Have yourself a Merry Little White Month

Амар байна уу? is the phrase I heard 1,459 times during the Mongolian holiday of Tsagaan Sar (White Month).  This is the BIGGEST holiday of the year and people begin preparing for it weeks if not a month or more in advance.  It can be seen as a combination of Christmas and Thanksgiving with a twist.

Tsagaan Sar is the Tibetan Lunar New Year.  It marks the end of the long Mongolian winter and means that warm temperatures are on their way.  This is a very ritualistic holiday and many customs and traditions are imbued into the fabric of the holiday.

This year Tsagaan Sar occurred from February 22-26 (officially).  There is a sort of Tsagaan Sar check list which might look a little like this:

• clean the shit out of your home.  Leave nothing uncleaned
• Look, I love cleaning but when you do such a deep cleaning you realize how effing dirty you are and it is depressing.  I just dragged my cat across the floor and called it good.
• Make a million buuz (meat dumplings)
• Umm......I don't know how to make these.  So I made 3 dozen cookies and some pumpkin bread.
• Have a lot of "white food" (dairy products) in your home to serve
• I did make milk tea and sucked on some aaruul (the dried milk curd)
• Have gifts to give to visitors
• These gifts can range anywhere from skin bleaching cream, phone units, bowls, children etc. I am too poor and not very creative.  So I gave all my guests post it pads (Thanks 3M You are the BEST!)
• Prepare your best deel to be worn for the holiday
• I only have one deel that was given to me by my host family.  It is massive......so big in fact that I could carry a baby to full term and no one would know.  Maybe I can market this to Gap Maternity.  

Once you have completed this check list you can prepare for Bitvvn (bituun) which is the night before Tsagaan Sar begins.

Since this is such a major holiday the Peace Corps gave us at least 2, if not 3, trainings for this holiday.  We were taught the proper greeting which is "Amar bain uu?" and taught the proper arm greeting.  This arm greeting involves both people extending out their perpendicular to their body with palms up.  If the person is older than you, you put your arms beneath theirs to support them.  If they are younger than you, they go beneath you.  If the person is about the same age, one arm goes on top, and the other goes beneath.  You also smell each person on each cheek.  When doing this greeting you start with the oldest person in the room and then go down in age.  Ready......set.......Tsagaan Sar!

битүүн

This is the night before Tsagaan Sar begins.  All of the family gathers together and they eat white foods like Aaruul, milk tea and buuz.  The sheep sacrum is prepared and placed on the table.  The ENTIRE rear end of the sheep is placed in the center of the table in all of its fatty glory.  The goal of bitvvn is to not leave hungry.

Here is how I spent my bitvvn:  I got together with two other volunteers in UB.  We wanted to go eat Mr. Chicken to get the bucket of chicken and the gossip magazine.  Due to the holiday this fine establishment was closed.  So we ate some food at a nearby pub and then went back to a volunteer's home.  Happy Bitvvn!  Also during Tsagaan Sar many stores are closed so you might go hungry.

Tsagaan Sar: Day One
It is traditional that all the people of the town should gather on a high mountain with an Ovoo (traditional holy site).  From there they greet the first sun rise of the new year with shouting and offerings of milk.  I think this occurred some time around 8am on February 22.  I promptly slept through this but ambition did set in so I got out of bed at 10 and ate an entire package of Reeses.

In the countryside the first day of Tsagaan Sar is spent visiting your immediately family....mothers, fathers etc.  In UB it is all about getting an invitation to see someone......you can't just go to their home without an invitation.  After much begging, hint dropping and crying I scored an invitation for the first day.  It was with a teacher from my school.  I went there at 4:00 wearing my maternity deel and my stomach was prepared for the onslaught of vodka, buuz and milk tea.

Thank goodness it was a younger teacher and this was a relaxed atmosphere.  We barely greeted each other and mainly just sat back and chatted for about 30 minutes.  Then she gave me my gift of phone units which was my cue to scram.

Tsagaan Sar: Day Two
This was February 23.  Kitty and I had no invitations so I re-cleaned my home in preparation of my students coming the next day.  I was determined to have my home so clean that Chinggis Khan himself would be happy with me and not invade my home.  This time I washed everything in my home including all my pans, my oven, my fridge and myself.  Finally after a long day of cleaning I went to bed with dreams of buuz dancing through my head.

