First off, in my last post I falsely stated that this is the
year of the Dragon. I stand corrected, 2012 was the year of the dragon, but 2013
is the year of the SNAKE and as my Peace Corps weekly update enlightened me,
“the year of the snake brings many disruptions and worries.” Well, snap. The
year of the Dragon stated that it would be rainy and floods may occur, it
didn’t lie. We had flash floods on my birthday last year and it tore up the
streets in Erdenet. These predictions aren’t kidding.
Watch out for disruptions and worries. And hang on tight for
2014, the year of the horse, because it’s said to be rather disturbing as well.
What? Who writes these? What a downer.
Anyway, you ask what is Tsagaan Sar? Well, it’s the
celebration of the lunar New Year, and depending on the phases of the moon each
year the Lunar New Years comes on a different day, between the end of January
and early March. This year it was February 11th-13th.
Tsagaan Sar is the second biggest national holiday to Nadaam
in Mongolia and it’s celebrated for at least three days, although some celebrate
for weeks, or up to a month.
One volunteer recently described TS in Amerik terms as a
combination of Halloween and Thanksgiving. I think that's pretty accurate as odd
as it sounds. It’s like Halloween in that families visit a multitude of other family
and friend’s homes during the three days. At each home they eat a huge meal
like thanksgiving, and then receive gifts before leaving. In the
countryside, it’s acceptable to just show up at someone’s home, and you’ll get
the same treatment; a full meal, some aiirag (fermented mares milk), vodka, and
a gift or two.
Every family prepares for about a week in advanced making
hundreds and up to thousands of buuz per family; which are these steamed
dumplings of mutton or beef:
They also buy or sew new deels and get rid of the old – kind
of like a spring-cleaning. Basically, it’s a way to start the new years out
right, organized, cleaned and well wished by all family and friends. It’s a
really lovely holiday besides the pressure to eat a hundred buzz and take a
hundred shots…
I celebrated with several families, for 4 days, I even got
to go visit my host family up in Selenge – here’s a few pic’s and a little idea
of what it’s like to celebrate Tsagaan Sar.
When you first arrive at someone's home you must greet them (oldest first) with this saying, and a traditional kiss on each sides of the face, in which people will smell not kiss you...
Amar bain uu? Saihan shinij bain uu? (Which just some good wishes and happy new year)
Then you take some goodies from this (Ul boov)....
And this beef chest...
And then you take some pictures,
One of my favorite things was seeing these guys on the way to my host families home, it always shocks me that they just roam free out there.
what a manly camel, eh?
Stay tuned for an update on Khovsgol Ice festival soon!
As per usual I’ve slacked on my blogging duties and I’m much
overdue for an update about Mongolia, Moogi and me. My apologies, I hope this
post fulfills all your wildest dreams about what life is like here in the
tundra ;).
Lucky me celebrated new years stateside in the warmth of
family and the Florida sun, but back here in Erdenet there were ice sculptures
and ice slides to warm your soul. It must be the year of the Elephant because
here’s Dumbo welcoming 2013 a couple tusks shy, but still standing strong. (I do know there’s no year of the
elephant, and that looks nothing like Dumbo, but I have yet to understand why
I’ve found so many Elephant statues here in Erdenet and felt I needed to make
note of it. I have full respect and admiration for elephants, so nothing
against them, but why they’re sculpted here befuddles me). It’s the year of the
Dragon, btw.
I would have loved to see this ice art before kids added
their own crafty touch, but what I did see was preetty neat and here are some
of the photos I snapped before my fingers froze.
I loved the way the light reflected through the ice and I was
trying to capture the sunset through it before I got dragged into taking pictures
of kiddos going down the slides… which was much more entertaining anyway.
For a cultural note, the whole time I conversed, took
pictures, helped a girl put on her backpack and fix her gloves, not once did a
parent come to intervene or really make any note of me, quite frankly, I didn’t
see any parents except for those of children under 5.
Most children here are allowed to walk home after school and
are pretty darn independent (A lot of kids get cell phones by the age of 7 or
earlier – that's probably happening in the states now too) And as all children
do, they loved looking at the photos I took and would make me wait for them to
slide and then run over to see what they looked like. It’s fun what a camera
can bring to any situation.
