For the past month or so Mongolia has been on total lock down because of the H1N1 virus. As many of us in this country are TEFL volunteers, we were essentially given a month long vacation. It started off with a week break with the announcement by the Health and Education Ministers, and then came another week, and then yet another two weeks.
The first week off was nice and all, a chance to relax and chill.... The second week ended with some boredom, and the third and fourth week had me swatting at flies like it was my job. Alas, we are back at work now. The older students (7th-9th) are back, and they will slowly bring in the younger ones in the coming week.
Thanksgiving is also coming up very very soon. The Dornod crew is heading out to UB to celebrate in style. Oh lordy, TURKEY!
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Showing posts with label Choibalsan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Choibalsan. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Medals are for winners!
Entering any Mongolian household, you are bound to find medals proudly displayed as a centerpiece in the living room. From sports medals (chiefly volleyball), to dancing and singing medals, to the all important academic medals; Mongolians are obsessed with giving out and getting these marks of achievements. I don’t know if it’s a relic of the Soviet influenced past but competitions and the presentation of medals in general are always happening in one form or another.
This past weekend I was privileged (don’t know if that’s the correct word for it) enough to be a judge for the most important academic competition of the year, the annual Olympiad. I was an English judge, but there were competitions in all subjects ranging from Physics, Mathematics, Russian, and even an I.Q. test. This yearly contest is held across Mongolia around the same time in all of its different provinces. In Dornod aimag, each school is given a quota of 1 or 2 students per subject per grade. So the students that come in for the competitions are the best in their school. Students were not the only participants vying for these prestigious medals, teachers were also involved and were competing for bragging rights and maybe even pay raises.
On the morning of the competition, which was on a Saturday, a group of VSOs (British volunteers) and Peace Corps volunteers were ready at 8 AM to begin judging the English Olympiad. As this was our first Olympics, we had no idea what to expect. What we didn’t know was that we were in for the long haul. The master copy of the test came at 8:10 or so, the test was to begin at 9. There were three different versions, one for the 9th graders, 11th graders, and a teacher’s test. We looked through the test to find mistakes (the English tests are infamously known for errors) and were happy to find that there were only a few minor hiccups that can be easily corrected. As the clock draws closer to 9, we had one copy machine to share between all the different tests. The I.Q. people got in before us and made their copies, then the Physics tests were copied, and then it was finally our chance to make the 500 or so sheets of copies that we needed. As we were making copies, we had to also come up with a rubric for grading the speaking portion of the test since the creators of the exam did not have one for us to use. By the time we finished making all the copies, it was 10 or so and the participants were restless and anxious to get it under way.
The test was broken down into 3 portions: speaking, listening, and writing with the majority of the points given to writing portion because it included the all important essay. The writing was straightforward, the listening was a problem because the CD that was provided to us didn’t work, but was resolved with us reading the transcript, and the speaking was a challenge because we had 8 interviewers for 90 or so participants. After all the tests were collected, we had to correct all of them. We decided to mark everything except for the essay, which were to be done the next day. It was the best decision that we made because we were running out of fumes as it was closing on 6 o’clock by the time we were finished correcting the multiple choice section.
The next day, over mimosas and snacks we all convened again to make a rubric and collectively grade the essays. There were differences of opinions on how each essay was to be scored; some were hooked on the students’ ideas and creativity while others were strictly grading based on the question and answer. We started at 10 AM and ended at 4 PM. There were great essays that made us think, good essays that made us laugh, and deplorable essays that just made us cry and cringe.
The Olympiad is something else! A total mess in terms of organization and logistics (though it was not the fault of the local people because they were given the test just one hour before the test) this year, but I guess that is something to take from all of this. Next year we will be better prepared.
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This past weekend I was privileged (don’t know if that’s the correct word for it) enough to be a judge for the most important academic competition of the year, the annual Olympiad. I was an English judge, but there were competitions in all subjects ranging from Physics, Mathematics, Russian, and even an I.Q. test. This yearly contest is held across Mongolia around the same time in all of its different provinces. In Dornod aimag, each school is given a quota of 1 or 2 students per subject per grade. So the students that come in for the competitions are the best in their school. Students were not the only participants vying for these prestigious medals, teachers were also involved and were competing for bragging rights and maybe even pay raises.
