Thank you to everyone sending e-mails and (finally) commenting on the web site. It definitely helps to boost the morale. Not that I’m unhappy at all, but the language lessons, TEFL lessons, culture lessons and every thing else start wearing on you once in awhile. It’s great to hear what’s going on at home and be reminded of all you guys.
Things are rolling along here. I can’t believe it’s been a month. On July 4th I’ll have my mid-training language assessment. I’m not too concerned about the test itself, I’m doing fairly well at the language. What I’m concerned about is that at the half-way point I really only have about 15 minutes worth of conversation material -- and that’s including the multiple times I repeat the words, slightly altering the vowel sounds until native Mongols can figure out what I’m trying to say. They have four different sounds that all sounds like the “o” sound to me, but they keep telling me there’s a difference. It’s true that we’ve been focusing on the essentials -- transportation, directions, food, postal vocabulary. But as for small talk or the bulk of what I will hope to talk about, I think I’ll just have to figure it out once I get to my permanent site.
Peace Corps Mongolia is really a fairly easy adjustment. I think this will prove very true for TEFL teachers. Everywhere I go someone stops me to practice their English or ask if I have free time to tutor them. Today was a perfect example. I went to the bank and was stopped at the door by a Russian teacher at the school telling me she wants to learn English. At the bathhouse I had a conversation with the clerk about learning English. She told me about her son and what she wants to do. The interesting thing was that we had the same conversation last week. Then, after walking out of a store, I found a student waiting outside the door for me. She had brought her homework -- a composition about the United Nations -- and she wanted me to correct the grammar. I definitely feel wanted here.
Living with the host family is probably the hardest part, only because I constantly feel like a bothersome guest. But I help them with English whenever they help me with Mongolian. And if nothing else, my language skills give them a good laugh on a regular basis. And they get a kick out of some of the simplest things.
I make the father happy by shuffling a deck of cards;
-- the mother happy by licking my yogurt bowl clean;
-- the older sister happy by reciting the English and then Mongolian names of every object in the house;
-- and the younger sister happy by eating the chocolate she sneaks into the house.
The grandma has also been living with us. She especially likes to hear me say that every meal is tasty. Every time I get a bowl, usually before I start eating, she says “Ampteh” and gives me a thumbs up. I repeat. She cracks up.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Sunday, June 26, 2005
The next Jerad... I like it
This is just a quick post to let you all know that I'm well, still enjoying Mongolia, gathering a few more phrases everyday, and seriously considering contacting Zip-loc.
At the end of the week I'll be in the capital. I've been writing all my fun stories on my computer, so I just need to find a computer I can upload them onto. I'll also be purchasing a cell phone. I know, it sounds strange. But the cell phone industry is much more prominent here than any land lines they have. Almost everyone has a cell phone, but fewer people have land lines. It's a strange jump in technology -- but I'm not going to pretend it didn't happen and cling to the "no technology" ideals of some. I'm not that much of a hippie! I'll soon be texting other volunteers and once again checking my purse everytime I hear a familiar beep. And I'll love every minute of it. ;-)
Anyway, things are going well. Thank you all for the comments. I feel loved! And check back around Friday. I should have posts from the past week and well as the coming week.
Now I'm off to milk the cow!!
At the end of the week I'll be in the capital. I've been writing all my fun stories on my computer, so I just need to find a computer I can upload them onto. I'll also be purchasing a cell phone. I know, it sounds strange. But the cell phone industry is much more prominent here than any land lines they have. Almost everyone has a cell phone, but fewer people have land lines. It's a strange jump in technology -- but I'm not going to pretend it didn't happen and cling to the "no technology" ideals of some. I'm not that much of a hippie! I'll soon be texting other volunteers and once again checking my purse everytime I hear a familiar beep. And I'll love every minute of it. ;-)
Anyway, things are going well. Thank you all for the comments. I feel loved! And check back around Friday. I should have posts from the past week and well as the coming week.
Now I'm off to milk the cow!!
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Hard labor
Oh, my aching bones. Today was a rigorous one. I knew I should have taken up a weight-lifting regimen to prepare for this adventure.But i really didn’t anticipate such grueling work as an English teacher.