Had I been in America, I probably would have been
suspiciously perceived and most definitely not surrounded by children wanting
me to take their photo, or offer me candy. These children don’t fear strangers,
and certainly not blonde ones who stick out in a crowd – even being covered
head to toe in winter gear. I love that about Mongolia; everyone looks out for
one another, especially children, and there isn’t that aspect of fear that we
find so much in the states. That isn’t to say that everyone here is a godsend
and will care for your child as their own sweet angel, but the sense of
community is still strong and I think that’s great.
Moogi had a wonderful holiday and became reunited with her
inner hudoo (countryside) dog. She stayed with a American/French family just
outside Erdenet with her buddy Baavka (Bear) in a huge hashaa (fenced in yard),
but she thought that wasn’t big enough and escaped to explore more of the hudoo
– I want to think she was trying to find her way home but she was most likely
just embracing her curiosity to explore, and wanting to eat all of the most
disgusting scraps a pup can find. Now, squeaky clean, she’s home and rolling on
her back for tummy rubs. What a lucky life that dog has.
Back in America, I probably had the most adverse reverse
cultural shock ever. I think I just was overwhelmed and I felt like I was trying
to hide under a turtle shell. I’ve lost my ability to converse coherently for
long periods of time, mainly due to the fact that English was all around and my
ears tuned into everything just because I could understand what people were
saying. It made it quite difficult for me to focus. Sorry if I seemed distant
or aloof, but my mind was overwhelmed!
Family photo in Florida, you can only imagine what Ian
did to elicit such a response in the rest of us ;).
I’m happy to back in Erdenet and my old routine, yoga
picked right back up, and we’re showing Star Wars in our English movie club.
Another culture note;
Sometimes for yes and no Mongolians just use sounds; tsuuuuu
- yes ksuuuu – no, very similar to the breathing noises Mr. Darth Vader in Star
Wars makes, therefore it is said that many Mongolians just think Darth Vader
is saying yes and no throughout the movie.
And I also just found out a factoid – Vader is actually
“father” in Dutch – who knew?!?
Best to all of you and hope you had a wonderful new years!
If you haven't already, check out my photo's on Flickr, click below:
Ppffftttt, I just looked at my last blog post and “parched
after a 5 mile run” shocked me…5 miles is nothing in my book anymore. Especially right after I cruised through the Hovsgol Lake
marathon with my friend Brittany like this:
Summer has practically come and gone now, and it wasn’t much
of a summer here, in fact there were two flash floods in Erdenet, so a couple
of our roads are in disarray with chunks of pavement missing. I was happy to
see that they’re going to put in storm drains, eventually, the pipes have been
sitting on the side of the road for over month now.
To recap, in June I focused on Nutrition at my hospital, and
my most memorable class was when I taught healthy cooking to the head nurses.
Basically, I wrote up some healthy salad recipes that are easy and affordable
to make, but not the norm for Mongolians. We chatted about why those recipes
are healthier than some of the traditional salads Mongolians make, and then I
passed out the recipe directions (in Mongolian). As I started talking about the
ingredients 17 pairs of hands took over. It’s rare to find a Mongolian woman
who can’t cook, and I was thrilled with how enthusiastically they got right to
business. I basically just stayed back and watched, but answered questions as
needed. The results were delicious and the nurses still chat about it, so I
plan to do another class soon; apparently they all want to learn how to make
pizza. It’s a good thing I’m an expert on making homemade pizza dough now.
Then in July, my parents came to visit. On arrival to
Erdenet we started celebrating Naadam festival (the three manly sports). First,
we dressed the part, then we at the traditional food and drink and then celebrated with the locals.
Wearing traditional Deels
Eating Huushar
Drinkin Airag (Fermented Mare’s milk)
A Naadam racehorse and two jockey finishers
Then we took what I thought would be a relaxing
cross-country adventure, where the road looked like this most of the time:
It was so bumpy that we couldn’t do anything but sit and
hold on.
We saw quite a few things, but highlights included the Tsenger
hot springs in Arhangai, riding a Yak, yak, yak, and hanging out by the
pristine Hovsgol Lake, where we went horseback riding, canoeing, and where I
ran my first marathon.
