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...

"She is Ashlie. She has clean ger."

I love Autumn. And yes, as of last Thursday it is now officially here! It doesn't look the same in the Gobi as it did in Texas, but the feeling of magic from the coming Holiday season is still in the air (even if we will be one of the only people in our whole province celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas). Autumn marks the day of warm baking. If you know me, you know I love to bake. It proved to be pretty difficult here. We have a small toaster oven, a tray and a metal mixing bowl (used as a cake pan, pie pan, bread pan, casserole dish and any other bakeware you think essential). Banana Bread and Apple-Peach Crisp have been a favorite in our ger (banana bread being my fav. and Apple Crisp being Justin's fav.). Bananas have been available sporadically, but I know as the temperature drops the less we will see them; Apples, though, I'm pretty sure will stick around....I hope. I have seen canned peaches and sometimes canned pineapple-- which have broadened our variety.

Some Banana Bread:


Thankfully, my family sent a package this summer with some autumn scented candles (Pumpkin Spice and Autumn Wreath). They have worked miracles! There are not a lot of things that smell nice here. A ger is definitely not one of them-- especially when your fuel consists of animal dung (have a couple candles going at the same time as your warm dung fire and viola!). Also, traditional gers are owned by herders, and herders are milkers, butchers, leather makers, etc. All of these jobs take place inside the little ger, so imagine the aroma--to Mongolians this is a beautiful scent. A scent of labor, competency and success--of life! This is where we differ. I like mine to smell a little more like lemon cleaner and a warm sweet pastry. Mmmm...



Though it is challenging (baking, that is), I definitely have the time to play around and try to bake. Professional jobs are a lot more laid back here. I like it some days, but others-- it just drives me crazy! Justn and I have sat down and discussed why we feel this need to be busy all the time. We completed an entire weekend of TRYING to find things to do. Why?! Cannot we sit and ponder without feeling guilty, or afraid of being caught 'lounging around'? I'm not saying I will completely adapt to this way of living. But, it makes sense, sort of. Lesson learned: sit down, ponder...(breathe!) every once in a while. The world will stop for you if you let it.

Our yard dog, Dzoltzig. He likes to give me his paw.


He often waits by our ger door for scraps or a scratch behind the ear. We love him.


Justin and I know that making a difference isn't easy. We know that it takes time, patience, talent, relationship building, practice. We have agreed that it's okay if we only make a difference and bring inspiration to one, at least one. We would like to be remembered for our work and diligence in promoting peace and change. However, right now people know us as "the ones with the clean ger". And that's okay! I like it! Everywhere we go it is stated in our introduction, "they live in a very clean ger, it is very comfortable and clean". Thank you! I like it. They may think we're weird. But I'm okay with being remembered as the clean ger keepers.

Not that crazy...

The reason I don't blog more often is because I don't really think that the daily minutia of our lives here in Mongolia is that strenuous or exciting. There are certainly things that make me chuckle to myself (reassembling a live electric wire from the telephone pole to the spliced wire running from our ger for instance or saying all of the things to my students here that I would have never gotten away with in America because they don't speak English). But Ashlie has pointed out that maybe I should write them anyway because they are a part of my experience here. So a quick run down of events...

- The aforementioned wire splicing

A major windstorm snapped the spliced wire running from the telephone pole to our ger that provides us with glorious internet. Yesterday, I mentioned to my haasha father that is was broke and he said something about calling the phone company tomorrow. Then I saw the hamster in his mind wake up, jump up on the wheel and decide this would be a teachable moment for Justin. He then took me over to the other side of the house and pointed to our neighbors roof. I thought, "Oh damn, it's up there, oh well." Then I realized he intended me to scale the wall, jump on the roof and retrieve it. So I did. I felt like freakin' Aladdin jumping across flat roofed, adobe buildings, looking for the wire. The woman's house on which I was jumping came out and watched me. I was probably disturbing her, but she was so surprised to see a white man climbing on her roof, that she was speechless. Then I jumped down and my haasha father and I began cutting and tying the wires back together. At first, he was doing most of the tying, then he said, "Yana!" Depending on the tone and pitch used, yana can range from 'whoopsie-daisie' to 'holy shit that hurt.' I figured the electricity had got him. Immediately after, he decided it was time for my hands on training, and I got to tie the wires. I was doing pretty well and was almost finished when I too got a spine-straightening dose of electricity and he took it away and finished the job. Thanks to some good ol' Mongolian engineering I am now able to blog.