The day started fairly easily. I woke up around 9 a.m. It’s the weekend, so I slept in a bit. Then my 12-year-old host sister asked me to help her fetch the water. So we rolled the empty water jug down to the well and waited for it to open, around 10 a.m. We filled up the jug, handed the lady 20 tugriks (about 2 cents) and my sister handed me the cart. So I started pushing the cart, and I would have been fine ... on a straight sidewalk. But unfortunately I had to push it uphill on a dirt road full of rocks, holes and cow patties. My sister, noticing my weakness, grabbed the side of the handle and we pulled the cart up the hill together. She took control when we reached a particularly tricky stretch of path, but she was kind of enough to hand it over to me right before we got in sight of the house ... and my host dad proudly said “Ah, very good work,” when he saw me roll the cart in.
But this was just the warm-up. And I definitely needed it for what came next.
See, I brought about a week’s worth of clothing, but I’ve been away from home for two weeks. And some of those clothes were winter-wear. So really, I had been wearing about 4 day’s worth of clothes for two weeks. So I had been bugging my host family to show me their method of washing. But the rain had gotten in the way. Until today. So I piled all my clothes into the big, green, PC-issued tub and walked out of my room. My host mother gave me a look of surprise, possibly it was a warning, but I thought maybe it was just the smell.
And then the process began. My 16-year-old host sister helped with this task. She filled the tub with soap and water and then asked if I knew what I was doing. I said no. Sure, I’ve cleaned the occasional hand-wash-only clothes in the sink when needed. It’s not that my mother didn’t teach me well. But I’m the kind of person who prefers to keep a permanent layer of these clothes at the bottom of my hamper. Then I always know where to find them.
So my host sister started showing me the Mongol technique. Lots of scrubbing; lifting of water-drenched fabrics in and out of the tub; applying more soap; scrubbing, and finally the wringing. So much wringing. After two loads, my arms were like the yogurt I eat two times a day. And in between loads I had to carry the buckets of dirty water to the dirty water pit. Strenuous, really. After the second load I was done. Out of commission. Luckily I have learned the word for “later.” So before my host sister could fill the tub up again, I casually “daraa” and picked up the remainder of my clothes. Of course, she burst into laughter. And then she went back inside and I heard lots of strange language and the word “daraa” and everyone laughed. But it didn’t matter. I had just spent two hours washing half of a washing-machine load of clothes, and my arms have thanked me for not making three hours.
Now I know you may feel disappointed that this is the end of the story. Maybe you’re sad that I didn’t build a house or carry a lame horse across a river. Perhaps you were hoping for a life-altering epiphany or an exciting Mongol romance. But seriously, it’s only been two weeks. I’m still trying to figure out the outhouse.
The day started fairly easily. I woke up around 9 a.m. It’s the weekend, so I slept in a bit. Then my 12-year-old host sister asked me to help her fetch the water. So we rolled the empty water jug down to the well and waited for it to open, around 10 a.m. We filled up the jug, handed the lady 20 tugriks (about 2 cents) and my sister handed me the cart. So I started pushing the cart, and I would have been fine ... on a straight sidewalk. But unfortunately I had to push it uphill on a dirt road full of rocks, holes and cow patties. My sister, noticing my weakness, grabbed the side of the handle and we pulled the cart up the hill together. She took control when we reached a particularly tricky stretch of path, but she was kind of enough to hand it over to me right before we got in sight of the house ... and my host dad proudly said “Ah, very good work,” when he saw me roll the cart in.
But this was just the warm-up. And I definitely needed it for what came next.
See, I brought about a week’s worth of clothing, but I’ve been away from home for two weeks. And some of those clothes were winter-wear. So really, I had been wearing about 4 day’s worth of clothes for two weeks. So I had been bugging my host family to show me their method of washing. But the rain had gotten in the way. Until today. So I piled all my clothes into the big, green, PC-issued tub and walked out of my room. My host mother gave me a look of surprise, possibly it was a warning, but I thought maybe it was just the smell.
