Just a girl in the world

I guess I can mark international correspondent off my list of possible careers. Two months without reporting probably wouldn’t go over well.

I’m alive and well. I think I successfully navigated through the hardest part of Peace Corps life (with a possible exception of the first Christmas). Now life here is becoming just that ... life. Building my fires, hauling in my water, schedules changing unexpectedly, students yelling “hello” and running away. And I can finally look around and appreciate all of this.

So what have you missed in the past two months?
School talent show -- Every class performs in nine categories. Two days of different classes performing the same show ... over and over and over.
Immune system on the fritz -- Basically, the whole two months I’ve been a little ill. My poor body has definitely been working overtime to keep me well. But stomach problems have calmed, mild cold is gone, fever accomplished its goal. Hopefully, the worst is over.
Hepatitis scare -- My 3-year-old neighbor is in the hospital with Hepatitis A. This was scary because I didn’t know what the illness was until the afternoon. My neighbors came to my ger and asked me to leave my key so the doctors could get in. When I got to school, everyone was saying how dangerous the disease was, but no one knew the English word for it. But the teachers were worried because it spreads through kindergartens quickly. The doctors just needed to spray a chlorine solution in my ger. And, for me, it’s no worry. I was vaccinated and I don’t drink the same water as my neighbors (which is likely how he got the disease). As for my neighbor, he’s fine. He should be home soon.
Cheese scare -- One day, the cheese lady was no longer in her store. There was a day of fear that we may no longer have cheese in our town. But, thank the Lord, she only moved to another location. Ravioli lives on.
The ballgame -- For the first English Club meeting, I taught the students baseball and “Take me out to the ballgame.” They caught on to the song quickly. Not so much so for the game. Once I finally got the batters to realize they needed to keep running around the bases, I looked around and realized that the outfield was just watching the runners as the ball rolled by their feet. They eventually caught on, though. And they all know the important fact that Ohio is the birthplace of baseball. Is this true? I’m not sure. But I know we had one of the first teams. That’s good enough for me.
Dude in my ger -- I was kitten-sitting for another volunteer for three weeks. It was nice to have a little company, but this cat (Dude is her name) has the most God-awful meow I’ve ever heard. At night, she liked to sleep right on my face. And if I didn’t let her, she’d scream directly into my ear. I still have nightmares.
The weather -- Well, if you all were disappointed by the summer’s temps, you can now look on the Internet and laugh heartily. Winter came upon us quickly. It has already snowed twice. Our coldest night, so far, was -15 C, which I believe is about 3 F. According to my community members, this winter won’t be extremely cold, but we will get a lot of snow. It could possibly be a dzud -- a winter with extreme conditions. Before coming to Mongolia, I assumed this meant very cold temps. But, in fact, it means not so cold temps, but lots of snow. While maybe this is good for me, it’s bad for the community’s herders. The animals can stand the temps, but not being covered in snow. I heard that during the last dzud, some gers were almost completely covered in snow. I hope I won’t have school on those days. ;-)

Interesting cultural difference of the day:
Health -- Mongolians’ views of health are very different than Americans’. While America has become very focused on emotions and stress levels in relation to illness, that doesn’t play a part here in Mongolia. Also, in America we are cautious in the winter to cover our heads and chests. In Mongolia, it’s the lower half of the body they protect. Keeping your feet warm is the most important defense against illness. The liver, kidneys, and (for women) uterus must also stay warm. This difference is only interesting to me now that I’m well. When I was sick with a stomach virus and then a high fever, I couldn’t help but be a little angry that they didn’t even consider the fact that I was working so much as a possible inhibitor to my recovery. And the reason for my illness wasn’t because I was encountering new germs or adjusting to a new environment. It was either because my feet were cold or because I’m a girl.