September is gone, October is here

 I can’t believe September is gone. This month has been hard in several ways. First, my sister and niece had their birthdays in September and I missed them. It just brings the homesickness front and center. I was able to call each of them and talk to them. It was great to hear their voices, everyone’s voice.  I’m still hoping to great a picture or two from the celebrations (wink, wink).
Second, although I am use to residing in my ger, I have quite a few “firsts” coming up and I am not very excited about them.  I have to learn to make and sustain a fire (my source of warmth), find the winter apparel I thought would be easy to get in Mongolia, and then there is the -20 degree outhouse visits looming over my head. It is cold now, but not quite freezing.

The Peace Corps came by to do site checks the second to last week in September. They look at the volunteer’s house, discusses any issues the volunteer has, and then looks at the work environment and talks with the volunteer’s Mongolian counter parts. They do it every six months or so.   The staff that came were surprised how small my ger was. Apparently, there are two sizes of gers; small and regular. I have a small ger. Not even all the mandatory furniture fits inside.

I was lucky enough to get my stove for wood and coal. There is a spot on top where one could put a pot, if they knew how to cook with fire. I’m sure eventually I'll be brave/curious/bored enough to try. I also got some wood. I do not have coal, so my ger is still cold (a wood fire doesn’t burn as long as a coal fire).

I was asked how I bathe. I have, what is called a tumpin. It is a large bucket with a 2 foot diameter and about 8 inches deep. Basically, it is for “sponge baths” since I have yet to meet anyone who can sit in it and bathe. Once a week I go to a bath house for a nice shower. Unfortunately, it is too expensive to go more than once a week. I’m not sure what I’ll do when it’s too cold to walk home wet though.

Thursday, October 11^th

The other Thursday I was rocking back and forth in my work chair deciding whether or not to go home because the electricity was out and would be for hours. I was rocking back and forth, back and forth; it was quite soothing. I heard a weird clucking noise, looked around my office, but nothing was out of place. It must have been outside. I began rocking back and forth again, except I wasn't going “forth”, just . . . all . . . the way  . . . BACK. Yep, went all the back including a feet-over-head topple out of the chair. I very stunned, but couldn’t help laughing.

Friday, October 12^th

On Wednesday, My counterpart asked if I could come to a meeting on Friday at 9 a.m. Of course I could. So I wake up on Friday and was peeling off one of my sock layers, so I could go potty, and my phone rang with the caller ID "Hospital". I answered it and it was my counterpart asking if I was coming to meeting. I said ‘yes, I’ll be there by 9:00 and she said it was at 8:20 a.m. I told her I would try to be there but it was 8:12 a.m.  and I have a 20 minute walk to work. She said she would send a ride and I needed to bring my water boiler. The "meeting" turned out to be at the police station in the conference room with the health department from my aimag center. All of the Doctors and Nurses from the hospital were there. (I have no idea who was actually working at the hospital) I looked up all the words on the banner and figured out that it was a seminar and not a "meeting" and what kind of seminar it was.

During the first three sentences I recognized my first word: Camel. I WAS SO EXCITED!!! I heard it and recognized it. It was CAMEL. Camel, camel, camel. Wha-hooo!!!! WAIT . . .why would they be talking about camels at a Proper Ethics for Hospital Employees Seminar? Perhaps it was a funny antidote? The presenter continued to say this word every 4-5 sentences, and there is no way you can have that many camel jokes. I realized that she was using it in the same way people say 'um'. I zoned out a few times and then would repeat the word in my head every time I heard it, then, about 50 minutes into the presentation, I realized it sounded a lot like 'тийм уу?', which means 'really?' LIGHT BULB! тэмээ (camel) and тийм ээ (yes) has only the slightest vowel difference. Plus, saying 'yes' every 4-5 sentences makes far more sense than saying 'camel'. Problem solved with only 5 hours to go.

Sadly, I did not get a certificate of completion for the seminar. Perhaps it's because I'm not a registered medical staff in Mongolia (or any country for that matter), perhaps it is because I had no idea what she was saying.

Over the weekend

                I made flat bread in a frying pan on top of my ger stove. Well, I made some on my ger stove, I got bored after 4 and started using my electric burner. It is fast and doesn’t make me sweat sitting next to it.

Hope you’re having a great October. My site mates want to dress up for Halloween. What should I be? Keep in mind, Mongolians don’t celebrate Halloween, so I’d have to make a costume.

Ceremony Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the Swearing-In Ceremony.





Mongolian Group 23 taking their oath



This is the Health group singing our song about mothers





These are two of the groups who were picked to do traditional dances. They were fun to watch, and all the groups did an excellent job.





This is the entire Mongolian Group 23 singing the Mongolian National Anthem. It has a very catchy melody.




This is our whole Health Sector group:
Volunteers, Language Teachers, and Sector Trainers     

Trading my 'T' for a 'V'

On Friday, August 17^th I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). It’s official; I’m no longer a Trainee (PCT). The ceremony was nice. There were four speakers, including our Country Director and someone from the U.S. Embassy. After the speakers there was a slide show of pictures submitted by the Trainees and a few cultural presentations. These were songs and native Mongolian dances. My group sang a song about mothers called ‘Миний Ээж, Сайхан Ээж’. The translation is My Mother, Nice Mother. It’s a very popular song in Mongolia.

After the presentations, there was a reception and then off to the buses to take us to our new homes (for 2 years). PC doesn’t recommend posting our exact location. If you would like to know email or facebook message me. I will give you a hint though; I’m by a railway line.