And then the process began. My 16-year-old host sister helped with this task. She filled the tub with soap and water and then asked if I knew what I was doing. I said no. Sure, I’ve cleaned the occasional hand-wash-only clothes in the sink when needed. It’s not that my mother didn’t teach me well. But I’m the kind of person who prefers to keep a permanent layer of these clothes at the bottom of my hamper. Then I always know where to find them.
So my host sister started showing me the Mongol technique. Lots of scrubbing; lifting of water-drenched fabrics in and out of the tub; applying more soap; scrubbing, and finally the wringing. So much wringing. After two loads, my arms were like the yogurt I eat two times a day. And in between loads I had to carry the buckets of dirty water to the dirty water pit. Strenuous, really. After the second load I was done. Out of commission. Luckily I have learned the word for “later.” So before my host sister could fill the tub up again, I casually “daraa” and picked up the remainder of my clothes. Of course, she burst into laughter. And then she went back inside and I heard lots of strange language and the word “daraa” and everyone laughed. But it didn’t matter. I had just spent two hours washing half of a washing-machine load of clothes, and my arms have thanked me for not making three hours.
Now I know you may feel disappointed that this is the end of the story. Maybe you’re sad that I didn’t build a house or carry a lame horse across a river. Perhaps you were hoping for a life-altering epiphany or an exciting Mongol romance. But seriously, it’s only been two weeks. I’m still trying to figure out the outhouse.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
M-16s everywhere
I thought I’d give you a description of my Peace Corps group. We’re the 16th group to Mongolia -- hence M-16s. There are currently 53 of us scattered across the northern-central region. There were 54 in L.A. for staging. One girl decided she didn’t want to go any farther. So 53 of us made the trek to Mongolia. We picked up a volunteer evacuated from Uzbekistan, and then we were 54. But we had our first ET (early termination) Wednesday.
There are three from Ohio and two others (that I know of) that went to school in Ohio. In my training group, which numbers 6, there is a guy from Dayton and a girl who went to Kenyon College. I think only California, Indiana and Washington have larger representations. For some reason there’s a huge group from Seattle.
It’s a pretty diverse group in some respects. In other ways, not so much. There are four married couples. I think only one person is over 40. Maybe about five over 30. The rest are in their 20s. The majority have either just graduated or worked a year or two before leaving. Most of us are TEFL teachers, teaching English as a second language. There are a few in youth development, community economic development and health education. There are people with all kinds of backgrounds. From a former Marine to a film student, a Korean man to a woman born in Ukraine, Guns N Roses fans to 50 Cent fans. I’m not sure how many Bush fans are among us. But I’m sure there are a couple ... maybe.
There are three from Ohio and two others (that I know of) that went to school in Ohio. In my training group, which numbers 6, there is a guy from Dayton and a girl who went to Kenyon College. I think only California, Indiana and Washington have larger representations. For some reason there’s a huge group from Seattle.
It’s a pretty diverse group in some respects. In other ways, not so much. There are four married couples. I think only one person is over 40. Maybe about five over 30. The rest are in their 20s. The majority have either just graduated or worked a year or two before leaving. Most of us are TEFL teachers, teaching English as a second language. There are a few in youth development, community economic development and health education. There are people with all kinds of backgrounds. From a former Marine to a film student, a Korean man to a woman born in Ukraine, Guns N Roses fans to 50 Cent fans. I’m not sure how many Bush fans are among us. But I’m sure there are a couple ... maybe.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
I'm a squatter
So, is anyone reading this? I am disappointed that there are no comments. Did anyone look up the ewok thing?
Things are good here in Mongolia. I have tons to tell but will have to be brief for now.
Description of my town:
My town is nestled between large, grassy hills – which seems to be the case for most towns in the northern region. There are no paved roads, and really very little organization to the dirt paths. The occasional car basically creates its own route. Cows, horses, pigs and dogs roam freely through the town. And at night, everyone finds their animals and chases them back to their home. Most of the houses are wooden, with wooden fences surrounding them. It’s dusty, green but without trees, and the sun is blazing.