On the morning of the competition, which was on a Saturday, a group of VSOs (British volunteers) and Peace Corps volunteers were ready at 8 AM to begin judging the English Olympiad. As this was our first Olympics, we had no idea what to expect. What we didn’t know was that we were in for the long haul. The master copy of the test came at 8:10 or so, the test was to begin at 9. There were three different versions, one for the 9th graders, 11th graders, and a teacher’s test. We looked through the test to find mistakes (the English tests are infamously known for errors) and were happy to find that there were only a few minor hiccups that can be easily corrected. As the clock draws closer to 9, we had one copy machine to share between all the different tests. The I.Q. people got in before us and made their copies, then the Physics tests were copied, and then it was finally our chance to make the 500 or so sheets of copies that we needed. As we were making copies, we had to also come up with a rubric for grading the speaking portion of the test since the creators of the exam did not have one for us to use. By the time we finished making all the copies, it was 10 or so and the participants were restless and anxious to get it under way.
The test was broken down into 3 portions: speaking, listening, and writing with the majority of the points given to writing portion because it included the all important essay. The writing was straightforward, the listening was a problem because the CD that was provided to us didn’t work, but was resolved with us reading the transcript, and the speaking was a challenge because we had 8 interviewers for 90 or so participants. After all the tests were collected, we had to correct all of them. We decided to mark everything except for the essay, which were to be done the next day. It was the best decision that we made because we were running out of fumes as it was closing on 6 o’clock by the time we were finished correcting the multiple choice section.
The next day, over mimosas and snacks we all convened again to make a rubric and collectively grade the essays. There were differences of opinions on how each essay was to be scored; some were hooked on the students’ ideas and creativity while others were strictly grading based on the question and answer. We started at 10 AM and ended at 4 PM. There were great essays that made us think, good essays that made us laugh, and deplorable essays that just made us cry and cringe.
The Olympiad is something else! A total mess in terms of organization and logistics (though it was not the fault of the local people because they were given the test just one hour before the test) this year, but I guess that is something to take from all of this. Next year we will be better prepared.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tsaagan Sar
Tsaagan Sar is the mother of all Mongolian holidays. Transliterated as the White Month or the White Moon, it is the Mongolian Lunar New Year in accordance to its own calendar. This year it fell on the 25th of February and ran for three days til the 27th. On the first day of Tsaagan Sar, it is customary for people with close familial ties to visit each other’s house and pay respect and welcome each other to a new and more prosperous year. People from all over the country would make the journey home; those in UB would go back to the Aimag center (provincial capital), those in the Aimag centers would make the journey to the countryside. On the second day of Tsaagan Sar, friends and co-workers would visit each other, and the third day is a continuance of the second.
The week leading up to Tsaagan Sar is probably the busiest days in the Mongolian calendar. There is much preparation to be done, but since Mongolians generally have a laid back attitude, they usually wait til the last minute to do things. You can imagine the chaos that can ensue when hundreds of people in the market are all looking for the same things to buy. And if you are stupid enough to wait til the first day of Tsaagan Sar to buy goods, you are out of luck. Everything shuts down on the three days of Tsaagan Sar; government offices, schools, banks, grocery stores, markets, everything! If you don’t have food, count on visiting Mongolian families on the days ahead to fill that belly of yours.
With that being said, I will now walk you through my three days of Tsaagan Sar. The first day was on a Wednesday, and I was told to get ready by 10 AM to start the festivities since my school director had arranged Dure, the school secretary to help Kristen and I navigate through the customs and rituals of Tsaagan Sar. Our first stop was Oyunchimeg’s house, who is a teacher at the school and my next door neighbor. We were welcomed with the customary greetings (Since I’m lazy and since so many PCV’s have already written about the proper greetings of Tsaagan Sar, I will now link you to another website if you are interested in the full details.) We sat, ate, drank, and chat for a bit and then visited the next house. There, at my training manager’s house, whom I love dearly we were treated to a feast of enormous proportions. There were your staples of salad, ham and pickles, milk tea, sweet rice, meat, and vodka. But along side these dishes, she served up some sweet stir fry, delicious home made fruit juice, a whole sheep on a platter, and even sake. While waiting for the buuz (steamed dumplings) to cook, her daughter-in-law who was an English teacher at my school years ago and currently working in UB explained to Kristen and I some of the significant traditions of the holiday. After bidding our farewell, we were given our gifts (a phone card and key chain for me), we headed on to our next house. We followed Dure to her home which is a Mongolian ger. Had the same types of food, chat, drank vodka, a general good time with a hospitable family. Next we visited another teacher who lives in the Aimag center (7km from my house), rinse and repeat the same steps as the other houses… eat, drink, chat, and get gifts. The last house of the day was my director’s house. When we arrived at her home, there was a good company of 12 or so people there already. We performed the greetings, got ourselves seated, and prepared to eat and drink the night away. And as with any other Mongolian gatherings in groups, songs were sung and fun was had. My first day of Tsaagan Sar ended with Kristen and I passing out at 7 and waking up the next day to start all over again. This time visiting 7 houses; eating a lot more food, drank a lot more alcohol, and feeling a lot more tired the next day.
