MONGOLIA 820

Third Goal

2012-04-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans:

The PCVs in Erdenet and their CPs spent the last 4 months making this video. [share it with your friends! It'd be mega awesome for a Peace Corps video to go viral] The world is filled with talented people, non?

20 down, 4 to go.

2012-03-03T22:45:00.001-08:00

Hello everybody! I hope you are all wintering well. After Malaysia, Mongolia was a bit of shock, to say the least:

This was the temperature in my ger the first morning after I got back. My fire makin skills were apparently a little rusty. Since then, I've been prepping students for the English Olympics and making hundreds upon hundred of buutz for Tsaagan Sar.

It is also the point in my service where people have stopped asking how long I will stay and how many more months until I leave. It's quite frightening, but also very exciting. It's 4 by the way. 4. More. Months. eek. As of now, my after service plans include a month long paddling trip into Russia and a lengthy (months-long) excursion into South East Asia. Fund willing, I will extend that trip to include Eastern Europe as well. I may not wind up back in the States for another (sorry!) year.

So, that's that at this point. To Pictures!


Teacher's Day this year was out of control. Recently our recovering alcoholics (sadly) have fallen off the bandwagon and have become viscous enablers. Add that to the fact that all those prego ladies from last year have not only had their children, but are back to work already and were real excited for a chance to drink again. We danced until the sun rose. Seriously. Oh, and this is Zolaa, my beautiful counterpart.


First, the awkward circle dance. This is about 2-3 shots of vodka in. When the music starts playing at an given party in Mongolia, everyone forms a huge circle so that everyone can watch everyone else dance real awkwardly. As the vodka increases, the circle dance tends to disintegrate.

My countrepart and her family.

On to Tsaagan Sar, one of the biggest holidays in Mongolia. You wear dels and go to your loved ones houses and get very very drunk. Zolaa and her son Atzaa. He is adorable.

Misheel is gettin so big! This is about 15 seconds after I started holding her.

17 seconds.

1 second. Beauties.

Everyone in their mega fancy dels

No matter how hard you try, you will NEVER be as cool as this kid is right now.

The giving of the vodka. You must use your right hand, sleeves rolled down, and place your left hand at your elbow.

Vodka shots for all.


High class candy.

We bought some cereal and check out our prize inside!


The obligatory pic of Lloyd.

Hope that satisfies your curiosity for a bit. I'll see you again for the English Olympics!

Until next time,
Sarah

Misheel Obama

2012-01-31T02:10:00.000-08:00

Meet my new lil sister, Misheel! Isn't she a sweetie?

Shine said, "Don't show this to your parents. I look ugly." Sorry, Shine :)

This was Shine's hat when she was a baby!

Aaand who needs diapers? This is how Mongolians poop their children.

And in other news, Anhaa finally had her baby! A brand new baby girl, named... wouldn't ya know it... Misheel. Clearly the number one Mongolian baby name of 2011.

Pics to come later...

Because I have to.

2012-01-31T01:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but Lloyd posts are inevitable. Look what a weirdo he is!

Go To Malaysia.

2012-01-31T00:09:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family!

Happy New Year, first off. And Gong Xi Fa Cai, as well.

It's cold here. Very. Very. Cold. In fact, as I'm writing to you, I am bundled in 2 pairs of thermals, fleece pants, 2 shirts, and a scarf. And most ridiculous of all, I have a sunburn.

As some of you may know, I just spent nearly two weeks in the amazingly beautiful country of Malaysia where it is hot. Very. Very. Hot.

View Larger Map

You see that? We were 5 degrees North of the equator. Over a 100 degree temperature difference. It was amazing. Now, I shall tell you of our journey via pictures...

Taxi ride to the airport! We showed up in Malaysia like that...

Best of All! Popcorn is you new friend.

Fly Korean Air. Seriously. Most amazing plane I've ever been on.

Layover in Seoul with some new friends

Look! I'm not throwing a rock at him!

Burger King. We had to. And dear god, did we regret it.

This is what death by Burger King looks like.

Aaand we made it! We got in real late Sunday night and the following morning Patti Tan (the greatest host EVER) introduced us to Malaysian food and culture. Our first taste of a not mutton meal was AMAZING.

Mall, near Kuala Lumpur. Take THAT, Woodfield.

Patti's son Trent! (First boy on the right)

Pineapple juice... mmmm.

