Potty Humor

by Justin



Last night Ashlie went out to a birthday party with some of her co-workers. In Mongolia it is generally not usual for (at least among our schools) spouses to attend work related social functions, so I got to stay home. Friday night at the Newberry ger is pizza night and I wasn't going to let Ashlie's absence change that. The difference in Mongolia is that you have to make the pizza from scratch. It's not bad if you don't mind substituting mozzarella with processed singles. So I started making my pizza. It should also be noted that making pizza dough is a very messy process and it is even more difficult to clean without running water or someone to help you.

During this whole pizza making excursion I began to feel the urge to urinate. However, as I mentioned before it is very messy and difficult to clean without running water, so I just plowed ahead, kneading and mixing whilst crossing my legs. The urge continued to grow, but I was so close to finishing that I didn't want to wash myself off, go to the outhouse, then come back in, get my hands messy again, and have to wash off all over again. So I held it. Finally, I finished the dough, made the pizza, hastily threw it in the oven, then began washing the dough off of my hands all while doing a faster, more elaborate version of the pee pee dance. I ran out of the ger, my hands still dripping with water.

I failed to mention my footwear. I was wearing my leather, Mongolian houseshoes. I'm sure everyone at some point has slid across a kitchen or dorm hallway in their worn out house shoes, with the slick soles just gliding across the hard floor. I had the misfortune of dicovering that these soles have the same effect on soiled, wooden planks. I dashed into the outhouse.

As my right foot slipped over the wooden board, saturated with years of poorly aimed urine, I felt my body falling through the hole, into the poo pit. I had enough time during the fall to process that I was indeed falling into the hole. My good friend and fellow Peace Corps volunteer Rob, once described falling into the outhouse hole as a dealbreaker. That at that point, his volunteer service would cease, and he would quietly go home. I began to vaguely recall these words and ponder them when my body, genitalia first, crashed to the floor. You see, outhouse floor holes are merely a board removed from the floor, thereby allowing enough room for one's feces to fall through, but not one's entire body. I did find out it was wide enough though for about half of my body. And so I lay there, leg dangling through the floor, hovering a foot or two above a frozen pile of crap, face smooshed onto the aforementioned urine soaked floor. Perhaps worst of all, my Mongolian house shoe was now the domain of the poo pit, as it had fallen off of my foot.

A quick side note, I retrieved the shoe this morning using some wire and a long cardboard tube. I had no intention of wearing it, I just did not want to be reminded of this shameful event everytime I had to relieve myself. It was much the same as a defeated army trying to retake its captured standard.

Meanwhile, the urge to pee had left me and was replaced by an intense pain that was originating in my crotch and radiating throughout most of my body. I managed to pick my self up and do what I had set out to do in the first place. Afterwards,with as much dignity as I could muster under the circumstances, I waddled back to the ger one-shoed, with a cut forehead, cut thumb, cut scrotum, bruised buttocks, bruised testicle, and most of all a bruised ego.

We just have a little time on our hands...

Quick Thoughts and Stories

by Justin

Stories

Dune

We ran out of water this week. Normally, when we run out of water it's no thang, we just go next door, fill up our 20 gallon osny sow (Mongolian for water container in transliterated Mongolian)and we're back in business. However, due to a string of events beyond our control, we were without water for roughly 36 hours. It all began on Tuesday when our haasha mother told Ashlie she was going to UB for the weekend. Irrelevant you are saying to yourself, but wait, I remember from jr. high English this is called foreshadowing. Then, on Tuesday night Ashlie said she was tired and didn't really feel like doing dishes. Hurray I thought, no dishes means I don't have to get water tonight. I would just get it in the morning. But by the time I got up, our haasha mother was gone to UB and her husband was at work. So morning turned to afternoon and afternoon turned to evening, but still no EB (I am trying to keep him anonymous because our blog has a really big following here in Mandalgovi). Here's where the UB trip becomes important. Normally, both of them would be home by that time on a Wednesday night. But because she was gone to UB, EB did as many husbands do when the wife is away, he went out with the boys. He returned late that night, clearly under the influence, and loudly shouted "Yagat!?" (why?!) Not really sure what this was in reference to, but it is slightly humorous. So I thought, well I'll catch him in the morning. But he was up and at 'em pretty early considering the previous evening's outing and was again gone in the morning. So we sat there, trying to conserve every drop of moisture. We ate the only things that we could make without water. PB and J and grilled cheese sandwiches. FOOLS! The salty peanut butter gave me an insatiable thirst, but alas there was nothing to drink. I layed on the bed tossing back and forth. I kept imagining I was a character from the book Dune (it's a sci-fi book about this planet with very little water where the people have to wear suits that prevent their bodies from losing water for any of you non-nerds reading this). I thought I was going to die. My mind raced. What if he is gone to the countryside? What if he isn't coming back? What will we do? We're doomed I tell ya, DOOMED! Then Ashlie suggested we just go buy some bottled water. Oooohhh yeah, that's why I'm married. So we did, we made dinner, then we rehydrated. Then EB came home and we refilled. The end.