I was quite surprised about the trail; apparently I missed
the memo that what I actually signed up for is what’s called an ultra marathon.
That meaning, this is not a road race, so don’t expect to come close to your goal
time, and yes, you must carry a backpack full of emergency medical supplies and
at least a liter and a half of water.
The race started at 4:30am sharp in pitch black and we immediately
headed into the forest on a root-infested trail. (Good thing I had my required
torch, for without a light you would have been screwed) After emerging out of
the woods, surprisingly ankle twist free, phew, we took what was initially a
road that climbed up 2,400 ft to about the top of a 7,500 ft mountain. I didn’t
run this. I attempted a power walk and madly ate cliff energy blocks and sucked
down water. My calves screamed at me. I also may have stopped to take some
photos: (Who does that in a marathon race? Weird, but seriously, the view was amazing.)
After those few switchbacks, the trail, now only accessible
by horseback and foot lead to a 45-degree downhill where at several points I
almost dove into a summersault. It would have been the most effective way to
descend, and I’m pretty sure that's what the 100km runners were doing, for their
paths in the grass were much larger than a foot.
We emerged into a lush mystical mossy forest, which was
magical until I tripped on a root that face planted me, and then we started another
1,000 ft climb. This time with fallen trees as obstacles. There was another
summersault worthy downhill and then the trail finally merged to a windy dirt
road for the last 7 miles.
Looking back, I had a blast, it was quite an adventure and I
was glad to have a running buddy to share it with. I may have caught the
marathon bug as well, and have started training for the Gobi half-marathon
that's at the end of the month.
In August, Eric came to visit and we visited Amarbaysalant Monastery
(which is one of the few working Monasteries that wasn’t completely destroyed
during the soviet occupation) and hung out in Erdenet where we picked
strawberries in the woods, and went out to karaoke. It was a lovely, relaxing
visit, but much too short.
Right after Eric left I had my Mid-Service training, which
marked the halfway point of my service. It was mostly a group discussion and a sharing
time for all us to reflect back on our experiences thus far. In many ways it
was refreshing to think about project we want to work on and to look back at
our accomplishments, but it was tough to look at our failures, which in most
cases, outnumbered the successes.
Most everyone came here with a multitude of goals and ideas
to add to the spark of growth of this country, but now having worked in this
environment, where motivated counterparts and resources are limited, and
change, on the whole, undesirable. Many of us, me included, have reached a
point of realization that the major goals and ideas we once had about what our
service would be like are unattainable.
Coming to that conclusion has absolutely been hard to grasp,
and it’s exhaustingly disappointing as well. My work in community development
is still raw. I only have experience working in community development and
behavior change in this one country, this one culture, with quite a bit of
history and tradition, that to this day is constantly remembered and respected.
I still want to make a difference and help my community solve its problems and
improve its health, but my expectations of what that success looks like are
more realistic. It’s all about the individual; it’s about making a positive
impact on one person that starts the change.
Now, how to do that. I’m back to stage one; getting the
individual to see the real needs that need to be addressed, not the needs that
are just an acquisition of a product.
Last week, after a 5 mile run in 75-degree weather I was
parched (WHAT, it’s warm!?, yup, well almost, still in the 40’s at night)
So I stopped by a delguur (neighborhood shop) to get some
water. I only had a 1,000tugs, equivalent to about 75cents and wanted to get
the most outta my buck.
I asked the woman in Mongolian the price of some water, in
which she replied rudely in Russian, I asked again in Mongolian, in which I was
once again spoken to in Russian. Finally, I looked at her asked politely “in
Mongolian?” and the guy next to me was like, “LADY, the girl isn’t Russian” and
a small smile formed upon her face and she spoke politely to me in Mongolian
and I finally got myself a bottle of water.
Outside, the man and his children watched me share the water
with Moogi, which, I’m sure he was explaining to his kids only crazy people are
friends with dogs like that.But,
we talked about how hot it was, he asked me where I was from/ what I did, and
we bid our farewells.