I should rename this post to "The Malaysia Gastronomy" because an absurd amount of these pictures are of food. Here we have an Indian Malay combo... Tandoori Chicken, Roti Banana, and some other things I don't know but were delicious.

Chez Tan

The next day, we flew to Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo where my old college roommate is currently volunteering.

Rambutan

Coconut water. According to Patti Tan, it cures everything.

Me and Molly! Gusties Unite!

Ummm... it happens.

Night Market! It was Chinese New Year, so the night scene was hoppin.

Sunday Market (Markets are so wonderful). This man is selling birds. Ducks. Chickens. Etc...

Puppies! As I was cooing the pups, the sales lady shoved a little lab in my arms. That was almost a sale.

I KNOW, right?

I told Molly to order me food. She came back with THIS. I'm drooling all over the keyboard right now.

A cocktail! And it's not vodka!

One morning, I asked for coffee to go. So they put it in a bag with a straw.

Malaysian countryside. On our way to Sandakan, Patti Tan's hometown and the hometown of orangutans! The bus ride is normally 5 hours, but we got Chingiss-ed... both times took us 8 hours.

Isn't my sister a looker?

Oh, the orangutans. So, in Sepilok there is an orangutan rehabilitation center. Basically these orangutans are wild, but they are given supplementary feedings twice a day in this one area. If an orangutan is hungry, he or she can help himself.

The first orangutans to arrive were mommies. They don't travel far from the food since they have little ones. You can see the babies clinging to them.

Once the mom's had had their fill, the macaques moved in to clean up.

And then came King Louie! He was the only male we saw, but he was BIG.

Mmm rainforest-y.

My crew: Bonnie, the responsible. Jessica: the goon. Molly: The cuckoo-manchu.

Next, we visited a temple. Meet Buddha.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

And the quaint swastika garden out back.

Annnd back to food. This was like a fondue-ish restaurant. We picked our uncooked food and then grilled it or steamed it at the table. Here Cecilia is making a pork and [unknown, but delicious spicy sauce] saute.

The carnage.

Also, it was Molly's Birthday!

Za, Za. So we continue our trip back to Kota Kinabalu and head for the Islands. We snorkeled for a bit, burned our backs and bottoms, and made shore for Pulua Sulug (only 7 km from the island they filmed the first season of Survivor!)

BBQ on the island. Here we have Jess, slathering some fish.

Fish and squid... oh man I'm remembering how (have I used the adjectives delicious or amazing yet?) ... STUPENDOUS this meal was.

You know that sound Homer makes around donuts?

And as we were eating our squid and fish, our cook threw THESE in front of us.

Watch out! They'll bite back!

And then we had corn on the cob!

Next up, Wetlands and Bird Santcuary

Rainin

And our stint in Kota Kinabalu came to an end. We flew back to Patti Tan's and made our way to Kuala Lumpur. Here, Bon and Jess are being tourists while the general population continues to ignore us.

THESE FISH ARE TRAINED TO EAT THE NASTY OFF YOUR FEET.

Eating Roti, our favorite light meal.

The awesome KLCC twin towers.

Patti Tan made us a checklist of things to do in Kuala Lumpur. One was "Do Your Thing." And here we are.

Me and Patti! She was so kind and wonderful. And also the sassiest lady ever. Love Her.

Free Planterium... why not?

And suddenly it was over. Back to ... this. ::sigh::

You can book your flight to Malaysia here.

The Bu Crew 2011-12

2011-11-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

As you know, Peace Corps service is 27 months long. This summer we had to say goodbye to Alex and Todd, who have return to their homelands: Colorado and Iowa, respectively.

But with their departure came two new awesome folks, Bonnie and Jessica (Washington and Cali)! Here is a delightful picture of all of us at the swearing in ceremony:

I think they will fit right in.

Scenes from the Fall

2011-11-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

Glimpses of my life in September and October:

This is Scarface. His face is full of scars. Anyhow, he is everywhere. He hung out with all of us this summer at camp. When I walk to the mountain, he meets me there. When Nate and I hiked out to the lake, Scarface accompanied us, literally appearing out of nowhere.

Nate came to visit! Fences and Nate don't usually get along.

Meet Larry, Moe, Curly, and Shep. Every time I hike to this lake, I run into these horses and this donkey. Last year, it was just the 2 horses and the donkey and the obvious trio to name them after was the Stooges (guess which one is Curly!). This year, a new horsey was added to the gang, hence Shep.