Tsagaan Sar: Day Three
This is the day when it is fair game to visit anyone.  So I invited some students over.  Their invitation was for 1:00.  Before they could come over I had to go to my school to have a Tsagaan Sar gathering there.  The maternity deel was put back on and I went to school at 10:00am.  This is where things went really bad for this Tsagaan Sar newbie.  I greeted everyone the WRONG way!  Instead of "supporting" my elders I made them support me (ie. I put my arms on top of theirs). I also didn't smell their cheeks.  I kissed them like I was in Europe.......even the men who were a little uncomfortable.  It is also customary to pass around snuff bottles.  My director's wife handed me a snuff bottle and I thought it was a gift so instead of smelling  it and giving it back I promptly put it in my pocket.  During this visit I also knocked over a shot glass of vodka and gagged on some gristle in my meat. Eventually my director's wife asked me for the snuff bottle back so I awkwardly pulled it out of my pocket.   I tried my best to save my dignity and the holiday so I bolted to prepare for my students to come over.

I set out my trays of cookies and pumpkin bread and made milk tea.  I hid Kitty in the bathroom and prepared to be a good host.   Finally the magic hour came and so did my students.  We greeted one another and sat down to our cookies, bread and milk tea.  Half of the students liked the pumpkin bread and the others took one bite and stopped.  After chatting in my limited Mongolian I got out the gifts of Post-It Notes and distributed them.  My students looked at me awkwardly, said thank you and went on their way.  After cleaning up I proceeded to get back in bed wearing my maternity deel (so damn comfortable and roomy!) and listened to Jingle Cats sing O Come All Ye Faithful.  It was magical.

Tsagaan Sar: Day Four
I decided to find a traditional Tsagaan Sar by going to the countryside.  I visited my friend, another volunteer, in Bayanchandmani.  It is a small town North of UB by about 60-or-so kilometers.  Coincidentally, my counterpart Oogii was born there so she was visiting her family.  So I piled in to a meeker and went to the countryside.  I went to my friend's ger and witnessed a 12-year-old kid drive a car.  Alone.   Just him.  Then I Tsagaan Sar visited his haashaa family and scored a sweet bowl, a towel and some phone units.  It was awesome!

At 4:00 that afternoon I was invited to visit my counterpart and her family.  So my friend came with me.  He was well versed in Tsagaan Sar since he lived in the countryside.  I managed to not break quite as many rules this time.  Oogii gave me a gorgeous hvrem which is a Mongolian jacket that I can wear over my maternity deel.  It is fabulous!  I ate many buuz, bansh and drank some sort of fruit moonshine.

Finally, I went home the next day and my Tsagaan Sar was over.  I curled up in bed and practiced my cat massage skills on Kitty while watching more cats singing Christmas songs like this gem: What Child is This

PICTURES!

My counterpart Oogii, on the right holding her son.  Sitting next to her is her mother and father.

Oogii in her gorgeous deel after giving my new, gorgeous hvrem.  I love it!

Compare it to my maternity deel:

Just to add to the holiday cheer here is me wearing my gorgeous snowflake tights, holiday sweater and Toms.  Tis the season to be flamboyant!

Okay......so thanks for reading this blog.  Go celebrate your own Tsagaan Sar and then watch this video: Cat Massage

-C

Glitter.......80's swaying and snowflake tights! Peace Corps!

So.......I am a bad blogger.  Uuchlaarai!  Sorry!  There is no excuse for a two month gap.......but I was......busy?!.......or too cold to blog.  Both are valid reasons in my head.

Since November, life has been really busy!  I want to talk to you about the glorious holiday of Шинэ жил (Shin Jil) or New Year.  This is the Mongolian version of Christmas.  It occurs on December 31 or January 1 ......I am still not sure exactly which one.  Anyway........it is very similar to an American Christmas.  All around UB plastic trees were bedecked with lights, ornaments and a lot of tinsel and glitter.  It was an awesome sight to behold!  There are also many Mongolian Santa Clauses looming around every corner.  Like America, some look "normal" and some look like pedophiles.  Hit or miss!

Every organization and university has its own Shin Jil party.  Some universities have two.....one for the students and one for the teachers.  The one for the Gazarchin Students occurred on December 15.  Our student council planned the entire event.  It was held at a night club behind Sukhbaatar Square.  There was an entry tax of 16,000 tugriks but I somehow managed to avoid that.  I knew that people really dressed up for Shin Jil but I had NO idea how serious it was until I got there.