-Attacked by dogs

I was attacked by two dogs yesterday in the country while on a hike. They came ferociously charging and barking at me so I immediately began arming myself with stones and throwing as fast and hard as I could. A very large stone hit one of the dogs and it let out a loud yelp and both of them retreated. Justin 1 Mongolian dogs 0.

I'm going to leave on the high note of my victory over the dogs. Until next time.

Lazy Weekends...

Again, it is such a beautiful fall day today (Saturday). Justin and I had the pleasure of sleeping in and having a great breakfast: eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, fried heam (a mongolian sausage--who knows what's in it..oh wait, probably unmentionables from mutton) and toast.

I was making breakfast when Justin was called outside by our Khashaa Dad. He wanted Justin to help him pull weeds. So I continued making breakfast, and Justin is still working. An hour later he is still working (I thought it was a silly idea to pull weeds when the only thing on the ground IS weeds-- and they cover the entire Khashaa). So I start handwashing the laundry. This normally takes me about an hour and a half to do. And I finish. And Justin is still working. 3 hours later, he comes in--not finished. But at 1pm we finally get to sit down and eat our glorious, cold, breakfast.

Children's Concert (Typed Sept 17th)

Today was such a great day! Not only is it Friday, but everyone has just been so nice and friendly. After school I had to walk across town to the ATM. I was greeted by several older Mongolians (usually I just get stares and *maybe* a smile, mostly just strain-your-neck-stares), waves from children, and Hello's from my students. Feeling welcomed is just such a nice feeling when you are the outsider and minority. All the while, I was thinking 'I REALLY need to get better at Mongolian, so I can show these people that I really do care about them'. They try so hard to speak English, so it makes it easy for me not to speak Mongolian to them--- but I can't afford to lose my Mongolian.

I made it to the ATM and there was only one person in line. I stood behind her and quickly a line of several people formed behind me. Then one woman behind me handed the person at the ATM her card, told her her security code and told her how much to take out. Then another woman passed her card to the lady at the ATM, gave her her security code and told her how much to take out. My high from all of the friendly people outside of the ATM quickly dissolved. But I didn't want this to discourage me. Mongolians have no concept of lining up, whatsoever. AND because I am a minority I usually get served last. Justin and I got a lot of this at the bank this summer. It is VERY frustrating, but what can we do? Back at the ATM-- I shrugged it off, waited for the last person to get her money out, then got my own and went my way. It is a beautifully sunny autumn day here. My students were still walking home from school and several called my name 'Ashlie Teacher, Ashlie Teacher! Hello!'.

Justin and I had the opportunity to attend a children's concert tonight at the local theatre ('TEATP' in Mongolian) It was amazing! They were all so cute and very prepared. Here are some videos from tonight:


The Teatp:



Mongolian Throat Singing:


Mongolian Morin Khuur (Mongolian Violin-ish):


Mongolian Long Singing "Urtiin Duu"


BTW, it did take me longer than 24 hours to upload these THREE videos. LONGER THAN 24 HOURS! That's how slow our connection is. I've had my computer on the entire time. But it is finally finished. It is 1:30am, so goodnight!

The Marathon

Peace Corps is not easy. It is a hard thing to completely put your life on hold for 2 years and forget about all the comforts of life that we've all grown accustomed to--no, that we all expect and demand. With the many hours of "thinking time" we have (we just spent an entire weekend without electricity) I've already seen myself go through many stages. First is excitement (let's do some good!), then doubt (Did I make the right decision to come here? Am really making that much of a difference?), then justification (As long as we can teach one person our duty is done. At least I am getting out and doing something about what I believe), then fear/longing (But, if I was home right now I could be having cheese and steak and fruits and cereal, mexican food, and McDonald's, and etc./What if I early terminated? What would people think of me?), then your second wind comes and the cycle begins itself again.

Justin and I likened our experience here to our marathon. The first few miles are always the hardest, then you get a good pace going and kind of forget you're running for a while & start to daydream. Then pain hits you somewhere (your feet, your knees, your side, or even the heat on your brow--wherever) and brings you back to reality to remind you what you're doing (you're running a marathon-- what kind of weirdo do you have to be to get joy from running 26.2 miles?! This was a stupid idea!). Then you have a bad attitude again for the next few miles, until you're able to fuel up at the next rehydration-station. Once your mouth and tummy are happy you realize you're more than halfway done and continue merrily at a comfortable pace--until, yet again, you are disrupted somehow by a pain or thought.

