Goodbye Summer. I will miss you.



Flowers Justin picked for me on our 1st day in our apartment this summer.

 Summer has come and gone. Where did it go? I don’t even remember being warm anymore. There is a part of me that is excited for fall to return: apple pies, the taste of cinnamon, waking up for that hot cup of spiced anything, scarves (for style, not as a survival accessory, like during winter), and making fires for fun. But I just don't want to let go of the warmth just yet.

Justin and I made it back safely to Mandalgovi two days ago. We had an 8 hour off road bus ride that only stopped mysteriously a couple of times. One time it was to help another bus out because it had broken down. The drivers couldn’t fix that bus, so about 40 more people joined us on our bus the rest of the way. I felt bad for those who had to stand in the aisle for the next hour.



School starts on Thursday. Once it begins our downhill tread will also begin. We’ve made a lot of plans for this year-- we have a lot of projects up our sleeves-- and a lot of new site-mates to help us out! This will be a great year for Mandalgovi and its PCVs:  



Mandalgovi PCVs 2011

Over the summer (for the last 4 months) I have been living out of one small suitcase with about 5 different changes of clothes. It was really doable. There were times I wore my dirty clothes more than I should have before washing-- or people that had seen me in the same outfit every time we had a chance to meet-- but really it was nice to live free and on the go. We moved around a lot this summer, with our Asian Vacation/backpacking trip, training in Darkhan, staying UB, then finally our Mid Service Training (because, yes! We are half-way through our service!). When we got back to our ger though (a little more about that instant in a minute) I realized just how much I can live with out. Wait a sec, I remember saying this EXACT same thing one year ago when I was first moving into my ger. We came to Mongolia with 5 HUGE over-stuffed suitcases and I was feeling the satisfaction of living simply then….now fast forward to today and I’ve downsized to 1 medium sized suitcase and I feel content.

  

Now that I’ve reunited with all the rest of my stuff in my ger-- I feel overwhelmed. We have SO MUCH STUFF. Will I ever be able to live in housing bigger than 300 sq ft and not be overwhelmed by owning too much stuff??

So coming back to Mandalgovi was a little difficult-- as I knew it would be. After living in an apartment with plumbing and a hot shower for 4 months reverting back to a glorified tent and an outhouse isn’t easy. We got home to our ger in the evening and spent the entire night cleaning. A thick layer of sand (because the ger isn’t closed off, the sides are completely open to the world to let in wind, but also let in bugs, mice and layers of sand after layers of sand. So not only was I overwhelmed by how much STUFF we have, I was completely broken down by the mess that we returned to. I bit back the tears and got to work. A mouse had ruined the whole bottom shelf of food we had and left droppings and smelly pee everywhere. That was task #1 (get rid of mouse smell and mess), then I got some soapy water and tackled the dust/sand on every piece of furniture we own and worked my way down--finally shaking out/sweeping the rugs and hand scrubbing the floor with bleach. Clean ger: accomplished.



Open sides of the ger



Surprise! In our fridge-- yes, that's an animal ear you see.

 

You can't have a complete Mongolian Summer without a flat tire.



So I feel hip and savvy these days because my sister gave me a kindle for my birthday. What a life changing gadget that is! I’ve read over 15 books in the last month or so that I’ve had it. And it will definitely help me out with my goal for this winter (to not run out of reading material!). A couple of books I’d recommend on living a life simply are:

• Living the Savvy Life: The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Smart Spending and Rich Living by Melissa Tosetti
•  Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider

Now that I'm home in my ger I will be blogging more regularly. This summer I was always on the go, and Mongolia isn't a place covered in Wi-Fi (not yet anyway), so it was rather difficult to plump down at internet cafes or find some random place with an internet connection that they'd let me use.

Cheers to a new school year, new ideas, new projects, new recipes and new experiences! 

Summer of the Pink Eye

Justin and I got back from our great Asian Vacation 3 weeks ago. I have been in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, ever since. Justin’s pink eye seemed to come and go rather quickly, but I have gone from one Dr to the next trying to seek help for my eye. In total I have seen 5 professionals concerning my eye. Which turns out that the pink eye also came and went after the first several days and then my eye (right eye) had an assortment of other little complications all at the same time (making it look like I had a really bad case of pink eye the entire time). I lost a little vision from my right eye (now 20/30 with my glasses on), but am expected to regain it back with the use of steroid drops I will be using for the next 2 months at least. So, no contacts for at least that long. I am now a glasses wearer :(
Good news is that my eye is getting better and in fact is almost completely better (minus the vision). I think I have one more Dr.’s appointment to go to on Monday and I should be released.
It has been a little nice, I have to say, staying in UB and seeing all the PCVs that have come in for the summer. Also, it has been really nice sleeping on a comfy mattress, taking hot showers and using a toilet. The food that is available in UB is mind-blowing at times.
In a little over a week, Justin and I will start our ‘summer job’ as trainers for the new PCVs who have just started their 2 year assignments this summer. They have been in Mongolia for about a month now, and Justin and I will be training them for one more month. I am very excited to be apart of their training crew.
That’s where I’m at right now. Justin is in Mandalgovi trying to get some work done and tying loose ends up because it’s going to be about another 2 months until we return for Mandalgovi for one more school year.