All the men wore well-pressed and very shiny suits.  They were all very slim fitting and looked quite nice!  The women......went to town!  It was like prom times 100.  They wore very formal gowns and their hair was curled and held with at least 3 bottles of hairspray per person!  Let's also take a moment and talk about the glitter.  They effing love it and cannot get enough of it!  I saw more glitter at this one event than I have ever seen at any gay bar or drag show.....EVER!  It was everywhere.......in their hair.......on their bodies and it seemed like it was falling from the sky.  I was in heaven!

The party started with some Mongolian waltzing....which, for the life of me, I cannot do!  There was a large champagne toast and then some dancing.  Mongolian club dancing is interesting.  In this case, all the students and teachers got into two big circles and took turns going in to the middle to show off their moves.  My kind of dancing is what I call the 80's sway.  You only move from the hips up and just kind of sway back and forth.  This allows you to hold on to, and drink, a beverage of your choice.  This also allows me to not burn any precious calories and I can still enjoy my soda.  Eventually a few students caught on and asked me if that is how all Americans dance.  I didn't want to seem like a loser so I said "yes."  Then they started 80's swaying.  Watch out Mongolia......the 80's sway is comin' back!

After the dancing, it was time for the awards!  Our school's director got up on stage, along with our training manager, and passed out awards to senior students who excelled the most.  I was called on stage to join the two of them and congratulate the scholars.  I kindly shook all of their hands and said congratulations in Mongolian....or at least I hope that is what I said.  The next thing I know, a microphone is put in my face and I am told to speak....in Mongolian.  Shit!  Didn't they remember what a shit show that was last time?!
So I said that I was very happy to be a teacher at Gazarchin and all the students made me happy.  I wished them a happy New Year and best of luck on their final exams.  They kindly clapped and I scissor-kicked my way off stage......just to show that I knew one dance move.

After the awards, the night was capped off with more circle dancing (read: 80's swaying) and champagne was consumed.  This put me in the holiday mood.  I was ready for any Mongolian Santa and prepared to give an amazing speech in Mongolian at any time!

Me and Byamba, a first-year student.  Notice her awesome glittter!!

My third year students and me getting ready to 80's sway!

Chinese teacher Saraa, my dear friend Ogii and me.  Notice my kick ass boots!

So that was the story of our Student's Shin Jil part.  Now for the faculty/staff party or as I like to call it.......the party where I wanted to be young again.  This party began at 6:00 on December 27.  It was at a really nice bar that had themed billiard rooms......like the London Room, Safari Room, Chinese Room and Japanese Room.  I tried to play pool with my director but upon trying to break the rack I launched the cue ball on the floor.  So.....I stopped while I was ahead.  

I borrowed an awesome suit from my student Bilguun.  It was slim fitting and not shiny so I loved it.  I was told to sit with my director at the head table.  I tried to not be too awkward!

So I noticed all the teachers were there wearing their awesome dresses, suits and hair finely coiffed and glitter galore!  Let the party begin!  The music that night was provided by our very own students.  They brought their guitars, drums and voices to make our evening fun!  I had a great time with our teachers but kept flocking over to the students to party with them.  They were all given champagne so I didn't feel like a total alcoholic being around them.  

The dancing was very similar to the Students' party.  I 80's swayed my way through this one too!  During one of the songs, one of the mining students showed off his хɵɵмий or throat-singing skills.  It is such a cool thing to hear in person!  So after he was done singing, I approached him and oddly told him in Mongolian that I wanted to learn throat-singing from him.  He agreed!  So next semester I will take throat-singing lessons!

As the night progressed, I was fed more champagne and many celebratory shots of vodka. They got a little angry because I didn't drink the vodka . . . only touched it to my lips. This only fueled my desire to be "young" again so I parked myself near the students' table and practiced my Mongolian.  They politely obliged and let me speak.  Eventually, the teachers took me back and we celebrated Ogii's award for being the best foreign language teacher!  I was so proud!  The night concluded with many photos being taken,  and a lot more dancing (80's swaying!).  It was a great time and I had a fabulous time celebrating with my colleagues and students.  Shin jiliin bayariin mend hurgey!  Happy New Year!

Buureg, our volunteer Chinese teacher, Batdorj and me.

Otgonsuren, Me and Ogii

The "head" table as we toast our champagne!

Mining students being awesome!

Ogii, me and Bilguun, our student.  I am a model.....right?

Ogii winning her award for best teacher!

Me awkwardly glomming on to the students.

