us know that another bus from UB should be arriving in Mandalgovi to get gas at around 10pm.

At 10pm we went back to the gas station and waited. And waited. This time the temperature is below freezing.

And the bus came! It came around 11:30pm. We ran up to the bus driver and asked if we could hitch a ride. He said, 'no'.

There is no way we were about to take a 'no'. He said he didn't have any seats available. We told him we needed to get to Dalazagad and that we'd sit in the aisle. He looked at us crazy, but said it was alright. So Justin asked how much it was and they guy said we didn't have to pay-- we're that crazy. So we got in and sat on our bags in the aisle of a bus. It was a really bumpy ride. That driver seemed to be hitting the hardest bumps and dips on purpose causing people to fly in the air (but I know that's just how the path is). We finally got to Dalazagad at 6am on Friday morning.

We arrived at a friend's apartment and slept for a few hours before getting to work on the seminar that we'd be presenting the next morning. Dalanzagad is notorious for power outages. They are unpredictable and only give the residents a few hours of electricity everyday. So we worked during the day and ate dinner by candlelight.

The seminar was a hit! I am so amazed at how well it went. There were about 20 participants who came from the Dalanzagad and other small villages (soums) around the province. We did work hard for it and I felt so satisfied. We did good work, the teachers learned a lot and wanted more. I'm in the processes of getting pictures of the seminar. I'll post those pictures soon.

Now, we worked hard for this-- but the time had finally come. The next day (Sunday) was the big race. We drove about 3 hours northeast of DZ and saw some spectacular views. The Gobi Marathon was taking place at the Flaming Cliffs. It was beautiful to drive! It was absolutely tough to run through. Think: SAND and hills.

There are more pictures to come. This was definitely a weekend I'll always remember. We hung out with our friends (Clifton, Joe, Rob & Ben), we prepared and presented an awesome seminar, we ran a race in the GOBI! and we traveled far too long. We work hard and play hard here in Mongolia.

Leaves are falling all around,

on the house-tops on the ground.

Leaves are falling on my nose,

on my head and hands and toes!

I've been singing children's songs lately that refer to Fall. We don't have any leaves here, but the song captured the autumn memories from my youth. And good memories make me happy!

Mandalgovi had a 'Farmer's Market' day last week. People from other Aimags came to sell their goods (vegetables, homemade treats--i.e. arul, airag, and all other curdled milk products--, and handmade clothes). I really enjoyed the one they had last fall, so I was excited to go again this year. As I strolled through the aisles, I wondered why they don't do these more often. Everything is so unique, it's a gold mine for souvenirs and Mongolian culture. Then, I saw it. Big, Beautiful and orangy-gold. The essence of fall. The king of this season.

A pumpkin:

The women in the stall had a good time seeing our faces (Megan was with me). We asked how much and they weighed it and told us: 1,500 Tugrik (that's about $1). A whole, medium sized pumpkin for $1! The laughs that came out of mine and Megan's mouth were crazed and mental sounding. I hadn't seen, let alone, touched a pumpkin for 2 years now...for Megan it's been 3-- and here it is...only $1. Done and done. Sealed deal. I would have bought that pumpkin for 20,000 tugriks!

For now, it's sitting as a decoration. Soon (maybe in 2 weeks time) it will be carved into a Jack-o-lantern, then the meat will be taken out and pureed to use for pumpkin pies in November. I'm going to get as much use out of this pumpkin as possible. Fall decor in September, Jack-o-lantern & pumpkin seeds in October, Pie in November.

I went to that Farmer's Market during my lunch break-- so I had to carry it back with me to school. Boy, did I get major stared at. Not only am I a foreigner and am constantly being stared out...now I'm holding a large, bright orange, weird thing. I walk into my school and immediately "en yoo way?", "en yoo way?", "en yoo way?" (what is this?). I said 'pumpkin'. And then they all asked what it tasted like. Was it good? Was it a fruit? I tried to answer (they don't know any types of squash, so I could only compare it with a cucumber--because they steam their cucumbers like we do squash), but it was extremely difficult. And also as I tried to answer, I started to feel horrible. Here is a huge piece of western culture that I could use as a lesson and let them explore this new item. They were so curious! So much about the pumpkin could be taught: baking the seeds, a pie, the texture of squash, the smell, the fun you have making a Jack-o-lantern. I felt like I was depriving them of something marvelous and so dear to me, total American culture! But, at the same time I just...can't...do it. I can't.

I have plans for this pumpkin, and they are all for me--well, all of us PCVs here in Mandalgovi. We've stripped ourselves of American culture for them and having this pumpkin will bring some of that back to us. So I can't do it. But, I hear that next weekend they will continue this Farmer's Market and if there are more pumpkins, by golly I'll buy them for my students!

Is that completely selfish of me?

I tried making popcorn balls last night, why wouldn't they stick together to form balls?? Anyway it was delicious homemade caramel popcorn with a touch of cinnamon. I love fall!

Here's the big one. The one that will change my life completely here as a PCV in Mongolia. Mr. Blender is nice--but Mrs. I-will-wash-all-your-clothes-for-you-in-one-load-so-your-hands-don't-freeze-and-aren't-rubbed-raw-every-weekend-and-cut-your-laundry-hours-in-half is the ultimate winner here.

Please welcome: Mrs. Washing Machine!

She's completed with pink flowers and pink rhinestones on the dial. She lives in Megan's apartment (because she has running water) and I make a weekly visit to see both Megan and Mrs. Washing Machine. She has a spin dry, but doesn't have a dryer. So our clothes will still be damp and we'll have to walk 10 mins in the cold with wet laundry, but it's a heck of a lot better than 3 or 4 hours of hand-washing every week!

We paid 160,000 Tugrik for her. But between the 6 of us, it was only about 27,000 each (roughly $22 each). We paid it gladly.

As for root beer float night: it didn't happen :( That day was freezing! We had a cold front come in and the high was only in the lower 40's. We decided to post-pone it until it was a bit warmer (which will need to happen before the end of this month, because October is when winter begins!).

I seriously feel like I'm living the life. What else do I need? I have absolutely nothing to complain about. My life here is easy. A microwave would be pretty cool, actually--but we honestly have no where to put it and I don't see us getting one. We have friends (Mongolian & PCVs), we have good food (because that IS important--you'll never know how important it is until you're surrounded by only steamed flour, boiled meat and fermented milk--and we're warm.

This year is going to be all about comfort. Last year I was in it to survive and did my exploring-- This year, I know what it takes. It was rough, it was brutal. I remember some very, very dark days. But I'm going in it with a fight this year to make sure peace will be made between us. And yes, I'm talking about you, winter!

Why am I bringing up winter on the 6th of September? Well because of this:

That's the weather up in UB right now. Here in Mandalgovi it's a warm 41 degrees. I knew this cold front was coming. Last night before I went to bed I put on my leggings, put my long thigh socks on over them (I'm sooo glad I bought those from Target before we left...I actually bought them by accident, but they've been a life saver), then added another layer of socks: my fluffy, pink, knitted socks. Now up on top I have my undershirt, a t-shirt, a light sweater then my fleece sweater on top. I was NOT cold last night. I prepped like a pro.

The topic has come up between us experienced PCVs about how not right it feels right now. We are all basically constantly looking over our shoulder every where we go in search for winter. Like it's going to creep up and grab us when we're least expecting. It's just not right to be here and not be cold...I'd rather it be cold than in constant fear and anxiety of what lies ahead. Bring. It. On.

I have a "Comfortable Living Part 2" post coming later on today/tonight/ or tomorrow. I won't give it away just yet. But it's one of the better things that could happen to us--or me. Why we didn't do this last year, I don't know-- but we've lived and learned and will definitely make up for it!

Today is a busy day! I have to teach class within the next hour, finish creating my schedule (which means hunting teachers down all day trying to get their schedules so I can harmonize them with mine), create curricula for my English Clubs, Community English Classes, Primary Teacher Methodology Classes and National Exam Prep Courses and other grunt work-- but the fun part comes this evening. We're having the first Mandalgovi PCV Meeting tonight. We have 6 PCVs in Mandalgovi this year (3 English Teachers, 1 Social Worker, 1 Health Volunteer and 1 Business Volunteer)-- a lot! And we're going to sit down and discuss all the projects we're wanting to do this year and collaborate with each other. We have so many organizations between us (the Hospital, the Children's Center, Mercy Corps, 3 out of the 4 schools in our town, etc.) that anything is possible. Between the 6 of us we can do great things in this community this year! OK, so I am excited about the meeting-- but really I'm most excited about......ROOT BEER FLOATS! We can't have a social without some type of refreshments!

Last Spring my dad sent a package with root beer extract. We don't have root beer here-- and I haven't tasted its marvelous deliciousness in over 18 months-- but we do have club soda...and right now we do have little ice cream sandwiches and per the directions on the back of the root beer extract box we can make root beer floats with these ingredients. It's a chilly day today, it's a shame we didn't do this last week (or even yesterday), but it will be amazing.

It's time for me to get to work! Comfortable Living Part 2 up next!

The opening ceremony. All 1,600 students come to the outside assembly.

The governor of Mandalgovi came to speak.

After the assembly all the students come inside to hear the President of Mongolia give a lesson on the 1st day of School (on the TV). I feel like the 1st day of School was the beginning of the end. This is it. One. Last. School. Year. So, what are we going to do about it? Work. Play. Make memories. I have to say, going into it (days before the 1st day of school) I was at a low point. Coming back to a ger after the amazing life you can live in an apartment-- in addition to the condition our ger was in when we returned home to it, I was uneasy about doing this again. The uneasiness didn't last for long though-- something clicked and I had a change in gears. We make life as enjoyable or difficult as we want it to be. And I've made a decision that my life will be a good but challenging one!

It's so good to be back in my own kitchen. Or I guess I should say, it's so good to be able to use my own kitchen utensils and appliances again! I brought back an item from UB that will change my life here in Mandalgovi: Meet Mr. I'm-going-to-make-your-life-so-awesome-this-year Blender. Already I've found Cherry Compote and made it into a cherry pie filling. Made probably the best pie crust ever--using my blender (pie crust was my thing back in the states...I can't imagine it getting much better, but it did--oh so flaky with just the right amount of buttery and sweetness to it!).