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The week leading up to Tsaagan Sar is probably the busiest days in the Mongolian calendar. There is much preparation to be done, but since Mongolians generally have a laid back attitude, they usually wait til the last minute to do things. You can imagine the chaos that can ensue when hundreds of people in the market are all looking for the same things to buy. And if you are stupid enough to wait til the first day of Tsaagan Sar to buy goods, you are out of luck. Everything shuts down on the three days of Tsaagan Sar; government offices, schools, banks, grocery stores, markets, everything! If you don’t have food, count on visiting Mongolian families on the days ahead to fill that belly of yours.
With that being said, I will now walk you through my three days of Tsaagan Sar. The first day was on a Wednesday, and I was told to get ready by 10 AM to start the festivities since my school director had arranged Dure, the school secretary to help Kristen and I navigate through the customs and rituals of Tsaagan Sar. Our first stop was Oyunchimeg’s house, who is a teacher at the school and my next door neighbor. We were welcomed with the customary greetings (Since I’m lazy and since so many PCV’s have already written about the proper greetings of Tsaagan Sar, I will now link you to another website if you are interested in the full details.) We sat, ate, drank, and chat for a bit and then visited the next house. There, at my training manager’s house, whom I love dearly we were treated to a feast of enormous proportions. There were your staples of salad, ham and pickles, milk tea, sweet rice, meat, and vodka. But along side these dishes, she served up some sweet stir fry, delicious home made fruit juice, a whole sheep on a platter, and even sake. While waiting for the buuz (steamed dumplings) to cook, her daughter-in-law who was an English teacher at my school years ago and currently working in UB explained to Kristen and I some of the significant traditions of the holiday. After bidding our farewell, we were given our gifts (a phone card and key chain for me), we headed on to our next house. We followed Dure to her home which is a Mongolian ger. Had the same types of food, chat, drank vodka, a general good time with a hospitable family. Next we visited another teacher who lives in the Aimag center (7km from my house), rinse and repeat the same steps as the other houses… eat, drink, chat, and get gifts. The last house of the day was my director’s house. When we arrived at her home, there was a good company of 12 or so people there already. We performed the greetings, got ourselves seated, and prepared to eat and drink the night away. And as with any other Mongolian gatherings in groups, songs were sung and fun was had. My first day of Tsaagan Sar ended with Kristen and I passing out at 7 and waking up the next day to start all over again. This time visiting 7 houses; eating a lot more food, drank a lot more alcohol, and feeling a lot more tired the next day.
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Monday, February 9, 2009
Don't Worry, I'm Still Alive
Sorry for the absence and irregularity of postings. Nothing new really from this side of the world. The weather is still cold, but surprisingly we have had sun shine and a lack of winds for the last 2 or 3 weeks. We have passed the coldest part of the Mongolian winter and much to my delight, it was not nearly as devastating as I thought it would be. The snow is beginning to melt, and I'm not falling on my ass every time I walk on dangerously un-shoveled ice.
Work is good as usual. Social life is good. I'm happy... And now, a list of things of interest because I'm too lazy to write coherent and thoughtful sentences anymore.
- 1 Week off in January: Elaine (Sukhbaatar PCV) and Lindsay came to the aimag. We ate out, cooked, watched innumerable episodes of "The Office." Good times!