Pigs

There is a family of pigs in our town. The only pigs I've ever seen in Mongolia. The piglets have recently come of age and have begun roaming the town like their parents. The other day I was walking home from school and I saw the little piglets foraging near the playground by our house. I don't know why, but an urge came over me. Maybe it is the lack of pork products in my diet, maybe it is my inner child, maybe an inner sadist, but for whatever reason I had an urge. I stopped and looked around for possible witnesses. Seeing no one in the vicinity, I began walking towards the little swine. Slowly at first, stealthily even. I crept nearer and nearer. My stride lengthened, my pace quickened. Before I knew it I was chasing them across the alley, listening to them squeal as they ran away with evil delight. They ran across the playground and I stopped. Smirking and smiling with satisfaction, I began to stroll back towards my ger. As I walked by an apartment building, I heard a quick tapping at a window. I looked up and saw nothing. I looked back down and resumed walking. I heard the tapping again. I looked up and saw a child of maybe 5 or 6 or 7 looking down at me from his apartment window. My instant reaction was that he, like many of the children, just wanted to say hello to the American, so I waved. But he did not smile, or wave back. He just stared at me, with blank, expressionless eyes. Oh no, I thought, he saw what I did. He saw me chase the pigs. I began to walk faster in my shame, still looking back over my shoulder. Then as I was about to turn the corner, I saw him hold up his index and middle fingers in front of his eyes. He had seen me and was letting me know it. I'm not sure what exactly it was he saying to me, but the combination of his expression and gestures made me think he was saying, "We don't take kindly to foreign, pig-chasing scum 'round 'ere. Watch your ass." I will no longer chase pigs, or livestock of any sort in Mongolia.

The Shower House

Today was, in weather terminology, shitty. The increased frequency of "shitty" days this time of year is in direct correlation with the general negativity with which the climate of Mongolia is viewed. This also happens to be, as you faithful followers of the blog already know, my favorite day of the week. Shower day! So, Ashlie and I went through our morning rituals, bundled up, and headed for the shower house. We walked, heads down into a stiff Arctic wind blowing about 30 mph. It must have been into negative double digits with the wind chill. We walked silently, but resolutely into the beast, knowing that steamy, liquidy, cleansing salvation lay but a mere 10 minutes away. We made it. Strode triumphantly to the front door, pulled and... son of a bitch. Locked. About that time a Mongolian woman walked up to the door and pulled on the handle (because apparently we humble, simple Americans were standing in the cold because we are unfamiliar with the concept of, you know, pulling on the handle). She then looked at a paper taped to the window and said, "Arone nigen dzock" (11:00). I looked at my phone. 10:30. Damn. So we stood there, backs against the wall, waiting for the propietor of the establishment when up walked another young woman. I was familiar with this particular woman. She proceeded to talk to us rapidly in Mongolian and pick hairs off of our jackets, button our buttons, and dusts off our backs. In the midst of the grooming process, she noticed an orange tag stuck to Ashlie's shoe laces. This was no ordinary orange tag though. This was a tag that was put on Ashlie's shoe in March when we ran our marathon. A tag that says 'I am no mere mortal, but a demi-god who has ran 26.2 miles.' However, and understandably, Mongolians are unfamiliar with this concept. She pointed at it and said, "Mohai." (ugly). Ashlie said under her breath, "Please don't tear it off." At which point the woman bent down and tore it off. Ashlie then said, "Please don't throw it away." At which point, as if mockingly on cue, the woman threw it away. The woman then continued on with her conversation, but Ashlie never took her eye off of it. Soon after another woman drove up and distracted the talkative young lady, Ashlie took off running across the dirt parking lot and victoriously picked the little tag out of a tumbleweed. Disaster averted, athletic immortality resurrected.

Quick thoughts

*People in Mongolia walk noticably faster during the winter.

*Don't grab onto your metal out-house handle in the winter with wet hands.

*For unexplained reasons watching steam come off of my bodily functions while using the restroom has become a reasonable substitute for reading magazines.

That is all.