I've been wanting a smoothie for a while, but ice is a very foreign concept to Mandalgovians. "Why would you want to drink something cold? And if you want it cold why don't you just put it outside?" So ice trays are not available, BUT bananas ARE readily available right now and awesome when frozen. So, next I found some Strawberry Compote and...BAM!



Strawberry & Banana Smoothie 

Now if only bananas weren't $2 a pop I'd be doing this daily. Next on my list: Peanut Butter.

Right now it feels like we're living the dream life. We have so many American sitemates here to talk to and hang out with, we've received great packages this summer with amazing food, and it's still warm out so we're not constantly slaving over the stove/bagging coal/cleaning up coal dust, dung dust or dealing with frozen things. Life feels relatively easy. I mean, there are still ger chores that must happen (taking out the dirty water, getting clean water, sweeping up the sand that finds its way through the sides of the ger, etc.) but NOTHING compared to winter ger chores.

The warm weather has been messing with my mind though. I doesn't feel right to be here and not be cold. The other night (about 9:30) I was reading in bed when I had an urge to go to the bathroom. I could hear the wind blowing and my mind went to winter mode and started thinking 'you can hold it in for a while longer--maybe even through the rest of the night'--prolonging the long cold walk to the outhouse. Finally I couldn't hold it anymore and got up and prepped myself to go outdoors. I opened the ger door with my eyes squinting, ready...and....warmth. It was warm. It made me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that I am warm. Sad that it won't last for much longer. (And yes, I hold it in as looooong as possible in the winter-- there is no going to the outhouse if you 'think' you need to go...you only go when you HAVE to go.)

This is a beautiful site to me:



The fact that our ping (the little shed/entryway they put up in front of our ger to protect from wind getting in through the front door and also serve as storage for our fuel) is not up-- they only put it up during the winter season and remove it once it's warm. The fact that you can see the sun shining through the door. The fact that the the door is slightly open (and it's okay, because it's warm!). It's a beautiful site, for sure.



Flowers Justin picked for me in our 1st day in our apartment this summer.

 Summer has come and gone. Where did it go? I don’t even remember being warm anymore. There is a part of me that is excited for fall to return: apple pies, the taste of cinnamon, waking up for that hot cup of spiced anything, scarves (for style, not as a survival accessory, like during winter), and making fires for fun.

 Justin and I made it back safely to Mandalgovi two days ago. We had an 8 hour off road bus ride that only stopped mysteriously a couple of times. One time it was to help another bus out because it had broken down. The drivers couldn’t fix that bus, so about 40 more people joined us on our bus the rest of the way. I felt bad for those who had to stand in the aisle for the next hour.

 School starts on Thursday. Once it begins our downhill tread will also begin. We’ve made a lot of plans for this year-- we have a lot of projects up our sleeves-- and a lot of new site-mates to help us out! This will be a great year for Mandalgovi and its PCVs:  Mandalgovi PCVs 2011

Over the summer (for the last 4 months) I have been living out of one small suitcase with about 5 different changes of clothes. It was really doable. There were times I wore my dirty clothes more than I should have before washing-- or people that had seen me in the same outfit every time we had a chance to meet-- but really it was nice to live free and on the go. We moved around a lot this summer, with our Asian Vacation/backpacking trip, training in Darkhan, staying UB, then finally our Mid Service Training (because, yes! We are half-way through our service!). When we got back to our ger though (a little more about that instant in a minute) I realized just how much I can live with out. Wait a sec, I remember saying this EXACT same thing one year ago when I was first moving into my ger. We came to Mongolia with 5 HUGE over-stuffed suitcases and I was feeling the satisfaction of living simply then….now fast forward to today and I’ve downsized to 1 medium sized suitcase and I feel content. Now that I’ve reunited with all the rest of my stuff in my ger-- I feel overwhelmed. We have SO MUCH STUFF. Will I ever be able to live housing bigger than 300 sq ft and not be overwhelmed by owning too much stuff??

So coming back to Mandalgovi was a little difficult-- as I knew it would be. After living in an apartment with plumbing and a hot shower for 4 months reverting back to a glorified tent and an outhouse isn’t easy. We got home to our ger in the evening and spent the entire night cleaning. A thick layer of sand (because the ger isn’t closed off, the sides are completely open to the world to let in wind, but also lets in bugs, mice and layers of sand after layers of sand. So not only was I overwhelmed by how much STUFF we have, I was completely broken down by the mess that we returned to. I bit back the tears and got to work. A mouse had ruined the whole bottom shelf of food we had and left droppings and smelly pee everywhere. That was task #1 (get rid of mouse smell and mess), then I got some soapy water and tackled the dust/sand on every piece of furniture we own and worked my way down--finally shaking out/sweeping the rugs and hand scrubbing the floor with bleach. Clean ger: accomplished.



Open sides of the ger 

Surprise! In our fridge-- yes, that's an animal ear you see.  

You can't have a complete Mongolian Summer without a flat tire.  So I feel hip and savvy these days because my sister gave me a kindle for my birthday. What a life changing gadget that is! I’ve read over 15 books in the last month or so that I’ve had it. And it will definitely help me out with my goal for this winter (to not run out of reading material!). Some books I’d recommend on living a life simply are:

Living the Savvy Life: The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Smart Spending and Rich Living by Melissa Tosetti   Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider

   

Justin and I got back from our great Asian Vacation 3 weeks ago. I have been in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, ever since. Justin’s pink eye seemed to come and go rather quickly, but I have gone from one Dr to the next trying to seek help for my eye. In total I have seen 5 professionals concerning my eye. Which turns out that the pink eye also came and went after the first several days and then my eye (right eye) had an assortment of other little complications all at the same time (making it look like I had a really bad case of pink eye the entire time). I lost a little vision from my right eye (now 20/30 with my glasses on), but am expected to regain it back with the use of steroid drops I will be using for the next 2 months at least. So, no contacts for at least that long. I am now a glasses wearer :(

Good news is that my eye is getting better and in fact is almost completely better (minus the vision). I think I have one more Dr.’s appointment to go to on Monday and I should be released.

It has been a little nice, I have to say, staying in UB and seeing all the PCVs that have come in for the summer. Also, it has been really nice sleeping on a comfy mattress, taking hot showers and using a toilet. The food that is available in UB is mind-blowing at times.

In a little over a week, Justin and I will start our ‘summer job’ as trainers for the new PCVs who have just started their 2 year assignments this summer. They have been in Mongolia for about a month now, and Justin and I will be training them for one more month. I am very excited to be apart of their training crew.

That’s where I’m at right now. Justin is in Mandalgovi trying to get some work done and tying loose ends up because it’s going to be about another 2 months until we return for Mandalgovi for one more school year.

We have successfully completed one year of service. We have one year to go, and I am determined to make this the best year ever in Mongolia! We’ve been through it all in a course of 12 (now 13) months and we know what works and what doesn’t, what was worth it and what wasn’t, what was smart and what was stupid.

Some things that were worth it (or smart):

Internet in the ger -- We debated about this for a while before getting it, but it has proven to be well worth the money spent!Eating well (also see ‘Eating well’ in the stupid column)-- Every night we cooked for hours to make our dinners delicious (everything has to be made from scratch), though we were exhausted and freezing (and sometimes not eating dinner until 10 o’clock at night) it was worth it. We made do with what foods we had available to us. And it made us happy.Weekly dinner nights with my sitemates-- This didn’t start until well into the school year, but it was awesome to be able to have a night where us PCVs could get together and just talk and hang. Good for your spirit.Weekly showers (in the warmer months)--During the winter it is too dang cold to leave your ger for anything other than work & getting food, so showering was not even considered. Also during the cold months you don’t get as dirty so you can go a few months without showering. But, during the warmer months when going to the shower house was an option it felt amazing to exfoliate and feel fresh.Candles--How could I survive without you!? Very worth stocking up on candles in UB (when the rare scented candle shows its face), and VERY thankful for those who have sent candles in their packages! This is the ultimate way to relax for me--since I don’t have my bathtub anymore.Time for TV (on the computer)-- We have some shows and movies on our hard drive. It was always a great way to feel connected back to the states and feel like you’re home for a couple of hours. Stupid things (or things that didn’t work):

Not having a full library of books-- I read through our 15 or so books we ‘stocked’ up for the winter. This is NOT enough.Not Eating Well-- Though we did what we could with what he had available to us, we didn’t use our resources in UB wisely. This year we will REALLY REALLY stock up on dried beans, oatmeal, canned tomatoes, spices, ketchup, mustard, drink mixes, brown sugar, syrup, other canned/dried goods and bring them back to Mandalgovi. We also appreciated all the packages we received over the last year to help us stock up on these yummy items we take very much for granted. I am not going through another winter feeling hungry.Allowing our fire fuel to run out-- there were a handful of days where we waited on our fuel suppler to supply us with fuel for our fire (them saying they will come ‘tomorrow‘, then ‘tomorrow‘ again and ‘tomorrow‘ again). Even though we gave them days, even weeks sometimes, notice we were still left cold and fuelless. This is NOT going to happen next year. It’s unacceptable to be without a fire in a tent in -40 degrees. So a minimum of 2 weeks notice, and a stern daily follow-up after until we receive our fuel is needed for next winter.Not hanging out with sitemates enough-- What were we thinking? We had 3 other PCVs in a 1 mile radius from us and we didn’t use each other to help keep each other more sane. It’s always good to have someone who knows what you’re going through, or to celebrate American Holidays, celebrate your successes with and collaborate community development ideas with. This year my sitemates will see A LOT of me, and maybe even be annoyed by me JNot using our space heater enough-- We thought we were being tough and hardcore the first couple month of real winter (November & December) and refused to use our space heater and lived off our fires. We thought we were being wusses by having to give in and use it. So it stayed under our bed during some of the coldest days in winter. Stupid. The heater isn’t there for emergencies, it’s there for survival!Not having a water supply-- There are times when our water bucket was low and the only water available to us was frozen, so we’d have to wait an hour to thaw what we did have before having any water to drink, cook with, clean with, etc. We really need to have a constant supply stashed away for days when water is not available. That was not smart.We’ve survived a year in Mongolia in a ger. Now we know what it takes to make this next year even better.