So there it is......my story of Shin Jil.  Boom!  One of my resolutions for this year is to be a better blogger and a few other things.....which I will mention in another blog!  Also, I will mention the snowflake tights in the next blog....I promise!

A Real-Life Game of Frogger

Сайн байна уу?
Just want to let you all know that I am writing this blog on Sunday morning, November 13 and the current temperature is -8 degrees Fahrenheit (-22 for you Celsius folks!)  That is COLD!  Yesterday was the first day I put on long underwear and put on a double pair of socks.  Winter is on its way!

Sorry it has been so long in between posts.  Life as a Peace Corps Volunteer continues to be busy!  My university has been busy preparing for an accreditation process.....so that involves many late hours and a lot of printing!

Life in UB
The best way to describe life in UB is by comparing to a real-life game of Frogger.  In the game Frogger, you are a frog and must cross the road without being killed by passing cars, bikes or whatever.  This is SO true in UB.  I am having to learn how to walk all over again.

It is no secret that traffic in UB is bad.  The main road, Peace Avenue, that runs east-west in the city, is nearly always congested.  My home is 7 km from the city's centre.  On a good day, a bus ride will take about 30 minutes.  If I try to go during rush hour, this 30 minute ride turns in to a 90 minute crawl in traffic that just inches (or centimeters) along.  This makes it very hard for me to plan social events because I must wait on the bus.  I never know how long the bus ride will take so I put myself on Mongolian time and say I will be there "eventually."

Bus rides are always ...well......fun.  You wait outside in the cold for about 15 minutes for your bus to come.  Once it finally does, you get shoved on to the bus along with everyone else.  You have to fight your way to your favorite section of the bus and hold your ground against everyone else trying to do the exact same thing.  My favorite section of the bus is the very back.  There is a bench in the back where all the cool kids sit and I like to think that I am one of them.  After you hold your ground, a "conductor" comes around and collects your 400 tugriks and gives you a little ticket that shows that you paid.  You then hold on for dear life as you get thrown every-which-way.  The bus is also a prime place for pick-pockets so you must try to safeguard your valuables which is tricky to do when being thrown around.  It always makes for a memorable experience!

Crossing the street is difficult in UB.  In America pedestrians have the right-of-way. In Mongolia it is more of an at your own risk sort of thing.  Most people just dart across the street when there is the slightest break between the constant flood of cars.  When I first lived here, I was hesitant to just run out in traffic and would wait on the street corners for hours trying to cross the street.  Not unlike a hooker.    Now I just run across the street with the best of them.  Sometimes the cars will stop, other times they won't and sometimes they actually speed up.  I am always amazed I am still alive at the end of the day.

Walking around UB can be a challenge as well.  Many of the sidewalks in UB are in need of repair or are torn up because they are being repaired.  Normally it is okay because the sunlight allows me to see where I can and cannot step.  Recently, the sun has been going down around 6pm and it is really hard to see.  So.....this already clumsy guy stumbles his way through UB.  Fortunately, I haven't fallen down the many open man holes!

It is also no secret that UB is the second most polluted city in the world.  I am beginning to notice this pollution more and more as the cold sets in.  UB has a city centre that is surrounded by numerous ger districts.  Each ger in the district burns a lot of wood and coal to stay warm during the winter.  Add that burning of wood and coal to the massive car population of UB along with the gigantic coal-burning power plants and it is a recipe for smog.  This smog is most noticeable in the morning and at night.  In the morning it looks like a heavy fog rolled in.  When you step outside, your nose and lungs feel the burn of the smoke-filled air.  Your eyes begin to water from the pollution and the UB cough comes back.  The Peace Corps provides us with masks that bring some relief.

It seems like everything in UB wants to make you late, run you over, or give you asthma.  This might be true but the people make up for it.  Even in a large city like UB, a little community develops around you filled with people who want to help you survive in this city.  It is that community that has helped me get through these last three months in this city and they will continue to do so for the next two years.

Mongolian Winter
So people's first reaction upon my telling them I was going to Mongolia for two years was "You know it is cold there, right?"  Yup.....it is COLD!  The summer was great and hot.  Around the end of September, the cold started coming.  Daytime temperatures would go down to the 50's and it would go to about 20 degrees at night.  No problem....I am from Nebraska and can handle this.  The cool down happens gradually, and in stages so you can prepare yourself.

