And a month later ...

... I'm back. It's been busy, so while I do finally have Internet close by, I have only managed to make it here 5 times since I've been here. But I'll be making a point to schedule a little Internet and up-date time.

For now, though, I am only going to attempt to post my address. Thank you, Sharyn, for making a TIFF. Hopefully it will show up in my profile. And, I think, it should be at the top of this post.

Hope all is well. Let me know how you all are. And, I promise, soon I'll update this site on all the happenings here in Uliastai.

My new home

So I’ve been at site for two weeks now and I haven’t posted anything to this site, nor have I taken many pictures here. I think I’ve only taken two since moving to this new town. The reason, I think, is that the end of summer and training felt like the end of a vacation. Now, work and responsibility begin. And what fun is that to write and read about? But, yes, I know, that’s where the good stuff is. So from now on I’ll try to write regularly and keep you updated on this not-so-carefree but much-more-important phase of my adventure.

The setting
Uliastai is a beautiful city. There are mountains surrounding the town and a river runs through the center. I’m told one of the mountains is used for skiing during the winter. The center of town vaguely resembles small-town America. But most of the residents live in gers. There are stores in every nook and cranny. Most are grocery stores, all of which sell the same products with one or two specialties to each. Yesterday we found some cheese -- a treasure here. Apparently a German veterinarian worked here for a couple years and convinced the store owner to bring the cheese from UB. A 20- to- 30-hour trip by jeep to UB is how all the store owners get supplies. So, for those willing to haul your requests back, it’s just a matter of promising to buy special supplies when they return. Other than grocery stores, there are salons at every turn.

There are also tons of huge dogs running around -- everywhere. For the most part, they ignore people and just attack each other. Interesting story (possibly a rumor) -- We’ve been told by multiple sources that every spring and fall small-time prisoners from the jail are given guns to shoot all the strays. But I see a problem with this story -- if they kill all the dogs in the fall, where does the next batch come from? I don’t think many puppies could survive the winters. Seriously, if you’re going to start a rumor, make it believable.

My ger is very nice, and pretty cozy. It’s a smaller ger, but that means it’s easier to heat. I have a non-functioning TV and a refrigerator -- so it’s pretty fancy.

The characters
I live in a hashaa (yard) with a woman who works at my school, her 29-year-old daughter and the daughter’s 3-year-old son. They also have a hashaa dog, who one day held me hostage in my ger. But I have since fed him some nice, juicy fat from the meat I bought, so now he’s my friend ... acquaintance, anyway.

I have 6 counterparts -- the English teachers I work with. Some are very good at English. A couple struggle to communicate with me. But they’re all eager to learn. They’re all, also, beautiful. I was joking that I’ve joined the cast of Mongolia’s “Sex and the City.” Four of them are married with children. They are all under 30. Three of them are my age, 24.

There are four other volunteers in my town. All guys (lucky me, right?). Two are teacher-trainers, one is TEFL (like me) and one is a health volunteer. One of the teacher-trainers is an M-15, so he gives us the lowdown on life here in Uliastai. For instance, he informed us that during the winter we will likely only have four hours of electricity a day. Hmmm ... thanks for the warning. One of these guys is from L.A. and another lived in L.A. for four years. This is a source of endless enjoyment for me, as they both face the oncoming winter with fear. The other M-16 is from Michigan. So while both of us will also soon be out of our element, at least we get a good laugh during the fall.

My role
Of course, I’m still trying to figure this out. So far, the list includes:
- English teacher for high school students
- English tutor for English teachers
- Teaching methodology trainer for English teachers
- English Club adviser

In town, I’m just one of the Americans. To my neighbors, I’m an extra responsibility and a personal home tutor. To the college students in town, I’m a novelty.

What’s interesting to me is that my image here is different. In Mongolia, I:
- am tall
- look my age -- most Americans look old to Mongolians.
- am beautiful -- This isn’t a self-deprication thing. In America, I’m average-looking. But here, I look like every blonde-haired, blue-eyed model/movie star/pop start they’ve ever seen on TV or in magazines. On my first day of school, a student asked me if I was in a movie. During training, my language instructor saw a drawing of Heidi Klum and asked if it was me. Of course, I said yes.

P.S. I dated it for the day I began this post. But for the record, and to clarify later posts, it wasn't actually on the site until Oct.31.