It’s probably not all that common for PCV’s worldwide to get
spoken to in TWO foreign languages everyday, and it’s really not for Mongolian
PCV’s either, but Erdenet has a pretty plush Russian community and with my
blonde hair and blue eyes, they automatically assume I’m one of them. It’s
always a little boggling and I sometimes think I’m an idiot for not grasping
the language when I don’t understand someone, but then I realize, oh, right,
that’s Russian, whoa, shopkeeper, speak Mongolian.
I wanted to make this post about what a day at work is like,
but I got distracted so I’ll start over.
Every weekday starts out about the same, most of the time
I’ll walk the 25mins to work but if not, I’ll hop in a cab, well, let’s be
real, I won’t take any cab. I have favorites.
There’s this sweet lady with a red mini-mobile that waits
outside for me. I swear she knows when I’m running late and she’ll be there,
chilaxin’ in the mobile. How can I refuse? Plus she waves to me if she sees me
walking. She knows when I need her. And I always make her smile.
If I’m walking, I pass the GOK (Mining Company) Jumbo tron,
in which every morning this is playing:
I find it strange, but it never fails to “pump me up”.
When I get to work I’ll fiddle around for a bit; make some
coffee, chat with my cp and the others who stroll in the office by the sweet
aroma of a real brew. I’ll share the coffee. Then, at 9:15 I make my rounds
roping up people for my 30 minute yoga class.
It wasn’t until recently that my cp’s (counterparts) started
coming to my class, as it’s consistently been the hardcore Tai Chi gramps and
grams that stick around after their morning workout.
But, it’s evolving, so I’m evolving.
I started making music playlists for my classes and they dig
it. I actually forgot my jams one day and got a “get it together” look from one
of the Tai Chi grams, so I won’t let that happen ever again.
I’m not a certified yoga teacher, so I keep it pretty basic,
plus, I’m not about to attempt explaining this in Mongolian:
Nor can any of my students do that without potentially
hurting themselves.
I teach mostly in Mongolian, I’ve got right, left, leg, arm,
knee, elbow, stand, straight, turn, sit, do this, and a few other commands down,
well at least I think. In between the grunts and groans I still frequently hear
mummers of:
“What’s happening now?”
“Which leg?”
“Psshh, turn the other way!”
“I can’t do that!”
“What did she say?”
I count in English and sometimes I get others to join in
which makes me pretty proud.
- Memorization
through movement, it’s an English-and-yoga-in-one class. -
Granted, it’s only numbers, but many of my students have
never spoken a word of English in their life before this, nor as older adults
plan to take on the challenge of learning any new language.
So the yoga finishes, and I usually start my day off on a great
high. Sometimes I stay and show people other exercises, or introduce myself to
new students. There are consistently between 5-20 people every morning so I
think it’s pretty successful, and at this point I’m feeling confident that
before I finish my service the Physical Therapist, Naranhuu (who’s room we use)
or one of the students will be able to lead the class once I’m gone, and it
might be…. Peace Corp’s favorite word, SUSTAINABLE. Fingers crossed.
Today though, one of my favorite cp’s told me that she had
to stop coming to yoga because she was losing weight. I asked, “Isn’t that a
good thing? In which, she replied, “but, I’m just losing weight in my butt and
boobs”.
That's one pretty good excuse.
Dang, this post is getting pretty long and I’m only to 10
o’clock in my day.
In May, most of my days were spent Yahoo Messengering it up
with the Health Department training manager, Enkjargal, to help them plan an
Anti-Smoking event that happened on May 26th. We focused it around
prevention for children and had some contests; poster, chalk drawings, a run,
and health screenings for adults. We also passed out information on the harms of
smoking and tips for quitting.
Currently, there isn’t any type of program to help smokers
quit or any nicotine patches, or special gum to help people ease their
cravings, so I’ve been researching tips, tricks, and trainings that I can teach
the nurses at my hospital to share with their patients. I had one American
Heart Association document translated that helps people identify their smoking
triggers and how to deal with those triggers, and the nurses explained it to
those interested.
Our hospital also recently became, allegedly, a “NO SMOKING”
Hospital. So we got our nurses involved.