I was going to try to wait until Thanksgiving to strap on the long underwear and put on my down coat.  I survived until November 12.  This was the first day of negative degree weather and I had to be outside in it.  So I strapped on my light layer of long underwear and made it double sock day.  With all the walking around I did I was actually sweating.....even though it was 0 degrees at the time.  Crazy!

Here is a little information on Mongolian winter.  Traditionally, winters in Mongolia last for 81 days. It is divided in to nine periods of nine days.  Each period has a meaning attached of the various things that will freeze during that time.
1st nine- Mongolia airag made from mare's milk will freeze (Meh...bring it on winter!)

2nd nine- Russian vodka will freeze (this sounds critical....I need my vodka!)

3rd nine- The tails of 3-year-old bulls will freeze  (Really?!  Crap.....)

4th nine- The horns of 4-year-old buss will freeze (What will freeze on a 25 year old American?)

5th nine- Boiled rice will no longer freeze (Yay?!)

6th nine- Roads begin to blacken (This is progress!)

7th nine- hilltops blacken

8th nine- ground becomes damp

9th nine- warm days set in (Actually it is still quite cold now...but mind over matter!)

So this all looks quite cold. During the coldest part of winter, it will reach -40 Fahrenheit (and -40 Celsius) for a few weeks.  I am a little worried.  It gets cold in Nebraska but the horns of 4 year old bulls don't freeze.  I am not sure when Mongolian winter starts but I believe it ends with Tsaagan Sar ( a massive Mongolian holiday that occurs with the lunar new year).  So I am anticipating this first nine to be here any day.

Let's hope I survive!

Kitty and I are ready for winter!  Bring it Mongolia!

Love and Acceptance in the Land of the Blue Sky

Hello blog readers!

I want to tell you about a phenomenal outpouring of love and acceptance I witnessed on September 3, 2011 in Ulaanbaatar.

Needless to say, I am a huge proponent of human rights across the world.  I truly believe that everyone is created equally and that we all have rights as human beings on this planet.  LGBT issues are very close to my heart.  Growing up in Nebraska, I had many people telling me that being gay, or different for that matter, was wrong and it didn't make me normal.  I could care less about being normal.  I remember witnessing the election of November 2000 when Nebraska voted to amend its constitution to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages.  It broke my heart and I lost hope.  I couldn't understand why people could be so angry at someone for wanting to love and be loved regardless of their sexual orientation.  I am very fortunate to come from family that shows me endless love, tolerance and gave me the ambition to succeed in life no matter who I am.  Their love and support allowed me to join the Peace Corps.

I brought with me, to Mongolia, my passion for human rights.  I knew that LGBT rights were still emerging in this country.  It was only in 2002 that homosexuality was decriminalized.  On September 3, I attended an event hosted by the LGBT Centre in Ulaanbaatar.  It was called "Mr. Beauty 2011" and it was a drag queen competition.  I went with some friends to this small bar that was off the beaten path.  I didn't expect to see many people there.  I was SHOCKED when I entered!  There must have been around 250-300 people there.  The night started with the contestants coming out wearing traditional women's Mongolian clothes.  They were absolutely gorgeous!  The other portions of the competition were swimsuit wear, formal wear and then came time for the question.  Unfortunately, my Mongolian wasn't good enough to understand what was being said.  My guess is that each question and answer dealt with LGBT issues in Mongolia.

Seeing 300 people at an LGBT event was fantastic.  Watching them be unafraid of who they are for four hours gave me immense hope.  People could be who they were regardless if they were gay, lesbian , bisexual, transgender or straight.  Seeing their love and happiness rejuvenated my mission for equality.  I was speaking with a Mongolian man at the event who said this about homosexuality in Mongolia:
"This is just a normal part of human existence."  He summed it up so well and he wants to take that message across Mongolia.

As an American, it would be so easy for me to approach this with a typical go-get-'em attitude but I know it will not work in Mongolia.  They will do it their way and on their time.  All I can do is offer support and advice as best I can.

Here is a link for the Mongolian LGBT Centre.  They are working so hard to promote LGBT rights across this nation.  They have come a long way by simply becoming a recognized NGO. This youtube video chronicles their mission and the path they took to become a nationally recognized NGO.

This is a serious post but one that is very close to my heart.

In love and acceptance,
-C

Professor Lyons.....I like it!

We need to have a discussion about my first week at school.