My Counterparts are very nice and have given me quite a few resources already. I’m beginning a conversational English class soon, so that will give me something to do.  I’ve also been practicing typing in Mongolian, since it is inevitable.

Би Энх Тайвны Корпусын Эрүүл Мэндийн Сайн Дурын Ажилтан

(I’m a Peace Corps Health Volunteer)

A week or two before I left my host family, they adopted a puppy. Here are a few pictures him.

I called him Wesley.

Also here is a picture of my fellow 'Healthies.' We're a good looking group. This was taken at a Dodge Ball Tournament.

Answers to Your Questions

I'm so neglectful, sorry.

To answers some questions . . .

1. What is the weather like? It is sunny in the high 80s, low 90s. It has been raining quite a bit though. I'm told be my trainers it's been a cool summer so far.

2. Do I live in a big town? Yes. I live in what is similar to a state capital, however, there's still I'd be surprised if there was more than 30,000 here. There's only a little over 2 million in all of Mongolia.

3. What is my current location? The PC would prefer if I didn't post my city name on my blog. If you're dying to know message me on Facebook or email me.

4. What else do I eat? I eat a variation of mutton tsuvain every freakin' day. My host mom does give me grapes or apples for dessert, so that's good. What is tsuvain you ask. You know when you go to a Mongolian BBQ and you put the noodles in a bowl, then add a meat, and put one scoop of this and one scoop of that, and then they put it on that big grill, that's an awesome and delicious version of tsuvain. Real tsuvain is boiled to death and has mutton in it. They really like it, but I getting sick of it, as you may have picked up on.

5. Do I have electricity? Yes!

6. How do I learn Mongolia? I go to class from 9-1 Monday through Friday. I don't feel it's going well, but I can understand my host family as long as they are talking about food.

7. Do I pet stray dogs? No, they will eat you. If it is a puppy, without a pack close by, you can use get it to come close enough to you to touch it once, but then it runs away. They aren't use to that.

8. What does Camel taste like? I do not know, yet. We eat mutton. I've had chicken twice since I've been here.

9. Does Naraa like to touch my hair? She likes to comb my hair and try to put hair things in it. Her little hands are only big enough to grab half my hair though, so I usually look a bit scary.

10. So they wash their hands before a meal? My family does. I have heard other trainee's family do not, but mine thankfully does.

11. Am I sunburned? My chest is a little, but I've been lucky.

12. What do I sleep on? I sleep on a futon that doesn't have a mattress. It's pretty hard on my body.

Here are some PICTURES. . . I'm having issues with my camera, so there aren't a lot.

This is my twin home. The second window is my room, and the end of our house. The containers in front are what we put our water in.

 This is a layout of my house. As you can see it is a 2 room (not bedroom, just room) plus kitchen house.

 This is me at a statue of Chinggis Khaan's 5th wife. They keep telling me her name, but I can't remember it. It's a really awesome monument
.

Sorry about the angle on this one. This was taken at Naadam, which is like a state fair only more awesome and for 5 intense days. It's a national holiday and everything closes down. They have horse racing, wrestling and archery competitions. The winners go home with big prizes, I'm talking cars and millions of tugriks (their money).They have a fried food called huurshirs, and they aren't bad. And they're easy enough even I can make them. Mongolian flag in the background, in case you were wonder what it looks like.

One Week Down

Hello from Mongolia.

I live with a host family in a house that doesn't have running water. My host family has to bring it into the host in, what looks like, giant gas cans.  There is also an outhouse for a toilet. Very different form my American home.

So far my favorite meal is rice with chopped boiled eggs mixed in it, served with cut up cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots. She puts oil in the veggies, but she doesn't fry them.
 
My "sisters" names are Narah (3 yo) and Tsermaa (17 yo). Narah is just as wild and crazy as the American 3 year olds. She hits her sister and bosses everyone around. She loves to come into my room and play the "What is this?" game, which is also the only Mongolian phrase I don't have to think about what it means. I also found some art work of her's on the walls in my room. Tsermaa is out of school for the summer and reads English well. She is very helpful when trying to get through a conversation. She takes care of Narah during the day.

On Sunday, I went on a walk with my host family and a young male house visitor to the town square. Then They were motioning to me that they were going to take a picture and wanted me in it. So I stood there and then realized that Mongolians don't smile in pictures, or at least not this bunch. So I'm the cheesy American smiling away in this picture. Also they wanted a picture of just me and this teenage boy. I can't figure out if he is their son or nephew. They were really nice and printed me a copy of both pictures.

They taught us some Mongolian games. They play with the ankle bones of sheep/goats. They were really fun. I asked how to get the bones, you know what shop, and my teachers said you get the bones when you buy a sheep and eat him. I don't think I can eat a whole sheep by myself.

Speaking of meat. I've seen herds of horses and camels all along the country side. This country is so pretty. It's hard to picture all dead and covered in snow.

Bonus points to who ever can name the 5 types of meat in Mongolia.

Snail-mail

If you want to send me a letter or card, my mailing address is:

Sara Oxborrow, PCT
Post Office Box 1036
Central Post Office
Ulaanbaatar 15160
Mongolia (via China)

This is only until August, then I go to my new home. I'm told I will not have much internet access during my pre-service training.  

It's just over a week and a half now.

Accepted the Invitation

I was offered, and accepted, an invitation to volunteer with the Peace Corps. As you may have guest, it is in Mongolia.

My Orientation is May 31st and my Pre-service Training is June 2nd-August 17th. After that I will be a Health Educator.

I'll post more when I get more information.