- Teacher's Day: a 2 or 3 day celebration where students get to play the role of teacher, director, or administrator of the school and culminates in yet another drunken party (without the students).
- Life Skills Seminar: Alex and Travis (Sukhbaatar PCVs) came to Dornod with health specialists from PC. Had a seminar, took them out to get pizza and goboroo! In return, I got 110+ gigabytes of movies and tv shows! Life is sweet.
- Access: I've been administering an aimag-wide test for 8th graders that wants to join an exclusive English class that is taught by PCVs and Mongolian teachers at our aimag library. Started with 83 applications. Picked out the best 40 students judging by their grades, personal statement, and reccomendation. 40 students take a test, best 20 then goes on to an oral exam. Then from the 20, we pick 10 based on their test scores and financial burden.
Mongolia Observations:
- Mongolian made boots are really warm! best 40,000T that I've spent thus far.
- Mongolian students go to school on Saturdays. Why you ask? Extra classes, meet up with friends, what else is there to do?
- Mongolians love medals and certificates. Maybe a remnant of Soviet influence, but every formal event has a portion that is dedicated to the handing out of medals and awards.
- Mongolians love 80s and 90s music. Examples; Last Christmas, anything ABBA, Westlife... the list goes on.
- When gum is not being chewed, it is put into ears as a reserve for another time.
- Makeup is not only for girls.
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Work is good as usual. Social life is good. I'm happy... And now, a list of things of interest because I'm too lazy to write coherent and thoughtful sentences anymore.
- 1 Week off in January: Elaine (Sukhbaatar PCV) and Lindsay came to the aimag. We ate out, cooked, watched innumerable episodes of "The Office." Good times!
- Teacher's Day: a 2 or 3 day celebration where students get to play the role of teacher, director, or administrator of the school and culminates in yet another drunken party (without the students).
- Life Skills Seminar: Alex and Travis (Sukhbaatar PCVs) came to Dornod with health specialists from PC. Had a seminar, took them out to get pizza and goboroo! In return, I got 110+ gigabytes of movies and tv shows! Life is sweet.
- Access: I've been administering an aimag-wide test for 8th graders that wants to join an exclusive English class that is taught by PCVs and Mongolian teachers at our aimag library. Started with 83 applications. Picked out the best 40 students judging by their grades, personal statement, and reccomendation. 40 students take a test, best 20 then goes on to an oral exam. Then from the 20, we pick 10 based on their test scores and financial burden.
Mongolia Observations:
- Mongolian made boots are really warm! best 40,000T that I've spent thus far.
- Mongolian students go to school on Saturdays. Why you ask? Extra classes, meet up with friends, what else is there to do?
- Mongolians love medals and certificates. Maybe a remnant of Soviet influence, but every formal event has a portion that is dedicated to the handing out of medals and awards.
- Mongolians love 80s and 90s music. Examples; Last Christmas, anything ABBA, Westlife... the list goes on.
- When gum is not being chewed, it is put into ears as a reserve for another time.
- Makeup is not only for girls.
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Sunday, January 4, 2009
Shin Jiliin Bayariin Mend Hurgeye
Shin Jil: (noun) - A week long celebration in Mongolia that gives joy to all the tinsel manufacturers, vodka distillers, and George Michael's record company.
Car Trouble:
My Shin Jil (New Year) actually began the weekend before the appointed date. It was on a Saturday and boy was it a trip getting to the restaurant. After the school concert that featured a clown as an MC, Grandfather Winter and his Snow Girl, and a troupe of kindergartners dressed in panda, lion, and bear costumes, the teachers and I headed for the mikro (bus). At first there were 6 or 7 of us that were in the bus, which in a vehicle that is designed to fit 15 or 16 people is quite the luxury. As time passed, more and more teachers came, first a group of 3, and then 1 or 2 came to comfortably fill the seats. The engine started so I thought that we were making our way for the restaurant, boy was I wrong. For the next 30 or so minutes we drove from one apartment to the next picking up other groups of teachers. So they came and sat in 3s and 4s. Now there are at least 20 teachers meshed together and under the dreadfully cold circumstances it made for a much more toasty ride. After picking the teachers from the apartments and their homes, we should be on our way right? No, no, no… There are of course teachers still waiting at the school. We drove to the school, 1 teacher filed in, and then another, and another, and another. To make room, the four men in the back row each had a female teacher on his lap, me included. The other seats probably had to do the same in order to make room for all the teachers. So after all of this we finally made our way, driving along the bumpy, icy, and quite dangerous dirt road. When we made it to the paved road, the bus under tons of pressure gave way and broke down, which was no surprise to anybody there. We filed out of the bus one by one, and when I did a head count, there were 30+ people in the mikro, which is my personal record now. To complete the journey, we called for taxis and in a flash we were at the restaurant.