We made it safely back to Mongolia last Friday. Seoul was amazing. Justin and I fed ourselves at as many Western restaurants as possible. You can get Korean food in Mongolia like you can get Mexican food in Texas, so our priority was to eat what we'd miss most: McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin Robins. Our tummies were very happy. Seoul seems to be the most like America out of the three countries visited. Mostly because it has a lot of Western shopping and food chains. Everything was just familiar there. So, it was a nice way to end our journey-- to relax at 'home'.

We splurged and took 1st class on the bullet train from Pusan to Seoul. When I say we relaxed in Seoul, I mean we relaxed in Seoul. A 1st class train ride was a must!

Somewhere along our vacation Justin started getting pink eye (back in Beijing). I know how contagious pink eye is. Even though I tried not to, I, too got pink eye. I hate to think about how many others we infected along the way because we were in one public place after another.

Justin's pink eye came and went, though it was uncomfortable. However, I got mine our last day in Japan. That was 2 weeks ago today. I had it in one eye for the rest of the trip. When we touched down in UB I went straight to our Medical Officers. They informed me that we couldn't go back to Mandalgovi until both our eyes have cleared up (Justin still had traces of pink eye). So now, a week later we're still resting it up in UB. Justin's eye is completely better. I ended up getting pink eye in both my eyes and another bacterial infection in my original pink eye.

Good news is our Asian Vacation was a success (pink eye or no pink eye), AND we get a little R&R in UB while we fend off this infection. Next week: Madalgovi! It's been over a month since we've been in our ger. A glamorous month of flushing toilets, running hot water, showers, mattresses, friend and good food. Next, home sweet home.

Here's a recording of a performance at the Drum Tower in Beijing I took.

Typed: 6/13/2011

Japan is amazing. Quite beautiful in every way. I think Tokyo has made it to the No. 2 spot in my favorite cities (No. 1 being Paris). I love the tree lined streets, the small but clean and sturdy roads. Sidewalks that are gushing with flowers of every kind. It smells wonderful here. It smells like what spring should smell like!

What I noticed right off the bat when we walked out of the airport was how serene it is here. The people are so polite and peaceful. Something that Justin keeps saying is: Now he understands where the background for Super Mario Bros. comes from (because the streets are so perfect and clean and fake looking).

Now, Tokyo is still a happenin' place. We didn't have to go too far to find where all the people were at. We walked around Ueno Park, did a little pedal boating in the pond, looked off into a shrine surrounded by a pond infused with lilies, turtles, koi. It was beautiful. All the while people were still peacefully quite.

We went to the National Museum (which was more interesting than the one in China), had our fill of sushi & fresh fish, roamed around the Imperial Palace's Gardens and spent an ETERNITY in the underground world better known as Tokyo Station. My goodness, it's about the sizeof a medium sized city. It took me a good 45 mins to go from one side to the other (and I was speed walking & sweating profusely-- I don't know why I added that).

We took the Bullet train to Fukuoka, Japan. Justin was unimpressed with it. I think he thought it would make your cheeks flap because it was going so fast. It did go really fast (especially compared to the old fashion train we took from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing), but it was a smooth fastness. I am going to miss all the friendliness of Japan. How strange it was to see people politely letting others off the subway before they entered, or seeing people in the streets bowing to each other-- even the workers on the train would bow to us everytime they passed our compartment. Now we're in Fukuoka. It's an amazing city! I wish we had more time here. But, tomorrow we're off to Pusan, South Korea.

Typed: 6/9/2011

We’ve seen some great things the past few days including the Drum Tower, Bell Tower, some street markets, some Buddhist Temples, and ate some fabulous, succulent Peking Duck. But I was most excited about today because it’s bike day!

Today started out very promising. Justin and I were up by 7:30 and out the door by 8:30. Our plan for the day was to rent some bikes and bike to the Temple of Heaven, Natural History Museum, Chinese History Museum, Mao Mausoleum, Forbidden City and finally the Night Market. We ended up doing 3 out of those 6 things. We started off with a great breakfast of Egg McMuffins & Hashbrowns at a McDonald’s we passed on the way.

I was so excited to ride my bike! It was a little scary at first because of how busy the traffic is and the bike lane is next to car lanes. But I couldn’t help smiling with my shades on and the wind blowing in my hair as I pedaled swiftly. Justin, however, didn’t have such a good experience. His bike was pretty crap. One of his pedals didn’t work at all, so the whole time he biked with his right pedal only. His chain fell off a couple of times and finally he even fell off his bike at one point after struggling to adjust the seat that was too high for him. Oh man, it was quite comical for me. But, I did feel bad for the poor guy.

Anyway, the Temple of Heaven was beautiful! It was so humid out today that I was a little miserable and seeking shade, but I was glad to see it. While we walked inside the gates of the park, everywhere we turned there were people snapping pictures. It made me wonder just how many pictures I have been in over the course of my life. How many people/tourist have an Ashlie in the background of their group photo from DisneyWorld, Big Ben, or the Temple of Heaven?? I wonder…

Well, both of the museums that we went to today were just ‘eh’ for me. It was great to get out of the heat and into an air-conditioned place, but I’m not a museum girl. The first one (Natural History Museum) had dinosaurs, some stuffed animals from the Americas and some human science sections (including this huge womb!).

But the Chinese History Museum had many artifacts from…well, Chinese history. It was interesting, but at this point Justin and I were burnt out. We’d biked several miles in the 96 degree heat with high humidity. We decided to put off the Mao Mausoleum and the Forbidden City until tomorrow and to just bike through the Night Market on our way back to the hostel.

We got lost. We went around in circles looking for where the Night Market was supposed to be. I feel like we were soooo close! I know it was just around one of those corners. But after an hour of riding around and around we decided to add that to the list of things to do tomorrow. We’ve really pooped ourselves out this trip. Beijing just can’t be done comfortably in 5 days. Let that be noted! We finally got to 9 Dragons House around 4:30. What a long day.

Now, our tummies are full with absolutely wonderful Chinese food (the best so far) and we’ve showered, I think we’re done for the night. We’re totally pooped, man.

Typed: 6/7/2011

Beijing is AMAZING! Oh man, I LOVE it! It’s beautiful, it’s green, it’s sunny and warm! Our hostel isn’t even a hostel, it’s more like a hotel. I’m lovin’ it. Speaking of “I’m lovin’ it”, guess what our 2nd meal in China was. McDonald’s! I know some people are getting annoyed with us right now for not getting on the Chinese grub, but how on Earth could I pass up a MCDONALDS? In fact, I ate there today, too…and plan on eating there once a day while here in Beijing. Oh how I’ve missed fast food chains. Not only that, but the Coke was the single best Coke I’ve had in over a year now. Something about fountain drinks just make them so much better. Maybe it’s the paper cup that it’s served in? I dunno, but Mongolia better shape up and get some fountain drinks!

Before I get too excited and type about all the novelties the 21st century brings (that we’ve been missing out on in Mongolia), let me create some order to this post and start from the train station when we first arrived yesterday at 2pm.

The warmth made me smile and Justin and I made our way to the front of the train station to find a loooooong line for the Taxi.

Apparently you can’t just hitch-hike rides like you can in Mongolia. So, we made our way to the line and waited…because that’s what we do when we see lines. We stand in the back and wait our turn. That’s not how it goes in Mongolia. Mongolians don’t have much of a concept of ‘queuing up’ or waiting ‘their’ turn. I’m not sure what they think, but they don’t acknowledge whose turn it is by how long the person has been waiting. It’s more whosever elbow is strongest gets served first. Well, while Justin and I were in line we watched as some Mongolians that were on our train with us (not Davaadash’s family) walked right up to the next taxi (in the front of the line) and tried to get in. I couldn’t believe it! What did they think this long line of people queued up by the words "TAXI” (which is the same in Mongolian) were doing? Just hanging out? It just blows my mind how lining up isn’t a part of their culture. I think they are in for a culture shock in Beijing.

Anyway, we were also in for a culture shock. What were we thinking coming to China and not knowing a lick of Mandarin?! We jumped in that Taxi and tried our hardest to explain that we’d like to go to our hostel (9 Dragon House). English didn’t work, and Mongolian didn’t work (though we kept trying to speak Mongolian to him?? I’m not sure why, it’s just what would come out of our mouths). I could tell he was very frustrated. We had a map of where the hostel was, but he wasn’t understanding it until he saw the Chinese script and after that we didn’t have anymore problems. We were dropped off in a small alley & kind of confused, but safe. Chickens were walking about pecking at a pile of marvelous cilantro(!), men swinging in hammocks and red paper lanterns lit the way.

We had a great evening just walking around the neighborhood (finding the McDonald’s and eating there for dinner) and coming back to our hostel for a great night’s sleep.

Onto today: The Great Wall. It is just that. A Great Wall. Beautiful scenery, great hike. Now we’re pooped, sunburned and needing of a shower.

Typed: 6/5-6/2011

Today is our 1 year anniversary living in Mongolia! And we’ve left for China! The train isn’t so bad at all. I’m pretty sure we got 2nd class tickets instead of 1st because there are some way nicer compartments than ours-- but ours definitely aren’t as bad as the 3rd class we took to Sukhbaataar a couple of weeks ago. 2nd class is very comfortable. Here are a couple of reminders for the next time we take the train:

Bring your own toilet paper!

Bring wet wipes

Snacks, water, more snacks!!

Books to read

We were put in a compartment with an older man and his grandson. They both are Mongolians who know English and seem to be well traveled. We played many rounds of Texas Hold ’Em and other various card games. Davaadash (the grandfather) , was traveling with his wife, children and other grandchildren to visit a son who is a consulate living in China. They were in other compartments, but came in and out of ours to play with the white folks, or to talk. Davaadash got Justin to sing a Mongolian song with him on the train. I think he was impressed with Justin. There were some uncomfortable times but all in all, the 30 hour train ride wasn’t so bad….but maybe would have been better in 1st class.

Crossing the border into China was pretty awesome. The last Mongolian town we went through was Zamiin Uud and it’s quite a desolate and sandy place (comparable to Mandalgov--our town), but almost immediately after crossing the border into the Chinese side there were trees, flower gardens and even classical music blasting from speakers to welcome us (at least that’s what I think the music was for). It was a little eerie, but nice at the same time. It was like 10pm at night when we went through that Chinese town.