Stare Off.

Lloyd's newest friend. The white neighbor dog has been dubbed "Harry Dunn." This lil pup is named "Mary Swanson."

Huh. I've named an awful lot of animals...

Dilguun and his new harmonica! I regretted giving that to him almost immediately.

Shillin Bogd. Coolest place in Dariganga. That mountain in the background is China! Also, it's not a mountain. It's a volcanic crater! This part of Mongolia is full of them. Shilin Bogd is a holy mountain (but women can climb it, hooray!). Since it is the highest point in the East, Mongolians climb it as dawn to receive the first sunlight into Mongolia.

So many volcanic craters! I bet back in the day this place was as raging as that scene from Fantasia when the Earth was being made.

Some of Mongolia's finest. Shilin Bogd is on the Chinese border so these guys guard the area.

From left: Jessica, Nymaa, Davaa, Mogie, Bonnie, Me, Kate

This is Ganga Nuur. It's the biggest lake in Dariganga. On my left is Erka, Zolaa's husband. To my right, Bajay. We are standing next to the spring that feeds the lake. You are supposed to pray to it. Bajay asked me what I prayed for. I said, a warm winter. I asked him back. He said "A husband for you." They will not be happy until I am married with 12 kids.

First day of school! The tiny cutie in the middle is Zolaa's daughter.

I do! And so does everybody else.

2011-11-12T17:13:00.001-08:00

This past month, everybody and their dogs got married. It was crazy. The Mongolians ask the Dalai Lama when they should get married and apparently every day in October was a good day. 2 full days couldn't pass without someone in the school getting married.

Mongolian weddings are quite different from American weddings. First of all, the bride and groom literally wait on everybody hand and foot. The "reception" takes place in the house in which the two will start their life together. The party usually happens something like this:

Eat.
Drink Tea.
Eat again.
Drink arag (fermented mare's milk)
Toast the bride and groom with a shot of vodka.
Vodka Toast. And Repeat.
Drunk male relative arrives.
Drunk male relative insists you take 3 shots of vodka in rapid succession and refuses to take the cup back until it's empty.
Eat again.
Present the couple with gifts (vodka, chocolate, and a song), vodka toast when finished.
Drunk male relative divvies out more vodka.
Sing a song, vodka.
Repeat #12 seven more times.
Time to leave! Drunk male relative guards the door until you take your goodbye shot of vodka.
Stumble home. Realize it's only 5 in the evening and you are very very drunk.

Here are pics from my two favorite weddings this month: Anhaa and Zorigoo! This is my beautiful counterpart and her new hubby (she's 6 months prego in this pic... and pretty much ready to pop at this point. She's on maternity leave now and is expecting next month!)

Oh, also these are Kate's pictures, hence the professional-esque quality.

Drunk Male Relative.

This is the gym teacher. This is his daughter's wedding. It was so much fun. Anhaa wanted to lesson plan with me afterwards and that was all fine and dandy for her (she wasn't drinking on account of the baby), but I was basically useless by the time we left.

This song is called "Welcome to my Ger" and it was just the first of 20 songs sung that afternoon.

Scariganga

2011-11-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween from Dariganga! This year, Zolaa and myself put on a wicked a Halloween party (on November 1st, but whatevs). I may have mentioned this before, but the only thing Mongolians love more than vodka is a good competition. So, this Halloween party turned into all the different classes competing against each other in various Halloween-themed games for fortune and glory... or rather apple cider and a gallon bag Smarties. The picture above is a class shot of 7a.

Competition #1. Pumpkin painting! Or balloon drawing...

Competition #2: Bite the apple. The adults in the crowd LOVED this game. They were upset when they realized I had only bought enough apples for the students.

Competition 3: Dance-off. It's not a Mongolian party until there is a dance competition. I had made a spooky Halloween mix for the competition, but it was vetoed almost immediately in favor of some techno korean jams.

Competition 4: Costume contest. Obviously the girl on the left won. Most of the other kids just painted their faces oddly. But Buyna literally drove children out of the gym in tears with her costumes. Buyna won the individual contest, but Bajay's class won over all:

Competition 5: Pin the nose on the pumpkin... I was chaperoning at the time... Sorry, no pics!

Clearly is was a spooky good time. Bajay's class ended up winning overall and took home the Goblet of Apple Cider as a prize.