The school party was at a Chinese restaurant that was decked out with a Christmas tree (they don’t celebrate Christmas here), tinsel strands that are individually taped on to the ceilings, and booming renditions of “Last Christmas.” On the tables waiting for us were fruit bowls, salads, and bottles of vodka and juice to quench our thirst. Throughout the night we ate well, sang Mongolian songs, made speeches, presented gifts, and danced the night away. More bottles of vodka came out the woodwork as the night progressed, and like the vodka, the champagne was also flowing well that night. The party ended at 12 and we made our way back to our town. Once there, a group of teachers wanted to extend the party longer, they asked me to stay but as I was sick, my excuse worked and I was able to dodge a very dangerous bullet.
New Year with a Mongolian Family:
On the actual New Year’s Eve, I celebrated the night with Tumee (my teaching counterpart) and her family. She invited me over for hooshor, my favorite Mongolian dish. At that time I didn’t even realize that it was the day before the New Year. I brought over some beer, soda, and borsik (Mongolian sweet bread.) We ate, drank, and talked until 11:45 when the fireworks began bursting in the air. From our town, which is 7 kilometers away from the Aimag center, we saw the sky lit up with yellow, red, blue, and a variety of other colors and shapes. We also had our store of fireworks, so we joined in the celebration and lit the dark sky with a myriad of colors. After the pyrotechnics, we came back in for a typical Mongolian New Year celebration meal; buuz (steamed dumplings), cake, and champagne. It was a good end to a good night.
PCV and VSO parties:
The next day I went to the Aimag center to celebrate the New Year with PCVs, VSOs and a group of Mongolians. All of us were invited to Raj’s house, a health VSO member from India. The bachelor pad was bumping with music, and we celebrated once more with beer, vodka, champagne, and chocolate. Everybody had a great time, so much that we decided to do it again the next day at Jim and Julie’s house.
Jim and Julie had a beast of fish (at least 15lbs) that they didn’t know what to do with. That day I was staying over their place so I became the third host of the party. While J&J was away on errands, Julie had me bake apple bread. It was my first time baking, yikes! Julie knew this, so of course she left me unsupervised with a recipe book and all the ingredients for me to play around with. I peeled and then diced the apples, mixed the sugar, oil, lemon juice and all the other necessary items. Then I carefully poured out the flour, salt, and added 4 tbsp of baking powder in another bowl. If you are a baker, you would have caught my mistake already… yes, 4 tbsp of baking powder, ahahah. I thought that the tbsp scooper was the tsp, honest mistake since the damn thing was labeled. Luckily I hadn’t mixed and was able to scoop out the extra baking powder. Then I added the three mixes together and baked, desperately hoping that it wasn’t ruin by the mistake.
While the apple bread was in the oven, Jim and I worked on the ginormous fish. Jim gutted the beast and we decided to cut it into four portions. Each part would be seasoned differently. One of Jim’s two pieces was dedicated to curry fish, the other one was doused in butter and garlic, lemon juice and assortment of Italian spices. As for my part, I had one piece in a mixture of olive oil, salt, garlic salt, vegetable flakes, some Italian seasoning. After we took out the apple bread which was still un-tasted, we broiled the 3 portions. The last piece was left to the frying pan and with a little salt, garlic butter, and oil it was fried to perfection. While doing all of this, we were also preparing mashed potatoes and vegetables as a side, Jim the main chef, and I his sous chef. As the guests began to arrive we finished up the preparations and had them test out our experiment. They tasted, marveled, and then had seconds, thirds, and fourths. Tremendous triumph! Considering that this was the first time that we handled fish. Though Jim’s test was over, my apple bread was still under review. After gorging on fish and wine, the crowd moved on to dessert. Judy, another health VSO member was the first one to try my apple bread. She cut herself a piece; put it in her mouth, and from watching the expression on her face, 2 for 2! Twas a success. Not bad for a day of firsts. As the night rolled along, Julie got out her guitar and played for us. We sang, we drank, we had a good time! One of my favorite nights in Mongolia thus far.
