2/6/2014
I
just had the best time at my director's house. I have been really
sick this week, I think it is a mixture between the meats, brains and
mongolian vodka. So the past couple days, I have felt like death and
apparently looked like it as well. My counterpart yesterday and today
came down to my office to check and see how I was feeling and both
times told me that I looked awful and needed to go home to rest. So
when my director invited me over tonight for tsagaan sar celebration
after I finished my English class with the Central Hospital Doctors,
I was not to enthused. I wanted to say no, because I felt terrible
and the thought of eating more meat and drinking more vodka made me
feel even worse, but I knew I had to go to be polite. And I am so
glad I did. She asked me how I was feeling and I told her that I had
been sick and she said that she thought so. So she gave me milk tea
and cucumbers (my favorite drink and favorite food) and turned on the
coverage of the Olympics. No vodka was involved, thank goodness. She
did give me a nice glass of pino grigio though. We both just lounged
on her beautiful leather couch and chit chatted while we watched TV.
Her apartment is beautiful and I mean beautiful compared to US
standards. It was all deep mahogoney wood furnishings and floor, with
a giant deep brown leather couch. It was decorated with Buddhist
paintings and symbols, as well as pictures and furnishings from her
many travels to France (my health department as an education
agreement with the French Health Ministry, so she travels to France
frequently for meetings and trainings). Her kitchen had a nice island
and breakfast nook. It is by far the nicest apartment/home I have
seen in Mongolia. Her husband was o sweet, but shy. He does not know
English, so he just sat there smiling as she and I spoke in Monglish
(a hybrid language that involves mixing mongolian and english words
haha), sometimes we would understand each other and other times we
would just laugh and try a new way to form the sentence. She asked
about my family and friends back home. We shared stories about
growing up. She grew up in Hovsgul, which is the most beautiful part
of Mongolia, there is a giant lake, volcano, reindeer and mountains.
It is the province above mine. I hope to travel to there this summer
or fall, when they have Reindeer Festival. She is such a great woman.
I have so much respect for her and I really look up to her. She I one
of the smartest woman I have ever met and so strong. Being in her
house with her and her husband tonight felt a little like being at
home. She told me how much I remind her of her daughter, who she was
going to visit in the capital tomorrow. She gave me new wool lined
gloves and chocolates as I left. They were so sweet to me and by the
time I was walking out of her apartment, I was feeling a little
better. Every now and then you just need a mother's love. I am so
lucky to have someone like her in my life in Mongolia. She and the
other woman are so lovely and so concerned with my well being at all
times, I feel as though I have 6 mothers here in Tsetserleg.
I
forgot to put some stories in my last blog post, so here they are.
My
first story happened last Thursday when I was finishing up at the
office and leaving for my apartment. I noticed that everyone in my
office had left to go home early, around 4pm, I just assumed they
were leaving early to get ready for Tsagaan Sar, and since I did not
have to do so, I would stay till my normal time of 530pm to use the
internet. So there I sat in the Health Department, the only person in
the building, so I decided to turn my music up and enjoy the time. I
noticed that it was 530pm and that I should head home to make dinner.
I walk to the entrance of the building to leave and notice I am
locked in. All the door in Mongolia lock from the outside, so once
they are locked there is no way of getting out (a real fire hazard I
must say). So, then in a fashion that is unlike the old me (for those
of you who don't know me well, before Mongolia I was slightly uptight
and panicked the minute something didn't go as I planned), I looked
at the bag in my hand and decided well I did go food shopping on my
break so I have food, there is a bathroom in the building,
electricity and internet, you know what I would be fine here till
Monday. I called my site mate to tell her I was locked in my building
and we tried to come up with a solution. I did not know the guards
phone number or how to say that I was locked in the building (a
phrase that I am now learning in case this kind of thing happens
again) and my coworkers were in the countryside with no cell service
and my counterpart was not picking up his phone. So I began to look
around the first floor and noticed that all the windows were sealed
because its winter, so I could not get out of those windows. I go to
the hallway and realize that if I climb on top of the heater on the
wall, I can reach a window that is about half a story tall. I had
also gotten my big package from my parents, which I realized would
not fit through the window. Luckily, my mom always packs the contents
in garbage bags, so I began to take the garbage bags out and climb
onto the wall to the heater and throw the bags out the window onto
the lawn. Then its time to throw my bag that contains my lap top,
because if I put it on my side I will not be able to fit out the
little window, which I have to go out sideways and hang onto the sill
outside so I don't fall. So here I am hanging out the window thinking
in my head, worst case scenario I break a leg and have to go back to
the US for a little bit to have it fixed. That is not a terrible
thing, so I decided to jump. I tuck my legs up, because I remember
hearing on TV if you are ever in a falling elevator you should tuck
your legs up so that they don't jam the floor upon impact and break.