Mongolian Traditional Medicine

As I stated in my last post-- I woke up earlier this week with a shocking pain in my back. Justin had to help me get out of bed. It was in the mid section of my back. I don't know what could have caused it (except I must have slept wrong or something, because it was completely fine the day before). I had to go home from school early so I could lay down, because sitting up and walking hurt. The next day, my back felt better, but still hurt enough that I needed help bending over and such. Well on day 3 of my backache a teacher told me about a Mongolian Traditional Doctor. She took me to her and they treated my back with "cupping". I only had one cup placed on my back (the mid section where it hurt). All of the air was suctioned out of the cup, my skin was raised into the jar and was purple (almost black) and wrinkly from lack of oxygen. They left it on there for about 15 mins. It didn't hurt at all, in fact, it felt relaxing. After the cup was removed I had a raised, purple cirlce on my back (my war wound) to show Justin. Now it is day 5 of my backache and the circle is still there, pretty dark. I hear it will go away after a few days.

As for my backache. It still hurts. A lot. BUT-- it doesn't hurt in my mid section anymore, it has moved up to my shoulder area. So I wonder if the cupping really did work??

Pictures of my back after cupping:

Firsts but not lasts cont'd...

1) Inhaled about a pound of powdered bleach-- wouldn't recommend it. Our school 'disinfected' everything by setting powdered bleach bombs in all the classrooms. I'm not sure exactly how they did it, but when I went back to school on Monday EVERYTHING was covered in this chalky powder. No one could sit or use the tables. I spent most of my day today scrubbing walls, chairs, tables, etc-- trying to get all that powder off. Sweeping it up was the worst. It just created a cloud of bleach that you couldn't get away from. My throat hurts.

2) Mastered biscuit making. I can whip up a perfectly golden, crispy on the outside yet warm, soft and flaky on the inside scone. Or biscuit. I can't decide what to call it. I mentioned this before, but I am torn between being a southern bell, or a british bird. Either way, they are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Especially with honey...or gravy...

3) Haven't washed my hair in about 7 days. That might be too much information-- but it's true. We are out of water and our neighbors have been gone. We use their plumbing to retrieve water. Hopefully they will be back soon. I've already tried every page in the book on how to get rid of greasy lookin' hair. But, learn from me, the only way to accomplish a non-greasy look-- you. need. water.

4) Broke out my long warm pea-coat today for the first time. The high is in the 20's-- but it's another one of those miserably windy days, so I suspect the wind chill brings it much lower than that.

5) Went to see a Traditional Mongolian Medicine Doctor for my back. The other day (Monday) I woke up in the middle of the night because of an intense pain in my back. Then the next day I could hardly move it. I took some pain relievers and by the end of the day I was moving (but not much). Everyday since then it has been getting a little better. I'll leave my experience at the Traditional Mongolian Medicine Doctor's office for my next post. I need to gather some pictures you might enjoy. Pretty interesting...

6) Watched 5 movies in 2 days. I'm sure Justin can top me in this. I am not a movie watcher (even in Mongolia) but when I started watching one movie I didn't realize how well it magically took you away to that specific place and time. I had to watch 2 others immediately after because the magic was so intense. Then after the 3rd I had to go to the bathroom-- put my jacket on, trudge through the intense cold (and snow) to the dilapidated jorlon with my head lamp on (what? it's dark out there, I don't want to fall in the hole.), squat, then come back to my 50 degree warm ger (and yes 50 degrees IS warm-- when outside temperatures are significantly lower). Magic gone.

7) Had a great conversation with an Oriflame consultant at school (Oriflame is like Avon). The conversation was in Mongolian! It makes me happy when I can converse with someone longer than 5 mins and to be understood! Hopefully these conversation will last much longer and my vocab count can rise to more than 100 words.

8) And last but not least-- As of today, Justin and I have officially made it through our 1st semester of school in Mongolia (they have 4 semesters-- so we're a quarter of the way done with this school year!). Since the semester is over, we have a 10 day break from school. Housework is in order (ger work). I spent today (my 1st day off) cleaning classrooms. (The janitor looked at me funny when I walked into school with my *own* rubber gloves.:). Tomorrow I will again see the Traditional Mongolian Medicine Doctor and then rest a bit by cleaning my home.

Just a Dream

Last night I had the pleasure of dreaming a marvelous dream! I was walking down the glossy (so glossy you could see your reflection), tiled aisle of Wal-Mart. I remember saying 'Oh, it is so clean! Everything is in order! I know where everything is!' Then I actually looked at the shelves and they contained only the food available here in Mongolia. Same ol' root vegetables, rice, noodles, dairy products...Regardless of what that dream Wal-Mart had in stock, I was happy to be there still. Then some zombie started chasing me and the dream went on...