And now it begins

I’m officially a Peace Corps volunteer. Today was our swearing-in ceremony, attended by the U.S. ambassador to Mongolia as well as the Mongolian president. We got word he was coming a couple days ago. It was quite an honor, but also a little nerve-wracking… since many of us were performing Mongolian songs and dances. But it turned out to be a beautiful ceremony. And my group’s dance was excellent.

Tomorrow, I leave for UB, where I’ll stay until Wednesday. Then I fly to my home for the next two years. I’ll be in the Zavkhan aimag, which is way out west. I’ll be living in a ger (I know you’re excited about that) but I"ll also be in the aimag center (capital), so I’ll have a decent variety of food during the winter. So I’m half roughing it and half Posh Corps (as we PCVS so lovingly call the easy life).

This past week, I met with my supervisor, the director of the school I’ll be working for. I must say, I was a bit intimidated when I first met him. His school has had two volunteers before me, which means I have double to live up to. He doesn’t speak any English, so we couldn’t discuss too much. But the one thing I kept hearing about was the previous volunteer and what she was able to do. So after our first meeting, I started biting my nails and wishing I were going to a town that had never had an English-speaking English teacher before. But, the next day we spent a lot of time with translators, discussing my jobs and what I expected and what he expected. And now I’m super excited. My school sounds awesome – and very advanced compared to what I expected.

Here’s a rundown of what my job duties tentatively entail:
For the first month or two, I don’t have to teach. I just observe all the classes, and maybe help out with English discussion activities.
At the start of the second quarter, I’ll started teaching an advanced English class, in which students have to pay to attend (which means discipline and apathy won’t be too big of a problem).
I"ll also start working with the English club, work on developing the recently started English resource room, and I’ll be teaching basic computer courses. The school just got a whole bunch of computers, and Internet(!) so I’ll be the specialist. The English resource room should be exciting. I’ll be responsible for working with organizations to find book and resource donations, as well as developing some of the visual aids, worksheets, tests and whatnot. The director is also excited that I studied journalism and is interested in applying that to his school in some way. So, after talking with him, I feel like all this is completely within my abilities, and better yet, all things I’m pretty interested in. Kudos to the Peace Corps for making what appears to be a good match.

As for my town, I have one of the most beautiful aimags in the country. Mountains, rivers, hot springs! But …it’s also one of the coldest. This is, I believe, why they put me in a ger as opposed to an apartment. I expressed my concerns about the cold early on, and living in a ger, the heating is controlled by me and my God-given abilities (God, I hope you gave me these abilities) to make fire.

So that’s the brief description. Luckily, I’ll have regular Internet, so you’ll be able to follow my adventure fairly regularly. I’ll be posting my new address on here soon. I also will have regular cell phone access. So anyone who didn’t receive my phone number, but would like to give me a call sometime, let me know and I"ll e-mail you my number.

What you’ve missed in the past three weeks:

• I took the final language test, and received an Intermediate low. A month ago I was at Beginner medium. Beginner high is what you need to stay in the Peace Corps (so they say). So my level is above (but not beyond) what was necessary. So I’m pleased. My language abilities were also helpful in impressing my new boss. So, yay for me.
• But don’t worry. It hasn’t gone to my head. While practicing for the final test, my host family was quizzing me on everyday questions. They asked me what other languages I spoke. I thought they were asking what foods I could cook. So I started naming Mongolian food – budz, hosher, dumpling soup, etc. They started cracking up, and then proceeded to make fun of me for saying I could speak the language of yogurt.
• Another communication snafu. I inadvertently canceled one of my English classes, on a day when the Peace Corps was coming to observe me. I was trying to tell my kids were going to learn a new song in a couple days. They thought I meant we didn’t have class for a couple days. So I was worried my observer would have to watch me teach my host sister, and no other students. Luckily, most of the students live close enough to the school that they could run around and get each other at the last minute.

Repeat after me, students ...

Hello, all. Sorry it’s taken so long to post. The days went from super long and slow to super busy. I have four hours of Mongolian language study, walk home and eat lunch, then walk back to school to teach an hour of English. After my classes, I go to Mongolian dancing classes. Our group has decided to learn a dance for our swearing-in on Aug. 20. By the way, the word for "dancing" in Mongolian sounds like "boojiggly." I may have already said this somewhere on this blog, but it’s so great, I have to repeat it. Try it.