So the whole experience of a marathon is a scale of hills, of really high highs and really, really low lows. As it is with the Peace Corps. We have now been here for a good (or bad, but mostly good) 99 days. Yet, we're only on mile 3 of our marathon. This should be the marker of thoughts such as 'What are we doing? What kind of stupid idea is this? Who in the right mind would leave a good life, a good job and settle down for two years in a tent as a non-paid volunteer?!' And we've had those thoughts...or I have anyway. Thus the reason why I likened this experience to a marathon. If I can run a marathon I can complete my two year service. Endurance.

I've just finished reading a book called "A Walk in the Woods" By Bill Bryson and have really enjoyed it. It was a hilarious book, and really inspired me. Maybe one day I, too, will hike the 2,100 miles of the Appalachian Trail (in fact, with all this time on my hands, I've already been researching it a bit...call me crazy). I don't know why I do what I do, as crazy as it is, but I love doing it!

Can it be?!

Exciting things are happening in the Newberry Ger. Last Friday, Justin's school kindly gave us a microwave. We had explained to them the day before that an oven would be appreciated greatly...but lost in translation, we got a microwave (not complaining, just explaining). However, our Khashaa family owns a small toaster oven and we were able to borrow it until they need it back. So now we have both, an oven and a microwave. It almost doesn't feel like we're in a 3rd world country. Then, a carpenter came in on Wednesday and added on another 18 inches to our 32 inch bed. Now our bed is a whopping 4 feet 2 inches. Also on Wednesday we received our stove and a shack full of chopped wood, coal and dung. But today...today is the most exciting of all-- an 'electrician' is kindly splitting our neighbor's telephone wires so they will run in our ger...not for a telephone, but for the internet! I am typing this not connected to the internet, hoping that by the time I'm finished the electrician will be also and I will be able to post this to our blog on our very own internet connection. We'll see.

I am also a little impatient for him to finish because I have a big grocery shopping day ahead of me! I heard that one of the stores has chicken again (since Justin and I ran out) so I will need to run over there before it's all sold (who am I kidding? We're the only ones buying it most likely...), and also I saw that a different store had bananas a couple of days ago, but I didn't have enough money on me at the time. Hopefully they have not run out. I am always on the look out for chicken, fruit of any sort and tomatoes (if you don't count them as a fruit)--none of those stay consistently stocked.

Update: Believe it or not, we now have internet in our ger! :)

Meet the neighbors…

(Typed August 30th, 2010)

Since Justin and I live in a Ger, we share a yard (Khashaa) with the landlord. A Khashaa is a fenced in yard (ours is about ½ an acre). Our “landlords” are called our Khashaa Mom (“Khashaa Eej” in Mongolian) and Khashaa Dad (“Khashaa Ow” in Mongolian). Our Khashaa parents are very nice people. They are empty-nesters; my mom is a Training Manager at my school, and my dad is PE Coach at another school. Gers also do not have running water, but our Kashaa family’s house does have running water, so we must fetch water almost daily (this is Justin’s chore).

Well tonight, after much nagging, Justin went to get water and did not come back for some time. I thought I’d be nice and go over to our Khashaa parent’s house and try to bail him out. That’s not what happened. I walked in and saw he was sitting at the dinner table with a bowl of rice and sheep innards in front of him (this made me laugh inside!). Thankfully I let it be known very early that I don’t eat meat (for that very reason: ANY part of an animal could be fed to you at any time). But I failed at bailing him out. We were invited to the living room, offered candy, stumbled through a semi coherent Mongolian conversation, then shown a couple hundred pictures. Then somehow we’re convinced to come back over at 9pm to help with computer data entry?? We didn’t get home until about 10:45 at night.

Ger Living

(Typed Sept 3, 2010)

You know, living in a ger isn’t that bad. I was really bummed when I found out that Justin and I were going to be spending the remainder of our 2 years in a small, round, one room tent.

Before coming to Mongolia I knew that a great percentage of its population lived in gers. I was excited once I found out that I would be living in a ger during our 2 month long summer training (because I knew that living in a ger during the summer is rather easy). I didn’t have a great experience with it (my ger was a really old ger, leaked everywhere, infested with hundreds of spiders, things like that), but I was happy that I could say “yeah, I lived in a ger for a summer”-- and be done with it. I also knew that since I am married PC will not put married couples in gers for their two year duration. So once summer training was over I was confident that Justin and I would be moving into an apartment (with plumbing! I was so excited about having running water and a toilet!).

No. We received our site announcement and our housing agreement (or should I say ger agreement). A ger?! For two years?! Living in one of the coldest countries, in a tent, for two years?! I was only mad at myself for not expressing this dislike for gers to my training staff, so they could pass it onto the housing staff and we *might* have been set up in a concrete box known as an apartment (but remember, having running water and toilet is magical here).