The next day in class, some of the students who took my permanent markers without asking still had faded traces of Halloween on their faces.

Me and Bajay. I forgot my costume at home, sadly. Also, Bajay made more than 1 kid cry with this mask. No joke.

Another class pic!

And so it begins....

2011-11-10T16:09:00.000-08:00

Happy 11-11-11, ya'll! ( I wrote that intro on 11-11... then I got distracted. Merry 11-13-11!)

It's been a while, yes? Since my last post a few exciting things have happened:

I turned 24.
Lloyd quite probably turned 1.
It snowed. And the avg. temp has dropped by a good 50 degrees.
Shinee had her baby! On August 18th, Shinee gave birth to a brand new baby girl named Misheel. Which is an odd Mongolian name because it doesn't mean anything. And usually everybody has two names (Shinee's full name is Shine-bayar). I asked Bajay (Baatar-sukh) about this and he just said, "Misheel Obama." Also, Misheel has a dazzling blue bottom, which according to tradition, makes her a descendant of Chingiss Khan.

So anyhow, I'm happy to be up in the city, hanging with friends and reacquainting myself with the BU. So much has changed in the month I have been gone. Most notably the 2 story HOUSES that are being built on the south side... Comparable to the size of our house in America.

And also, the introduction of a store selling AMERICAN goods has us all in a tizzy. We can buy such amazing things as reese's, ranch dressing, Swiss Miss, and above all, not vodka. The store is stocked with wine and whiskey (there is still vodka, yes, but it's endless line of clear liquid is broken up by the beautiful label of Jim Bean).

I'm gunna get to picture bloggin here, so sit back and enjoy!

Sarah

And on to Year 2...

2011-08-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

Back to school...

In a short half hour, I will be saying goodbye to my nice hot shower. I think I will miss that most of all...

This summer has been a lot of fun, hard work, and quite a bit of chaos. Since I've last updated you all, I've done two notable things:

TEDx Conference

For those of you who don't know, TED is basically a forum for idea sharing. (check this out). My good friend, Travis, organized the first ever TED in Mongolia. It was phenomenal. The theme was concerning Mongolia's need to push forward while maintaining their rich history. I met a lot of cool folk and heard some real cool stuff... but more on this later when the talks are uploaded so y'all can listen too.

MST

Or, Mid-Service Training (Peace Corps looooves their acronyms). I had a lot of fun being with friends and getting motivated for the next year.

Ummm, yea that's it. I apologize for the lame blog, but I've been busy, ok! I promise a better blog next time (coughinoctobercough).

Hugs and Kisses!

Dream Eco Camp

2011-08-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

Camp #3.

Dream Eco Camp was set in a sleepy soum called Batsumber in Tov aimag. It was a gorgeous place... rivers, mountains, forests. Unfortunately it also came stocked full of children.

Just kidding, but really... I was wickedly camped-out by this point.

So here are some pics and a story or two about Dream Eco Camp:

The theme this year was "The Chipmunks." So the kids were split into 3 teams:

Alvin

Simon

And... Teathor...

We also got sweet shirts!

The camp was also stocked with inspirational signs:

I was on Team Alvin:

Team Leader: Who are we?

Alvins: Super Alvins!

Team Leader: What's our motto?

Alvins: The Super Alvin Team is strong!

We have fun all day long!

With our friends, we will grin!

And with teamwork, we will win!

I say Super! You say Alvin! Super! Alvin!

Ok- weird story: So I have found many of your Mongolian Dopplegangers. Britt, I found you. And you Stephen. And Pat Gaetz, too. Oh, and you too Karen. Here is the first picture I've taken of these dopplegangers... Call me crazy Mrs. Palazzo... but I see Connor and Brady circa 2006.

The photographer came and insisted we make a human pyramid. The Mongolians were a little over confident.

Fail.

Ahhh, much better.

Some Americans enjoying the heck outta that porch.

My first YAK sighting!

The kids at this camp were incredibly talented.

Bor-Ondor Sports Camp

2011-07-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

Camp #2.

After taking a few days to re-coup in my soum, I headed to Bor-Ondor to start my second camp of the summer: a week-long sports camp organized by my friend Leon.

Camp ran from 9-12 and we taught a new sport everyday. In the afternoons we would hang out, play cards, and enjoy the beautiful summer air.