Staff Meetings
My first 'day' of work was Monday, August 29.  I had to attend a staff meeting that began at 9am.  It was three hours long and totally in Mongolian.  I maybe understood a few words here and there but mostly I just smiled if I heard my name or something that sounded like it.  People probably thought I was crazy.....but that is all right!  My school's general director is very nice and very welcoming.  He brought me to the front of the meeting and encouraged me to speak about myself in Mongolian.  This was where my two months of Mongolian came in handy!  I regaled everyone about my life, what I studied, how old I was and told them about my family.  My Mongolian was decent and people understood me!  SUCCESS!!

After my fabulous introduction I was whisked off to my new office.  I share a large room with the other English teachers.  They are fantastic!  I felt very welcomed, honored and privileged to be teaching with them.  They all complimented my Mongolian so I gave them compliments on their clothes and make up. Normal?!

Per usual, I now have my office desk covered in Post-Its.  I love them!  I use the recycled kind so I feel a little bit better about not being able to recycle them here.  3M, feel free to send some Post Its to Mongolia!  I fear that I will soon run out.  My co-teachers all think I am crazy and walk by my desk and laugh.  So I just give them a Post It!

First Day of Classes
So, Thursday September 1 finally came.  I was READY!  I put on my Mongolia maternity deel ( I call it that because it is big so I can "grow" in to it!) and walked to my office.  We sat around and gossiped for a few minutes and at 9 o'clock we went outside for the opening ceremonies.

It was fantastic!  The main building had been covered in balloons, streamers and a large banner welcoming all the students.  There were many speeches given.  I was told the day before that I would give a speech in English and one of my counterparts would translate for me in to Mongolian.  Right before I got up on stage I was told I would be translating it myself!

My speech in English thanked everyone and I said that I was very honored to work at a wonderful institution such as Gazarchin.  I thanked the Director for all that he has done and I wished everyone a very happy start to the school year.  I used a lot of flowery English and smiled a lot.

Here is how I translated:
Me:  Hello everyone.  My name is Chris Lyons.  I come from America.  I am 25 years old and I am an English teacher.  Yes....okay.....I want to teach you.  This I know.  (Here is where I tried to be flashy and show off some "complex" grammar) When you learn English......(here I get lost)  school.........study........work......very good......ummmmm.........English.........lesson..........I will teach.

Okay so I got lost.  I didn't know how to finish the sentence in Mongolian so I just said some random education related words and smiled.

<At this point the Director takes away my microphone and the audience of several hundred people just gives me funny looks.>

What happened next is beyond my comprehension.  I couldn't stop talking.  So........I grabbed the microphone out of my Director's hands and said (in broken Mongolian):
MONGOLIA!!!  THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

This brought on even more awkward looks and silence.  Eventually I was cheered off the stage and stood in the corner for the rest of the ceremony.

So it wasn't my best first impression.  I was wearing a huge deel and gave a really awkward speech in Mongolian followed by more awkwardness as I finished said speech.  Yay!

The next day was my first day of teaching.  I have been assigned to teach American Country Studies, English Speaking and Listening Skills and American and British Literature.  I am very excited about all of those classes!  My first class I taught was Speaking and Listening.  I told my students about myself and told them to tell me about them.  They all did a great job!

Ever since the first day things have been going much better.

The new addition to my family and the big freeze


Okay so that title is a little dramatic.  A few days ago I got a cat.  She is three years old and came from a family of ex-pats that moved back to the states.  She is very affectionate and just sleeps on my stomach all the time and judges me for eating in bed.  Her name is Ааруул (Aaruul) which is the Mongolian dried milk curd that everyone eats and enjoys.  I wanted a random Mongolian name......and it worked!  She has been great company because things are starting to cool down in Mongolia.

Yesterday was the first day I began to notice the change.  I walked outside just wearing a light jacket and, for me, it wasn't enough.  I went back inside and put on light gloves and a scarf.  I got so many strange looks and comments.  People were asking me why I was wearing winter garments when it wasn't winter yet.  In my opinion it should not be freezing in September!  So I endured the comments and was happy I was warm.

Today when I left for school it was only 29 degrees outside.  This necessitated the use of my down winter coat, a scarf and leather gloves.  The comments were even worse today!  My co-teachers even asked me why I was wearing such things and they asked me if I knew it wasn't winter yet!  I responded by saying this is "normal for Americans."  They just laughed and tried not to walk beside me as we went to lunch.  They were just wearing long-sleeved shirts and seemed perfectly fine.

This is me and Aaruul trying to stay warm.  Even she is judging me for wearing winter clothes!