The Pink Eyed Travelers

                                     

We made it safely back to Mongolia last Friday. Seoul was amazing. Justin and I fed ourselves at as many Western restaurants as possible. You can get Korean food in Mongolia like you can get Mexican food in Texas, so our priority was to eat what we'd miss most: McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin Robins. Our tummies were very happy. Seoul seems to be the most like America out of the three countries visited. Mostly because it has a lot of Western shopping and food chains. Everything was just familiar there. So, it was a nice way to end our journey-- to relax at 'home'.

We splurged and took 1st class on the bullet train from Pusan to Seoul. When I say we relaxed in Seoul, I mean we relaxed in Seoul. A 1st class train ride was a must!


Somewhere along our vacation Justin started getting pink eye (back in Beijing). I know how contagious pink eye is. Even though I tried not to, I, too got pink eye. I hate to think about how many others we infected along the way because we were in one public place after another.

Justin's pink eye came and went, though it was uncomfortable. However, I got mine our last day in Japan. That was 2 weeks ago today. I had it in one eye for the rest of the trip. When we touched down in UB I went straight to our Medical Officers. They informed me that we couldn't go back to Mandalgovi until both our eyes have cleared up (Justin still had traces of pink eye). So now, a week later we're still resting it up in UB. Justin's eye is completely better. I ended up getting pink eye in both my eyes and another bacterial infection in my original pink eye.

Good news is our Asian Vacation was a success (pink eye or no pink eye), AND we get a little R&R in UB while we fend off this infection. Next week: Madalgovi! It's been over a month since we've been in our ger. A glamorous month of flushing toilets, running hot water, showers, mattresses, friend and good food. Next, home sweet home.

Tokyo is my No. 2!

Typed: 6/13/2011

Japan is amazing. Quite beautiful in every way. I think Tokyo has made it to the No. 2 spot in my favorite cities (No. 1 being Paris). I love the tree lined streets, the small but clean and sturdy roads. Sidewalks that are gushing with flowers of every kind. It smells wonderful here. It smells like what spring should smell like!

What I noticed right off the bat when we walked out of the airport was how serene it is here. The people are so polite and peaceful. Something that Justin keeps saying is: Now he understands where the background for Super Mario Bros. comes from (because the streets are so perfect and clean and fake looking).

Now, Tokyo is still a happenin' place. We didn't have to go too far to find where all the people were at. We walked around Ueno Park, did a little pedal boating in the pond, looked off into a shrine surrounded by a pond infused with lilies, turtles, koi. It was beautiful. All the while people were still peacefully quite.

We went to the National Museum (which was more interesting than the one in China), had our fill of sushi & fresh fish, roamed around the Imperial Palace's Gardens and spent an ETERNITY in the underground world better known as Tokyo Station. My goodness, it's about the sizeof a medium sized city. It took me a good 45 mins to go from one side to the other (and I was speed walking & sweating profusely-- I don't know why I added that).

We took the Bullet train to Fukuoka, Japan. Justin was unimpressed with it. I think he thought it would make your cheeks flap because it was going so fast. It did go really fast (especially compared to the old fashion train we took from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing), but it was a smooth fastness. I am going to miss all the friendliness of Japan. How strange it was to see people politely letting others off the subway before they entered, or seeing people in the streets bowing to each other-- even the workers on the train would bow to us everytime they passed our compartment. Now we're in Fukuoka. It's an amazing city! I wish we had more time here. But, tomorrow we're off to Pusan, South Korea.

Too Much to See in Beijing

Typed: 6/9/2011

We’ve seen some great things the past few days including the Drum Tower, Bell Tower, some street markets, some Buddhist Temples, and ate some fabulous, succulent Peking Duck. But I was most excited about today because it’s bike day!

