*disclaimer. I am sure there are a billion and a half spelling and grammar errors in these posts. The longer I am in Mongolia, the more the English language eludes me. In the mongolian language there are no articles, ands, ors, buts, any punctuation other than the period and now that I am not writing things in English, my spelling of English words are off. In fact, I just had to rewrite that little paragraph several times before it sounded correct to me.Enjoy! xoxo
10/28/13
10/28/13
We had our Halloween
party for school 1 on Saturday. About 28 kids came for the decoration
contest and made some really creative wall decorations with only
recyclables and paint. I was really impressed and they seemed to have
a fabulous time doing it. We had 6 games, dancing and the movie Hocus Pocus
playing in the background of the party. We were told to expect 400
kids, but in reality the social worker forgot to tell all the
teachers and failed to see that there was also a sports competition
that night, that all the 10th and 11th graders
were participating in (those were the two grades of the party), so in
actuality, about 30 children came to the party. We all had a lot of
fun and 30 children is much more manageable than 400, but we did feel
a little bummed since we were expecting 400 and put all this work
into it. But, it was not our fault, we hounded the social worker
about telling the teaches and he told us he did. We made a sign that
played on the tv in the entrance of the school to advertise it and
met with several children about the party, but we had no idea about
the competition. For our first party though, it was a success.
After the Halloween
Party, we all went out for dinner and drinks, my counterpart and
Jen's counterpart joined us. We then went to the dance club for a
couple hours, where we met up with some teachers from school 1 who
were celebrating one of the teacher's birthdays. So you know what
happened...rounds and rounds of vodka shots. Luckily, I got away with
out having to drink any of them, by staying on the dance floor and
dancing all night. Good thing I love dancing!! I unfortunately lost
my wallet at the club, so the next morning I had to cancel my cards.
And then of course, 2 days after one of the teachers brought my
wallet to Jen, saying she picked it up at the end of the night when
she realized we had left it. So glad no one had it, but now I have no
cards to get money out. I called Peace Corps and they gave me my
account number so I can go into the bank with my Mongolian ID and get
money out. At this point, it doesn't really matter because of the
government shutdown, PC has no money to pay us, so we are waiting to
get paid whenever they can get an advance from the bank. Come on
government, come up with a budget already! A lot of people have only
50 Tugriks left in their account, which you can buy a piece of gum
with. So we shall see how they get by until we get paid again. Thank
goodness I have money in my account and have my American account I
can dip into if I am desperate.
10/31/13
Last night, I had my
first English class with the government officials. They said I was a
great teacher and really pretty. One man kept asking to date me. He
asked me at least 5 times, I finally lied and told him I had a
boyfriend back in America who would be really angry if I started
dating someone else. He stopped asking after that.
In today's class I
taught them how to introduce themselves, simple continuous tense and
numbers and colors. We played several games after each subject to
really imprint the ideas in their minds. I used a lot of the
techniques my Mongolian language teachers used with us during
training. Next class, we are going to go over simple continuous tense
and learn some new verbs and English sentence structure. It is
surprising how fast 2 hours go bye. I was pleasantly surprised.
Today, while I was
walking home from lunch, a car stopped next to me and a woman yelled
out hello. She asked if I was a doctor and I told her I was a Peace
Corps Volunteer working at the Health Department. She said yes, that
she had hear of me and would like my friendship and help with work.
She is a gynecologist at the hospital and would like me to help her
with trainings and just be my friend. In her words “I like to work
together and then see each other when we are no busy. I would like a
friendship with you”. This is what I love about Mongolians
attitudes towards foreigners, they are not intimidated or think we
are reeking havoc on their youth. Everyone just genuinely wants to be
friends with you and practice their English whenever possible. What a
great country! I can't imagine just driving up to someone on the
street in the States and asking to be their friend, first you would
think they are crazy, then they may be a rapist/kidnapper and
definitely not someone you want to be friends with. But here, people
are just nice and want your help and friendship. What a strange
concept to ask for help when needed, in the States, I think that we
are all so afraid of being inferior or seen as weak, that we often
would rather suffer then ask for the help of others. We all have such
big egos, that we do not seek help from others in fear of being seen
as less fortunate or less able. It is all about who is on top and we
are willing to trample over others and put aside our real desires to
be seen as successful and independent in our communities eyes. Money,
power, time and things run our lives, but here in Mongolia it is the
exact opposite. None of these things are important, the governor is
just as important as the people cleaning the streets. Everyone has
their purpose and are respected for it. Age grants respect, not
position, wealth or education. This is the one thing I wish that I
could bring back to America. I wish that people would stop caring so
much about wealth and power and just live in the moment. Be happy
with what you have and where you are. Because in the end it is not
going to matter how much money you have or how many cars you own, in
the end the things that are going to comfort you on your last day,
are not things at all. People and their love are going to comfort you
and be there for you throughout your life. Relationships are
important. If we all stopped running around like chickens with our
heads cut off trying to do everything all at once, I think that as a
country we would be much happier. Life does not always have to be a
competition, sometimes its nice to just sit back and enjoy it all.
