Season of Swine

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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Hodgepodge Mongolia

What's new? pictures. It's a random assortment of pictures from International Woman's Day to Men's Day, and a little bit of everything else. Enjoy!

Pictures!

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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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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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Cribs: Mongolia

Sorry for the lapse in postings but there is this whole teaching thing that I'm doing...

I talked about my house in one of my previous post, so to give you some visuals, we will go on a virtual tour of my posh (ahhaha, I only wish) apartment.

Follow the link: Cribs: Mongolia Edition!

I leave you with a song by one of my students: the one on the red, his name is Rich!

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60th Anniversary

The first month of the new school year was centered around the planning of our school’s 60^th 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 60^th 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 5^th to 11^th 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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Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

So I've been getting a lot of inquiries into things that I may need in Mongolia. In short, everything is great here. The only special request that I can think of is for spices! Yes, abundant in America...but the culinary cuisines of Mongolia boils down to 5 or 6 different dishes, so the need for spices is minimal at best. Below is my address and a wish list of items that keep my taste buds somewhat satisfied. Oh, and send the package using USPS Flat Rate Boxes!!, I hear anything over 8lbs will save you a bunch of money.

Trinh Thach, PCT
Dornod Aimag, Herlen Soum
Secondary School #2
Mongolia via China

Wish List:

Garlic Powder
Garlic Onion Medley
“Season All” Seasoned Salt
Curry
Garlic Salt
And any other spices you think is worth sending.

First Mongolian Update

Hello All!

It has been a while since my last post. I apologize for the lack of updates, but living in a small town of 2,000 makes it impossible to get access to the internet.

6-7-08

We left Darkhan for the countryside today. 64 newly minted PCTs on our first real individual experience with the Mongolian life. Driving out of the city, there was a sense of melancholy, but what waits for us was an exciting opportunity to live with our respective host communities and families.

As we passed miles upon miles of grazed land, my excitement was ever growing with each passing herds of cattle, sheep, and goat. And then we were there, a small soum (town) of 2,000 or so that is 60 km from Darkhan. Known for its beautiful river and green pasture, the 11 of us that will call this community our home for the next 3 months is the envy of all other PCTs.

The two vans of 11 PCTs were dropped off one by one. And as we enter each host family’s home, we were offered anything from tea, juice, and cold water along with the accompaniment of bread and jam and other Mongolian goodies. The Mongolians, to say the least are very hospitable people.

I was second to last to be dropped off, so by this time my stomach was quite full. Upon entering the haasha (compound), we were greeted by my host mother along with my host father and sister. As it is customary, more tea and food was to be eaten. When the van drove off, I was left alone with the family. You might think that the occasion was awkward since I knew very little Mongolian and the family had almost no knowledge of the English language, but surprisingly it went very well.

The Family:

The family unit consists of my father, a 45 year old government worker. My mother is a 40 something home maker who also works part time at the local weather observatory. I am the oldest brother, which is a refreshing change as I’ve always been the youngest of 7 siblings. In my host family (HF), I am followed by 2 sisters and a brother, all of whom are university students in Ulan Bator. The oldest sister (Saikhna) is 22 and knows a little English but will go to UB for work very soon. The middle child is a 20 year old son (Olgi). And the youngest of the bunch is an 18 year old daughter (Sambukhuu) that is still studying in UB but will be home in the next couple of days.

6-14-2008

First Week:

Today is my first full week in my host community with my HF. Everything is splendid! My host family is amazingly gracious. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner is always prepared ahead of time, so when I enter the house, I am ready to eat. The oldest sister in the family has left for work in UB with her boyfriend, but the younger one from UB is now here to help out with the family chores and cooking. My father is at work most of the time, but my mother is always around to cook and clean. As for my 20 year old brother (Olgi), he has been showing me around town. Olgi has your basic elementary English, so it is a treat to have him around as I am able to learn Mongolian through him and he is able to learn some English vocabulary through me. Most of the time, we are pointing at things and asking what it is in the language that we are trying to learn, which I come to realize has helped me tremendously in picking up new words.

Our time together mostly involves sports, either “basketball” or volleyball. The basketball court is of course on a dirt field with wild grass and vegetation sprouting from one spot to the next. And the hoop is fashioned from steel into a ring that is attached to a wooden post. It was fun playing with them, but they have no concept of clearing the ball after a missed basket by the other team. I tried to set the example by clearing the ball every time I got the rebound, but it was to no avail. So when in Mongolia, do what Mongolians do. As for volleyball, that’s a whole different story. The kids here are Obsessed with a capital O with the sport. You can walk 5 minutes through town in the evening and see 3 or 4 different groups of people from 4 year olds to adults in their 20s spiking and digging for the ball. I can honestly say that everyone in this town of 2,000 knows how to play the game, and play it well too.