Anyway, Justin is totally right about dairy products here. If there isn't a picture on it, I don't buy it. It can say the word cow all it wants, but if there is no picture-- no deal. He mentioned buying some sausage (called 'heyam' in Mongolian) that had the words saying it was made from pig...and there were actually cartoon pictures of pigs on the label--but once opened we realized that it very well might have been pig, but it was not a part of a pig we were going to eat & expired at that! The meat was black. Probably blood and intestines. Dzolzig got a good meal that night. BTW, Justin didn't mention that the yogurt his school director gave us was expired--by two months. I use it in my baking--just mix a little bit with water and make a milk substitute from it.

Speaking of baking. I made some pretty yummy rolls last night from scratch. It was a perfect Saturday. No school sports competitions going on, no unexpected yard chores, no real work--just my Community English class that Justin helps me teach. We made our way to the class (it was 10:45am, snowy and dreary-- so perfect for Justin, he loves it) and none of my students showed up-- so we went home, put on a huge pot of vegetable soup, had a fire going and I made my rolls. Then we just ate soup and rolls open bar all day long. It was nice and toasty and cozy. Justin made the yummy soup. It was delicious.


So about a month ago Justin winterized our ger. In order for a ger to be ready for winter two layers of felt should be put on the ger, then a skirt needs to be placed around the bottom on the outside, then dirt needs to cover the skirt (to cover holes/cracks) and a ping is attached(a small detachable room that connects to the door of the ger, it is used to store fuels, a freezer, and to block as much wind as possible from coming inside the ger). We still do not have our ping up-- but I'm sure it will come soon, as the weather is dropping rather quickly.




So now that our ger is toasty, it keeps the warmth in pretty well. If you build an awesome fire your ger can get over 100 degrees inside!

Justin is outside of our ger trying to show the immense difference in temperature between outside our ger and the inside. Inside it is over 100 degrees, outside it is in the teens. His breath is showing, but my flash couldn't catch it.

Here's a picture of me doing laundry in our toasty ger. We've mastered making fires, now we need to master regulating a comfortable temperature-- because our ger is either 40 degrees or 100.


And finally, just some random pics of the Newberry Ger. I found another use for our indoor clothes line-- holiday decorations! (Oh! we learned last weekend that we can't really put our clothes on the outside line anymore-- they froze stiff. It was hilarious. You could hold our towels completely horizontal. Justin wanted to play sword fights...well that's nothing new.)


I went to one of the markets and found these adorable thingies. They are the cutest Cutie Pies I have ever seen. I love holiday clementines! I was surprised to be seeing ANY type of citrus-- I bought a kilo and eat about 6 a day. :)


I know I'm rambling, but just one more thing. I've learned that when I am not busy I tend to be more selfish. I think about what I could have been doing in the states, what Justin and I could have had, how normal our lives could be....I day dream. I think most people are like that. Usually we are too busy to think about ourselves because we are helping/serving others (and I think that's the way it should be). There is a quote that I have to repeat to myself when my attitude falls short of a serving attitude. "Forget yourself and get to work." told to Gordon B. Hinckley by his father--Bryant S. Hinckley. That quote seemed to straighten Gordon right up. I chose to come to Mongolia to help teach. And I don't regret coming here. But you know, the grass is always greener. One day I'll wake up in my later years and think all of this time in Mongolia was just a dream. But before that times come-- I will live it up here!

Hello, it's me

Hello again. I am mostly writing out of my verbal obligation to Ashlie that I would blog this weekend. It snowed again. I love the snow. It's fantastic and really brightens my day. I tend to get overdressed for the occasion. It can be the same temperature outside that it is in my ger, but if there is snow on the ground then by-God I'm dressing up for it. A scarf, four layers up top, three below, it gets rather sweaty on a walkabout. Anyway, little news to tell. Our country director and associates came to visit this week. That was fun. I really appreciate them coming to the boonies to make sure we are doing ok. My school director came over that night also and brought yogurt with a cow on the picture. Ashlie always appreciates knowing what type of animal our dairy products come from even if it is in the form of a cartoon character on the label. It's reassuring in its own way. The sausage with the dancing 3 little pigs on it was less honest, but this actually tastes like a cow's yogurt. On Monday I'm being observed by my director. If I prove worthy, I will be prepping our representative teacher for the next two weeks in what equates to the teaching Olympics for our town. And even if I'm sub par my school gets my labor for free so I don't think they give a damn. That is all for today. But tomorrow is a new day, so check the blog daily (we're trying to increase our site views monthly).

Halloween in the Gobi

My English Club students have been working hard to prepare for their 1st Halloween party. Their party had been canceled many times, but we were finally able to party last night!