Luckily, nothing broke, I just got a bruise on my hip when it hit the
window on the way out. The minute I hit the ground, my phone starts
ringing, it was my counterpart wondering what I needed. I tell him
the whole story and tell him he needs to tell the guard to go close
the window. What does he say back to me? Nothing, he just laughs
hysterically, says “that is so funny!!!, I will call and tell the
guard” and then hangs up on me. I then began my 10 minute trudge to
my apartment carrying a million bags that were ripping and muddy. I
actually broke a sweat walking to my apartment because of the heavy
load, that is the first time I have sweat in 6 months. Who knew you
could even sweat in -15 degree weather? I got back to my apartment
and emptied the contents of my bags, nothing was broken and all the
magazines, movies, shoes and food immediately made me happy. I could
not help but laugh and what I just went through and the fact that
for a couple minutes I was fully content with the idea that I may
have to live in the Health Department until Monday.
My
next story involves buying headphone for a local store. They are
advertised and packaged as beats by dr.dre, but at only 7,000
Tukgriks, which is roughly around 4USD, I knew that they could not be
beats ear buds. I asked the cashier if they were real and she said yes and
pointed at the package. I smiled and paid her and walked out happy
that I had new headphones, since my other ones broke and only played
music out of one ear. I put the headphones in to my computer to
listen to music at work, and not only were they not quality sounding
headphones, the music sounded like I was listening to it under water
and a million miles away. I noticed there was a little button on the
middle of the wire that when I pressed it the music sounded like it
was actually coming through the headphones. The only thing is in
order for the headphones to work I have to keep pressing this button.
So I now have a clothes pin hanging from the wires to hold the button
down, because tape did not work. So in case you were wondering, no
they are in fact not beats by dr.dre. The package states “Designed
to reveal the full sound of today's music, including sonically
demanding hip hop, rock and R&B that crush ordinary ear buds.”
If by crush they mean broken, well then they did do there job. The
songs have never sounded so broken, muffled and far away. haha. So
the search for a decent pair of ear buds continues, more like I know
what I need to ask my parents to send me in my next package. ;)
A
great thing that happened to me was that the Health Program Director
for Peace Corps Mongolia called me. She called me to tell me how
impressed she was of my work after reading my VRF (volunteer
reporting form). It is a form that we have to fill out twice a year.
We have to report each of our projects, the number of people who
attended, the demographic of the people, the results and what goals
it meets under the Health Sector. It takes forever to fill out, but
after wards you really see how much impact you have actually had on
your community. Peace Corps sets up goals and objectives for each
sector. So for Health they are
Goal
#1:Mongolian Community members will adopt healthy behaviors to reduce
the risks and increase opportunities for healthy living.
Objectives:
1.1:
By the end of 2017, 1600 our of the targeted 8000 youth and adults
will adopt new behaviors to reduce the risk for non-communicable
diseases
1.2:
By the end of 2017, 800 out of the targeted 2000 youth will adopt new
behaviors to reduce risky sexual behavior and increase healthy
choices.
1.3:
By the end of 2017, 1200 out of the targeted 4000 community members
will reduce the spread of diseases through utilization of improved
hygiene practices.
1.4:
By 2017, 800 out of 2000 targeted community members will adopt new
behaviors to prevent traffic and household accidents and reduce the
rick of injury from accidents when they occur.
Goal
#2: Service Providers will apply new skills to effectively promote
healthy behavior and lifestyle.
Objectives:
2.1:
By the end of 2017, 168 service providers (Hospital Staff, service
providers, community workers and volunteers) will improve skills
needed to carry out health promotion activities and implement the
National BCC strategy, using the cycles of program development to
improve project design and management.
These
goals are lofty but help to narrow down where to focus when arriving
at site. It is believed that only 20% of people who will attend our
trainings will reduce their risk for non-communicable diseases, 30%
will adopt new behaviors to reduce risk of transmitting diarrheal
disease, 30% will adopt new hygiene practices, but what is great is
that it is believed that 70% of counterparts will have improved
practices and skills, which is really what Peace Corps is all about.