More interesting topics to come…

6-21-2008

Did Hillary Drop Out of the Race Yet?

It must be an exciting time to be in the States for this election year; the campaigning, the conventions, the debates, and of course the omnipresent political ads. I love everything about the process, but oh my… the 30 seconds of sound bite can get very annoying after the 700^th time that it has been played.

So you must think that I have it pretty lucky to be in Mongolia, so far away from all those irritating commercials, but you my friend would be quite surprised. Though far removed from indecision ‘08 of America, Mongolia is having Parliamentary elections of its own on the 29^th of June. And to get the voters out in droves, the Mongolian Communist Party and the Mongolian Democrats (the two largest parties in the country) must have spent an exorbitant amount of money on just airing commercials. This is not an over-exaggeration, but the more than 50% of the commercials on-air are of politicians bidding for votes. One spot had a politician with a horde of followers all dressed in business attire, playing to the urban dwellers. Another ad had a politician in the countryside with the herders and horsemen, pandering to the masses with images of traditional Mongolian culture. If you can think of it, they have a commercial for it.

But what is surprising is the near non-existence of negative attacks of political opponents. Though my Mongolian language skill is basic @ best right now, but it seems that almost all commercials are about the actual candidates and his or her credentials rather than what is hidden in the closet of the other party members. And that is a breath of fresh air.

6-28-2008

On the topic of bathing once a week:

In America I was used to showering once a day, and if it was particularly muggy that day, twice in one. If I didn’t have the mandatory once a day shower, I would feel disgusted my body.

In Mongolia, tough it out! The water supply is limited; so once or twice a week, depending on the tractor driver with the tank of fresh underground water supply, my family buys two “oil barrel sized” containers filled with water (we have to fill the containers ourselves). That is our water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, laundry, washing, and whatever it is that one does with water.

With so little water to go around, bathing naturally becomes one of the last priorities in the minds of the Mongolians. From my 3 weeks or so experience living with my family, I have yet to see a single person take a bath or shower. What they do is wash themselves with soap & shampoo all over, and not surprisingly in this dry climate, it is more than sufficient. As for me, I hate washing in the tiny water basin (tumpin) that the PC provides for us. But by the grace of PC gods, I was placed in town that has a river running through it. So once a week, I go swimming in the river (this is another topic for discussion). I clean my entire body, and boy does it feel good!

7 days, that’s the longest streak of non-bathing/showering thus far. The weather is nice and dry, so I rarely sweat and that keeps me from feeling the need to shower. But come winter, when the lakes and rivers freeze, I’m sure the number will climb to a new peak.

p.s. I don’t smell that bad.

T Minus a Couple of Hours

The past couple of days I've been in San Francisco for what the PC calls staging, an informal meet and greet with the fellow volunteers. We went over the basics; primary goals of the PC, safety guidelines, and all that good stuff on cultural awareness. Since I'm pressed on time and wants to sleep early tonight to wake up early for check-out and what not, I'll just make bullet points for all the cool happenings and interesting observations that I might have of the staging weekend.

• I knew San Francisco was built on hills, but never thought it was this hilly.
• I've never seen so many Asians outside of Asia in one city.
• Training in the morning and afternoon, party at night!
• So many cool people to hang out with, so little time.
  
• Walked with a group of PC Trainees around SF for over 10 miles just to see the Golden Gate Bridge and for food.
• Off to Mongolia very very soon.

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The Night Before

Whenever I am waiting in anticipation for something the very next day, the night before my mind is riddled with sleepless thoughts. When I was younger, it was the beginning of a new school year and the thoughts of seeing all my friends again after a long summer's absence. Graduating from high school, it was the first day of college that had me awake the night before with innumerable questions. What will be college like? am I going to fit in? I hope my roommate is chill and cool! (Alex, yes you are) More recently, the night before my departure for Viet Nam, a country that I haven't set foot on for 12 or so years had me brimming with excitement. Thoughts of seeing old friends, family, and relatives made it unbelievably hard to close my eyes and wait for the next morning.

And as I write this post, the culmination of these three experiences aptly describes my current condition. I am excited to meet the fellow volunteers, but the idea of making new friends all over again is a bit daunting. I am eager to begin my post in Mongolia, but the thought of living in a new country for more than 2 years hit you with a little trepidation. So yes, the butterflies are fluttering.

Do I know whats fully ahead? No...
Do I want to know? No...

I guess I will just take it one step at a time, and I just hope that there will be more of these wonderful "sleepless nights" in the near future.

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For those first care packages...