My family is excellent. Like I said, I live with the governor, his wife and two daughters. They’re always trying to teach me new words, and laughing at me when I stare and them blankly and shrug my shoulders. They feed me double, sometimes triple what everyone else gets. And they always ask if I want more. My host mother is the town yogurt maker. Everyone talks about her yogurt, and all the kids in town come over to buy frozen yogurt from her. Of course, this means that I eat yogurt everyday. Along with every other dairy product imaginable. From milk to butter and every consistency in between. Mmmm dairy, lots of dairy. My host sisters love to play basketball and volleyball. We set the ball in the field behind the house, dodging the cow patties. It’s great. Bathroom facilities? I wouldn’t say I’m roughing it … but it’s rough. We have no running water at my home, so I haven’t showered since the last time I wrote. Though there’s a bath house I think I “m going to go to tonight. I am indeed squatting over a hole in an outhouse to go to the restroom. And, honestly, I haven’t quite gotten the technique down yet.
Stories so you can laugh at me:
Yesterday, my host sister asked me to help peel the potatoes. She handed me a vegetable peeler and she used a knife. She peeled about 12 to my two. Poor, pampered American.
I just had to consult spell check to remember how to spell “technique.” I don’t think the Journal will be inviting me back when I return.
The guard dogs are on a leash during the day, but roam the yard at night. So if I want to go to the restroom in the middle of the night I have to wake my host mother, so she can walk me to the back of the yard while guarding me from the dogs. I did that one night, but last night I just couldn’t bring myself to wake her so I could pee all over the outhouse in the dark. So, I grabbed one of the handy zip-loc bags I brought along. Very sturdy. Now its sitting under my desk, waiting until I can take it out of my room without my host mom realizing what I did. That’s right ….. laugh it up.
Final note:
I should be able to update more next week. We head to the capital and stay for a few days. So I should get a cell phone, as well as possibly uploading pictures. Also, for anyone thinking of taking a trip out here, I hear that I may be able to get tickets for between $800 and $1000. So let me know if you’re really planning on coming out, and when, and I’ll start looking for that info.
Things are good here in Mongolia. I have tons to tell but will have to be brief for now.
Description of my town:
My town is nestled between large, grassy hills – which seems to be the case for most towns in the northern region. There are no paved roads, and really very little organization to the dirt paths. The occasional car basically creates its own route. Cows, horses, pigs and dogs roam freely through the town. And at night, everyone finds their animals and chases them back to their home. Most of the houses are wooden, with wooden fences surrounding them. It’s dusty, green but without trees, and the sun is blazing.
My family is excellent. Like I said, I live with the governor, his wife and two daughters. They’re always trying to teach me new words, and laughing at me when I stare and them blankly and shrug my shoulders. They feed me double, sometimes triple what everyone else gets. And they always ask if I want more. My host mother is the town yogurt maker. Everyone talks about her yogurt, and all the kids in town come over to buy frozen yogurt from her. Of course, this means that I eat yogurt everyday. Along with every other dairy product imaginable. From milk to butter and every consistency in between. Mmmm dairy, lots of dairy. My host sisters love to play basketball and volleyball. We set the ball in the field behind the house, dodging the cow patties. It’s great. Bathroom facilities? I wouldn’t say I’m roughing it … but it’s rough. We have no running water at my home, so I haven’t showered since the last time I wrote. Though there’s a bath house I think I “m going to go to tonight. I am indeed squatting over a hole in an outhouse to go to the restroom. And, honestly, I haven’t quite gotten the technique down yet.
Stories so you can laugh at me:
Yesterday, my host sister asked me to help peel the potatoes. She handed me a vegetable peeler and she used a knife. She peeled about 12 to my two. Poor, pampered American.
I just had to consult spell check to remember how to spell “technique.” I don’t think the Journal will be inviting me back when I return.
The guard dogs are on a leash during the day, but roam the yard at night. So if I want to go to the restroom in the middle of the night I have to wake my host mother, so she can walk me to the back of the yard while guarding me from the dogs. I did that one night, but last night I just couldn’t bring myself to wake her so I could pee all over the outhouse in the dark. So, I grabbed one of the handy zip-loc bags I brought along. Very sturdy. Now its sitting under my desk, waiting until I can take it out of my room without my host mom realizing what I did. That’s right ….. laugh it up.
