Zaaaaa

Za is the Mongolian equivalent to ok. It means everything and nothing all at once. And it is now part of my everyday speech.

Zaaaaaaa.

Like I said before, these last two months have been nothing but Olympic preparation. As a result, I have very little to tell/show you.

In Dariganga, my days revolved around normal class, Olympic prep class for students, Olympic prep class for teachers, and the occasional ping pong, basketball, and volleyball practice (I'm competing in those sports in an aimag wide competition in June).

The weather is getting warmer (KNOCK ON WOOD WHEN YOU READ THIS) which means life is getting easier. I still have sandstorms to worry about, but I'll take it over -30 degree weather any day. When a sandstorm hits, I have to weigh my ger down:

Oor sonin you bain? Which translates to "What else is interesting?" Well... I'm thinking, I'm thinking. I recently went to Choibalsan to visit some friends of mine and we had a blast. Choibalsan is the aimag center in Dornod province, just north of Sukhbataar. It is waaaaay bigger than Baruun-Urt and, consequently, has a wider variety of food (oy, so much of pleasure from getting out of my soum derives from food). We had pizza, broccoli, mozzarella cheese, and soy milk. How delightful.

Of course, it was soooo wonderful to see my friends again. It's so strange to think that I hadn't seen any of them since around Thanksgiving, but plop us all down in one room and it was like we've been friends for years.

I've been chillin with my sitemates for the last few days, which has been beyond lovely. There is nothing better than good friends, good weather, and cheap beer.

Zaaa.