A few weeks ago the students read about the Halloween holiday and we made a list of Halloween games they would like to play. Students find this holiday very interesting (as they should, because it is kinda weird when you think about it). We decided to have a costume contest, Halloween bingo, bobbing for apples and a 'guess how many jelly beans in the candy jar' contest.

The students completely put this together themselves-- I was just there to help when needed. Here is a picture of the DJs and MC (students):


Bobbing for Apples: They changed it up a little bit. One tumpin was empty and the other had all of the apples. Students were to race to see who could transfer the most apples to the empty tumpin. They really loved this game! I'm sure that water was freezing!



Here is a picture of the winner of the Candy Jar guessing contest. Justin and I bought the jelly beans and counted out 570 to fit in this jar. This winner guessed 600 jelly beans. However, while the contest was going on, one of the English teachers pulled me aside and asked me how many jelly beans there were. I told her and she said 'well, acutally there are 6 less than that. I ate.' I thought it was hilarious! This teacher is known for her sweet tooth and cannot contain herself when alone (or completely surrounded by people). So in actuality there were 564 jelly beans in that jar. :)


We can't have a party without BINGO! It was a tradition for me growing up that at every holiday our family would get together to play a themed bingo. We loved the little prizes (and sometimes big prizes) that we could win. So I just HAD to introduce this game to them (none of them knew how to play bingo!!). These students played a Halloween Bingo and the winner won a certificate (students here CRAVE certificates...makes it easy for the teacher) and a huge handful of candy.


Finally we had a costume contest. I was so proud of these students dressing up. Before the party they were all so nervous, asking questions 'where can we get costumes', 'how can we dress up', 'what can I wear'. It was very hard for them because there are no costume shops here. Also, money is an issue, so they can't just go and buy materials (and where would they buy it???). So these are homemade costumes you see. They are so creative and I am so proud!




Finally, my costume. It isn't anywhere near as creative as theirs. I also had a meeting that I had to go to right before the party, then another one DURING the party-- so I couldn't dress up completely. But I'll give you one guess at what I wanted to be:

I miss you, Annie :(

So just what do you DO???? Well, let me tell ya...

Oh, the stories... We have so many we need to post, but I've realized, by taking a look at all our posts, that I haven't written a lot about school or the work we do here. I suppose that is because we are still in our 'adjustment phase' and everything is still new, weird and difficult, yet, exciting...so writing about work would seem boring. But you be the judge:

I work in a School Complex (which is a school of more than 1200 students). In Mongolia (most of Mongolia) all grades are combined in one school. So there are 1st graders-11th graders in my school. I have 8 English teachers that I work with. They are my counterparts. I help them with their lesson plans, teach them new methodology, observe their teaching, team-teach with them, and also teach them more advanced English grammar on the side. One of the classes I team-teach is an English Club. This is just a fun club for students interested in learning more English and learning more about American culture. They also have a pen-pal program and communicate with schools in America. Finally (but not really, I have other things I do, but won't bore you longer), I also have 2 classes a week where I teach 19 Primary School teachers English as well as methodology.

So a couple of weeks ago was Alcohol Awareness week (per Peace Corps). This is the first time Peace Corps has declared this week as AAW (Alcohol Awareness Week) and all volunteers were encouraged to do some fun activities in their school to raise awareness. My English Club watched a video about victims of alcoholism and had a great discussion about the negative effects of alcohol. We also had a poster contest to finish the week. Here are some pics of the winners:


Don't worry-- I'm not gaining weight-- I just have about 5 layers of clothes on!!! Brr.

Every weekend for the past 4 weeks each school in Mandalgov has hosted a series of sports competitions for the teachers (there are 4 schools in Mandalgov). A couple of weeks ago Justin participated in a long distance solo run and a relay with his teachers. I tried to get a good picture of him running, but he was so far away! They got second place in this heat.

All of the teachers lining up for the awards ceremony:



Also, going on at the same time as that track meet was an ROTC type thing. I got a picture of my students preparing for this event the day before the track meet.


Justin's school is also a large school, but less than 1200 students. He has 3 English teachers that he works with and teaches several classes to middle school and high school students. A couple of weeks ago his counterparts took us to the 'park on the hill'-- called Monument Park. It is very modest, but special in its own way. Here are some pictures from Monument Park:


This is the view from the top of the hill. Mandalgov, our new home for the next 20 months.

They had a HUGE bell on the way to the top of the hill. I asked Justin if he'd take a picture of me ringing the bell....I never said my husband was a photographer...nice angle, hun.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It is of a wishing tree (and an ovoo-- the pile of rocks in the front of the picture). People come to the wishing tree to give a gift/offer (the silk scarves you see) and then bury their faces in the tree to do their wishing. I may try it soon...