In the mean time I will continue to stay warm, eat more food and teach more classes!  I hope everyone is warm and well!

-C

Livin' Life and Torchin' Towels.....Mongolian Style!

Well as promised I would deliver a blog showing you my fantastic Soviet apartment in Ulaan Baatar.  I have been here for little over a week and things have been....interesting.

I still have no idea how to cook but I am getting better!  Last night I was making rice on my stovetop and I was so proud of myself.  I put the pot on the stove and turned on the burner and walked away.  I return hoping to find a boiling pot of ricey-goodness but instead I return to a towel on fire.  Christ!  Can't a boy just make a pot of rice?! Apparently I didn't pay attention during cooking class at Community College.  I though magic elves just took care of the food.....like in Harry Potter! So I took the burning towel and threw it in the sink.  Once the air cleared I continued making rice with a sanguine attitude and was determined to enjoy that damn pot of rice.

I have also been dealing with a massive head cold.  It could be due to an actual cold but I am convinced it is made worse by all the pollution here.  When Vice President Biden was in town I was stuck in a cab for two exciting hours with many trucks and motorcycles blowing their fumes in to my face.  Yay!  So yesterday I did nothing.  I took copious amounts of cold medicine and accidentally watched the entire second season of Community.  Needless to say, I am a hot, coughing, snotty mess!

Let's commence the tour of Château Lyons

Congratulations on finding building Number 2.  Unfortunately it is trash day.  But at least I have trash day!

This is my fun stairwell.  It has no lighting at night so I just fall up or down the stairs as needed.

And apparently everyone in my building loves one another!  I hope my name ends up on this wall.....or any wall really.......maybe a bathroom?

Look who is there to greet you!  The ultimate Myspace picture!

The view when you walk in the front door!

My awesome bed with mirrors and bedding from 1984.

Since my bed has mirrors I had to take advantage of it!  Just waitin' around to teach some English while wearing a scarf!

My awesome bathroom with an the always-running-Mongolian toilet. Notice the water heater?  Yeah.....I have really cold but running water!

My fire extinguisher and rice cooker I don't know how to use and smoke alarm that should be installed by now.  Oops!

My refrigerator and teensy sink.  It works!  Notice the bright "window" from the bathroom!  It is like stained glass.....

My simple table with some nearly finished banana bread.

My little stove and the poster that is the reason I get up every morning.

So there you have it......a quick tour of my home.  I start working at Gazarchin University very soon and am eager to be a university teacher!  Time to go make some macaroni and cheese from scratch.  Hope I don't torch another towel!

I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!

Hello world of the interwebs!

I realize it has been a while since my last posting but I hope to cover the following points:

• The End of PST (Pre-Service Training)
• Swearing In as a Peace Corps Volunteer
• My new life as a PCV 

Finishing PST


For those of you who are current PCV/Ts or RPCVs, you know how long, challenging and rewarding PST can be.  Every day is filled with learning Mongolian, preparing last-minute lesson plans and teaching English.  By the end of each day I was absolutely exhausted!

I was lucky enough to get a little reprieve from PST by being called to go to Ulaan Baatar for a few days for a medical check up.  It was very last minute!  On August 4, our Country Director came to my training site to do interviews.  She informed me that at 1:30 that afternoon I would be accompanying her back to UB for a medical appointment.  Needless to say I ran back to my ger and literally threw clothes in a bag.  Off to UB I went.  I was allowed to ride in the Peace Corps vehicle which was very comfortable

I spent August 5 through 8 in UB as I underwent a few evaluations.  This gave me a lot of time to site see and walk around a very cool city. Unfortunately, this meant I missed the host-family appreciation weekend.  My training site and their families all went to Amarbaysgalant Monastery.  It seems like they had a great time......even without me!  I hopped on a bus on August 9 to head back to my training site.

Friday, August 12 was, essentially, the end of PST.  We had our LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) and TAP (Trainee Assessment Packet).  After those interviews were completed  I would be finished with training.  Unfortunately, my body decided to have fun with me!  I woke up Friday morning and felt really sick to my stomach.  I spent the entire morning throwing up whenever I would move or think.  Oh what fun!  Fortunately I had both of my interviews relatively early.  My TAP started at 11am and by that time a fever hit me so I was sweating and shivering during the interview.