Peace Corps wants to improve the medical care workers skills and
practices in hopes that when we leave the country, they are able to
carry on with out the help of volunteers. Peace Corps, unlike most
other foreign NGOs, does not provide any type of monetary support for
these countries, we are strictly only here to improve skills. We are
not even allowed to fundraise for agencies. We can write for grants
from the local governments, or get people to donate towards a
project, but we have to prove that what was donated was only used for
a single project (for supplies, etc). No one can be paid for their
time or an agency given a check. Which is sometimes difficult to
explain when agencies come up to you asking for money to help them
buy computers or build a new classroom. We are not allowed to, which
is so hard to say to them.
But
back to the reason why I wrote all of that, after reading my VRF, the
Health director was really impressed and she said that she got so
many “magical memories” from what I wrote. She is Mongolian, and
not fluent in English, what she meant by magical memories, was new
ideas. She loved what I have been doing at my Health Department and
invited me to go to a Project Design Training, where I can network
with people and help get my one project off and running. The project
she was inspired by was how I am working with local doctors, school
teachers and HD staff to come up with a new Health curriculum for all
grades. Health classes need to take place in schools, it is key to
changing behaviors. So I have sat down with numerous school doctors
and handed out three surveys to assess the needs of the community and
of the children. My hopes are to get the UNFPA to publish our lessons
into textbooks that the teachers and students can use and most
importantly, PC volunteers. Being a health volunteer in the PC is
such a difficult job. TEFL volunteers have set schedules of English
classes they teach in their schools, Community Youth Development
volunteers have books and lessons they are supposed to run in their
schools, we health volunteers are sent to HD and hospitals, most of
us are not doctors or nurses and told to educate the doctors and
nurses on American medical techniques and start health promotion
campaigns. No guidelines, no schedule, no ideas, and no outline on
how to do this. We are supposed to just conduct needs assessments and
come up with project ideas, pitch it to our directors and try to find
grants and people to work with, but as you know, doctors, nurses and
HD staff are busy! They already have a hectic full time job, so
sitting down to try two talk and make projects is next to impossible,
unless you have a really motivated CP who is willing to work overtime
with you. My idea is to get these books published and then have PC
volunteers carry out the lesson in schools with their counterparts.
The lessons will already be made and translated in to Mongolian and
English. This will lesson the work load and will be something easy to
do the first year you are at site and trying to get adjusted to life
and work in a foreign country. Also, many health volunteers do not
work in schools, so this would be an easy way to get into the schools
straight to the students who need the information. So this is going
to be my big project while I am here. I don't know if I will see the
books be published before I leave, but I hope to have all the
material and lessons laid out and to have the next volunteer be able
to take over and complete the project. She also said that she would
like me to make a tool kit (packet and materials) that will be given
to the new volunteers about how to work in your HCA (host country
agency, where a volunteer works)without adding extra work to them. A
lot of volunteers come into the PC with all these grand ideas about
what they want to change and how they can help, which is not
surprising, very motivated intelligent people join Peace Corps, it is
not for the lazy. But what I found is that these agencies want help
improving themselves, they do not want to be told what to do and how
to do it. We should not be adding extra work to their schedules, we
should just be improving the work they already have to do. So instead
of coming up with new trainings, look at the training schedule they
already set up for the year and ask those people who are running them
if they would like help or if you can come up with an interesting
activity that could be added to make the training more interesting.
She loved that this is how I was working with my HCA and thought that
this is how all health volunteers should be working with in their
HCAs. So now I am coming up with activities and advice that will be
given in a booklet to the new health volunteers, which is pretty
exciting.
2/7/2014
Today
I was given a piece of chocolate from one of the doctors that I share
an office with. I popped it into my mouth, took a bite and realized
it was full of vodka. And I mean full, the vodka poured out in liquid
form. It had to have been half a shot in it. She laughed as I coughed
from the surprise. I will never put a whole piece of chocolate in my
mouth again. New rule to add to my list: always check to make sure
the chocolate doesn't contain a shot of vodka inside. I can not even
handle the taste of vodka anymore. I am so over it as an alcohol, can
they please find another beverage to obsessively drink? Haha.
Also,
I was told today to get into a car because we would be going to an
Ice City in the countryside. In traditionally Mongolian fashion, they
messed up the dates, tomorrow we will be going to the Ice Festival
(not city). I am happy that the date was mistaken this time because
now I know to dress warm. I am told that we will be making ice
sculptures. Each workplace has to make a sculpture, it is a contest.