And finally, a picture of my happy husband watching The Simpson's and eating a beloved bag of Doritos that his sisters, Deana and Kristen, sent to us in a package. We received triple packages this week (from his sisters and mine) and feel so loved! Thank you!

I just can't win.

So read my post before this first (if you haven't already). For the past couple of hours I have been in one of the toughest fights of my life. Ashlie vs. the wind. First of all, it is cold outside. COLD. Without a fire in our ger it would be in the 40's inside. But, because the wind blew away one of our windows we had to close our flap to keep the warm air in and the sand out. (A flap is a THICK blanket that covers all of the windows (to keep out sand during sandstorms, rain, water, etc.) And when the flap is closed you cannot have a fire, because the blanket touches the stove pipe (and if you had a fire, the blanket could catch fire from touching the hot stove pipe).

In this photo you can see our missing window, the duct tape, the flap and the stove pipe:



Well I had an ingenious idea to cover the window with cardboard and duct tape it. That way I can open the flap a little (enough so it's not touching the stove) and start a fire since it's FREEZING in here. So I did. After about 45 mins of bliss, the fire was dying down, so I put a small piece of cardboard on top of the coals and blew on it so the fire would start up again. At the same time as me blowing, a wind came down the pipe and got the fire aflaming! The flames came out of the grate and onto my face! The flame fringed my hair on the left side of my face. MY HAIR HAS BEEN BURNED OFF!

What do you do with fringed hair? I've already tried to comb out the frizzies, then splattered some hair conditioner on????



That's not the end of it. Then suddenly the cardboard that was covering the window got sucked out the window and also blew away. Now I have a hot fire that is still going, but just wasting coal because I'm not feeling any warmth with a window open. One more thing. The ash tray at the bottom of the stove wasn't cleaned out before I made this fire. So now every time a gust of wind comes down the chimney (about every 30 seconds) ashes scatter out of the grate. So my cold ger is sandy, windy, and ashy and there isn't anything I can do about it until the wind stops and we can replace that window. Oh, and the side of my head looks ridiculous. I'd like to go home now and lick my wounds please. Mongolia was fun for a little while, but today it is too hard to handle... Or just let me curl up somewhere so I can go to bed at 3pm and not wake up for a while until I'm back in a warm clean ger without wind. I hate you, wind.

And A Big Sand Storm Came And...

blew one of our windows away. We have 8 small triangular windows that make up a small circle opening on the top of our ger (one window is dedicated for the chimney pipe).

IT IS WINDY today! Justin can tell you more about his adventure in it later. As I type this our ger is shaking. Every ger has a rope that hangs from the top of the circle. This is your lifeline when the wind gets blowing. I actually had to use it one time this summer. We had a quick 5 min wind storm, but all of my host family and I had to hang onto that rope so our ger wouldn't blow away! I haven't had to use it yet today (mostly because my ger this summer had holes in it, so it was easier for the wind to pick up-- my ger in Mandalgov hasn't any holes and is a lot sturdier than my summer ger).

Well this isn't some 5 min wind storm. Since we are in the desert it is very much a sand storm! It's been going on since about 6am this morning (it is now 2pm). I went to school earlier this morning with a scarf tied around my neck and covering my nose and mouth. I had to walk at an angle against the wind. When I made it inside the school I had a handful of sand in my mouth and eyes and nose and ears...I also wore my calf high boots today, thinking it would keep out the sand-- nope. I had sand in my boots and stuck in all the wrinkles of my clothes. After I type this I will give my ger a wipe down & sweep. There is sand everywhere! But first, my adventure to the outhouse:

After I got home from school today I put my backpack and things in my ger, then ran with the toilet paper into our outhouse (called a jorlon in Mongolinan). Our jorlon is very short (maybe 5 feet tall) and very small (maybe 3ftx3ft)-- just enough room for you to squat. Well, I closed the door behind me and was squatting and doing my thing while watching the walls of the little shack shake and wave in the wind. I had a momentary fear of the whole shack collapsing on me and me falling INTO the jorlon hole (about 10 feet deep, with a pile of you know what at the bottom) when suddenly...the wind blew the door wide open! I am plain as day. Thankfully no one was around. There is a metal rope/handle on the inside of the jorlon door and NOW I know what it is for...windy days like these.

Typed October 10th...Washing Day!!