In between my TAP and LPI I went to our local café to take a little nap.  This nap lasted for quite a while and someone woke me up at 1:50pm to tell me that it was time for my LPI (which started at 1:45). My teachers told me to just go home but I literally ran and sat down for my LPI.  The proctor was very nice and very helpful as I struggled to gain enough mental capacity to speak in Mongolian for 30 minutes.  Finally, I was finished with that interview and went home to sleep.

I spent my last weekend at site hanging out with my host family and friends.  Many games of huzer were played and I had a few shots of vodka in celebration.  On Monday, August 15, all 12 of us went from our site to the training center in Darkhan.  It was a bittersweet day saying goodbye to our families but......by the end of the day we would all know where we would be living and working for the next two years.

Site Placements


That Monday  seemed to just crawl by.  All 66 of us were eager, scared and excited to know of our placements. We received the results of our LPI and I ended up getting an Intermediate Low which is a step higher than the minimum of Novice High.  I was very happy with that result and it felt like all my hard work paid off!  Anyone want to chat in Mongolian?!

Finally the time came for us to go to the big children's park in the center of town.  That park had a HUGE map of Mongolia divided in to the the different aimags (provinces).  One-by-one they called our names and announced our site and our school.  I watched my friends and colleagues walk to the far reaches of the map. From Bayan Olgi to Choibalsan, all the aimags were covered.  Finally it came time for my announcement.  The winning site is.................Ulaan Baatar!  I was so happy when they finally announced it.  I will be working at a private university for the next two years to help the teachers and students improve their English.  I am not alone in Ulaan Baatar.  There are many other PCVs there and the main Peace Corps office also calls UB its home.

We all spent that night reading through our welcome packets which contained a wealth of information about our sites and schools.

The rest of the week was spent learning about medical issues as well as safety and security issues.  Finally the big day came.....swearing in!

Swearing In

Friday, August 19 was the big day for all of us.  It was the day we had been waiting for since we got our invitations to become Peace Corps Volunteers.  At 10am all of us walked to the Darkhan theatre in our finest Mongolian clothes.  The ceremony began at 11am with speeches given by our country director, the US Ambassador Jonathan Addleton, and two members of the Mongolian Education Ministry.  Here is a link to a press release about the swearing in ceremony.

The rest of the ceremony consisted of the Ambassador administering the oath to us.  It was a moving moment to repeat after him and officially become volunteers.  After that, speeches were given in Mongolian by new PCVs and there were many talents displayed with traditional Mongolian dancing, singing and instruments.  All of this was performed by the new PCVs.  I was honored to watch all of my friends go up on stage to sing, dance and have fun.

After the ceremony, which lasted two hours, we were treated to a wonderful reception.  There was SO much delicious food!  Unfortunately, we couldn't stay too long because we had to load up our buses to go to UB at 2:30.  55-or-so volunteers loaded buses to head to UB before they flew or rode in a meeker to their respective sites.

A few of my fellow volunteers!

This is the last picture of the Khutul trainees with our school director and Language Instructors.  I miss them already!

I was lucky and got to move in to my new apartment that Friday evening.  It was a relief to finally be someplace I can call "home" for the next two years and begin unpacking my bags.  I felt like it was Christmas as I opened up my winter bag that had been in storage for two months.  It contained many sweaters, a very warm down coat, long underwear and some well hidden beef jerky from my family.  Oh....it also had three rolls of duct tape so my Uncle will be proud!

My Life as a PCV

So far things are going really well.  I would consider myself moved in to my apartment and settling in to a routine.......for now.  I have met with my school supervisor a few times to discuss how I can be of help to the university.  He is very excited to have me and I am quite excited to start working.  My first official day will be Monday, August 29 when I give a presentation to English teachers about how to improve their English and how they can best help their students.  This is what the Peace Corps drilled in to me all summer and I am glad to put it to use.

For those of you who know me, I am not a great cook.  I enjoy baking (who doesn't?!) but dealing with full meals scares me.  Back in the states I would eat box after box of Mac-N-Cheese or just go out for dinner.  This isn't really an option here as my Peace Corps budget doesn't allow it.  Fortunately, the Peace Corps volunteers have compiled a fantastic cook book that will get me through the next few years.

Yesterday I made a really good loaf of banana bread and then made a large pot of rice and beans which will be my staple until it runs out.  I made way too much......so it might be a while.  Where are hot pockets when I need them?!

I will make another post this weekend and give you a tour of my apartment.  It is pretty fancy!

Let me know if you have any questions of certain things about which you are curious!  I enjoy sharing my experiences with you!

Be well,

-C