Day 1: Capture the Flag

First, we divided into teams and chose team names. My color was blue, so my kids chose to be "Super Blue." Brian was red and dubbed the "Red Stars." Apparently, we have very few pictures of Capture the Flag day. No matter... neither team managed to capture the flag. They were more pre-occupied with guarding jail and the flag to every make a move.

My team got real close though....

Yea... I'm in jail.

Day 2: Ultimate!

Obviously my favorite day. The kids LOVED it. And they were real good, too. I was so super impressed. Here's a vid of the most intense game of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIG-ey87d04

Brian and I split our teams into two smaller teams so we could play 5 on 5. Super Blue took 1st and 4th. Red Stars 2nd and 3rd. At the end of the day, we were still all tied up.

Oyoka. She was my favorite. She was super competitive and really great at all the sports. Look at her go!

Reach!

Day 3: Dodgeball

Oh man, another really fun one. The kids had trouble in the beginning, but once they got it... it got intense. Unfortunately, Super Blue couldnt' pull it together for a win. We got 3rd and 4th.

The last game we played was Camp Leaders versus students. While I felt a wee bit bad throwing balls at little kids, it was super fun and of course we won.

Day 4: Kickball

If you are considering teaching kickball to children who don't speak your language and also don't know what baseball is... I wouldn't suggest teaching them kickball. Easily our most frustrating day, but, hey... there are a million rules to kickball. If we could play kickball with them once a week for a month, I bet they'd start to understand it a lot better.

Despite the confusion and frustration, and as a true testament to the wonderfulness of these kids, they said they had a great time and liked the game.

Though Super Blue took an early lead, we couldn't pull it together in the end. Red Stars took the W.

My line-up (10 points to me if I can still remember all their names...): Nendaa, Amraa, Batzka, Monoo, Oyoka, Deka, (Damn it... I can't remember pink stripes!) and Darai

Day 5: Relays

This day was meant as a game-changer. Red Stars were waaaay ahead, but a few relay wins later, Super Blue was only a point behind. Ultimately, it came down to the last game... and thanks to one kid who was spacing out during the game... Red Stars were declared the winners of the week.

We had loads of fun, though!

This relay was ridiculous. We gave 2 eggs to each team. The first guy on my team dropped and cracked both of them. So... we lost. But the Red Stars were kind enough to give us their second egg so that each kid could have a go.

No relay day is complete without dizzy bat!

Leap Frog

3 legged race

Super Blue! We had trouble wearing blue all week, so I changed our color to white the last day. My team then suggested our new name was "Super White," but I thought we should stick with "Super Blue" :)

Super Blue + Red Stars = SUPERSTARS!

Bonus Day 6: Water Games

It was hella hot all week. These kids endured that sun without complaining (too much) all week, so we thought we'd give them a special day to hang out with us in a non-competitive atmosphere.

Water Games.

Aaaaaand of course, it was cloudy and colder than all the other days. But we played anyway.

Water Balloon Toss

Drip Drip Drop (it's duck duck goose only with water)

The drenched participants

Нохой**

2011-07-26T00:37:00.001-07:00

** pronounced nohoy, means dog.

This post is about Lloyd.

Look how adorable Lloyd is getting! He's so big and huggable and pretty... oh how i love him. And so did all the campers! Many of them thought I was lying when I told them he was Mongolian. They thought he came from America because he was nice.

More Pictures of Camp That I Want to Show You

2011-07-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Second half teachers: Kaede, John, Pico, and Me!

The coolest kid in Dariganga. By the end of the week, I had him saying, "Sox Rule! Cubs Suck!"

This is the second coolest kid in Dariganga (only because after uploading all my pictures, I realized I had a handful of ridiculous pictures of him):

Playing Mingle:

First session Peace Corps Volunteers: Nate, Kate, Beth, Julie, (Mongolian camp doctor), Me, Maggie, and Alex

Gangstaaa

My Dariganga students that went to camp

This kid is cool.

Aaaaand so is this kid:

It's called Tektonic and it's all the rage amongst pre-adolescent boys in Mongolia. Please note his interesting dance move at the end.

They wanted to learn an English song!

New Dariganga Camp Summer 2011

2011-07-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

Camp #1.