So, we stopped for 2 hours in Erenhot in Inner Mongolia, China. The train had to change its wheels so most passengers got off to walk around Erenhot and stretch their legs. Well, Justin and I were starving. We knew we had about 2 hours (but by Mongolian time it could mean anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours) so we felt a little flustered and rushed in our first Chinese city ever! And….we ended up eating at a Mongolian restaurant. Call us crazy, because we totally are. Who hops the border from Mongolia to China and immediately eats at a Mongolian restaurant??? These guys. Us. Sad and pathetic, I know. We were rushed and we know absolutely no Mandarin, but we do know Mongolian. So we were able to talk to some friendly Mongolians at the restaurant and help several other travelers (some Irish men) with the menu and ordering. I’m still shaking my head that this was our first meal in China.

We got back on the train around 12:30 am and I had one of the best sleeps in the last 2 weeks. I still woke up at 6:30 though (dang sun getting up at 4am!!). We had breakfast and lunch on the train. (They didn’t feed us meals while in Mongolia, but in China we got served TWO meals!) Almost to Beijing.

6/4/2011

So Justin and I spent the last two weeks in Darkhan attending training on how to be trainers for the new Peace Volunteers that will be coming to serve in Mongolia tomorrow (for 2 years). We worked hard days, but I am not complaining at all. It was great to feel like we’re getting something done and to stay completely busy. Also it was magical, just magical being in an apartment! This is the apartment Justin and I will call home this summer (until mid August). It is going to be soooooo hard going back to ger living. So hard.

The food here is great! I’ve had yummy yogurt with walnuts and cranberries (just like I used to have every morning in the States!!). Also, Justin and I were told of a place that had Dr. Pepper! This is the first ever DP I’ve seen in Mongolia! And you better believe we bought the store out. We also have a TV. We get one English channel-- which is CNN! So, I’ve been quite spoiled because my morning and night routine now includes watching World News on CNN.

I know Darkhan is sounding like a dreamland to you, it is! They even have a restaurant called Texas. Yep. There were a few evenings when Justin and I wanted dinner and said, “Let’s go to Texas”. It sounded awesome to just say it. “Okay, Let’s go to Texas”-- Like we were going home. We spent our 5th year Wedding Anniversary in/at Texas last Friday (May 27th). And another tid-bit of awesomeness-- a store here carries Jalapeños! They will definitely be bought out by the end of the summer!

We’re leaving for UB this afternoon, then tomorrow morning Justin and I are off to China via the Trans-Siberian Railway.

And we're off!

We've made our way to Sukhbaatar in Selenge, Mongolia. It is beautiful here! Justin and I took the train from UB- Sukhbaatar. We boarded at 9pm on Tuesday and got to Nadra's apartment at about 5am on Wednesday. Justin and I thought we'd brave 3rd class (even though we'd heard to avoid it). We figured since we are traveling together that it wouldn't be so bad with a partner. And it really wasn't bad. It wasn't comfortable by all means, but it wasn't bad and definitely worth the money we saved from not going on 1st or even 2nd class.

Here's a picture of the inside of 3rd class. There are seats for 8 people per compartment, but we only had 2 other people in our compartment.

There were 6 beds available in our compartment. I took a bottom bed while Justin bunked up top. He strapped himself in with the straps to make sure he didn't roll off the bed during the night.

The beds were just boards (what we were expecting), but no bedding whatsoever was provided (not what we were expecting). There wasn't any heat on and it was a very cold night. :(

But, we made it! And we're here! And it doesn't look like Mongolia to us. There are trees, and grass and actual houses! I've only seen a handful of gers. Which is opposite in Mandalgovi (you'd see thousands of gers, but a handful of houses). Since the town is very close to the Russian border the town has a lot of Russian influence. It is a really cute town.

Here are a couple pictures from Nadra's 5th floor apartment:

Here's Justin and Nadra. Justin was pretty excited to see some fish available at the local market.

I was so excited when I stepped foot into Nadra's apartment in Sukhbaatar, Mongolia-- even though I was severely sleep deprived from an overnight train ride.

Yes, while I'm here visiting her I don't mind being the weird cat-lady! I love them! It is so weird to be able to show my crazy excitement for them because Mongolians hate cats. I'm not talking about oh-I'm-just-not-a-cat-person type hate. I'm talking about screaming-scared-for-your-life type hate. They can transfer evil spirits, or bad luck. I have yet to meet a Mongolian who likes cats.

Nadra's kitties:

Oh, but it's been sooo long since I've been with a cat! It's been a year now when I had to leave Annie behind. I can't believe it's been that long!

My Annie:

I've been planning for this trip for a while. I did all my research on getting a Chinese Visa, the sites we want to see, the prices, the transportation, etc. I got all the paperwork in order and we got it all printed out (a few times, because...well, just because that's how it goes here in Mongolia).

Justin spent a good portion of the day on Friday running around UB trying to make things possible for us to get our Visas, but really ended up not doing anything because he found out that we needed to get our train ticket information (our way out of Mongolia & into China) for our visit application.

Problem: You can't buy train tickets in Mongolia more than a day in advance. So how can we get our train ticket receipt to show the Embassy in enough time to process our Visas? You have to go through a travel agency. I hate travel agencies. The reason is because they're over-priced. But I do understand that they take away a lot of the headache that planning your own trip can give. So...I was about to give in when......UB Guesthouse saved our lives.

There, on the door of their building, was a flyer saying they'd help with train tickets & visa-- perfect! And it was, they printed out everything we needed then said, 'you're done'. So all the running around Justin did the other day was sadly for nothing, but we went to the Chinese Embassy this morning and pretty much just went in and out. They took all our application papers, pictures, train ticket in, flight ticket out, and our hostel information while we in China. We can pick up our visas next Monday.

It wasn't so bad. Really.

UB Guesthouse has been good to us. We have a private room here, good pillows, hot showers, toilets, they've done our laundry, and now pretty much sealed our deal with our train tickets and visa application. Though, Khongor Guesthouse will always be my 1st choice. UB Guesthouse is a tough competitor.

All the schools in Mongolia start September 1st and end on June 1st. There are 2 and a half weeks of school left. But Justin and I are a little lucky and get to venture into UB tomorrow. It seems like this trip crept up on us-- yet couldn't get here fast enough!

It seems that we're leaving when we're just getting started. I feel like I have so many things that I am going to leave undone and waiting for me when we return. We'll come back to Mandalgovi on June 20th for a short couple weeks. Then the next time we come back won't be until the new school year starts (and we'll have some lucky new Volunteers at our site!). Wrapping up everything is difficult. Yesterday my 7th grade students (whom I LOVE) wanted so badly to talk to me (in English!) the whole class period because they knew they wouldn't see me for a while. I told them about all the traveling I was going to be doing (our lesson was about traveling) and tried to fit in as much of a lesson as I could-- but at the end they gathered around me and wanted a picture to be taken. I almost started tearing up after the picture when they, one by one, came up to me to say 'goodbye, see you next year!' Man, what will it be like a year from now when we are saying goodbye forever?

I have a meeting with Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education (the head honchos of Education in Mongolia) on Friday morning in UB. Then on Monday Justin and I will be buying our ticket to Beijing and going to the Chinese Embassy for our visa application. It takes a total of 4 days to get our Chinese Visa. Then we have a few days before our Training of Trainers (since Justin and I will both be trainers for the new Peace Corps Volunteers this summer), we will visit our friend, Nadra, in Selenge. Selenge is straight north of us, and very close to the Russian border. I hear it's a drastic change of scenery from the Gobi. They have trees, I hear. :)

Finishing with TOT (Training of Trainers) Justin and I will be waiting at Chinggis Airport on June 4th for those new M22's coming in fresh from America! It's really weird to think I was in their shoes one year ago.

Straight from the Airport Justin and I will head to the train station and be on our great Asian Adventure!

So, here's to one more night using a jorlon (outhouse), washing my hair in a bucket, cleaning sand out of my ears (literally) and sleeping in a sleeping bag! We'll be in a real bed, with toilets, showers(...I don't even know which I am more excited about anymore. It used to be the good food in UB, but now I think the toilet is trumping over it all.).

And just one more snapshot of our weather for today... It's just geting worse and worse, man. It feels like 8 outside on May 11th! We've been getting hit by sandstorm after sandstorm. It's not fun. They don't have sandstorms up north! Goodbye Gobi Desert weather! Khongor Guesthouse here we come!

Ashlee & Scott Burt came to visit us down here in the Gobi for a few days. They have been here a year longer than we have and will be going back to America in about a month (Congrats to you!). They came down here for the Gobi experience. It was fun to have them here and be able to show them a little bit around the Gobi.

I told my teachers at school that some friends were coming down and wanted to see camels. Once I said that teacher after teacher came up to me 'My family lives only 30 kilometers away', 'My family lives int he countryside with many camels', 'My mother milks camels about 45 kilometers away', etc. I loved how eager they all were to help me. So, we piled in Erkham's (our hashaa father) car and set off to somewhere uncertain in the Gobi. We had two little girls with us 'leading the way' (as much as they could lead the way, there are no roads and herders are nomads moving a lot in the warmer months). We somehow got to where we wanted to go and got to see baby camels, big camels, baby goats, goats, and a weird sheep that just stared at us from the distance. I don't know what his problem was. I think we concluded that he was a retarded sheep-- because he did not move a muscle the whole time we were there. I found it amazing so I took a picture. But it was deleted on accident. Anyway, We were welcomed by an excited Emee (grandmother) with milk tea galore, some bortsik (fried dough) and some oodom (milk fat). I wish, now, that I would have gotten a picture with her.

Just stopping in the middle of nowhere:

I know, I know-- I'm posting too many weather reports on here-- But, it's just blowing my mind! It's like we hit a nice warm high of 70 degrees once in mid April and since then it's been downhill. I mean, it feels like freaking 14 degrees outside right now. Why did the weather even begin to get warmer in March in the first place if it was just going to go back down? The last couple of weeks have felt more like February than April-- and it's May! Needless to say, the sandstorms do not help whatsoever.

Well, I have a few more things I'd like to post, but school is beckoning me to make the trek in 38 mph wind.