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Car Trouble:
My Shin Jil (New Year) actually began the weekend before the appointed date. It was on a Saturday and boy was it a trip getting to the restaurant. After the school concert that featured a clown as an MC, Grandfather Winter and his Snow Girl, and a troupe of kindergartners dressed in panda, lion, and bear costumes, the teachers and I headed for the mikro (bus). At first there were 6 or 7 of us that were in the bus, which in a vehicle that is designed to fit 15 or 16 people is quite the luxury. As time passed, more and more teachers came, first a group of 3, and then 1 or 2 came to comfortably fill the seats. The engine started so I thought that we were making our way for the restaurant, boy was I wrong. For the next 30 or so minutes we drove from one apartment to the next picking up other groups of teachers. So they came and sat in 3s and 4s. Now there are at least 20 teachers meshed together and under the dreadfully cold circumstances it made for a much more toasty ride. After picking the teachers from the apartments and their homes, we should be on our way right? No, no, no… There are of course teachers still waiting at the school. We drove to the school, 1 teacher filed in, and then another, and another, and another. To make room, the four men in the back row each had a female teacher on his lap, me included. The other seats probably had to do the same in order to make room for all the teachers. So after all of this we finally made our way, driving along the bumpy, icy, and quite dangerous dirt road. When we made it to the paved road, the bus under tons of pressure gave way and broke down, which was no surprise to anybody there. We filed out of the bus one by one, and when I did a head count, there were 30+ people in the mikro, which is my personal record now. To complete the journey, we called for taxis and in a flash we were at the restaurant.
The school party was at a Chinese restaurant that was decked out with a Christmas tree (they don’t celebrate Christmas here), tinsel strands that are individually taped on to the ceilings, and booming renditions of “Last Christmas.” On the tables waiting for us were fruit bowls, salads, and bottles of vodka and juice to quench our thirst. Throughout the night we ate well, sang Mongolian songs, made speeches, presented gifts, and danced the night away. More bottles of vodka came out the woodwork as the night progressed, and like the vodka, the champagne was also flowing well that night. The party ended at 12 and we made our way back to our town. Once there, a group of teachers wanted to extend the party longer, they asked me to stay but as I was sick, my excuse worked and I was able to dodge a very dangerous bullet.
New Year with a Mongolian Family:
On the actual New Year’s Eve, I celebrated the night with Tumee (my teaching counterpart) and her family. She invited me over for hooshor, my favorite Mongolian dish. At that time I didn’t even realize that it was the day before the New Year. I brought over some beer, soda, and borsik (Mongolian sweet bread.) We ate, drank, and talked until 11:45 when the fireworks began bursting in the air. From our town, which is 7 kilometers away from the Aimag center, we saw the sky lit up with yellow, red, blue, and a variety of other colors and shapes. We also had our store of fireworks, so we joined in the celebration and lit the dark sky with a myriad of colors. After the pyrotechnics, we came back in for a typical Mongolian New Year celebration meal; buuz (steamed dumplings), cake, and champagne. It was a good end to a good night.
PCV and VSO parties:
The next day I went to the Aimag center to celebrate the New Year with PCVs, VSOs and a group of Mongolians. All of us were invited to Raj’s house, a health VSO member from India. The bachelor pad was bumping with music, and we celebrated once more with beer, vodka, champagne, and chocolate. Everybody had a great time, so much that we decided to do it again the next day at Jim and Julie’s house.
Jim and Julie had a beast of fish (at least 15lbs) that they didn’t know what to do with. That day I was staying over their place so I became the third host of the party. While J&J was away on errands, Julie had me bake apple bread. It was my first time baking, yikes! Julie knew this, so of course she left me unsupervised with a recipe book and all the ingredients for me to play around with. I peeled and then diced the apples, mixed the sugar, oil, lemon juice and all the other necessary items. Then I carefully poured out the flour, salt, and added 4 tbsp of baking powder in another bowl. If you are a baker, you would have caught my mistake already… yes, 4 tbsp of baking powder, ahahah. I thought that the tbsp scooper was the tsp, honest mistake since the damn thing was labeled. Luckily I hadn’t mixed and was able to scoop out the extra baking powder. Then I added the three mixes together and baked, desperately hoping that it wasn’t ruin by the mistake.