Final note:
I should be able to update more next week. We head to the capital and stay for a few days. So I should get a cell phone, as well as possibly uploading pictures. Also, for anyone thinking of taking a trip out here, I hear that I may be able to get tickets for between $800 and $1000. So let me know if you’re really planning on coming out, and when, and I’ll start looking for that info.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Darkhan days (K is silent)
Tomorrow morning I board a bus to meet my host family. I’ll be living with this family for the next three months, learning the language and culture – and eating their food. I won’t have running water. I may have electricity, but it may not be available throughout the entire day. My host father is the deputy governor of my soum or village. I’ll have two younger sisters, a mother and a guard dog. There will be 4 other volunteers in my city, two who will be living in a ger. Ger, by the way, is not pronounced like grrrrrr, which you may have heard me say a time or two. While it’s much more fun to say grrrrr, it actually rhymes with hair. But I won’t be in one for the first three months. I can’t say for the following two years. I think I’ll be living in a little wooden house. But I’ll be learning to build a fire and take care of a ger, just in case I’m placed in one.
There won’t be any Internet in my town, but throughout training I’ll be traveling to Darkhan, Ulaanbaatar (known as UB) and other larger towns, so I may be able to update occasionally. And right before my birthday (July 2) I think I’ll be getting a cell phone. I know, I know … Peace Corps, third-world country and cell phone … you’re thinking one of these things don’t belong. But it’s the cheapest form of communication. It may not work regularly in my town, but when I go to larger cities, people from the states can call and it’s free for me and cheap for you. ;-) There are web sites where you can buy phone cards. I heard from one volunteer that her mother found some for 5 or 10 cents a minute.
So those are the plans as of tomorrow. As for how the past week has been, I thought I’d give a quick rundown.
Language
It’s actually a very fun language to learn. There are lots of gurgles, grunts and strange tongue positionings. But it sounds very strong and powerful. So when I say "I like eggs," you’ll listen to me. "I like eggs," by the way, sounds like "Be unduck dorshtay." The only problem with the language is that everyone speaks it a little differently. So every time I say one phrase, I’m corrected. When I say that particular version to another teacher, I’m once again corrected, etc. But they do know what I’m trying to say. So I think I’ll be fine. I have quite the arsenal of topics to take to my host family. I can ask their age and name, tell them I like or dislike about 5 different foods, and tell them the age of my family members. Michael, you are now known to me as duu (younger sibling) and you are aravan dooroo (14).
Vaccinations
I think I’d talk about this since no Peace Corps volunteers whose web sites I followed included this. In one week I’ve had 7 vaccinations. Hepatitis A and B, rabies, Japanese encephilitis, meningitis, typhoid and tetanus. Wednesday I’ll get three more. Then a few more later in service, for a grand total of 16. See, we’re lucky here in Mongolia – anyone serving in the tropics not only has to deal with beaches and sunshine, but they get triple the shots. I was quite nervous about the first ones. But now I feel like a pro. The shots themselves are not what I remember as a screaming toddler. With the first five I didn’t feel a thing. Today was the tetanus shot, however, and I feel like someone punched me in the arm. Nothing really worth writing home (or on the web page) about, but it’s nice to have something to whine about. I am also a walking pharmacy. I have every kind of drug known to man. Peace Corps takes care of us.