My sister had a baby boy! So I am yet again an Auntie. She had him late at night on April 26th Mongolian time. The next day I was so excited to tell my teachers. I teach an English & Methodology class to Primary teachers twice a week. I speak only English to them during the lesson, but at the end of each lesson I talk to them in Mongolian to see how they are, get updates about school gossip and tell them what's going on in my life, etc. Well at the end of this class I said, "Last night my sister's baby was born!" I only said it that way because I didn't know how to say, "My sister had a baby!" in Mongolian-- But that started a loooong confusion. My teachers were confused if my sister had the baby or my sister's baby had the baby. So we drew pictures on the board-- which caused even more confusion until the pictures became more detailed and there was a woman giving birth on our class chalkboard. It was all hilarious really! But, now I know how to say "My sister had a baby!"

Congratulations Nita & Chad & Madison and Happy birthday, Lincoln!

But the weather outside is just too bad for me to leave my royal ger. I poked my head out and this is what I saw:

Here's the weather report:

Never put your lip gloss on before your walk to school. My once shiny lips were turned to sandpaper during the course of my 3 minute walk to school. No body likes sandy lips.

I love not having to make a fire! Clean hands, non-smoke-smelling clothes and hair and ultimately a dust & soot free ger!

Electricity is not always a part of daily life. It comes and it goes. Sometimes in the middle of making dinner.

Despite the wind, sandstorms, and occasional snow it is a heck of a lot better than winter.

Dogs have strong lungs. Now that it's warmer they've started to bark again and there are a couple dogs that every time they bark Justin and I look at each other in amazement. How does he bark so fast and continuously for so long without taking a breath? And what IS he barking at at 12am?

Going to the jorlon (outhouse) will never be a comfortable experience. In the winter all the human waste is frozen over so there is no smell...but the cold numbs your bum to the point of frost bite (not really, but it's dang cold!); I always held it in until the last minute because I just didn't want to go outside to go. BUT, now the weather provides a pleasant temperature, however the waste has unfrozen and the smell is...well, not good.

Read it and weep-- because I almost am.

This has been by far the sandiest day yet, and we've had some pretty dang sandy days. This sandstorm has been going on for two days straight. Tomorrow it's supposed to die down. I hope it does soon. I don't like being sandy. When I came home from school today I had a 'tumpin' bath. First I wash my face in the bowl of water, then I wash my hair. Well, after I was finished with those two things there was already a thin layer of sand at the bottom of the bowl. It's brutal out there right now.

Speaking of whirlwinds...Man, time has flown by. We've done so much in the past couple of weeks that I don't know where to start.

First of all, we had our 2nd Annual Spelling Bee. It was really fun to organize. All of the schools in my town competed (we have 5 schools). We even had a Spelling Bee for the teachers and they loved it! They all did a great job. We were really lucky that the Education Department funded our awards and certificates for the top 3 winners in every grade level. Next year they suggested that all the schools in our province be invited. I love that they had such a great time and want this competition to continue.

Here's a funny story to go along with this. Each of the PCVs in my town helped create word lists for certain grade levels. One of Justin's grade levels was 9th grade. We started each Spelling Bee with simple words (to build confidence in the students). When Justin was making his list (a week or so before the Spelling Bee) he asked if he should put the word 'rubber' on the list. I know we have non-American English speakers that read this blog and to you this doesn't seem funny-- because in all other English speaking countries a rubber is an eraser. But to us Americans, a rubber is a condom. And we are immature Americans. We teach from British ESL Books, so the students learn that a rubber is an eraser (not a condom), so to them this word is quite normal. I told Justin that it was his list and he could put whatever words he wanted on it. Okay, let's fast-forward to the day of the Spelling Bee. Justin is the 'reader' and I am sitting next to him being the 2nd judge. My student comes to the podium and Justin says 'Please spell rubber'. A smile broke out and I tried so hard to stifle a giggle, which made Justin giggle and we had to pause the Bee for about 1 minute or so until our immature minds were able to settle down. It was a little embarrassing, but funny at the same time. Here's a picture of the 'rubber' moment.

These are the 7th grade Spelling Bee participants:

7th grade winners:

All Student winners:

Megan and I passing out awards:

My teachers waiting for the Teacher's Spelling Bee to begin:

Well, Justin and I have about a month and a week until our big Asian vacation. I tell you, it has been the HARDEST thing to put together. We love to travel, but it can be so expensive. So, it's important to find ways to save money while traveling. We're not doing any tours (we don't like them, plus they are pretty expensive), so I've had to research the cities, the histories, the tourist spots myself online and how to go about seeing everything we want to see without being part of a long, expensive tour group. Which has proven to be difficult because we're working with three different languages/currencies. I typed the master plan out and have saved all the important websites. So if you are ever wanting to vacation in Japan, China or South Korea and don't want to waste money on an inclusive vacation package, let me know and I will give all of this information to you-- it was so dang difficult to find everything I needed online (and in English!).

Here's our plan:

We want to take the Tran-Siberian train from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing. We'll stay 4 days in Beijing, see all the major sites (including the Great Wall-- we will actually be going through the Great Wall on our train ride from Mongolia to China-- which is a 30 hour ride!--, but we want to see it again up close and personal). Then we're off to Tokyo via airplane. We'll stay a couple days in Tokyo, then take the speed train to Fukuoka, Japan where we will stay a day, then take the Ferry to South Korea. We'll have a day on the beach in Busan, South Korea, then venture on the speed train to Seoul. This is our relaxing point. I want to go to spa after spa and shop and maybe go to a theme park, and hike. After about 4 days in South Korea we are back on our way to Ulaanbaatar via plane.

If that's confusing to follow, here's a map that gives you a visual. I think I should get into the Travel Agent business! It was hours of work, and I mean HOURS. But, I did enjoy it and now everything is ready for us. There won't be anything to stress about on our great Asian Vacation!

Forrest Gump is my all time favorite movie. That tape (yes, in 2000 VCRs were still the top media players) remained in my TV/VCR combo for an entire summer on replay. I listened to it when I was brushing my teeth, I listened to it while I was talking on the phone, I even fell asleep to it most nights. I don't know why I did it--I'm weird I guess. But I'm sure I've seen it over 100 times, seriously. So, it's not difficult for me to think up quotes from the movie that are related to my life.

For instance, "I guess sometimes there just aren't enough rocks."

How perfect is this quote for Mongolia?! When we first arrived in Mongolia we were told to always carry rocks with us in our pockets or have some in our purse/bags so we could always be prepared. 'For what', you may ask?

Dogs.

Now, on my way to school (or anywhere outside of my hashaa) I have to walk by this mean black dog. I see him everyday. I've seen him everyday for about 7 months now and he's still not too friendly with me. The picture above is my rock pile that I take 3 rocks out of everyday as I slip through our hashaa door and into the mean black dog's hashaa. Sometimes I throw rocks at him, sometimes I don't-- it all depends on how feisty he's feeling that day-- if he decides to run after me or not. Then everyday when I walk back through his hashaa and into mine I throw my rocks back in my rock pile to use for the next day.

Well recently I've been noticing my rocks disappearing. My pile has gone from about 20 to about 5. What's going to happen when my rock pile runs out? More importantly who's found my stash??

Today was a great end to a great and relaxing weekend. It was rather chilly this weekend and very windy. I was able to get some school work done (I'm actually supposed to be working on it right now and finishing up, but found myself catching up on Shine and piddling around on my blog). Justin just made a great all wood fire (I love that smell!!!-- as opposed to dung fires), I have a pearberry candle glowing, my warm fleece jumper zipped up tight and a hot cup of pineapple tea. Now, I suppose it's time to get back to work.

I just had a teachers meeting where I brought up some activities for the school to do in order to participate in Earth Day. I printed out some activities from the internet and handed them out for my teachers to look over. Then I started my convincing spiel. And blabbed on for a good few minutes because I really wanted to convince them to participate. I went on about how important it is not to litter and what can happen when there is too much litter, etc. When I finished I asked what they thought and one of my teachers said, "Don't worry, Ashlie. Ok, our school does many things in the April to clean earth." It seems that every Saturday in April is dedicated to picking up trash around the town to beautify Mandalgovi. Also, she said that two trees are planted every year in April by the gardening club students. Man, I feel like I've got it easy at my school. I seriously have one of the best school in Mongolia, I'm sure.

I missed last Saturday's picking up trash...but I'm going to be prepared this Saturday! I wonder why they didn't tell me about it??

I had another visitor come to my ger yesterday. Flat Stanley! For those of you who aren't familiar with the book or the project check it out here. It's pretty cool. I wish I would have done something like this with my students back in the states.

Basically, Stanley is a character from a book. The 'project' is to find all the benefits of being completely flat (he was flattened by a board in the book). So one of the major and most popular benefits is that it is a lot cheaper for him to travel. And now the project turns into something similar as the traveling gnome. So, a friend of my sister's sent Flat Stanley to Mongolia to visit me.

Here are some pictures of his visit:

This was Stanley when he got to my ger last night.

Here's Stanley standing next to Chingis Khan and other Traditional Mongolian art. He had to change his clothing, because it's a bit colder here in Mongolia-- also the clothing is to show the students back in America a little bit more about the Mongolian culture. He is wearing a dell (Mongolian traditional clothing).

Stanley got a little bored and wanted to take advantage of this ridiculously warm spring weather we're having right now and made some friends at the play ground by my school.

.

Finally, we made it to school. I think these girls had a crush on him.

This was a really cute project. I hope Stanley makes it back to his class in America soon.

What happened to March? I was reading a news article on CNN that was dated March 17, 2011 and I thought, "they have a typo, because it hasn't gotten to March 17, 2011 yet". Then I looked at the date on my watch and it said April 4th. I just can't believe it.

This past school break was the best school break by far. I was so good at keeping busy. Even though it was a school break I went to school everyday the 1st week (it was a 2 week break) and worked about 7 hours a day on a school project. It felt good to keep busy. The 2nd week of the break we had our PCV friends come visit us in our ger. I don't know why they spent the time and money and awful van rides to come to our small Gobi town (I guess they like us or something.)-- but I made sure they had good food and good times (I hope they think so, too).