Today was dedicated to cleaning. The temperature has been dropping (only reaching 40 degrees today) and I wanted to get a good wash in before the cold unmotivates me. I did several loads of laundry--which reminded me how badly I need gloves! There are some available here, but I just forget to buy them, or usually when I see them I look at the price and I think "I don't REALLY need them" But dang. I do really need them. They are only about $1!! I have a cut from a knife on the palm of my hand from using my pocket knife while peeling potatoes. It stung quite a bit in the water. Also the temperature dropped below freezing last night and so our water in our barrel was literally freezing. My hands were numb. Then, I used a little bit of bleach in each load (what I mean by load is just a group of clothing that I wash in one tumpin of water--before I dump that water out and fill it up with clean water for the next load) and now my hands have bleach burns on them. Oh, and then wringing the clothes! OMG! As if my hands didn't hurt enough from being numb, the cut and the bleach--they were rubbed raw from handwashing, then burned more from wringing. We use two tumpins while doing laundry. One tumpin I use for washing. Then I wring the clothes well and set them in the clean water (rinse) tumpin. Then I give them a good rinse and yet again another wring. After that they go outside to the clothes line. Anyway, this is my 'chore'. I do it every Saturday, but because we were so busy yesterday I did it today (Sunday). Justin and I have divided the chores up pretty equally in our ger (which is necessary because of all the work it takes to keep it comfortable).

Because of the washing, our floor was soaking, so it deserved a mop (using a rag, a tumpin of water and me on my hands and knees). As a result, our home is once again comfortable and sparkling clean.

My favorite part of today was this morning....before all the washing. Well, it was pretty nice afterwards, too!



Update(Oct. 20th): I now have gloves and have done the laundry with my new gloves made in China---works miracles--No numbing, burning, or drying out!

The Jeweler

We have a Jeweler here in Mandalgov that makes all the jewelry they sell in the little shop. It is a shop that is about 10ft x 12ft and a young man and his wife work there. I walked by one day and saw him making some jewelry and I was amazed. It gave me an idea for a gift for Justin's birthday. As you've seen in the pictures we've posted (and probably heard about it in emails) Justin has lost a substantial amount of weight. His wedding band (along with his pants) doesn't fit and slips off too easily. So I had a great adventure going to the Jeweler's with one of my teachers (to help me translate) and had the Jeweler create a ring for Justin. He had several designs to choose from. I wanted this ring to symbolize our time in Mongolia so I chose a horse design. Horses are very respected creatures and have a long history with the Mongolians. They are very symbolic animals meaning happiness, strength, power. The design I chose has two horses on it. My teacher (who went with me) told me that it is very common for men to have some sort of symbol with two horses on it.

Enough about that. On with the show. The Jeweler laughed when I asked him if I may take pictures while he made the ring. He first weighed the exact amount of silver needed from silver scraps that he had. He needed 8.82 grams.


Then he melted the silver and made it into a ring shape.




Then created the design and sized it by hammering it onto the sizer pole very delicately.






This all took about 30 minutes and he did it all right before our eyes. I just found it all fascinating. The price was unbelievably low, too! Only 10,000 Tugriks (about $8). Now, I never said this was high quality jewelry. The ring I bought would probably only cost about $20 at most if I bought it in the states. But, it has meaning, history, memories and was made with love!

First but not last...

1. Made a fire with coal! (not the soft kind that comes in a bag at the supermarket---walmart, I miss you-- the kind that comes straight out of the ground in form of hard rock)

2. Woke up to a ger that was 45 degrees this morning.

3. Made chicken and dumplings last Friday and it was a success! Cooking in a ger IS possible...if you have the right ingredients--that's the hard part.

4. Got followed by a guy in a car yesterday. Yes, he was in a CAR and following me while I was walking. His head hanging out the window while he kept honking for me to look at him. It was EXTREMELY awkward, but I kept looking ahead and ignored him. He finally drove away.

5. Had a 'get together' with the other PCVs in my town. We had banana bread, apple crisp, pico de gallo & tortilla chips (all homemade). It was fun. We hardly all hang out because of our schedules and our mode of transportation (walking).

6. I went to a special shop yesterday and saw something amazing! I took plenty of pictures. I will post more about that trip this weekend...Can't give it away just yet.

7. Gave Justin his first haircut in Mandalgov. But, I know it won't be his last :( I'm not bad at cutting hair--I just really don't like to do it, then clean up after it...and clean up more after it (you can never get rid of the hair!).

8. Yesterday I found some fig newton type cookies and bought a kilo of them. While the store clerk was putting handfuls and handfuls in the bag and weighing it, I realized a kilo was probably too much. Next time: half a kilo.

9. Watched Justin participate in an all teachers track meet last Saturday. It was freezing (literally) in the morning and Justin had to run a 1500 meter race. So he was wheezing all day afterwards. Running in the cold is not fun. Oh, he got 7th out of about 30.