Breathe it all in and not worry. This is one of the most important
things I have learned since being here.
I am a completely
different person regarding this. Before I came here, I was so uptight
about schedules, overly competitive about everything, and worried
about things that weren't going to happen for months. I was so
worried about how I appeared to others that I wasn't really enjoying
life. I was stressed and unhappy, yet on the outside I seemed like
the happiest person ever. Being in Mongolia has taught me to relax
and not be so worried about what everyone thinks and to stop planning
things down to the minute detail. I have learned to just live in the
moment (for the most part) and its a truly freeing feeling. I am so
thankful for this experience and I think it is just what I needed at
this time in my life.
11/2/13
We were told we should
get paid today! We shall see. =) This past week has been super busy
at work. Usually I work 9-5 everyday, but this week I have been
working at the office till 6pm and then going to tutor the government
officials from 630pm-8pm. I also have volleyball league on Wednesdays
from 8pm-10pm and then basketball league from 10pm-11pm. So my
Wednesdays are jam packed from 9am-11pm. I absolutely love the
business though. I wake up most days at 6am to go for a run with the
puppy for an hour, then I come home to boil water for the day and
shower/get ready for work. I walk over to work and am straight busy
till 1pm, when I go on my hour lunch break, which consists of a mug
full of soup and going on another long walk with the puppy. At 2pm,
its back to work until 6pm, when I run home to let the dog out before
tutoring. Once I'm done with tutoring, I cook dinner and then take
the puppy out on another long night walk. She loves the walks, and I
really enjoy them too. I am surrounded by such a beautiful landscape,
that I love just being in the crisp air, exploring all the mountains
and paths near my apartment. The morning walks are my favorite,
because at 6am it is still pitch black out, so we walk with a
flashlight around town, coffee in hand, and by 630/645am the sun is
rising and it is absolutely breathtaking. The pink and blue colors
combining over the mountains is like something I've never seen
before. I will never get used to it.
Over the weekend,
Will's mom and Aunt came to visit. His mom brought me a big bag of
banana chips (my favorite snack), which I ate in 3 days. That seems
to happen when I receive food, I try to conserve it, but having the
new delicious options right in front of my face doesn't allow for
conservation. They took us out to dinner twice during the week and
got us Christmas presents, which we can't open until Christmas. They
were so sweet and it was so nice having other people to talk to. They
came to visit each of our works and homes. When they went to the
school, they read books to the children and gave them gifts. Will's
mom was a teacher for 35 years, and had her old school write letters
and make a book (the kids wrote and illustrated it) to give to the
students here. When they visited my Health Department, they met all
my coworkers and discussed the difference of health care here and
back home. They seemed genuinely interested in each one of our jobs
and my coworkers loved them. We went back to the guesthouse with them
and stayed up talking for hours. It was so nice to have a mom and
aunt here, even if they weren't mine. Each night ended with a giant
hug. It made me miss my family so much, but they were great
substitutes for the week. They are coming back to visit again, along
with his dad and brother. Marc, Jen's boyfriend also came to visit
for the weekend. He is from England and is working in Ulaanbaatar. He
is really sweet and has that great dry sense of humor I love. He fit
in well in our group and will be visiting again in a couple weeks. We
went to the black market for shopping with him. I brought my puppy
with me, who was exhausted from our morning run. I ended up carrying
her in my arms for most of the day. The Mongolians loved her.
Everyone wanted to pet her and talk to me about her. About 15 people
checked to see if she was a boy or girl. Everyone of them
disappointed she was female. Thank god she is, if not everyone and
their mother would be trying to steal her. Twice I was offered money
for her. I kept telling people she was my little child. They would
laugh and just follow me around the market. She was a hit. Every time
I take her for a walk, people point and come up to me asking to pet
her. They think it is so funny that I walk her on a leash (belt),
people in Mongolian do not do that. I've decided that I am buying her
a little winter Mongolian dell to keep her warm on our walks. AHH!
She will be so cute in one!
11/4/13
Today I had the day
off from work! It is Chingiis Khaan's 851st birthday. Woah
does it feel so great to just do nothing. We are all going over to
Jen's for a movie marathon day and make grilled cheese and french
fries, our go to lazy meal. Jen and Lore have the whole week off due
to a winter break at school. So lucky!