Today started out very promising. Justin and I were up by 7:30 and out the door by 8:30. Our plan for the day was to rent some bikes and bike to the Temple of Heaven, Natural History Museum, Chinese History Museum, Mao Mausoleum, Forbidden City and finally the Night Market. We ended up doing 3 out of those 6 things. We started off with a great breakfast of Egg McMuffins & Hashbrowns at a McDonald’s we passed on the way.

I was so excited to ride my bike! It was a little scary at first because of how busy the traffic is and the bike lane is next to car lanes. But I couldn’t help smiling with my shades on and the wind blowing in my hair as I pedaled swiftly. Justin, however, didn’t have such a good experience. His bike was pretty crap. One of his pedals didn’t work at all, so the whole time he biked with his right pedal only. His chain fell off a couple of times and finally he even fell off his bike at one point after struggling to adjust the seat that was too high for him. Oh man, it was quite comical for me. But, I did feel bad for the poor guy.

Anyway, the Temple of Heaven was beautiful! It was so humid out today that I was a little miserable and seeking shade, but I was glad to see it. While we walked inside the gates of the park, everywhere we turned there were people snapping pictures. It made me wonder just how many pictures I have been in over the course of my life. How many people/tourist have an Ashlie in the background of their group photo from DisneyWorld, Big Ben, or the Temple of Heaven?? I wonder…

Well, both of the museums that we went to today were just ‘eh’ for me. It was great to get out of the heat and into an air-conditioned place, but I’m not a museum girl. The first one (Natural History Museum) had dinosaurs, some stuffed animals from the Americas and some human science sections (including this huge womb!).

But the Chinese History Museum had many artifacts from…well, Chinese history. It was interesting, but at this point Justin and I were burnt out. We’d biked several miles in the 96 degree heat with high humidity. We decided to put off the Mao Mausoleum and the Forbidden City until tomorrow and to just bike through the Night Market on our way back to the hostel.

We got lost. We went around in circles looking for where the Night Market was supposed to be. I feel like we were soooo close! I know it was just around one of those corners. But after an hour of riding around and around we decided to add that to the list of things to do tomorrow. We’ve really pooped ourselves out this trip. Beijing just can’t be done comfortably in 5 days. Let that be noted! We finally got to 9 Dragons House around 4:30. What a long day.

Now, our tummies are full with absolutely wonderful Chinese food (the best so far) and we’ve showered, I think we’re done for the night. We’re totally pooped, man.

Where am I?

Typed: 6/7/2011

Beijing is AMAZING! Oh man, I LOVE it! It’s beautiful, it’s green, it’s sunny and warm! Our hostel isn’t even a hostel, it’s more like a hotel. I’m lovin’ it. Speaking of “I’m lovin’ it”, guess what our 2nd meal in China was. McDonald’s! I know some people are getting annoyed with us right now for not getting on the Chinese grub, but how on Earth could I pass up a MCDONALDS? In fact, I ate there today, too…and plan on eating there once a day while here in Beijing. Oh how I’ve missed fast food chains. Not only that, but the Coke was the single best Coke I’ve had in over a year now. Something about fountain drinks just make them so much better. Maybe it’s the paper cup that it’s served in? I dunno, but Mongolia better shape up and get some fountain drinks!

Before I get too excited and type about all the novelties the 21st century brings (that we’ve been missing out on in Mongolia), let me create some order to this post and start from the train station when we first arrived yesterday at 2pm.

The warmth made me smile and Justin and I made our way to the front of the train station to find a loooooong line for the Taxi.

Apparently you can’t just hitch-hike rides like you can in Mongolia. So, we made our way to the line and waited…because that’s what we do when we see lines. We stand in the back and wait our turn. That’s not how it goes in Mongolia. Mongolians don’t have much of a concept of ‘queuing up’ or waiting ‘their’ turn. I’m not sure what they think, but they don’t acknowledge whose turn it is by how long the person has been waiting. It’s more whosever elbow is strongest gets served first. Well, while Justin and I were in line we watched as some Mongolians that were on our train with us (not Davaadash’s family) walked right up to the next taxi (in the front of the line) and tried to get in. I couldn’t believe it! What did they think this long line of people queued up by the words "TAXI” (which is the same in Mongolian) were doing? Just hanging out? It just blows my mind how lining up isn’t a part of their culture. I think they are in for a culture shock in Beijing.


Anyway, we were also in for a culture shock. What were we thinking coming to China and not knowing a lick of Mandarin?! We jumped in that Taxi and tried our hardest to explain that we’d like to go to our hostel (9 Dragon House). English didn’t work, and Mongolian didn’t work (though we kept trying to speak Mongolian to him?? I’m not sure why, it’s just what would come out of our mouths). I could tell he was very frustrated. We had a map of where the hostel was, but he wasn’t understanding it until he saw the Chinese script and after that we didn’t have anymore problems. We were dropped off in a small alley & kind of confused, but safe. Chickens were walking about pecking at a pile of marvelous cilantro(!), men swinging in hammocks and red paper lanterns lit the way.

