LHello to you all! It has been a while since I have had access to a computer or one with internet for that matter. I am safely in Mongolia and my life continues to fly by. I am going to attempt to give you a brief synopsis of my life from June 1 until now.
June 1 found me saying good bye to dear friends and my loving family members. I hopped on several planes and went from Lincoln, NE to San Francisco, CA. My travel karma prevailed and both my bags made it and I got in at 1am. Needless to say I was too excited to sleep so I watched some t.v.
June 2 found me meeting many new friends as 66 Peace Corps trainees emerged after one day of orientation. I went to dinner at a fun Mexican place near our hotel and then proceeded to re-pack my things and prepare for a long day of traveling.
We left our hotel VERY early on June 3 and caught a flight (12 hours) to Seoul, South Korea!!! It was a decent flight and everyone was very eager to get to Korea. Needless to say Korea was fantastic!! I spent the time walking around Inchon and continuing to meet many new friends and swap travel stories and more.
The next day June 5 (yay for the international date line!) found us finally on our way to Ulaan Baatar Mongolia. It was a three hour flight from Seoul to Ulaan Baatar (UB) and I have never seen 66 people more excited, eager, anxious and scared all at the same time. I knew I was!! We were warmly received by current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in the airport which was so great. After our arrival we were shipped off to immigration offices to be documented and registered.
After registering with the office of immigration we were whisked away to a ger camp. I was lucky and only had one roommate in my ger although other had as many as six people in one ger! It was nice to finally relax for a night. We were given kind words of welcome from our Country Director and were rewarded with gorgeous views of the surrounding hills and mountains.
The next morning all 66 of us were taken by bus to our training site. In our training city we are staying in an old soviet-style school dormitory. We are beginning to learn Mongolian and are given introductions and descriptions of our jobs and what is expected of us as Peace Corps trainees.
Learning Mongolian is proving to be a challenge. It is unlike any other language I have attempted to speak. I need to open up my brain with a can opener and cram more information inside! But we have great teachers and competent staff so I feel as though I am in fabulous hands. Tomorrow we go to our host families in a new city. I am excited/scared/nervous about meeting a new family and having very little communication skills. As of now I can say my name, formal and informal greetings, ask for things and tell them what I like and do not like. As a host family they will be responsible for teaching me some survival skills that will prepare me for living alone on my site for the next two years. These skills may include doing laundry, cooking, chopping wood (!) and many other tasks that will be required of me.
Sorry for this discombobulated and random blog entry but I wanted to quickly update you as to my current situation. I am VERY happy and so thrilled to be in Mongolia. The people are gorgeous human beings, so kind, generous and warm. I am lucky beyond belief to be here.
-C
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