I wasn’t aware all gov’t organizations were involved and it
turned out pretty nuts; they had everything from a demo with Mongolian Army
shooting blanks to getting pictures with a Bazooka, to contortionists and Tai
Chi exercise, to the library promoting their books, vegetable sales, and my
hospital nurses and I ran a 3K.
Contortionists
The 3K race start
And we're off!
Racing to the finish
Runners from my hospital and winner's with our awards.
I placed 2nd out of 45.
English Class has basically fizzled out for the summer, so
I’m done with that for a while.
I’ve continued doing some basic Nutrition classes centering
around tips on how to cut carbs and fats out of meals. But, Mongolians pretty
much think I’m crazy when I tell them to discard extra fat. They LOVE fat, so,
I’m not quite sure how effective those have been. I did get some people
interested in using herbs instead of salt, and a couple people asked about
buying olive oil.
My hospital is also now swarming with pregnant women (I know
for a fact Mongolians get jiggy with it during long winter) So my counterparts
and I have done some nutrition education and awareness about necessary women’s
health screenings for them.
We’re also going to try and do some more alcohol awareness
this summer since Naadam is a major drinking holiday. I want to put the focus
on “responsible drinking” and don’t get so drunk you pass out in public. (Not
really, but it’s reality – there were TWO men passed out drunk in the
children’s park yesterday.)
But, finding time on the local channels has become
increasingly difficult as political campaigning takes control. Some guy had a
mobile jumbo-tron set up in my neighborhood this weekend blasting his slogan.
It’s an election year and it’s looking like extravagant promises are being
thrown up left and right.
And that sums it up for work.
I went to Khelgant, a town about an hour away a couple weekends ago where my friend Kari lives and helped start building a greenhouse.
Khelgant
Greenhouse!
While there, I snapped this pic of an emee (grandma) who is trying to save a litter of puppies. That's her pride and joy she's holding.
Moogi has recently become very popular with my neighborhood kids and
they have proclaimed that when Moogi has babies they all want one. I can’t
confess to them that that's never going to happen.
On my way back to work from lunch today I spotted an adorable
old Mongol man in a beautiful Deel sitting on the stonewall lining the
sidewalk. He must have spotted me too, because as I passed him he let rip
several alarming flatulencies.
Unfavorable environment in that every inch of land in my
neighborhood is covered with something utterly irresistible for a dog; from a
multitude of fresh “meat still on the bone” bones, to trash, feces, the ever
fascinating used condom, and stray dogs, getting Moogi to return on command has
been quite the challenge.
I should have started her training much earlier, but the idea
of spending more than the required 15 minute pee/poop walk in -20+ degrees
wasn’t favorable on my end. The frozen land had also yet to reveal it’s hidden
treasures. So alas, here I am, routinely attempting to captivate Moogi with
fresh pieces of blood dripping raw meat, and ever enthusiastic praises so I can
let her roam off her leash, and not look like a foolish American chasing after
a mutt.
It seldom works.
At this point you may think, “why not just keep her on the
leash?” well, she’s a dog, and thus enjoys running quite a bit more than I do.
I also believe the training period is critical in building a bond and trust
between human and canine. Plus, with a trained pup, you have a lesser chance of
losing your friends who may not love your dog as much as you do, and of who
don’t enjoy the licks and butt sniffs (which unfortunately Moogi is very fond
of as of now, and we're working on it).
Upon the first night of acquiring that sweet, trash covered,
matted stray, I knew I was in for a challenge, but the expected obstacles have
become exponential. My initial concern was having my puppy get knocked up, but
once that was resolved…snip, snip, I soon became aware of the gold mine of
puppy sights and smells my neighborhood possessed.
I have no way besides within my apartment to train Moogi within
a controlled environment, and it sucks.