We had a great evening just walking around the neighborhood (finding the McDonald’s and eating there for dinner) and coming back to our hostel for a great night’s sleep.

Onto today: The Great Wall. It is just that. A Great Wall. Beautiful scenery, great hike. Now we’re pooped, sunburned and needing of a shower.

1 year down. 1 year to go!

Typed: 6/5-6/2011

Today is our 1 year anniversary living in Mongolia! And we’ve left for China! The train isn’t so bad at all. I’m pretty sure we got 2nd class tickets instead of 1st because there are some way nicer compartments than ours-- but ours definitely aren’t as bad as the 3rd class we took to Sukhbaataar a couple of weeks ago. 2nd class is very comfortable. Here are a couple of reminders for the next time we take the train:

Bring your own toilet paper!
Bring wet wipes
Snacks, water, more snacks!!
Books to read

We were put in a compartment with an older man and his grandson. They both are Mongolians who know English and seem to be well traveled. We played many rounds of Texas Hold ’Em and other various card games. Davaadash (the grandfather) , was traveling with his wife, children and other grandchildren to visit a son who is a consulate living in China. They were in other compartments, but came in and out of ours to play with the white folks, or to talk. Davaadash got Justin to sing a Mongolian song with him on the train. I think he was impressed with Justin. There were some uncomfortable times but all in all, the 30 hour train ride wasn’t so bad….but maybe would have been better in 1st class.

Crossing the border into China was pretty awesome. The last Mongolian town we went through was Zamiin Uud and it’s quite a desolate and sandy place (comparable to Mandalgov--our town), but almost immediately after crossing the border into the Chinese side there were trees, flower gardens and even classical music blasting from speakers to welcome us (at least that’s what I think the music was for). It was a little eerie, but nice at the same time. It was like 10pm at night when we went through that Chinese town.

So, we stopped for 2 hours in Erenhot in Inner Mongolia, China. The train had to change its wheels so most passengers got off to walk around Erenhot and stretch their legs. Well, Justin and I were starving. We knew we had about 2 hours (but by Mongolian time it could mean anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours) so we felt a little flustered and rushed in our first Chinese city ever! And….we ended up eating at a Mongolian restaurant. Call us crazy, because we totally are. Who hops the border from Mongolia to China and immediately eats at a Mongolian restaurant??? These guys. Us. Sad and pathetic, I know. We were rushed and we know absolutely no Mandarin, but we do know Mongolian. So we were able to talk to some friendly Mongolians at the restaurant and help several other travelers (some Irish men) with the menu and ordering. I’m still shaking my head that this was our first meal in China.

We got back on the train around 12:30 am and I had one of the best sleeps in the last 2 weeks. I still woke up at 6:30 though (dang sun getting up at 4am!!). We had breakfast and lunch on the train. (They didn’t feed us meals while in Mongolia, but in China we got served TWO meals!) Almost to Beijing.

Training: Complete

6/4/2011

So Justin and I spent the last two weeks in Darkhan attending training on how to be trainers for the new Peace Volunteers that will be coming to serve in Mongolia tomorrow (for 2 years). We worked hard days, but I am not complaining at all. It was great to feel like we’re getting something done and to stay completely busy. Also it was magical, just magical being in an apartment! This is the apartment Justin and I will call home this summer (until mid August). It is going to be soooooo hard going back to ger living. So hard.

The food here is great! I’ve had yummy yogurt with walnuts and cranberries (just like I used to have every morning in the States!!). Also, Justin and I were told of a place that had Dr. Pepper! This is the first ever DP I’ve seen in Mongolia! And you better believe we bought the store out. We also have a TV. We get one English channel-- which is CNN! So, I’ve been quite spoiled because my morning and night routine now includes watching World News on CNN.

I know Darkhan is sounding like a dreamland to you, it is! They even have a restaurant called Texas. Yep. There were a few evenings when Justin and I wanted dinner and said, “Let’s go to Texas”. It sounded awesome to just say it. “Okay, Let’s go to Texas”-- Like we were going home. We spent our 5th year Wedding Anniversary in/at Texas last Friday (May 27th). And another tid-bit of awesomeness-- a store here carries Jalapeños! They will definitely be bought out by the end of the summer!

We’re leaving for UB this afternoon, then tomorrow morning Justin and I are off to China via the Trans-Siberian Railway.