When I asked my counterpart if he or anyone in the Health Department
knew how to make an ice sculpture, he said “no, but we will have a
saw, so it can't be that hard.” So this should be interesting, I
can't wait to see this competition go down. I just love the Mongolian
attitude, everything is just for fun and everything is doable in
their minds. Of course we can sculpt ice, we have a saw. In America
we pay for people to make ice sculptures, here everyone just tries
and sees what they can do. I have never met so many people who are
willing to try new things with such enthusiasm and not a care in the
world about how it turns out and what people will think. It is so
freeing. I have never felt more comfortable with myself in my life.
Everyone is just so happy and loving of themselves and others no
matter what, I wish people in the US were more like this. Everyone is
comfortable in their own skin (sometimes I wish they were less
comfortable, like when people just squat down and pee next to you
when you are in the park, or just ripping off their clothes to change
in the middle of the gym instead of using the bathroom. Nudity is
just not scene as a problem here. But hey, if they are comfortable
flaunting what they've got, who am I to judge. Flaunt away! Go
Mongolians!
One
thing I do wish they would change is that the market and restaurants
remain open during Tsagaan Sar. I was shocked to find out that the
meat, vegetable and fruit market will be closed until March and so
will most restaurants. The reason: people will be eating buuz they
made all month. I am not okay with that reason, are they aware that
they have an American, name Brittany living in their town who can not
cook? I really rely on the restaurants as a source of nutrition. The
only real meals I can cook are breakfast and then stir fry and
vegetable soup. But since the vegetable market is closed, the only
vegetables I have access to are potatoes and onions, not the best for
a stir fry and really makes a tasteless soup. Also, no fruits! That
is what I ate for breakfast and no meat. I never really ate meat, but
now that I know I can not get it, I am craving it. So I went to one
of the only little stores that was open to see what it offered food
wise. I came home with an assortment of fruit baby foods, great for
breakfast and a couple of cans of pickled vegetables, that I am
hoping if I wash and add a lot of stir fry sauce to will be fine.
They are already cut up into nice little pieces so really it cuts
down on prep time. I was also able to find a couple cans of tuna and
some seaweed, I will make a poor version of sushi with it, and also
incorporate the pickled vegetables in it. I bought rice and ketchup
as well. Well there is a meal right there, Ketchup Rice. This month
may be a little rough, but at least I have great snack items from my
parents that will help supplement my meals (dried fruits, trail mix,
granola bars, FLUFF, oreos and instant soup packs). No one is making
bread (all the bread here is hand made at bakeries) because of the
holiday, therefore stores do not have it. Thank goodness my parents
sent me bread mixes in my package this month! That is the end of my
food rant. March can not come quick enough!
2/10/2014
On
Saturday, I went to the Ice Festival, which was held on the river
about 10 minutes away from my apartment. All the members of the
Public Health Department of the Health Department were going to go
together (I am part of that Department). The Arkhangai Health
Department has four branches: Public Health, Social Health, Clinical
Health and the Adolescent Center. I was told to meet at the Health
Department at 10am and we would leave from there. The two Health
Department drivers were going to drive us there in the HD SUVs. I
bundled up and was there around 1015am, knowing that we would be
running on Mongol time, not real time. I went to my office to work on
a project while I waited for everyone to get to the HD. At 1130am we
were still all sitting in the HD waiting to leave. My counterpart
called me and said that he would be there in 10 minutes. Mind you my
counterpart literally lives next to the HD, so why is was an hour and
40 minutes late is beyond me. Haha. At about 12pm, Ariuk tells me
that the SUVs are not working because it is so cold, so the drivers
are trying to get them to work. He takes me into the guards Ger to
stay warm and then leaves with the other men to try to help the
drivers get the cars started. For about an hour, I drank milk tea and
attempted to play guards with the guard and his wife. A couple of the
other woman came into the Ger to get warm and sat down and played
cards with us too. They would each take turns being my partner to
help me through the game which I understood none of. I could not
understand what the rules were or how to play even though I watched
about 10 rounds of the game. I could not see a pattern or any type
strategy to win. So eventually I just gave up and let my partners
just play for me. It was really fun and a great bonding experience
for me and the guard. He is such a sweet old man, he kept offering me
candy and dried yogurt curds.