This camp is the one I have been looking forward to since I got to site last year. It ran for 2 sessions, 10 days each and was equipped with 6 Mongolian English teachers, 8 American English teachers (i.e. my Peace Corps friends), and 4 adorable Mongolian camp counselors from a local university. This camp was situated in my soum on the lake and hosted about 100 kids each session from all over Sukhbataar aimag (and a handful from UB, too)

Here's what the camp looked like:

Every morning, we would wake up at 7. At 7:30 all kids gathered in front of the outdoor podium for morning stretches.

After stretches, breakfast!

Then, the kids learned some English. Here are some pretty generic pics of PCVs pointing to boards.

Then, we all took some time to awwwww at my lil pupster. Well, I did at least.

Awwwwwwwwwww (yes, that is Lloyd... he's so big! And still ball-less!)

The campers were split into 10 teams which competed with each other in various ways throughout the week. This is my team: The Happy Tigers. Our Motto: We are Happy Tigers! Rawr! Despite the fact that not one of these kids had a competitive bone in their body, I grew to love them and their "We just happy to be here" attitude.

Oh, and our flag was Tigger. Not some awesome badass pic of a Tiger destroying the competition, but the most lovable friendly tiger ever. They were just high on life, these kids were.

The rest of the day was filled with lots of fun random activities to keep the kids (and me) entertained. One rainy day, we made noodle necklaces!

Note: The two women on the right are adults. Noodle necklaces are fun for all!

And the best part about the rainy day was:

Our cabins leaked. Or in this poor camper's case... flooded.

And then my favorite time of day... Outdoor activities!! While half the students went inside to learn life skills (how not to burn down your ger, how to treat a deep cut, and STD awareness), the other half came to ME and we played games. Awesome games: Freeze Tag, Fox and Squirrel, Steal the Bacon (well, we played one round which resulted in 2 concussions...), Swing Dancing, Mingle, the lists goes on!

Dizzy Bat Relay. It's hilarious to watch little children fall flat on their butts.

Lap Tag: The player in front wants to get to the other side of the circle. The player in back wants to keep him back. Hilarity ensues.

This is Chuka. One of our counselors. She really liked this game and didn't seem to mind crushing our campers in order to win. No camper could get past her.

Mingle: We had different formation the students had to make requiring different amounts of people. Once something was called, they had to rush to make the correct formation... If you didn't have a group, you were OUT.

Pyramid: 3 people

Monkey: 2 people

Canoe: 7 people

Window: 4 people

Rachel and Jacob: Mostly Marco Polo, only both kids are blind.

Log Roll Relay: Kids roll on top of the other kids to get to the front of the line.

These are my happy tigers looking a little less than happy.

Duck Duck Goose: well, you know.

Swimming Lessons!

Hiking Day: We hiked to the sacred mountain. Boys climbed it. Girls walked around it.

My soum from atop Altan Ovoo! Clearly I did not take this picture.

Maggie demonstrating how to use the prayer boards.

The Tranny Dance! Teams competed by dressing up as the opposite gender. Best one won.

Happy Tigers! And a nip slip.

The winning team. Well deserved, no?

Oh, I forgot to mention, 2nd session I was on the Giants team. This is Oyona and Temujiin. Temujiin got 3rd.

Here is a very disturbing picture of my male friends.

Moral of the Story: Camp rocked.

Сайхан Зуншиж Байна уу??**

2011-07-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

**Are you summering well?

I certainly am. So far this summer has been a whirlwind of fun and it doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon. I've been busy with camp and friends and being warm and not starting fires.

I tell you, Mongolia in the summer is awesome. It's green. It's hot. The sand storms have stopped. I can leave my ger for a long period of time and it won't turn into an icicle. I am really not looking forward to another winter.

But, on that note, a college friend has recently accepted a volunteer position in Malaysia. So, for the sake of my sanity and the sake of my complexion I will be visiting her during my February break. I already can't wait.

Ok ok ok... that's that. Enjoy these next few posts about my summer!

Summatime and the livin's easy... er.

2011-06-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hey homeskillets.

Welp, the time has come to return to my soum sweet soum. This Wednesday, our camp starts which is shapin up to be the coolest camp of all-time (if all goes according to plan, the camp will end in an english song Glee-off at the talent show).

Until next time, please remember that while it may be sweltering outside, at least you have air-conditioning.

(And on that note, please hold off sending me chocolate until October).

Three cheers for summer,

Sarah

It's because I'm white, isn't it?

2011-06-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

And the scores are in!

Dariganga did not win the sports competition. BUT we did compete our little hearts out and put up a good fight.