"Are you ready for some boojiggly?"
"I’d love a little boojiggly."
"That boy can boojiggly!"

See, it’s fun! After some boojiggly, I walk home, have dinner and write the next day’s lesson plan. Through all this, the weeks have flown by. I only have two more weeks of training, then one week in Darkhan … then I go to my new home. Exciting and a little scary. But I’m ready for it.

Teaching classes is going well. I definitely feel up for the task. What’s my weak point as a teacher? The disciplining. I know it’s a bit of surprise. I’m sure you all thought I’d storm into my class and lay the law down. But apparently I’m too "gentle." Who’d have thought?

Best part of the past week: Our Mongolian instructor is this petite, soft-spoken, sweet little Mongolian lady. We thought it would be great to teach her some useful, American slang. So when a couple of the volunteers came into class, she stood in her calm, teacherly way in front of the class and said "Fo schizzle my nizzle." It was incredible.

Saving grace: So I thought I'd really miss driving while I was here. But I think that was largely because I love to sing loudly in my car. It's my stress relief. But I've found a replacement. Behind my house there is nothing but fields. A little less than a mile away there's a great hill with a perfect view of the sunset. It's beautiful. I'll try to post pictures soon. And while I've become a regular performer for the grasshoppers and birds that live back there, I'll leave the sound clip out.

Sending letters and whatnot: Thank you so much for all the letters. Dr. Kilmer, you’re wonderful. In two weeks I’ll have a new address. So you’ll all have to stop using the Peace Corps address within the next two months. I’ve received letters as fast two weeks after they were sent, and as slow as a month. I just received packages from my family, sent probably a month and a half to two months ago. But it’s possible they were sitting the PC office until a trainer could bring them out to me.

Calling: My parents found a new web site that offers a good deal on phone cards. www.speedypin.com. They just used it for the first time yesterday, but it is supposed to have minutes to Mongolian for less than 5 cents.

I’ll be back in the city in two weeks. So it’s unlikely you’ll hear from me before then. So don’t worry! I’m fine. Hope all is well. Thanks for staying in touch and letting me know how things are going. I appreciate it more than you know.

Teaching tomorrow

Training is flying by. We only have a month left. Tomorrow begins practice teaching. I’ll teach my first lesson to 15 or so students from my town. It’s their summer vacation, so it’s a voluntary class. But in my tiny town there were more than 60 students who registered. And for the following two days, mothers and fathers randomly came into our classroom (while we were learning Mongolian) and asked if we had room for their students. Our Mongolian teacher was visited at her home by her boss, asking if four other students could sign up. It’s nice to know they’re excited to learn. Although, we’re told that by the fourth week, we’ll be lucky to have 5 students. Eventually they realize there are more exciting things to do during the summer.

How’s the weather? ... Hot! During the past week, it’s been in the mid-90s. The sun is intense, and there’s no shade ... anywhere. Honestly, I have a better tan now than I ever had in Costa Rica. Although, I admit, that could be an exaggeration. The fact that I only take one or two showers a week confuses things. It’s hard to tell what’s tan and what’s dirt.

Interesting experiences:
~ I saw my first sandstorm.
~ I saw host mother throw milk into the sky, a daily ritual for her.
~ My host sister threw milk at me as I was leaving for UB. I’m pretty sure it was for good luck and not in hopes that I stay away.
~ My host mom’s back was hurting. To help ease the pain, the older daughter took 20 grains of wheat and moved each grain individually around her lower back, hovering above the skin. I think she was pinching the flour out of the grains.

What my host family is confused about:
Every Mongolian meal is steaming hot. Even lunch, when it’s 95 degrees, I’m eating incredibly hot food and drinks. So my nose is constantly running whenever I’m eating. At least once a week, my family asks me if I’m sick. I always say no, the food is hot. They nod their heads as if they understand. But they still ask. I can’t wait until I can speak better Mongolian and can explain these situations. I know they think I don’t understand or am making up answers. It’ll be nice to let them know I’m not crazy.

Another rushed post

One month left of training. Then … prepared or not … I’ll be on my way to a village to teach some English and help develop the community. The days are flying by. Tomorrow I begin practice teaching. I’ll have 15 students, under the age of 15, who will be coming to my class during their summer vacation to learn English. More than 60 students signed up for mine and my sitemates’ classes. And even after registration was over, students were knocking on our doors to get into the classes. It’s nice to know they’re eager to learn. Although, we’ve been told by the third week we’ll be lucky to have five students still hanging around.