While the apple bread was in the oven, Jim and I worked on the ginormous fish. Jim gutted the beast and we decided to cut it into four portions. Each part would be seasoned differently. One of Jim’s two pieces was dedicated to curry fish, the other one was doused in butter and garlic, lemon juice and assortment of Italian spices. As for my part, I had one piece in a mixture of olive oil, salt, garlic salt, vegetable flakes, some Italian seasoning. After we took out the apple bread which was still un-tasted, we broiled the 3 portions. The last piece was left to the frying pan and with a little salt, garlic butter, and oil it was fried to perfection. While doing all of this, we were also preparing mashed potatoes and vegetables as a side, Jim the main chef, and I his sous chef. As the guests began to arrive we finished up the preparations and had them test out our experiment. They tasted, marveled, and then had seconds, thirds, and fourths. Tremendous triumph! Considering that this was the first time that we handled fish. Though Jim’s test was over, my apple bread was still under review. After gorging on fish and wine, the crowd moved on to dessert. Judy, another health VSO member was the first one to try my apple bread. She cut herself a piece; put it in her mouth, and from watching the expression on her face, 2 for 2! Twas a success. Not bad for a day of firsts. As the night rolled along, Julie got out her guitar and played for us. We sang, we drank, we had a good time! One of my favorite nights in Mongolia thus far.
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Friday, November 14, 2008
Spices Galore!
Hello friends, family and other visitors. Just want to give all of you another update while I have all of this free time.
So this whole week was a vacation for the students and teachers after the completion of the first term. The students had their tests, teachers handed out grades, so I did the same. I gave all my fourth and fifth graders As and Bs. I weigh the grade mostly on homework, attendance, and tests, with a good portion of the final grade based upon the first two criterion. The fourth grade is the first year when the Mongolian students are exposed to the English language, so there is a gross difference between the advance child and the ones that are playing catch up. My fifth graders, to my delight are generally eager and quick to soak up the lessons, minus a few that has a longer learning curve.
Some of my 5th Graders
The mini break is a welcome change! I got to relax, catch up with other PCVs, and got the chance to play host to homeboy Rich from Khentii aimag. We chilled, I showed him the town and fed him beef (which he enjoyed very very much). Jasmine and Lindsay, our soum (village) PCVs also crashed my apt which made for a very cozy and entertaining time. The week definitely flew by...Next party, Thanksgiving in UB!
Package Received!
A special thanks to Mary O, Hall, and DMac for the package full of spices! Also, thanks Alex for the care package with the random assortment of goodies. Be sure to know that I will use every last bits of the garlic powder, Japanese curry, and the variety of other spices!
Happiness!
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Wednesday, October 8, 2008
60th Anniversary
The first month of the new school year was centered around the planning of our school’s 60th anniversary celebration. Teaching was almost non-existent as both teachers and students were all busying themselves with their own assigned tasks. Teachers were making banners, posters, and beautifying the school. Students were clearing the school field, practicing their songs and dance, and following the beat of the drum as they march to Soviet style formations. The result was an intense 2 days of celebration.
The first day was the opening ceremony with all the pomp and circumstances. Everybody in town came to the school: past teachers, alumnus, and all the townspeople. It was a rare opportunity for everyone to see each other again. They were treated to music by the Dornod aimag Army band along with songs and dances performed by teachers and students. In the afternoon, it was time to showcase one of Mongolia’s national pastimes; the volleyball competition. As with my other posts, I will reiterate the fact that these kids are ridiculously good at the sport. And as with any other competition in this country, certificates and medals always follow at the end. At night, the party moved to the gym where platters of salad, bread, fruits, and horhog (real Mongolian BBQ) awaited the guests. There was once again singing and dancing throughout the night, occasionally interrupted when each class presented their gift to the school for the 60th anniversary. Gifts ranged from big stuffed teddy bears to traditional Mongolian instruments, to television sets and high end camcorders.