Straight out of the Peace Corps Mongolia welcome book;

"Mail to Mongolia generally takes two to four weeks to arrive, and some mail may never arrive. Occasionally, letters may arrive with clipped edges because someone has tried to see if any money was inside."

Awesome! ahahhaha. But from what I hear from current PCVs in the country, the system is not that bad as long as you label your letters/package and include the word "airmail" on the envelopes. Oh, and the address provided now will only be in use for the first three months in Mongolia, while I am in my training phase, hence the PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) after my name. After our training, we will be ship out to our respective cities and have new mailing addresses.

Address in English:

Trinh Thach, PCT
Post Office Box 1036
Central Post Office
Ulaanbaatar 13
Mongolia (via China)

In Cyrillic:

Trinh Thach, PCT
Энх Танвны Корпус
Тов Шуудан
Шуудангийи хайрцаг 1036
Улаанбаатар 13
Монгол Улс
Mongolia (via China)

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Packing for a 27 Month Camping Trip

So what do you need to prepare for a two and some odd years of service in a country that is known for bone chilling and debilitating cold weather? Thankfully the Peace Corps Mongolia office was nice enough to make a list for us. Some of the items were a given, while others I would not have thought of bringing along if it wasn't for the heads up from PC Mongolia.

My Packing List:

• Sleeping Bag – Peace Corps provides for it.
  

• Handy dandy Swiss Army Knife – To cut/gut my prey. I tried it out already, and I must say I am very impressed with all the tools that they packed in there. And the knife itself is sharp as hell. Bonus package of can opener+bottle opener+corkscrew!
  

• Duct Tape – The most versatile product ever, you never know when you will need it.
  

• Long Underwear (Tops+Bottoms) – To battle the cold. Got two pairs to try em out, and it works wonderfully well in the New England winter. Looking to get these in the near future, I hear wool is a better product to use in Mongolia.
  

• Wool Socks & Gloves - Warm feet and warm hands = happy volunteer.

• Variety of Spices – Can’t eat a goat without seasoning and spices.
  

• Mongolian Grammar/Dictionary – For obvious reasons.

• New Jeans – Its ok to have holes on your jeans in the US, not so in Mongolia.

• Nalgene - Broke my last one.
  

• Plastic Storage Bags - Thats what the PC suggests.
  

• Flashlight - You never know when you need it...
  

• Playing Cards - There are oh so many possibilities! ahahha
  

• Digital Camera - To capture my experiences.
  

• Back up Hard Drive - To store my thousands of pictures.
  

Teaching Supplies - I am taking donations!

• Children’s Book - What better way to teach the language than introducing them to Dr. Seuss, Where the Wild Things Are, and hits like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

• Catalogs - Projects and activities.
  

• Erasers - Obvious
  

• Index Cards - Apparently they don't have them in Mongolia.

I'm sure I am going to add more to the list... but thats all for now.

Learning Mongolian

For the past two weeks I've been trying to pick up Mongolian as a sixth language, yes 6th. Its funny how sometimes when I think, words in Khmer, Vietnamese, English, and sometimes even Japanese and Spanish pop in my head. So adding another language into the mix should make it even more interesting. But I digress...

Mongolian is different...very different from all of the other languages that I have learned thus far. So I'm starting new again, even learning a whole different alphabet. Just like when I was learning Japanese, when first encountering hiragana and katakana I was taken back. Same can be said for the Cyrillic alphabet, but just like learning the Japanese characters it was all about repetition and time. I made a bunch of flash cards and practiced daily, and with time my friend, I am happy to say that I've pretty much mastered the Cyrillic alphabet. Know I know my A, Б, В. Now on to reading and deciphering what it actually means.

Oh, and if you want to listen to what Mongolian actually sounds like, take a gander through the link.

[source: Wikipedia]

Cyrillic	Name	Transliteration		Cyrillic	Name	Transliteration
Аа	а	a		Пп	пэ	( p )
Бб	бэ	b		Рр	эр	r
Вв	вэ	v		Сс	эс	s
Гг	гэ	g		Тт	тэ	t
Дд	дэ	d		Уу	у	u
Ее	е	je/ye		Үү	ү	ü
Ёё	ё	jo/yo		Фф	фэ~фа~эф	( f )
Жж	жэ	ž/		Хх	хэ~ха	h
Зз	зэ	z		Цц	цэ	ts
Ии	и	i		Чч	чэ	č
Йй	хагас и	j		Шш	ша~эш	š
Кк	ка	( k )		Щщ	ща~эшчэ	( šč )
Лл	эл	l		Ъ ъ	хатуугийн тэмдэг
Мм	эм	m		Ыы	эр үгийн ы	y
Нн	эн	n		Ьь	зөөлний тэмдэг	'
Оо	о	o		Ээ	э	e
Өө	ө	ö		Юю	ю	ju/yu
				Яя	я	ja/ya

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Dude, Where's Mongolia?