Bathrooms
Some people’s favorite topic. But it’s really not that exciting. Toilet paper and toilet seats are a gamble. To flush them you pull the plug. In the school there are no doors in the women’s room. They’re basically very short urinals with a small wall to separate. But since you’re not sitting on the seatless toilet but leaning forward, bracing on your knees, everyone is staring at everyone else. The only strange thing about the hotel bathrooms is the design of the bowl. There is only water in the hole, which is in the far front. And there is a shelf above the hole (and therefore the water) that kind of catches whatever you throw at it. But it’s probably good for PCVs because we spent about an hour discussing bodily excretions with our health practitioner. He was making sure we knew how to describe whatever we may observe, so he could diagnose us over the phone. The toilets make it easy to do so. ;-)
Weather
It’s pretty nice here. But very unpredictable. And it changes quickly. The morning is usually chilly – in the 50s. But occasionally it’ll drop lower. But it could be in the mid 80s by noon. Then the clouds might make and appearance and cool things off. Twice it’s rained for about two hours, bringing lots of wind and fairly cold temps. Then three hours later it’ll be back in the mid 70s. The days are long, though. Sunrise is around 6 a.m. and it doesn’t set until 10 or 10:30.
Best things about Mongolia (so far)
The kids are the cutest ever. And they will play anything and everything with you.
The air is incredibly clean and clear. Now that my cold is gone and I can breathe again, I’m loving it.
Everything is super cheap. I’m paying fifty cents for an hour on the Internet. My dinner tonight, which was a huge plate of spaghetti, was $1.50. (I know, an American meal. But it’s my last before three months of very traditional Mongolian food. Give me a break).
Odds and ends
Name of nicest restaurant we ate in – Texas Pub
Name of store near pub – Lucky (with Britney Spears pictured on the sign)
Queen of table tennis (according to a huge sign in town) – Anna Kournikova.
Best meal – A dish I had at a Chinese restaurant
Two translations on the menu at said restaurant – The egg fries the fish; Black mushrooms rape
Most random occurrence – While jogging with a friend, a bird flew by and slapped me in the face with its wing
Graffiti – New Kids on the Block, Donnie Wahlberg, Boyzone
There won’t be any Internet in my town, but throughout training I’ll be traveling to Darkhan, Ulaanbaatar (known as UB) and other larger towns, so I may be able to update occasionally. And right before my birthday (July 2) I think I’ll be getting a cell phone. I know, I know … Peace Corps, third-world country and cell phone … you’re thinking one of these things don’t belong. But it’s the cheapest form of communication. It may not work regularly in my town, but when I go to larger cities, people from the states can call and it’s free for me and cheap for you. ;-) There are web sites where you can buy phone cards. I heard from one volunteer that her mother found some for 5 or 10 cents a minute.
So those are the plans as of tomorrow. As for how the past week has been, I thought I’d give a quick rundown.
Language
It’s actually a very fun language to learn. There are lots of gurgles, grunts and strange tongue positionings. But it sounds very strong and powerful. So when I say "I like eggs," you’ll listen to me. "I like eggs," by the way, sounds like "Be unduck dorshtay." The only problem with the language is that everyone speaks it a little differently. So every time I say one phrase, I’m corrected. When I say that particular version to another teacher, I’m once again corrected, etc. But they do know what I’m trying to say. So I think I’ll be fine. I have quite the arsenal of topics to take to my host family. I can ask their age and name, tell them I like or dislike about 5 different foods, and tell them the age of my family members. Michael, you are now known to me as duu (younger sibling) and you are aravan dooroo (14).
Vaccinations
I think I’d talk about this since no Peace Corps volunteers whose web sites I followed included this. In one week I’ve had 7 vaccinations. Hepatitis A and B, rabies, Japanese encephilitis, meningitis, typhoid and tetanus. Wednesday I’ll get three more. Then a few more later in service, for a grand total of 16. See, we’re lucky here in Mongolia – anyone serving in the tropics not only has to deal with beaches and sunshine, but they get triple the shots. I was quite nervous about the first ones. But now I feel like a pro. The shots themselves are not what I remember as a screaming toddler. With the first five I didn’t feel a thing. Today was the tetanus shot, however, and I feel like someone punched me in the arm. Nothing really worth writing home (or on the web page) about, but it’s nice to have something to whine about. I am also a walking pharmacy. I have every kind of drug known to man. Peace Corps takes care of us.