Since I last posted, we’ve celebrated Mongolia’s summer holiday, Naadam. I wrote a huge description of the celebration, but you’ll have to wait until I find a computer that accepts my USB drive before you can read it. Short description: lots of wrestling between men in fancy underwear. I have pictures.

What’s the weather like? Very hot. During the past week it’s held at a stead 90 degrees or so. And there’s no shade anywhere. Honestly, I have a better tan now than I ever did in Costa Rica. Although, I admit, it could be dirt. I only get to the shower once or twice a week.

I added a photo album link to the left. I hope it works. I think the pictures are a little dark. I’ll try to fix everything when training is over. I've been here for two hours and the computer has died on me 4 times. I tried to e-mail people, but gave up. Will, Travis, Katie, Liz, Ross and family, thanks for the e-mails. I promise I'll reply.
Hope all is well. Keep in touch! I love reading your comments. Christy, I'm glad you finally found the site! It's good to hear from you all.

Naadam

This past weekend was a holiday here in Mongolia. The big summer event is Naadam, which is celebrated with the three manly sports -- archery, horse racing, and wrestling. The big celebration is in UB, but it’s celebrated all over the country on different days and in different ways. My town’s celebration isn’t until October, which I believe is because my town is full of farmers. During the summer they’re incredibly busy with harvesting. So they wait until after the work is done to party.

Manly men
I went to Darkhan’s stadium to watch their games. We missed the archery, but we saw plenty of wrestling. Mongolian wrestling is pretty tame. Especially since you expect to see some WWF action when you see the traditional outfit. They wear a colorful half-shirt (just sleeves and a back), blue underwear and fancy boots. We’ve been told that the shirts used to have fronts, but one year a woman pretended she was a man, entered the competition and won. Women aren’t allowed to wrestle, so since then, they don’t cover their chests. Aside from the outfits, the wrestlers do a little eagle dance before and after each match. Some matches seem pretty uneventful. The object is to get the other guy to touch a knee or elbow to the ground. Most of the match is the two guys bent at the waist with their arms around each other, waiting for someone to make a move, hoping that move is the wrong one. The amateur matches are a bit more exciting. There are no weight classes, so there is often a larger guy with a smaller guy. The match often ends quickly with the larger guy picking the smaller guy up by his panties and throwing him to the ground.

No Janet here
My family watched UB’s Naadam celebration on TV. It felt a lot like the Super Bowl, with advertisements and all. There were pop stars singing in between events. Then a parade of trucks covered in banners of coffee brands and cell phone companies filled the TV screen for a couple minutes. The most entertaining part was when two couples began waltzing in the middle of the field. It was very elegant ... and then I noticed that the rest of the field was full of hip-hop dancers performing their own choreography to the ballroom music. I was a little thrown off, but it really grew on me. I think maybe 50 cent should look into that idea for his next video. I unfortunately didn’t get to watch too much of UB’s celebration, because I received a text message saying that my host father and sister were waiting in the town square for me ...

Confusion
This was one of many communication breakdowns that I’ve experienced. The day before, one of my sitemates mentioned that her host sister was taking us to the hoodo (countryside) to watch a horse race. I asked my host family whether they knew anything about this outing. They did not. But they had spent the past two days chopping up a goat they had slaughtered. I asked what this was for, and they said the father was going out with friends from work. No mention of anyone else joining him. The next morning, my sitemate sent me a text saying she was leaving now for the hoodo, could I let the others know. Well, since I had spent the entire day before in the sun, and since I wasn’t ready to go, I decided I would stay indoors and watch TV with my host mom. So when I received the message about 45 minutes later, all I could do was shake my head. I think what happened is that my host father hadn’t planned on inviting me, but when he realized there were other Americans going, he thought he should invite his American.

Ohio represents
We took a meaker out to a mountain, which all the men climbed to worship and ask for rain. The women, and the American men, waited for about an hour in the blazing sun. After the worship, we went to the river, swam, ate meat, dried milk curds, cookies and, yes, I finally drank the airag (fermented mare’s milk). Not the best drink I’ve ever had. Luckily, you’re just supposed to sip it and pass it. We also had our own, personal wrestling competition. And since they were one Mongolian wrestler short, my sitemate Nick (from Dayton) was asked to step in. He didn’t wear the fancy panties, but he gave it a good run. He lost to the second-place finalist.