I've been talking a lot about Mongolia, but haven't actually given any substantial information about the country. Let me take this time to formally introduce you to the "Land of the Blue Sky." See that speck of land surrounded by Russia and China? yup, thats my home for the next 2 or so years.

A History Lesson: Wedged in between Russia and China, Mongolia have always been tied to its two neighbors. Most recently, it was part of the Soviet bloc and relied heavily on the USSR for support. But with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Mongolia's state planned economy was revamped and a new capitalistic economy is now emerging. What the future holds for the country is unknown, but the state is trying to move towards a free and open market, and the first goal in achieving that is by opening the society. And thats why folks, I will be going to Mongolia.

800 years ago, the Venetian Marco Polo traveled to the court of Kublai Khan. At that point in time, the Mongols were feared conquerors stampeding through the steppes destroying everything in their path. Today, the land in which the Mongolian inhabit is much the same, but the world is quite different. There is a noticeable difference between the city and the countryside, the stationary and the mobile. While the capital of Ulaanbaatar is a certified city, much of the country and its people still heavily rely on livestock. They move with the changing of the land, from one fertile grazing ground to the next. This is the life of a Mongolian.

Major Facts and Figures:

• Ethnicity: 94.9% Mongols (Khalkha)
  
• Religion: 50% Tibetan Buddhism
  
• Language: 90% Khalkha Mongolian - Cyrillic
• Literacy: 97.8%
  
• GDP per Capita: $2,900

Fun Facts:

• Lowest population density of any nation (3.9 people per square mile)
  
• More cell phones than land lines
• 2nd largest landlocked country in the world

Accepting my Invitation

Called up Peace Corps headquarters yesterday to accept my invitation. Went over preliminary details with the Placement Officer on staging, passport, visas. Yes, more paperwork from them. I also have to send in an aspiration statement and a revised resume specifically for my line of work, which isn't too bad because I had time to prepare for these in advance. After that, I can only wait for staging on May 31st. 80 something days left right?

So I guess its official, can't back down now. To Mongolia, land of my boyhood idol: Genghis Khan! It will be an interesting experience to say the least. Over these last few days I've been searching far and wide on the internet to find anything that pertains to the country, and the more I look, the more I am excited to go.

Things I'm looking forward to doing in Mongolia:

1. Ride on those tiny horses that homeboy Genghis Khan and his Mongolian horde used to conquer more than half of the known world.
2. Take in all the beautiful sights and sounds; the miles of open grassland and mountains.
3. Mongolian wrestling, you've seen it on the travel channel.
4. Real Mongolian BBQ, basically any offering of meat: goat, lamb, horse.. whatever they dish out, I'm willing to take it.
5. Living in a Yurt/Ger.
6. Learning the Mongolian language, take a gander... this will take time.
7. Meet my host family and immerse myself with the culture.
8. Teaching... thats what I'm there for right?

Things I'm not looking forward to while in Mongolia:

1. Negative degree weather is never a good thing.
2. Learning yet another language, lets see... Khmer, Vietnamese, English, Spanish, Japanese.. now Mongolian? I find myself mixing too many languages together already, now its going to be even more dysfunctional!

I guess the Pros outweigh the Cons. If I think of anymore, I will add to the list. And here's a picture of the tiny horse I was talking about:

Mongolians! Stop tearing down my shitty wall!

Finally, over a year work coming to fruition. A lot of pain and anguish getting paperwork submitted and then re-done. Many hoops to jump through, and a lot of hurdles to clear, but its here:


Yes my friends, thats the actual invite package from the Peace Corps! I've been accepted to join the next group of volunteers shipping out this June to Mongolia. I'll be a Primary Education English Teacher, working with kids again, YAY!

So what exactly went through my mind when I got this package after months of waiting? I'm not going to lie, the first thing that popped in my head was... "Damn, shit is going to be cold." And after looking up wikipedia to verify, I was sadly informed that I was right.

Most of the country is hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as -30°C (-22°F). (wikipedia)

Yeah, weather in the extremes! To make matters worse, the winter is a lot longer than the other seasons. So this is what I'm going to look forward to the next 27 months of my life? I hope not.

After pulling myself together, I realized the people there have been surviving in those conditions for thousands of years, why can't I? Other than the weather, I really have no qualms with me being in Mongolia. I've seen those travel channel shows, often picturesque green fields with mountains in the backdrop. Horse riders, grown men wrestling, yurts, and roaming herds. Thinking of these images ease my thoughts, and cleared any trepidation that I had. This will be an adventure to look forward to!