Finally,
at about 1pm, we started to leave. The SUVs would not start, so Ariuk
and one of my coworkers (the only two staff members with cars) walked
home to get there cars and we all took turns piling into the cars and
be dropped off at the river. It took both of them three trips back
and forth to get everyone there, but we we all made it, just as the
open ceremonies were ending. We made camp in the forest, where all
the other workplaces were. Each school had a team, the police, fire
department, road and sanitation and various other places I can't
remember. The Ice Festival was a big competition among all the
places. Through out the day, there was a hockey match, curling
competition, ice croquet, tug of war, ice sculpture competition and a
relay race. I was part of the hockey and tug of war teams. It was so
much fun.
When
we first got to our “camp site”, we were all given Araig, which
is the fermented mares milk. The first sip is always a shock to the
system, but eventually, after 5 or so sips, your taste buds get used
to it and kinda sort of start to like it. One glass is enough for me,
but Mongolians love it, so they were definitely having refills of it.
We then went on a search for more branches for the fire, it is bad
luck to pull branches off of trees, so we had to go into the forest
where all the other hundreds of people who were also looking for wood
were, to find branches that had fallen to the ground. A couple of
times, I wandered off by myself and definitely pulled some branches
off of the trees. It was necessary. We then went back to the camp
site and drank some of the country tea and hot Seabuckthorne juice.
It is the Mongolian National Beverage (that is what the bottles say).
I love it, so I had a couple mugs full. We then had some bread and
buuz. After we ate, I met up with Will and Jen and we walked around
and took pictures of the ice sculptures and watched the different
sporting events going on. We made a bunch of new friends who wanted
to take a million pictures with us and take shots of vodka (of
course) with them. I now just tell people that my stomach is sick, so
they don't make me take a whole shot. I touch the vodka to my lips,
make an offering to the land and sky and then politely pass the shot
glass back to the pourer. This seems to appease them, thank goodness.
=) I ended up meeting the web page designer for the Government here,
a couple men who work for the sanitation department, a social worker
and two men who run the fitness center. They all tried to use English
when talking to us. It was nice to see how thankful they were that we
were here in their country helping out their people. It is times like
those that make me so happy to be a volunteer in Mongolia.
I
was so excited to be able to play hockey! They had two rinks marked
on part of the river and that is where the tournament was held. The
hockey sticks were made from broken pieces of desks. They were
literally metal and wood. The only part that touched the ice was the
part where the metal piece curled up to meet the wood. It was nearly
impossible to actually hit the puck, you more had to scoop and hope
you made contact. At one point, the goalie from the opposing team
took a big swing and the metal part of the “stick” flew in the
air and missed my head by inches. Before I went onto the ice, the
Physical Therapist at the health department tried to talk me out of
playing, saying it was dangerous and she thought I would get hurt.
But I assured her that I knew how to play hockey and that it would be
fine. After the metal flew by my head, I kept my head up the entire
time and really tried not to bend that low. I was not willing to get
my eye poked out just to stop the puck. We were all in so many layers
and just in winter boots, so everyone was falling while they tried to
move their legs to run after the puck. It was hilarious. We ended up
getting out in the first round, next year we will actually practice
for it.
After
hockey, we went back to our camp, where they had built a big bonfire
and were cooking countryside tea, which was black tea, salt and water
from the river. We warmed up a bit by the fire and then walked around
some more. Towards the end of the day it was time for the Tug of War
Competition. After watching the Mongolians compete, we decided we
needed to make an American Team. We told this to my counterpart, who
said we could all compete as part of the Health Department, that the
other workers said to go ahead and let us do it. So Jen, Will, Mike,
Marc and I, an one of my coworkers, made up the “American” Team.
Everyone was laughing and taking pictures of us. They cheered us on
and we ended up going through 3 rounds of Tug of War and were in the
finals. It was us (all small Americans compared to Mongolian men)
against of team of very large Mongolians. We pulled and pulled, but
finally got defeated, as we were all pulled to the ground and across
the line. We won second place out of 8 teams. We were so excited that
we beat all the teams ( I remember thinking in my head wow that was a
lot easier than I thought it would be), and when I ran over to my
counterpart to celebrate, he said that he had jumped in two of the
times to make us win. He said he really wanted to see me win, so he
would jump in at the end to help us pull. We asked, how did the
judges not see or realize there were 7 people instead of six, he
simply said “they are so drunk, they would never notice.” Haha,
so really would we have won without my former MMA fighter
counterpart? Probably not, but no one ever has to know we had 7
people instead of 6. haha.