Bathrooms
Some people’s favorite topic. But it’s really not that exciting. Toilet paper and toilet seats are a gamble. To flush them you pull the plug. In the school there are no doors in the women’s room. They’re basically very short urinals with a small wall to separate. But since you’re not sitting on the seatless toilet but leaning forward, bracing on your knees, everyone is staring at everyone else. The only strange thing about the hotel bathrooms is the design of the bowl. There is only water in the hole, which is in the far front. And there is a shelf above the hole (and therefore the water) that kind of catches whatever you throw at it. But it’s probably good for PCVs because we spent about an hour discussing bodily excretions with our health practitioner. He was making sure we knew how to describe whatever we may observe, so he could diagnose us over the phone. The toilets make it easy to do so. ;-)
Weather
It’s pretty nice here. But very unpredictable. And it changes quickly. The morning is usually chilly – in the 50s. But occasionally it’ll drop lower. But it could be in the mid 80s by noon. Then the clouds might make and appearance and cool things off. Twice it’s rained for about two hours, bringing lots of wind and fairly cold temps. Then three hours later it’ll be back in the mid 70s. The days are long, though. Sunrise is around 6 a.m. and it doesn’t set until 10 or 10:30.
Best things about Mongolia (so far)
The kids are the cutest ever. And they will play anything and everything with you.
The air is incredibly clean and clear. Now that my cold is gone and I can breathe again, I’m loving it.
Everything is super cheap. I’m paying fifty cents for an hour on the Internet. My dinner tonight, which was a huge plate of spaghetti, was $1.50. (I know, an American meal. But it’s my last before three months of very traditional Mongolian food. Give me a break).
Odds and ends
Name of nicest restaurant we ate in – Texas Pub
Name of store near pub – Lucky (with Britney Spears pictured on the sign)
Queen of table tennis (according to a huge sign in town) – Anna Kournikova.
Best meal – A dish I had at a Chinese restaurant
Two translations on the menu at said restaurant – The egg fries the fish; Black mushrooms rape
Most random occurrence – While jogging with a friend, a bird flew by and slapped me in the face with its wing
Graffiti – New Kids on the Block, Donnie Wahlberg, Boyzone
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Stand by
I'm safe and sound in Mongolia. We were welcomed to the city of Darkhan with a ceremony that included Mongolian dancers, singers and a contortionist. I've started learning the language, had the first round of vaccinations and have finally gotten over jet lag (for the most part). I'll give more info on first impressions and post a few pictures soon. Until then, I have a mission for all the "Star Wars" fanatics I know. I was told today that George Lucas drew a lot of inspiration from Mongolia. And that the Ewoks speak Mongolian. Someone should tell me if this is true. If not, I guess I'll let you know in a couple years. ;-)
Friday, June 03, 2005
... the break of dawn
The day has come. In two hours I'll be on my way to the aiport. Then it begins. Three days of staging or orientation, then a terribly long flight to Asia until I reach Mongolia.
Excited? Yes.
Nervous? Yes.
Sick? Yes. Not from excitement or nerves though. Unfortunately, Ohio decided to give me a going away present. I've come down with either a head cold or really bad allergies. Passengers in the plane are going to love me.
But I've finished packing my 100 pounds of luggage. Drove my car for the last time. Ate my last bowl of chips and salsa. And the hardest part yet, said good bye to all my amazing friends, who have been so supportive. Thanks for the greatest monthlong farewell ever. I almost gave Cher a run for her money.
All that's left now is a good bye to the family and to step on the plane. The latter I'm ready for. The former ... a little more difficult. But after a four-hour in-flight nap, I'll wake up to a whole new world.
Until then ...
Excited? Yes.
Nervous? Yes.
Sick? Yes. Not from excitement or nerves though. Unfortunately, Ohio decided to give me a going away present. I've come down with either a head cold or really bad allergies. Passengers in the plane are going to love me.
But I've finished packing my 100 pounds of luggage. Drove my car for the last time. Ate my last bowl of chips and salsa. And the hardest part yet, said good bye to all my amazing friends, who have been so supportive. Thanks for the greatest monthlong farewell ever. I almost gave Cher a run for her money.
All that's left now is a good bye to the family and to step on the plane. The latter I'm ready for. The former ... a little more difficult. But after a four-hour in-flight nap, I'll wake up to a whole new world.
Until then ...
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