Almost there

Here is a picture of the ger on wheels that I stayed in my first night in Mongolia. If you can see this picture then I've figured out half of the picture-posting business. Hopefully next weekend I'll put more on the site and set up an album you can link to.

Welcome 24

Thank you, everyone, for the birthday wishes. They were much appreciated. My first birthday in Mongolia was a good one that extended over four days. I’ll give you a quick recap.

On July 1, I was in UB with about 20 other volunteers, touring the capital. On this day we went to the PC office, and they passed out letters. I had three letters! A good day indeed. This was also the last night we were in UB, so everyone decided to go out for a little boojiggly (which is what the word for “dancing” sounds like to the untrained American ear.) Like most Mongolians, the DJs were eager to use their English, so when the volunteers told them it was my birthday, they proceeded to say “Happy Birthday, Jenny” over the speakers as often as they could.

At 6:30 a.m. on my birthday, I woke up to the unfamiliar ring of my new cell phone. My first call from the states! It was very exciting, even if the person had forgotten that it was my birthday. ;-) My second call from the states came at lunchtime! Midday, I’ll admit, I became a little melancholy. I started missing everyone at home. The three-hour ride in a meaker (little Russian van) with 10 other people wasn’t helping. When we got back to site, the sky was full of storm clouds. A blustery, blah day. It fit my mood. I wasn’t looking forward to attempting to speak Mongolian to my host family. But when I walked in they were so excited to see me. They brought out three little presents and sang “Happy Birthday.” They helped me realize that on my 24th birthday I was doing exactly what I had hoped for. I was feeling refreshed and walked outside and there was a huge, beautiful rainbow. That’s the great thing about the storms here. They blow in and blow out in a couple hours. And there are no buildings to block the view, so you can usually see both sides of the rainbow.

On July 3, my family called from the states! Another good day. And on July 4, during class, my sitemates surprised me with a cake! And so ended my four-day birthday celebration.
(Cultural sidenote: In Mongolia, I’m 25. When you’re born you’re 1 year old.)

Phone calls: For any parents or friends of volunteers interested in calling here, my parents found a site where you can buy calling cards for 5 cents a minute. It’s at www.mongoltown.com. It’s written in Mongolian, but there is a phone number and e-mail address to ask for help. I’m told it’s pretty easy to tell what each card is worth. You have to purchase the cards through paypal. They last for a certain number of months.

Celebrations

Happy Fourth of July!!! And birthday to me! (Or happy pur-pur, as my Mongolian sister pronounces it).
We've spent the past few days touring the capital, Ulaanbaatar. I ate at a Mexican restaurant, saw last year's Wimbledon on my dorm-room television, ate pizza and a cheeseburger and got a chance to dance a little in the clubs. It's been fun. We also met some important people and were given a lot of important information. I'll write more about all that good stuff later.
I just wanted to let you know that all is well. I have a cell phone now, and have received two calls from the states!!! Great birthday presents.
Hope you guys have a good holiday weekend!
Keep in touch!!

The homestead

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

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

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. ;-)

... 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 ...

Two weeks - then two years

Welcome to a future Peace Corps volunteer's web log. In less than two weeks I'll be on my way to Mongolia to teach English. A little over a year ago I turned in my Peace Corps application, hoping to return to Latin America. But that wasn't in the cards. Instead, I will spend the next two years in the Land of Blue Skies, trying to stay warm through harsh winters, possibly living in a small tent, mingling with yaks and learning the Russian alphabet. A far cry from my previous travels - living on the beach in Costa Rica and traveling around Spain. But I've spent a year preparing and am ready for the challenge (or at least am telling myself I'm ready).
I hope to post regularly to this site, to keep friends and family informed and to give potential volunteers another option for research. Volunteer blogs were incredibly helpful to me in the decision-making process, and then in preparing for the excursion. So I'd like to offer the same to others. And while "regularly" may mean once a month (if I'm lucky), I hope that after two years I will have some interesting stories to offer. And if not, I'm sure there will at least be a picture or two worth looking at.
So if you're interested in Mongolia, the Peace Corps or traveling in general, check back occasionally. And if you know me, definitely keep in touch. I'm sure I'll need to hear from you to keep my sanity.