At work, I am working
on making a database for discharge papers for the hospitals here in
Tsetserleg. The hospitals here currently have no way of giving
discharge instructions to there patients, they just rely on verbally
telling them, which we all know when sick or just coming out of
surgery, we are not keen on the idea of memorizing instructions, let
alone even having the ability to remember anything that is being said
when in that mind set. My director came to me with this dilemma and
asked what we did in the US. I told her about discharge instructions
and she now wants to implement that idea. With the help of the
internet and Mrs. Briner's suggestions (thank you!), I have compiled
a bunch of information about the most common diseases and injuries
here in Tsetserleg to begin translating into Mongolian with my
counterpart's help (a lot of help). I am also writing to the Health
Minister and making visits to the hospitals in the capital to get
more information on the programs they use when discharging patients
and to see if the Health Minister can help us to buy a real software
program that is already in Mongolian and will have all diseases and
injuries in the database, without having to translate everything word
for word from English. I know that the hospitals in UB use these
types of programs, but the problem is the hospitals and health
department here in Tsetserleg have no money. It was also suggested
that I write to the software people themselves and see if I can get a
free copy of the database in order to spread information to the
countryside, as a donation. Once I find out the names of the software
the capital is using I then plan on doing that as well.
11/5/2013
Today, when picking up
my laundry from Fairfields ( I waited to long and had way too much to
do by hand, so I brought half of it to Fairfields to be washed for
me) my friend, Saraa, who is the manager at Fairfields told me a
funny story. She said that when in a cab a man told her that lately
he has been seeing 3 foreign girls walking around town and wondered
if she knew who they were. She pretended she didn't know us to see
what we would say about us. She asked what we looked like. He said
one girl is black and the other two are yellow. She then asked where
he thought we were from. He said well the black girl is obviously
from Africa and the two yellow ones are from Russia, especially the
taller one (me), she is definitely from Russia, completely Russian.
She said oh wow I will have to meet them and got out of the cab. So
funny. Everyone always thinks I am Russian and tries speaking to me
in Russian. Whenever I say I am American they are surprised. Saraa
said this is a good thing, because Mongolians think that Russian
women are the most beautiful women in the world. Haha.
11/7/2013
Yesterday, I went
shopping with Jen. She met me at the Health Department, and we went
to the Black Market and the new super market. I bought more camel
socks, fleece lined leggings, a dog collar, and some vegetables and
other food items. While at the market, we got to practice our street
Mongolian. The vendors never think we know Mongolian, even when we
ask them the price for things in Mongolian, they will take out their
calculator to show us the price. So now whenever they go for their
calculators we tell them that we speak Mongolian and we can
understand them. This always pleases them and they then try to show
us everything at their stand and ask us all sorts of questions about
our age, where we are from, what we do and if we are married. It is
so much fun to see the looks on their faces when we speak Mongolian
to them. Every person tells us that we are excellent at Mongolian
(although we know otherwise) and that they hope we visit them soon.
I made the most
delicious beet soup for dinner. It was made with beets, cabbage,
carrots, onions and potatoes. I boiled it all together and added in
some spices. My host mother always made it and I loved it, so I
tried to replicate it. It is definitely something I will be making
again.
Today, I had my first
solo training. I was supposed to have my counterpart Ariuka be my
translator, but he had to go to a training in UB. So, I made my power
point in English and then he translated it into Mongolian. I gave the
training in English with the Mongolian power point behind me. It was
more like a word document on slides, because since I had no
translator I wanted to make sure they understood everything I was
saying. The presentation came out like a Mongolian one. Slides full
of words with pictures and charts thrown in every now and then. But I
really wanted them to get it all, so bullet points would not work in
this case. My presentation was on how to prevent Non-Communicable
diseases among the younger generation. The people who came to the
training were doctors at the hospital and school doctors and nurses.
I had to give the presentation based on American standards,
campaigns, laws and trainings. They seemed really interested when I
talked about our ID policy for drinking and buying tobacco products
and the fact that American children receive physicals from their
doctors once a year and visit the dentist twice a year. At the end of
the presentation, I asked them all to critique my presentation, write
what they liked and disliked, what they thought was helpful and
interesting. I also had them write down if they were interested in
having me teach health classes at their schools and hospitals and
whether or not they would be interested in helping me come up with a
health class curriculum for schools, since there is none. I am
excited to read their responses, once Ariuka translates them for me.
Haha. I can not read Mongolian cursive, only print and of course
everyone always writes in cursive when I hand out surveys or
questionnaires. I always forget to tell them to please print. But
overall for my first solo training I think it went well. =)
I really like making
trainings and presentations for the community, I hope that this is
what my job will consist of when I get back to America. I found a
program that I think is perfect for me at the University of New
England. It is a Master's in Public Health: Health Education
Specialist. With this degree, I could work in Health Departments,
Hospitals, NGOS, WHO, CDC, and various other government organizations
planning community trainings and events to spread awareness about
various health subjects. I am starting to take online classes in
January that the Peace Corps offers us for free through various
colleges, Conflict Resolution and Journalism. Also, I started an
online class to learn Spanish. I really need to start studying
Mongolian, but when immersed in it all day long, its hard to want to
learn more.
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