The competition was 3 days longs and included volleyball, aerobics, tango, singing (it's a mystery to me too), and track. There were 14 teams competing from the aimag center and the soums in Sukhbataar. Everybody had sweet team outfits (us included) and flags and game faces on.

So volleyball started on Friday, but a half hour into the first game the electricity went out and stayed out so everything was postponed until Saturday. Within that first half hour, though, I managed to take a volleyball to the face and am currently rocking a sweet black eye. Thank whatever deity was watching out for me that my glasses didn't break.

The next day, we woke at 6 (dear god) and started up games again. We lost our first game, but won the next three. I won the respect of the other Mongolians for being a volleyball superstar (that or for being white... who cares... at one point people were chanting my name!) Later that evening, we were in the 3rd place championship bracket, but we pretty much got slaughtered by this beast of a Mongolian who NEVER made a mistake. Seriously, it was unbelievable.

We took 5th in volleyball... not too shabby.

The next day we had to squash in the rest of the competitions since Friday night was a bust. We began aerobics at 8. Now, I thought our routine was pretty dang good. We worked out to "Beautiful Life" by Ace of Base (and yes, that was TOTALLY my idea). I also choreographed the routine and was fairly sure we'd be a serious consideration for top 3.

Jesus Christ, was I wrong. The teams from the aimag had hula hoops and steps and did aerials. They completely outdid us. We got 8th. Ouch.

Later, my beautiful co-workers performed their tango routine flawlessly and took home the bronze.

We came in last for the singing... woops. (Though, not to put my team down, but I'm still puzzled as to why they chose the woman they did... she was real bad.)

And finally, running. I was running the 4x4, the 400m, and the 100m. I got third in the 400m and my team got third in the 4x4. But, as I was lining up to do the 100, all hell broke lose. Teams were pissed because I was competing so much. Apparently there was a 3 sport rule... You could only compete in 3 categories and I had already been in 4. Anyhow, my director pointed out that many Mongolians had competed in more than 3 sports, but no one had noticed.

Let's face it. It's because I'm white.

But, still, I didn't run the 100 and I got DQed from the other races so I didn't get my medals. It didn't really matter though because Dariganga wasn't going to win, regardless.

That night we had a kickin awards ceremony where I was given an award for doing good things in our aimag. Or maybe it's because I'm white. Whatevs, though... I got a sweet certificate!

So, that... is that. It was a grand old time, but boy am I glad it's over. Now onto SUMMER!!

Setting: 7:30 am at the base of the holy mountain on the Thursday we left for the aimag. We were throwing some rice and milk on the holy ovoo for good luck. Amraa is holding our sweet Dariganga flag, while Erka pours him a shot of vodka... also for good luck (let me reiterate... 7:30 am)

The group looking as serious as ever.

So I barely took any pictures at the competition itself. I apologize. This picture is the aerobics team performing in our sweet get-ups for Mothers' and Children's Day in my soum. And of course, they stuck me in front... because I'm white.

The group again. This time we are on Sukhbataar Square, looking fly and waiting to play some volleyball.

My counterpart, Zolaa, has the most beautiful family. This here is Atzaa. He is the best most darling child I've ever met.

Third Place Tango winners! How fabulous are they?

Zolaa's other child, Nymaa. Seriously, most beautiful family in the world.

ANOTHER group shot!

And for your viewing pleasure, the tango routine!

One down, One to go

2011-06-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

HOLY CRAP I'VE BEEN HERE ONE WHOLE YEAR.

I started writing a nice thoughtful post about how I felt one year ago, my hesitations and excitements, but frankly, that ain't me. I think that first exclamation accurately and rather thoroughly describes how I feel about the whole deal.

Seriously. Holy Crap.

Right now, 70 some nervous and excited Americans are on their way to Mongolia to start their service as M-22s (the 22 group of volunteers in Mongolia). Caaarazzzy! (Can't wait to meet all of you!)

Also, a group of accomplished and probably exhausted Americans are getting ready to head back to their States after their 2 year service is finished. (Already miss you all!)

It's a weird time to be an M-21 (that's me). We ae losing some very dear friends and (frighteningly) becoming the figures of authority to the newbies. I certainly don't feel qualified for giving advice for Mongolian survival. I still am trying to learn the ropes of ger living. Also, with the M-2os headed home, it has gotten me thinking about how amazing it must feel to see all the people you love after 2 years abroad.