One of the nights we invited a Mongolian fortune teller into our ger. She used beads to tell us our fortunes. After our fortunes had been read we were able to ask her questions--Here it is, a once in a lifetime opportunity to ask a Mongolian fortune teller any question I want and my mind goes completely blank. I asked the stupid unoriginal questions like, "when am I going to die?", "how am I going to die?", "who will die first, me or Justin?", then I asked, "will my daughters be as cute as yours?". She had brought her little 3 year old daughter with her. She was adorable! So, here's my fortune:

She told me I was a very emotional person, that I have many moods. Also said that I am stubborn when it comes to decision making. She said I will live a good and happy life. I will be healthy all of my life. In three years she said I will have my first child, a girl. Then after that I will have boy, then another girl. She said I'll live to be 85 and Justin will live to be 83, and that I'll die peacefully and naturally. When I asked her if my daughters will be as cute as hers she answered, "cuter". :) Justin wasn't interested in getting his fortune read, but the fortune teller did say to me that she knows he is an exceptionally good husband, he works hard and has a strong mind.

On a different day, we took a walk outside of town to an old Mongolian cemetery. I don't know how many graves there were, maybe 50? Maybe more. Not all of the graves were marked. But there were some graves with impressive headstones. One grave had even been dug up and had been opened. The bones still remained. Kinda spooky.

On a lighter note, the day was a beautiful day and there was a flock of sheep and goats roaming around. It was neat to see a herder close by tending to their flock.

I'm not the herder. Here's the herder:

Here are some pictures of my town, Mandalgovi:

This is of a woman cleaning out her stove pipe. She is putting rocks and sand in the pipe and will roll it on the ground to clean out all the soot. Justin has done this to our stove just recently.

This is a picture of someone's hashaa door (the door to enter their proptery/their yard) and it has "nohoi toi" which literally translates as "dog with" or what we read it as "beware of dog".

Finally, this is a picture of Justin and our friend Rob, who lives even further into the Gobi. You can read more about his Mongolian adventures here. This is what a regular neighborhood looks like (motorcycle and all).

Now, to update from my last post. The biscotti was amazing! Everyone who ever craves biscotti because there isn't such a thing available for them to buy-- or you want to save money-- or you just want to think you're the best baker in the world has GOT to use this recipe. You can change all the fillings with what you desire, but it's just fine as it is. I used walnuts, chocolate chunks, orange zest and pomegranate craisins as my filler this time. Next time I hope to find pistachios. Mmm!

First we had to get crackin' walnuts:

And last, but definitely not least. I made Sticky Toffee Pudding. Yep. I nailed it. Here is the recipe that I used: Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake. I was really scared that it was going to turn out as a 'cake' like the name suggests, but nope, it was a bread pudding type 'cake'. Loved it! And so did Rob. :)

This has been an awesome break. I can't tell you how happy I feel. The warmer the days get the more my zombie-ways melt. I didn't even realize how stuck in a rut I was. Man, I didn't even know. It's as if I literally am finally waking up. It feels amazing! I have energy and purpose! If only this picture was true:

But, looking at it makes me happy anyway.

Our break isn't even over yet. Some of our PCV friends from the south Gobi, from northern Mongolia, and central Mongolia are coming to stay with us for the weekend. It will be so nice to see them and hang out(in the sunshine!). I want to bake everything for them. I think we'll have biscuits and gravy, oatmeal raisin cookies, some spring biscotti (I'm attempting to make the biscotti for the first time today. I am a little nervous, but it looks oh-so-good!), and whatever else they love. Food is very important to us PCVs, I wish you could sit and listen to our conversations about all the foods we miss and what'd we do if we got to eat it again. Or, when we make something amazing and are eating it for the first time-- that's a funny sight to those who take all the little amazing foods of America for granted.

Here's my biscotti recipe that I will be attempting:

Here's the link to the allrecipe's recipe for Spring Biscotti

By the way, if ANYONE knows how to make Sticky Toffee Pudding, PLEASE, let me know how. I've been looking up recipe after recipe online and I just don't see one that I can fully trust. I need your help on this.

My mom sent me a sleeping bag liner that has saved my life. Our sleeping bags are really good sleeping bags (claim to be warm up to -15), but I'm a naturally cold person so one sleeping bag at 20 degrees is just not enough. The sleeping bag liner has done wonders!...until I thought it was warm enough to not use it anymore. I tried to convince myself that it's only getting 30 degrees in our ger at night, it's not THAT cold. It should be spring weather, warming up, right?

Nah, the other night I was awake through most of the night because my feet were ice cold and they just wouldn't warm up. I was thinking about all the nuisances that warmer weather brings such as dogs barking the ENTIRE night, spiders and beetles and flies in the ger, sweating, etc. and how I'd take all those bothers and hug them right now.

I'll never complain about the heat again. I promise.

So I've been hibernating all winter...really, it's true. My school is literally a 2 minute walk from my ger (if that even) and all winter long I have been a robot/zombie waking up, trekking to school with my hood on and head down, doing my thing, and trekking back home, where I was still a zombie-slave to imediately making a fire, thawing out a bit, making dinner (which takes a couple hours) then folding myself back up in my sleeping back for another 12 hours of warmth. (Justin was the strong one, grocery shopping every week and running errands.) It was kind of miserable, now that I think about it. But 3 days ago I had an awakening. And I feel free! I went grocery shopping yesterday and was chipper. I had a nice conversation with the ladies at the market and I felt rejuvenated. Since Justin's been the one getting the groceries we haven't had a lot of fruit in our diet (not that there is much selection...just clementines or apples), but yesterday when I came home with my bag of goodies it was like christmas! I bought some yogurt (I was scared to try, because it was already expired, but I needed it so badly), raisins and an asian pear that Justin and I shared (they are kinda expensive to buy more than one at a time). This is a good time to be in Mongolia!

I just put a batch of vegan brownies (not because I'm vegan... I just don't have eggs or milk on me at the moment...but these brownies turn out just as marvelous as non-vegan ones) in the oven and thought I'd take some time to myself and breathe for a minute...which reminded me that I haven't blogged in a long time. So I'll blog while the brownies bake. I have 23 1/2 mins.

We're on school break right now. We've been off all week and we will either go back on Monday, April 4th or Wednesday, April 6th (I've heard different dates, so I'll play it by hear). I have a tendency to mope around and pull my hair out when I get dreadfully bored so I made a plan to stay busy this entire school break-- and I am doing well accomplishing this goal. I've gone to school everyday to tutor teachers and students. Besides that I've given myself some large projects to work on at home. One is boring (school related), but the other is planning our vacation time for this summer. This is no easy thing. We're planning a money budget and time budget and China is very anal about who comes in their country, how they come in and when they leave. So getting a Visa is on the agenda, but mostly I've been researching just how to do this while I'm in Mongolia. I've heard of a lot of people doing this so I know it's possible, but where'd they leave the instructions!? By searching on the internet, I've found a lot of my answers, but time will tell if I've gotten all this right. I'll keep you updated on this vacation process.

I looked on Weather.com 10 days ago and today (according to the 10 day forecast 10 days ago) was supposed to be in the 50's...this would have been the 1st time we'd hit 50 degrees. Now it is still freezing outside and no, not in the 50's. But the 10 day forecast forecasts that we will get in the 50's 10 days from now! I feel like Weather.com is playing games with me...shaking that carrot too far for me to reach. *sigh.

I went to the shower house for the 1st time since November (that tells you how much warmer it's gotten...all through winter I practically hibernated). I took some pictures on our 10 minute walk to the shower house.

Here is out hashaa. Our hashaa parent's house is with the green roof. You can barely see our ger roof to the left of their house.

We walk through a gas station on our way to the shower house. What we saw at the gas station surprised us. First of all, I've never seen a machine so big. Second, I NEVER expect that to be here in Mongolia. Justin says it's for the coal mining going on. They were HUGE!(PS. this was the'cat' I was talking about...I still have yet to see a real kitty in our town. Makes me sad.)

This is inside our shower house.

Justin waiting impatiently for a shower. (We got there at 11:05-- it opens at 11-- but all the showers were already taken.)

This was inside my shower.

There. Now you know the intimates of my life.

Oh! The brownies are done.

So, spring's here. And it looks something like this.

The annual miracle of new life and warmer weather was abruptly crushed by something akin to what the families of the Dust Bowl may have endured. As Ashlie wrote in her previous blog, yesterday was brilliant. The sun was shining, the air was calm, and hope was springing forth in the form of a 44 degree high temperature. Everywhere life was awakening from it's winter slumber and beaming forth. It was the type of day that would make the crippled cast off their wheelchairs and walk. Then there was today.

I first noticed the impending doom from my second story classroom window while waiting on my Saturday tutoring students to come. On the horizon their was building a large cloud of dust. I had a quick vision of the apocalypse and then my students arrived. Near the end of our lesson one of students looked out from the window and astutely observed, "Mohai (ugly)." It was indeed mohai. Sand was whipping across the streets, people were running for shelter and I dismissed class.

On the walk home I didn't see many people. People were huddled together in pairs with their backs against southward facing walls. Other unfortunates like myself scurried across open areas like cockroaches on the bathroom floor of my college apartment. Finally I made it home to the warmth of my ger and wife.

Fast forward to a little later in the day. Ashlie and I were curled up on the bed watching a movie. In the film, the protagonist is gradually becoming insane. I don't know if I've ever been more empathetic to a character. The wind was driving me out of f***ing mind. The ger was raising up a little with every gust. Things were falling from the ceiling and the windows were rattling. One of the panes eventually fell to the floor and shattered. I, with my quick thinking, devised a strategy to begin shouting a string of obscenities that was so powerful it would curtail the wind and alter the atmospheric conditions into a more favorable state. It failed.

So I grabbed the duct tape and covered the hole. I remember in kindergarten learning the saying "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." I guess the lion is here.

This is what I'm missing from back home. Soon most of Texas will be covered by her legendary bluebonnets.