Here’s variety of example situations I’ve found Moogi in
that may be slightly uncommon to those who have trained your dogs in America:
Gnawing on a horse’s skull (at least a dozen times)
Dragging freshly chopped sheep’s feet (x2)
Unknotting used condoms (x3)
Hiding under a cow carcass (x3)
Chasing cows in the middle of a roundabout car intersection
(at the intersection once, but other cow chases, at least a dozen)
Romping with feral strays (practically every day)
Entranced with horses, goats, yaks, or sheep (at least once
a week)
Breath wreaking of fresh human feces (luckily only once, but
we were trapped in a car of 9 people with her for 15 minutes directly afterward,
poop still stuck on her teeth)
And my favorite,
Returning to me after a fresh dip in the sewage drain (x2)
I should have left her in the street after that one, but
I’ve dealt with my fair share of feces covered/ creek water covered dogs and
figured it couldn’t be that much worse… oh, but it was.
Nevertheless I’ve always managed to get her back, mainly on
her own accord, but recently, I’ve found that running her for miles, after
which she is thoroughly exhausted (as am I), she’ll come straight to me. And
slowly, as the phenomenon of getting let free becomes more frequent, she’s
starting to understand that when she comes back and is attached back to the
leash, it’s not going to be the last time she gets to explore the gold mine.
You have probably heard enough about this since it has been
plastered all over FaceBook, but here’s a little background on what sparked
that Erdenet Dance video.
First and foremost my good friend/ fellow Mongol dog owner/
Mongolia Peace Corps volunteer and Gobi desert dweller, Corey Benov, introduced
this video to me:
Many nights of dancing followed, but it wasn’t until I
shared this video to my sitemates (other Peace Corps volunteers that live in Erdenet)
that we decided to make our own video. Our goal was to highlight the best city
in Mongolia, Erdenet ;), and for a bit of fun.
This is how it began in Katie’s words:
“One night, a few of us were at a
volunteer’s apartment, painting the walls of a poorly ventilated room,
listening to tunes, as we do. A catchy song came on. Somebody
complimented it. Gracie mentioned a fun video that a dancer made for the
song, and we all gathered around the soft glow of YouTube to watch
it.
“OH MY GOD THIS IS SO COOL LET’S DO
IT HERE IN ERDENET,” we shrieked, possibly high on paint fumes. “IT’LL BE
EASY! IT WON’T TAKE LONG AT ALL!”
That was four months ago.”
(That was at my apartment and secretly, I knew that if I got
them all high on paint fumes they would telepathically receive my idea and put
it into motion…it worked. ;) )
THEN, to my amazement, the NEXT day, Katie sent out an email
with a dance move we needed to learn and how much filming we needed to do per week
to reach a projected deadline.
AND THEN THIS HAPPENED:
It was a lot of hard work, mostly on Katie’s part, but we
all did some dancing and got at least a couple Mongolians from each of our
agencies involved, plus a ton of kiddos from our English conversation nights,
and the orphans we visit weekly.
We also tried to include highlights from Erdenet; the Zax
(Market), our neighborhoods, the schools/businesses where we work, a hockey
rink, the orphanage we visit, our hot dog stand, the copper mine, the giant
Buddha, the Russian/Mongolian friendship statue, some cows, and a delguur
(neighborhood grocery), just to name a few.
As the project revealed itself, we realized, this is pretty SWEET and think it's a unique example of what a peace corps volunteer's service is REALLY all about - the relationships we build with the people we work with and the experiences we share together. If we can do some english teaching/ business development/ health promotion on the side (which we all do a ton of as well) then we are doing our job well.
So watch it, share it, dance to it, and send us a response
video ;)
According to Mongolian tradition, Tsaagan Sar – “White Month” is the celebration of the Lunar new years and is the mark of the arrival of spring. Spring, as in, it’s finally warm enough to snow again, and it can be in the negatives and the high 40’s, where snow blizzards or dust storms can pick up at any time, all in one day.
Excerpt: I just survived my first Mongolian winter…and it wasn’t too bad. I got the Mongol shuffle down.
I missed the main celebratory days of Tsaagan Sar, which was February 22-27 while back in the states, but caught the tail end of it, literally, I ate some sheep’s tail, when I got back. So here’s a short synopsis of the holiday and my celebrations, and what I’ve been up to in my 4 month hiatus from blogging.
Buuz, buuz, buuz.