10. Yesterday I was talking with one of my teachers and she said, "Did you ever get that letter for you?" and I said, "No!". I was so surprised, I hadn't heard of ANY mail coming for me yet. And she said "Yes, the Librarian told me you had mail". I asked her when the Librarian told her this and she shrugged and said "Oh, back in September". It was hard for me to contain myself. September?!!! Today, I will finally pick this mail up. Sadly, I know circumstances like these will never cease while here in Mongolia.

11. Saving the best for last! I was told about an AMAZING store last week! I can't believe I've been shopping at other places! It is a store that's kind of hidden away. But it has EVERYTHING! Well, not everything. But it has a lot of things (including chicken...since all the other stores have magically run out for the past few weeks). It has Chicken, Pepsi, tuna, canned peas, ...and that's about it...but usually that would take a visit to AT LEAST 3 different shops. The only bad side is that it's the farthest shop away from my house. So going in the winter will not be fun. But, the good side to that is that it's pretty close the Justin's school...so maybe he can pick things up on his way home some days???

Graduation, Fur Hats & Nutrition

These pictures are actually from August 20, 2010. This was our big "Swearing-In Ceremony". We had just gone through a tough and unforgettable summer training for 2 1/2 months. Many important people (besides us!) attending this ceremony including the Acting Debuting Chief of Mission for the US Embassy, the Vice Minister of the Mongolian Ministry of Education, and the Chairperson for the National Authority for Children in Mongolia. This was the day we officially became Peace Corps Volunteers. Yay!

This past Saturday I started teaching my Community English Class with another Peace Corps Volunteer in my town. We invited all of the English Teachers from all 5 schools and will be building their listening and speaking skills as well as teaching methodology to increase their classroom management and introduce new ways of teaching. It was a very fun class. We had some great discussions. Justin even attending this class with me (he even participated in all of the activities! He's such a good, supportive husband!).

Afterwards Justin and I attended a Mongolian Exposition. It was a center filled with booths of goods from all the different provinces. There were handmade wool blankets, shoes, handmade fur hats, traditional clothing as well as any type of Mongolian food imaginable. It was a very neat experience. It only lasted for two days, but next time it travels this way we will be more prepared and might actually buy something. Justin really wants one of those fur hats, but refused to pay the 85,000 tugriks they requested.

There was a hat that looked just like this:


But most looked like this:


No thanks! I'd rather not have a dead animal on my head...faux fur please!

I am thinking about starting a baking/cooking class for the community. The small details are not planned out yet (like where we can have this class...what food we can use...where to get money for it, etc-- you know, the little stuff). I will have my eyes open for ideas. But I have heard of several people who are interested. And I'm all for expanding the Mongolian food palate!!! The reason why there isn't a lot of variety of foods to be found in my town is because if there were they would just go to waste because no one knows how to cook with it because it's not traditional food. Since it is not traditional food it isn't even considered!

Here is an excerpt from an online article that gives some insight as to why Mongolians eat the way they do:

Influence of social class
What people eat is formed and constrained by circumstances that are essentially social and cultural. Population studies show there are clear differences in social classes with regard to food and nutrient intakes. Poor diets can result in under- (micronutrients deficiency) and over-nutrition (energy over consumption resulting in overweight and obesity); problems that face different sectors of society, requiring different levels of expertise and methods of intervention.

Cultural influences
Cultural influences lead to the difference in the habitual consumption of certain foods and in traditions of preparation, and in certain cases can lead to restrictions such as exclusion of meat and milk from the diet. Cultural influences are however amenable to change: when moving to a new country individuals often adopt particular food habits of the local culture.

Source:http://www.eufic.org/article/en/page/RARCHIVE/expid/review-food-choice/

Mongolia definitely doesn't have a problem with over-nutrition, most likely the opposite. But their culture does result in 'habitual consumption of certain foods' as well as their traditional ways of preparing that food. However, that line about "restrictions such as exclusion of meat and milk from the diet" is the EXACT opposite!! The problem is that they ONLY eat meat and milk products. Therefore have very high protein intake with very little other vitamins. In fact, if a dish does not contain meat (chicken and fish do NOT count as meat here--and pork is practically undheard of--which also would not be considered a meat) or milk then most Mongolians wouldn't even want to try it. I've offered part of my meal to my neighbor once when he came over while we were eating dinner and he said no because he only eats meat. It just shows how strong their traditions are.

To end this post here are a couple pictures of a regular night in the Newberry ger:

Me washing apples:


Justin the can-opener! :) We had Macaroni & Cheese but without the cheese...