Speaking of soon...I think soon I shall be taking off some excess layers of clothing. (For the past 3 months I have been wearing two pairs of pants, at least three pairs of socks, at least two shirts, a sweater, two jackets, gloves, a hat, a hood and a scarf wrapped around it all covering everything but my eyes-- then to top it, I usually have my sunglass on so no part of my skin is visible) I can't believe that the temperature here got so warm yesterday! After school (around 4pm) I took a walk 'downtown' to pick up some grocery items and I felt naked. My head wasn't covered, my face wasn't covered, my neck wasn't covered. It was just me in my one jacket. While I walked it was very pleasant and I realized it right away because that walk is usually a painful one (the bitter cold burning your skin, the blasting wind holding back your steps, the sand/ snow blowing around). Nope. It was blue skies and sunshine and I broke a sweat in my little jacket. I was sure it was in the upper 20's F. And I was happy! I felt free! I felt rejuvenated, awakened, alive! When I came back to our ger I told Justin all about it and checked the temperature on weather.com. 44 degrees! Forty-freakin'-four degrees! For a while I just stood there saying 'Forty-freakin'-four! Forty-freakin'-four!'. I didn't know what to do with myself. I was just outside thinking it was 20 something, I don't know why knowing it was now forty-freakin'-four degrees changed things so much. But it did. Hope. It gave me hope. The temperature can rise above freezing. I know this to be true.

This past Thursday I accompanied the Cooking Club's teacher again to make cinnamon rolls. I don't know why I get so nervous around her...Well, actually I think I do...One time when I made pizza with my English Club students she suggested I add more oil to my pizza crust-- which personally I didn't think I needed to and I don't think she has ever made a pizza crust in her life or eaten one for that matter...So I guess I'm scared of being criticized by her because I'm a self taught baker (well, she is as well, but she is a lot older than me so has a lot more experience). Anyway, I screwed up on the recipe. I totally left out the water needed to help the yeast activate. However, I did use the milk, butter and egg...so that was moisture enough but the yeast just didn't look right. It wasn't frothing. Anyway, I continued on with the recipe. It ended up being a hit! None of them had ever had cinnamon before. I tried to explain what it was but my Mongolian cooking vocabulary is horrible! So I didn't accomplish anything. They all tasted the cinnamon powder and said that it was 'hot'...like spicy hot. It made me laugh a little. Everything is spicy hot to them. But the Cooking Club teacher said I was a very good baker to the students and also other teachers (they passed around the cinnamon rolls to the faculty). It makes me happy that I can finally be recognized for something. So far they know I can't play volleyball, can't play basketball (which is HUGE here!), don't drink, don't eat meat (which is almost an insult here), my Mongolian isn't the best by far, and I don't like going to parties (which is also an insult to them, but I hate being pressured). I am a good teacher though, and I know that. But I'm not so sure how important that is to them. Baking, though...Baking may have saved my volunteer service.

A peak inside Dinner with the Newberrys:

We had Mexican night on Thursday night. It was scrumptious! If you follow our "Ready in 5 hours" recipe your tummy will be a happy tummy, too! We're not boasting it will be ready in 45 mins, and I laugh (actually, I cry) when I remember those nights in the States making those "20 Min Meals" successfully. Nope, this was 5 hours...Wanna know our secret??? We have one burner. Dinner preparation began at 4pm and we sat down to eat at about 9:30. It was all worth it though. We had black beans (they were dried beans we had to soak and boil), rice (not minute rice...20 min rice), chicken fajitas (frozen chicken drumsticks we had to boil/thaw then cut the meat off), pico de gallo, and tortillas....all of this homemade.

The funny thing is that Justin and I labored over this meal not really thinking a thing about how lengthy the process was. But when we sat down at 9:30pm I thought about if we were in the states how the whole dinner making process would go: beans in a crock pot before you leave for work, 4 large burners for boiling rice, chicken, sautéing, and making tortillas...All of that could be going on at the same time! We would have had that same laborious dinner in about 45 mins. Which somewhat depressed me, but..

Eh, what else are we going to do with our evenings?

We're home! It was a great 5 days of not making fires and smelling of smoke. Also a great 4 nights of sleeping in t-shirts and no socks (because the rooms stay heated all night long!) It was great not having to layer up before going to bed.

Speaking of great...It was great to see all my friends. We didn't do much more than eat at amazing restaurants, go to American food stores and lounge around, taking showers-- not bagging coal, preparing lessons, adding dung to the fire, etc.

This was my frist bowl of cold cereal in 9 months! It was really amazingly awesome. I also ate the cup of noodles (pictured) with my breakfast. Gotta eat good while you're on vacay!

We didn't end up staying at Khongor Guesthouse because it is apparently being renovated. So we stayed at UB Guesthouse. It was nice, but I am partial to Khongor. Khongor's beds are magical! But, UB Guesthouses bathrooms are cleaner and nicer...

One of my friends went to America a couple of weeks ago and brought back a bottle of Dr. Pepper for me and Justin. Can you believe it?! Every where they sell Coke we look for Dr. Pepper. No luck. This was our frist sip of the Dr.'s orders in 9 months. It was delicious.

Another one of our friends, Erin, invited us to dinner with her Mongolian friend. It was a great meal and the Mongolian couple actually had a lot in common with me and Justin...same age, same graduation year, started dating the same year, have been married for the same amount of years. It was interesting to compare lifestyles that are so similar yet different to ours.

All in all it was a success! I only got thrown up on once on the bus to Ulaanbataar. Our bus seats 28, yet on the trips to and from UB there were over 40 people on the bus, so we were packed. On the way back we even had a live rabbit sitting on a man's lap waiting to be taken to his ger for supper. This is my last visit to the big city for a long while. Now I'm back at school, smelling like smoke and just not as squeaky clean. But it's okay because summer is on its way, right? :)

Our kids are in love with Lady Gaga. The parents....not so much. But Lady Gaga gets plenty of attention here. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

This week we have focused on debating in my classes. The students absolutely love it! I was surprised. I kind of felt like this lesson was just a blow-away lesson. One that would be interesting to learn about, but then abandoned in next year's curriculum. Nuh huh. That's not what happened. The first topic of debate was whether or not a road should be built from our town to the capital city (270 km away). We drew sticks to see who was affirming and negating. Both sides took it very seriously (even though at the end of class we all agreed a road is so important to our town's development). I was so impressed with the points that they made and the X-examination made my eyes tear up. They were really learning and working hard.

After class all the students had left and I was locking up the classroom when I hear someone running back down the hall to my classroom. It was an 11th grade student. She was out of breath but told me how much she liked the debate and that she had an idea. She wanted to improve her English pronunciation and asked if I'd debate her tomorrow evening to practice debate, English, and pronunciation. The topic: That Lady Gaga's influence to society is detrimental. We both took a day to prepare and met back up in the classroom last night. I had a great time. Her points were good: inappropriate for children (which I then said that the fault for that should be on the parents for allowing their children to watch her/ listen to her and there are other things more harmful than her that parents should be concerned about), inappropriate for adults (which I then said that she is the epitome of freedom and independence), etc. etc. But at the end of the debate we shook hands and agreed that we both liked her music and her personality, but she can be a bit over the top.

So, yesterday I took some homemade brownies to school with me. It was quite entertaining. I wanted to share my baking with the teachers. I set the bowl of brownies on the table in the teachers' room, then sat down in the corner watching all of their reactions as they came in and examined the brownies. It was insane!! Each one of them did the exact same thing: poked it, picked up a crumb, smelt it, made a face, touched their tongue to it, asked 'what is this?', then put it in their mouth and smacked it around trying to taste the flavor (while still making a face), then exclaimed 'amar goi!' ('very good!'). Some teachers didn't believe I made them-- where else would they have come from??? Every time they asked what it was I would say 'brownies' in English (there isn't a Mongolian word). But they would shake their head and say 'shokolad belo' (chocolate cake), or 'shokolad bortsik' (chololate fried dough) and I would shake my head and say slowly: 'brownies'.

This is the last full week in February! Where has the time gone? Next month is supposedly a very busy one for Mongolian English Teachers and their PCVs. At the end of March is the nationwide English test for students and teachers called "English Olympics". The students and teachers study for this test all year long and have a chance to win money and credentials. It's a big deal. And PVCs play a BIG role in not only preparing them, but sometimes creating the test, grading the test, giving the test, proctoring the test... I have been teaching an English Olympic prep course on Friday nights for those interested in coming. For this week's English Olympic prep course, however, I will not be here. I'll be resting it up in UB!

But before I get into that, this is a little peak of what I've been doing for the last couple of weeks (post Tsagaan Sar):

Made Mutton tacos! It doesn't sound very good, and I'm not a mutton eater-- but these were darn good. Closest thing to Mexican in Mandalgovi. Our hashaa family's daughter came over and helped us mince the meet, made pico de gallo, and tortillas. We even found some cheese to shred and put on top. They seemed to really like it! Especially because it was mutton.

I went to a children's modeling show. It was really interesting and fun for the girls! I even got a picture with the models :)

I taught Justin how to sew. It was a big thing in our ger because he has the HOLIEST clothes...but he got them sewed up pretty good!

Justin and I both applied for training jobs this summer for the new PCVs that will get here in early June. This is a big thing to me. I'd love to help these new volunteers transition into Mongolian life and help them succeed once they are released to their own sites. I loved my training last summer and my trainers were awesome. I hope I can do the same for some of them! It's a big deal because if we get this 'job' (still volunteering) we'd be moving into a big city (in an APARTMENT) for half of the summer. Big stuff...having a toilet is a BIG deal! So, cross your fingers for us!

Now about UB this weekend. I am so excited because this is my first break from school (taking personal days off) and I am just so excited to escape the ger life for 5 days.

No more hard plywood bed made for 1 1/2 people with blankets as a mattress! And no more sleeping in a sleeping bag-- heavenly Khongor Guesthouse bed here I come!

No more handling camel poo to make fires and sweeping up its messes!

No more fighting coal and having coal stained hands!

No more fake sinks or water bucket!

No more handwashing or tumpin bathing!