I've been missing you all alot lately.

ANYHOW. I'm in the aimag now, getting ready to finally compete in this sports competition that e have been training our asses off for for the last month. I found out this morning that the sports complex in the aimag opens at 5:30 am.

So, wish me luck!

Before we hit the road, we conjured up some luck from the holy mountain.

Springtime in Mongolia

2011-05-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings y'all.

I apologize for the lack of bloggin lately. I have been to the aimag and UB, but I was quite distracted with good food and good friends (which is almost always paired with good... or bad... beer). Anyhow...

It's sadly, still spring in Mongolia. Which is just a horrible combination of winter and summer. You know that expression in the Midwest? If you don't like the weather... wait five minutes? In Mongolia it's... If you don't like the weather, wait 15 seconds.

11:00

11:10

11:25

Also, springtime in Mongolia supports the theory of "Spring Fever." Nearly 1/3rd of my teachers are pregnant. This includes my neighbor Shinee (Dilguun's mom... I told her I was excited to get a new baby brother or sister) and my counterpart Anhaa. Every time I hear about another pregnancy, I exclaim, "Yanaa! Everybody is pregnant!"

To which they reply, "Yes! Everybody is pregnant. You should be too!" Good God. Peer pressuring at it's absolute worst.

These days, I'm finishing up school (which is an ultra-chaotic event...classes are constantly changing at the drop of dime, I never know when I should be teaching) while training for a sport competition that takes place at the beginning of June. This training includes 6am runs, 2 pm aerobics practice, and 6pm volleyball. The 3rd of June cannot come fast enough.

This summer I'll be teaching at a camp for 20 days in my soum (many of my friends are going to come and help... very excited) and so we've been prepping for that for the last month or so.

That's about it for now... I'm only here for today and a bit tomorrow, so I'll leave you with a few pictures to hold you over for a bit.

My big baby :)

My friend Nymaa describes Lloyd as "Ball bakhgui nohoi" which mean no ball dog.

My and my favo... ahem... 9th grade students at their graduation

Gusties!

When It Snows, Ain't it Thrillin?

2011-05-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

(May 18th, 2011)

Not in May, it isn't.

You Say Tomato, I say...

2011-03-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

улаан лооль.

As you can probably imagine, communication is difficult. My mongolian language, according to my neighbors, is getting better. Ehhhhh... perhaps. What's more likely is they are getting better at understanding me.

But to my point.

My life is a giant game of taboo.

For those of you who have never played, taboo is a hecka fun game. You are given a word, such as tomato and you are given a list of taboo words, such as red, fruit, ketchup, and sauce. Now you must get your team to guess the word tomato without saying the taboo words.

Seeing as how my vocabulary is lacking, I am often using other words to describe the word I do not know.

For example, I needed the projector to watch a movie in one of my classes. I did not know the word for projector. So, when talking to my director, I said in mongolian, "I want to watch a movie in class. I need the big, white, TV." She says, "Aaaaaah, тийм байна, прожктор" which, transliterated, is "Aaaaaaah, teem bain, projector."

Go figure.

Zaaaaa

2011-03-29T04:57:00.001-07:00

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.

Want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?

2011-03-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

Lloyd tom bolj bain, says everybody.

It's true. Lloyd is getting big. Unfortunately, my ger is not growing with him.

Maw and Paw sent Lloyd an awesome nametag and a rawhide bone. However, turns out the bone wasn't too necessary seeing as how Lloyd often returns to my haasha with a bone he found himself. Sometimes I forget Lloyd's a Mongolian dog until I come home to him gnawing on a cow skull. We used to buy cow hooves from PetSmart for Bailey and Ruby (which they loved). I laughed when Lloyd brought home his very own cow hoof, found right out my ger.

He's out grown his doggie bed! Which simply means you all need to send bigger packages so Lloyd has a place to sleep.

Attractive. Note that Lloyd still does not have any balls. I guess dog's balls drop anywhere from infancy to 10 months. And when that happens, his voice will probably drop an octave and he will grow hair in awkward places. Ahhh puberty.

I left Lloyd tied in my haasha. He was being fed by Bajay and Shinee, but I just ran into them in the aimag two days ago. I asked how Lloyd was and they said he was happy and playing with his friends. They assured me that lil Dilguun was taking care of him while they were gone. Phew, I thought.

Three hours later, I thought... who is taking care of Dilguun?