Instead on dwelling on the negatives (well, I shouldn’t say “instead” because I still continued very much to dwell on the negatives-- maybe I should say “in addition to dwelling on the negatives…”) I started to see some positives. 1) not only are we getting ‘bad-ass’ credit for living in the Gobi Desert for 2 years, but we are now (to everyone’s knowledge here) the 1st married couple in Mongolia to be placed in a ger. Major bad-ass points. 2) I will be major skilled in making fires, preserving water, fetching water, knowing where to put things so they don’t freeze during the night (ie computers and all electronics need to be put inside of our sleeping bag with us while we sleep, because we could be waking up to a ger that is 30 degrees inside-- or colder), and don’t forget how skilled I will be at crapping over a hole in our very own outhouse (that we share with at least 2 other people).

Justin and I are already growing closer through this experience. We are constantly only about 6 feet away from each other. Maybe by the time our 2 years is up and we arrive in the beautiful US of A, we will have separation anxiety. Who knows?

My Birthday and other things….

(Typed August 30th, 2010)

I had a great birthday! Justin planned it all out. I had a surprise party (Aug 13th), and when I walked in I saw that he was making EGGPLANT PARMESAN! I didn’t think it was possible in Mongolia! He really had to pull some expensive strings to get a hold of eggplant and mozzarella. It was delicious! All of my American and Mongolian friends were there. They made a big card for me. My Mongolian Language teachers gave me a gift of hand painted chopsticks. Justin also got a hold of a cake somehow…it was a Russian cake. It was just a great birthday!

The next day (Aug 14th ) my Host Family threw me another surprise party. They served all sorts of fruit and got me a box of chocolate. My Host Mom even made chocolate apple hushuur (like chocolate apple fried turnovers). It was amazing. I felt so loved and had just an awesome day!

Then on Sunday (my actual birthday) we left our training site and went to Zonmod to meet one last time as Trainees. We were finding out where we were being placed for two years! I received many other birthday wishes from fellow Trainees, Trainers and PCVs. One of the married PCV couples (Ashlee and Scott) even made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich-- doesn’t sound like a great present, but IT WAS! Any type of American food is heavenly. We are so deprived in Mongolia.

Justin and I are really enjoying living on our own again! We live in a great town in the Gobi Desert. We have gone crazy making our own meals. My biggest struggle this past summer was not being able to cook for myself, or choose what I was to eat, when I was to eat it and how much of it I was to eat. Food really makes an impact on your life! I have reunited with tomatoes and cheese! And I have forever departed with Mutton…(I hope…).

So, we have been in our little town for just over a week now. We have been going to the little food shops everyday to pick up ingredients needed for our meals. We have to pop in several food shops in order to complete our 5 item shopping list. So, at every food shop we go to I ask if they have chicken (because I WILL NOT eat any red meat here). And sadly, chicken is just really hard to come by here in Mongolia. There is no chicken in my town….Well yesterday we were making our rounds at grocery shopping. This time we were on the hunt for garlic. We decided we would pop in one last shop. When we stepped in my eyes went directly to their freezer and what did I see??? Chicken! I was so excited about it (I’m in urgent need of protein) that I blurted out “be bayartay bahn, be bayartay bahn!” which is Mongolian for “I’m happy, I’m happy!” I didn’t even give myself time to think in English first. Then I immediately asked for the chicken and bought as much as I could. Good thing Justin and I own a freezer! I hope I made an impression on the shop keeper (my excitement probably freaked her out). Maybe she’ll keep chicken stocked??? Probably not. This is, after all, Mongolia!

Pictures of my bday, our new home & a random drunk man.

A man passed out in the middle of a crowded market in Ulaanbaatar. people were just stepping over him--hardly noticed the drunk man.


my ger!! this is our home for two years!

our 'kitchen'. but a ger is all one room...

My new home! Our bed is too tiny for the both of us, so Justin sleeps on the floor. but he is pictured in the bed here. it was about 45 degrees this morning.

My bathroom. nice huh?

mongolian horses are so tiny!

Justin's first bite of cheese all summer long! he was so happy!

new shoes! my host family gave me and justin warm leather & camel wool slippers as a goodbye gift.

My host family at my 2nd surprise party.

Davajargle at my birthday feast (my 2nd surprise party put on by my host family!)

A hand painted set of chopsticks my two mongolian teachers gave me as a gift.

Eggplant Parmesan! my favorite dish, for my birthday!

A nice bday card that was signed by all of my friends. notice the cat, the cake and nailpolish-- they know me so well! :)

My very own Russian cake!

nice decorations for my birthday surprise party!