For 5 days anyway :)

Remember months ago when I said that I wanted to start up some type of cooking class while I'm here to teach nutrition/ well balanced meals--but also to teach new and different ways of cooking? Well, it's happening...ever...so...slowly. By the time this week has finished I will have made 8 pizzas. Tuesday I taught a cooking class (we made pizza, by popular demand) for 10th graders. Today I am teaching a cooking class (again, pizza by popular demand) to 9th & 11th graders, and tomorrow I am teaching a cooking class to some teachers (guess what we're cooking?! Yep. pizza, again by popular demand-- but also we're baking chocolate chip cookies afterward in this class). Then on Friday it's always pizza night in the Newberry Ger--so 8 pizzas in total. I do have to compliment myself on my hand-made/tossed pizza dough. I tried twirling it on my finger yesterday for the students, but was unsuccessful (at flattening and making the dough in a circular form), but quite successful at making the students laugh and making a fool of myself (which is okay, sometimes). I've already had several of my recipes (cinnamon rolls, choc. chip cookies, biscuits, pizza, meat/fruit pies) translated into Mongolian and distributed out to teachers because they heard that I bake. It makes me feel good that I CAN actually contribute something here (besides teaching styles/methodologies) because I was starting to feel like somewhat of a failure because I don't play volleyball or basketball (the MAJOR sports here, if you don't play you're definitely not in the 'in' crowd).

Well, it snowed again last night. I saw on the weather forecast that Saturday the high will be 31 degrees. It is oh-so-close to being above freezing, but it just can't seem to topple over that mark. Anyway, it hasn't really been able to get much above 20 degrees yet, so I'm really looking forward to this 31 degrees.

...is still not here. Though I was very hopeful yesterday on my walk to school as I noticed how muddy my shoes were. I was dreading and wondering how I was going to clean them up before walking into the school building (because Mongolians keep their shoes immaculate!) when I realized "hey...there's mud...I see mud!!" I haven't seen mud or any type of liquid outside in months! Then, when I got home from school I had to go out into our ping to get more fuel for the fire. I came back in and noticed a spider walking across my ger floor. I had two feelings invade my body: to kill, then nostalgia. It has been so long since I've seen any life other than people & domesticated animals. But, my hopes of spring were soon smashed (along with the premature spider) when Justin came home and let me know it had just started snowing outside. Soon, though...Spring will come soon.

Last night after coming home from my Tsagaan Sar visits to mine and Justin's school teachers' homes I went to our hashaa family's house. It was about 9pm and hashaa mom was piling pound after pound of meat into a large box. She explained to me that her children are going back to UB tomorrow (this morning) and they are starving college students. The meat wasn't wrapped up in anything--just large slices of randam parts of a sheep piled up high. At the top she put a bag of about 100 frozen buuz leftover from Tsagaan Sar. I really watched in awe. I was watching her put her love into that box as well as frozen raw meat. I let her know that my mom would do the same, that our worlds are similar but different at the same time. It was nice to be there for that family moment.

Well, today is day 5 of Tsagaan Sar. Wait, what? Did I tell you that Tsagaan Sar was only 3 days? HAHAHAHA....silly readers and silly me for thinking that. Today I went to school and was welcomed to different teachers' rooms/offices as if they were their homes for Tsagaan Sar. I got to greet them all! I sat with them, ate and drank cup after cup of airag (fermented camel or horse milk) in each room. This holiday has many beautiful traditions. I love how welcoming and hospitable they all are--but the food and drinks alone have scarred me. I have taken and eaten out of respect for 6 days (Don't forget Tsagaan Sar Eve, so really this is day 6) of eating sour dried milk curds, camel, goat, horse and cow milk fat, boiled sour yogurt, fermented milk from all 4 animals in sour, clumpy, stringy, thick, chewy forms with floaties, hair, chunks and froth. I can see why Mongolia is one of the more difficult countries for PCVs to live. Not because of safety because it is VERY safe and friendly here--but for their food and drink. I don't think they know that fresh milk is okay to drink. It has to be set out to sour, then boiled, aired out for days and days before it is noteworthy to them. Wait....did I mention that I am an American who didn't like fresh store bought pasteurized milk in the states? The day of the milk's expiration date was one day too spoiled for me. I have only gagged twice in the passed 6 days and I don't think anyone saw me. But Mongolian food really takes some decades of getting used to. I'm still not convinced that all Mongolians like their own food--just that they feel obligated to like it because it is their culture to and tradition. I don't know, that just my thought.

So a much needed vacation is in order! In less than 2 weeks Justin and I will be meeting some friends up in UB for a weekend of R&R&F (food). I can't wait to sink into that comfy heavenly bed in the Khongor Guesthouse and just lounge around with friends.

So, for the 5th/6th/or whatever day Happy Tsagaan Sar!

This is Tsagaan Sar as I (Ashlie) know it.

Tsagaan Sar Day 1:

Today (it is now 5pm) we finished our 1st day of Tsagaan Sar. It all began last night. We were invited to our hashaa family's home to help them decorated their 'boow'. It is made with layers of fried bread, then topped with white food, or dairy products such as airal (dried milk curds), oodum (top cream of the milk), and sugar.

Okay, nevermind-- it all REALLY started weeks ago when they made 1,000 buuz, pronounced like 'boadz'(meat filled dumplings)--we blogged about that last month. Then this weekend they boiled the 'fattest' sheep in our ger (our stove is bigger than theirs). There is a lot of preparation that goes on for this 1st day of Tsagaan Sar....

But, now onto today...It should have started at about 6am for us because it is a tradition to watch the sun rise-- to watch the new year begin. However, Justin and I couldn't get ourselves up until 9am. We ironed our dells (Mongolian traditional clothing) and cleaned our home. Then we went to our hashaa family's ger to celebrate the morning with them. The first thing you do when you go to someone else's home for this holiday is to greet the eldest person(s). I was very nervous for this part. There are certain greetings you say and places where you put your hands, etc. Here is a video of Justin greeting our hashaa father and mother, and pics of me doing the same:

Then a snuff bottle is passed around...

After the greetings we had many buuz, salads, and meat. Also many drinks were passed around the room: airag (fermented mare's milk), milk tea, wine, wiskey and vodka. Remember how I told you that each family puts one coin in a random buuz and the person who eats that buuz is lucky? Well, I had the pleasure of biting down into that coin this morning! I thought it was a bone and couldn't decide if I wanted to say something or not...then I realized what it was, that it wasn't a bone at all, but the very coin that would bring me wealth this year. Picture me, a volunteer worker, being wealthy this year. It's hard to believe, but I can't wait!

Then after much eating and talking we all got on the floor and played with shagai (sheep's ankle bones). We played a horse racing game with the ankle bones. It was really fun. I love this family!

Now, because Justin and I were guests in their home (when you visit other people's homes for Tsagaan Sar it is tradition to give them small gifts for visiting), we were given gifts. I received a beautiful jewelry set: ring, earrings and necklace, and Justin received a traditional Mongolian framed golden engraving. These were very nice gifts.

That was house one. Now we were off to another family member's home (Day one of Tsagaan Sar is reserved for family). There were so many people in this little ger that it was a little awkward at first, but after a while we felt the love. We were served drink after drink and food after food... We stayed for about an hour and a half before we were onto the 3rd and last ger.

Much of the same repeated itself. We were served many, many drinks and buuz. We sat and talked for a while...mostly smiled. I liked being able to see all these different people and take a peak of their rich culture. At one point I really felt like a fly on the wall, just watching in amazment at these nice people taking these weird foreigners into their homes and treating them like family...then I realized someone was talking to me and felt lost and confused.

This day has made me realize (again) what a beautiful culture this is. It is so different from the one I know, but this holiday is a great holiday and a great chance for me to realize what a different place I am in right now. Sometimes I get caught up in school and not exposing myself too much to Mongolian traditional life that I forget I'm half way around the world from what I know. This holiday (re) opened my eyes.

Now, two more days to go...

These are the things I strive for always. To me nothing else in this world matters. Sometimes I find myself so far, far away from my values. I get caught up in work, life...but mostly I get caught up in myself. Journaling really helps me to realize how far astray I am going, or helps me realize what is good in my life, or bad in my life. But, my favorite thing to do is to read. I have a handful of books that I take with me everywhere and read several times a year-- purely for inspiration. Some of these books have accompanied me to England for my grandfather's funeral, to college-- off on my own, on crazy roadtrips, they've been with me during ups and downs in my homelife and even across the world to Asia. I've always been really interested in experience. To some it is called adventures, but I like to experience. Experience helps me learn. It helps me learn more about this world, its people and life. In one of my favorite books called "Standing For Something" by Gordon B. Hinckley he says "...it is desirable to be informed, to be educated, to increase one's understanding about the world and its peoples."

Today, I was doing my laundry and was thinking how happy I am. I am very content handwashing my clothes, adding coal to the fire after every load, sweeping up coal and dung dust-- making my humble abode clean and presentable. It makes me happy. I feel that my life has been successful. I have been able to accomplish everything I've dreamed of. I am still dreaming and will never stop-- so I will always have something to strive for, something to make me feel this success. The best part of this is my husband. Our life goals are very similar and without him I wouldn't have been able to experience any of this.

...and no it isn't a ger, nor is it in Mongolia (though that ger is a pretty shwanky ger!). If you know me then you know I am passionate about teaching. But if you know me WELL then you know how passionate I am about design. I have been an HGTV follower since I was in grade school. I have been dreaming of my dream home since I can't even remember. (Actually I remember very distinctly in 6th grade making a 6 page blueprint of my dream home... I still have it somewhere in a box in South Dakota.) I would LOVE to build my own home, but I just can't see myself doing that if there are perfectly good houses already built. I don't want to contribute to America's over-building. My dream now is to find a nice small run-down cottage with character somewhere and fix it up completely! I would customize every inch. I have saved pages and pages of fabrics I will want to use someday, paint colors, fixtures, furniture, etc.

Well, if you haven't found out by now-- PCVs have a lot of time on their hands. We do good work here. We're there for our teachers, our counter-parts, our students, we put in a lot of work and detail to lesson plans and activities, we mingle with co-workers after school hours to build relationships, we delegate assignments, and do many different assigments ourselves-- yet we still have time to kill. We don't have a tv, but we have plenty of books and the internet. So in our free time we are usually doing one or the other. And in my free time on the internet, I house hunt and research design. Yesterday I came across a real gem. I don't think I'll be able to find a house better than this one in a small town in north Texas. It's a got all the character I could dream of, including being a state historical marker. I doubt it will be on the market in another year and half for me to steal--but it gives me something to dream about. When I run long distances I keep my mind busy by designing homes. I find myself doing that here at night to help me fall asleep. We all have our obsessions. Mine is owning my perfect home.

Today is my sister's birthday! I hope you have a great day, Dora!