During Tsaagan Sar only white foods (meat included, fat especially) are prepared and eaten and gifts are given to your family and friends, it’s almost like a mix of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Leading up to the holiday, families, mainly women, will make hundreds, sometimes thousands of Buuz (Steamed beef or mutton dumplings) and then beginning with the elders and family members, visit each others homes to talk about spring, play games, and consume buuz, Aruul (dried yoghurt chips), Airrak (fermented horse milk), sutee tsai (milk tea), and vodka in mass amounts. It’s mandatory to eat at least 3 buuz per home. The gifts are presented along with some cash, and a mandatory shot of vodka.
Since I was at the end of the strain of visitors, my gifts included candy, lots of frozen foods; several pounds of buuz and beef, two whole fish – head, tail and scales included, a grocery bag full of Aruul, some “support” tights; purple, and some hand soap.
Who can’t resist those gifts?
I only went to three homes, so my expectations are high for next year’s toll of goodies.
My coworkers and I before I left for a visit to the states.
Shortly thereafter, we celebrated women and men’s (soldiers) days.
On women’s day, my department (Administration) women (besides the director and vice director) were coaxed into our training room by the lures of delicious cakes, cheap wine, vodka and candies and our vice director read us poems, thanked us for our hard work, and poured our vodka shots, 3 mandatory. I also was given a ticket to a play, which was about a girl tormented by love. I could only understand snippets, there was some awkward striptease dancing, and then it ended where the girl was released from the torment (?). On men’s day, and I just observed the accumulation of empty vodka bottles in the street.
My projects at work are ever increasing and our neonatal head doctor, Uyanga (Photo below) and I have taken on a huge grant proposal to equip our new neonatal unit with the necessary modern materials and to get more training for the nurses and doctors in that unit. (Apparently, they opened the ward before fully equipping it…Mongol style – at least we have the space and some equipment now).
Me and Uyanga (Neonatal Doctor)
I’m still teaching English and rotating doing health classes at the hospital and schools. I’ve continued to expand my relationship with the health department and am working with them on a reproductive health curriculum for teens in the next two months. We also have been tossing some ideas around for nurses and family day in May and I’m hoping we can pull off a 5K run!
I also had some fellow Peace Corps volunteers, Cliff and Joe come and do some Music Therapy sessions in January at my hospital, which was one of my most enriching, memorable moments - it's amazing what music can do. Here's a little snippet of a song they did:
For those not on FaceBook, here is a photo of my sweet puppy Moogi (“everlasting” I named her after my host mom). She’s a jenkin (real) Mongolian trash mutt - I picked her up off the street about 3 months ago. She’s certainly been a project and getting all her shots and spaying has been eventful, but well worth it. I took her first to a vet in town but due to the communication barrier and needing to have documentation of her shots in English (since I plan on bringing her back to the states) I had to take her to the capital UB, where there’s an American vet.
Moogi
Moogi's spaying adventure:
I learned the day I planned to go to UB that pets aren’t allowed on public transportation, so after getting my train ticket reimbursed, and unsuccessfully convincing the bus driver that Moogi was a good dog, Moogi and I weaseled a spot in the front passenger seat on private microbus packed to the roof of rowdy drunk Mongolian men…. yippee.
They all adored her, and me, thankfully, but it did make for a nerve-racking 7 hr trip, in which we arrived to UB at 2am. Luckily, I convinced the driver to take me to my friend’s apartment and didn’t have to find a taxi. On arrival to my friends apartment the few men left in the van all got out of the car and requested a picture with me:
The microbus crew - Otgoo, the driver is in the middle, wearing the blue jacket.
The driver then walked me to the apartment door and even waited for me before leaving back to Erdenet the next day. I had Moogi spayed the next am, picked her up at 3pm drugged, groggy and freshly stitched, wrapped her in a blanket and was back on the microbus by 4pm, my fingers crossed that the microbus back wouldn’t break down on our way home. It was in the -10’s outside. We made it back safe and sound and at a more reasonable hour of 11pm.
So, if anyone’s wondering, it only takes 14 hours of travel plus 2 1-hour taxi rides in UB and 200,000 Tugs (about $150) to get a pup shots and spayed in Mongolia.
Well hope all is well on your side of the world – What a wonderful time to be in Kentucky right now with both UK and UofL in the final four! I’ll be cheering on my cards this weekend!