The second day of the celebration started off with a concert directed by the school’s music teacher. But before the performance, I had to sit through two excruciating hours of certificate and medal giving ceremony. It seemed like everyone was getting a medal except for me. After two hours of agony and boredom, the concert began. The performers were students from 5th to 11th grade. They sang and danced to traditional Mongolian music, Russian songs, and there was even an homage to Backstreet Boys’ “I want it that way.”
Following the concert there was a reception at a popular restaurant in the aimag (provincial) center. There, the vodka flowed and the music swayed all the alcohol induced Mongolians to a rhythmic dance. Even I stepped on the dance floor to try my hand at the Mongolian waltz. One step left, one step right, left, right, left, right, and then spin til you can’t tell if the dizziness was caused by the excessive alcohol consumption of vodka or just plain old dancing.
- Pictures Here -
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Choi Boy!
I currently live in the outskirts of Choibalsan, the capital of Dornod Aimag (province). The Aimag is in eastern Mongolia and borders China. Upon arrival, you will notice a marked absence of mountains that is oh so pervasive in other regions of the Mongolia. What we have instead is low flatland as far as the eyes can see, as it is home to the steppes of the country. There is no doubt that of its beauty, but when it is pockmarked with Soviet ruins and abandoned buildings, there is definitely a sense of loss of the natural wonder.
As I mentioned earlier, I live in the outskirts of the Aimag center. It’s a 10-15 minute mikro (sounds like meeker) ride on dirt roads for 7-8 km. I will write more about mikros another time because it deserves its own entry. For now, I’ll explain my living situation. I am in an apartment, which in Mongolia is a coveted living arrangement because of one particular amenity: hot showers. Though I didn’t specifically ask for an apartment, I’m glad that I have one. Sure, living in a ger would be fun and something to talk about, but the novelty will wear off when you have to haul your own water, cut your own wood, and make your own fire in -40 degree weather.
In the apartment there is one big bedroom, one kitchen, and one bathroom. Minimal standards to the typical American, but when you know that there is a family of 10 next door living in the same style apt., it gives you a better perspective of what you really need in life. I’m happy with what I have, and I’m thankful for that.
In my little town, there are four general food stores that stock the basic needs like bread, eggs, butter, and some vegetables (potatoes and onions, that’s all for veggies.) As for "landmarks", there is a kindergarten, a secondary school, and a train station. And that’s basically all the public infrastructure that we have.
In the Aimag center, I get most of the major food supplies; meat and other foodstuff that I can’t find at the local store. Oh, and there is also the all-knowing, all-powerful internet. The source of news and knowledge in an otherwise closed out world. It’s always fun to be in the 4th largest "city" in Mongolia because there are PCVs and other volunteers (VSO, French) from other countries in the area. We occasionally have dinner together, go out for some drinks, a time to relax and speak English at the normal pace.
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As I mentioned earlier, I live in the outskirts of the Aimag center. It’s a 10-15 minute mikro (sounds like meeker) ride on dirt roads for 7-8 km. I will write more about mikros another time because it deserves its own entry. For now, I’ll explain my living situation. I am in an apartment, which in Mongolia is a coveted living arrangement because of one particular amenity: hot showers. Though I didn’t specifically ask for an apartment, I’m glad that I have one. Sure, living in a ger would be fun and something to talk about, but the novelty will wear off when you have to haul your own water, cut your own wood, and make your own fire in -40 degree weather.
In the apartment there is one big bedroom, one kitchen, and one bathroom. Minimal standards to the typical American, but when you know that there is a family of 10 next door living in the same style apt., it gives you a better perspective of what you really need in life. I’m happy with what I have, and I’m thankful for that.
In my little town, there are four general food stores that stock the basic needs like bread, eggs, butter, and some vegetables (potatoes and onions, that’s all for veggies.) As for "landmarks", there is a kindergarten, a secondary school, and a train station. And that’s basically all the public infrastructure that we have.
In the Aimag center, I get most of the major food supplies; meat and other foodstuff that I can’t find at the local store. Oh, and there is also the all-knowing, all-powerful internet. The source of news and knowledge in an otherwise closed out world. It’s always fun to be in the 4th largest "city" in Mongolia because there are PCVs and other volunteers (VSO, French) from other countries in the area. We occasionally have dinner together, go out for some drinks, a time to relax and speak English at the normal pace.
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