Shortly
after tug of war, we went over to watch the finals of the hockey
tournament, but to our surprise, since the temperature had been
rising, the ice was melting! You could see the ice melting and the
water quickly moving towards the cars and all the ice sculptures.
They kept moving up river as the water crept closer, trying to keep
the tournament going. Eventually, they had to move the last game to
another place because the ice had melted! It was the oddest thing, it
reminded me of the scary movie Fog (I think that is the title).
Because there was fog coming up form the ice and it was slowly moving
towards us. So creepy. People had to move their cars back so they
would not get stuck in the river. It was crazy. Jen and I just stood
there in disbelief as the ice just melted away into the river.
This
was also around the time I was interviewed by the local TV station
about the Ice Festival. Ariuk acted as translator, of course, while
the reporter asked me questions about the Ice Festival and about
winter festivals in America.
The
last event was the relay race, which my counterpart was competing in.
The team consisted of two men and two woman. The women had to sit on
sleds and be pulled by the men around a course. First, the first man
had to sprint and pull the first woman about 100yds where they then
had to bounce a soccer ball onto another ball by using snow to build
a sort of holder for it and get it to balance on it. Then the second
pair went about 50 yds, where the male then had to jump on the sled
and pull himself using a rope about 300 feet. Then sprint back to the
beginning. The Health Department got first in the relay races! They
were very excited! Finally after being outside all day, we headed
home around 7pm. I was frozen at this point, but had so much fun! I
can not wait till next year!
2/14/2014
Happy
Valentines Day everyone! Yesterday, I got to go to the opening of the
Pediatric Clinic in my town. It will be used to treat children 12
years and under with respiratory infections and dental problems.
Instead of having to go the Pediatric Hospital, they can come into
the clinic as an outpatient and receive treatments. They had a tour
of the new facility and each specialized doctor talked about the new
equipment they have and how each department will run inside the
clinic. Everyone was so excited and proud of the clinic. I actually
got teary eyed, listening to the Hospital Director and my Health
Department Director explain what the impact will be on the children
of the community. Child mortality has been increasing, so they are
desperately trying to combat it. During the ceremony, my director
introduced me to the doctors and nurses who will be working at the
clinic and told them about the projects I am working on and how she
would like them to help me with certain ones. After the speeches, we
were all invited to try the different foods and drinks they will be
serving for the inpatients in the pediatric hospital. I drank pea and
beet juice, not sure what they think that helps, but I am sure that
no child will like it. Haha. After the food I was then ushered into
another room where the infection control doctor and lead
epidemiologist (my counterpart's wife, they are truly a power couple)
explained to me how they disinfect the rooms and materials used in
the rooms. After that, we saw demonstrations of how the new equipment
would be used, which involved real children and their mothers. It was
really interesting to see the techniques they use to remove phlegm
from babies throats and lungs (that is a little sarcastic but
actually interesting too). I am just not a fan of spit, so I had to
divert my eyes a couple times. At the end their was a power point
presentation about the HD Adolescent Center Director's trip to Korean
Health University. She showed pictures of the hospitals and equipment
they use and shared some new techniques and skills she learned during
the training. It was a really fun day and I am so glad I was invited
to be a part of it. The babies were so cute, and I hope to be able to
volunteer on weekends there, to just play with the babies and speak
to their moms about different health problems. Also, I want to talk
to the hospital director about doing some activities in the Pediatric
Hospital with the children who are there for weeks and months. Just
like card games and movies with them.
Today,
I finished my recommendation form for the hospital to get a PC
volunteer. I think it would be awesome to have another health
volunteer to work with her in town. So I wrote up a recommendation
and sent it to the Health Director of PC. I really hope it gets
accepted! I then went to lunch with 6 of my coworkers at one of the
local restaurants. I taught them new English phrases and questions
and they taught me Mongolian ones. It was so much fun and the food
was delicious!
My
English classes this week went really well, I always have a blast
teaching them. This week we reviewed numbers and foods and then had
colors and furniture to the lesson. Next week, I will have them go
around the health department and label all the furnishings so that
whenever they look at them they can read the English word and
associate it with the furniture. I did this in my host family's house
and it really helped me to remember those words. After my class on
Thursday night, I helped my counterpart translate different medical
terms from Mongolian into English. For the longest time, I kept
rereading the same Mongolian word, looking it up in the dictionary,
but could not for the life of me figure out what it meant. The
definition made no sense and I could not find it on the internet
either. And then finally it hit me, their was no equivalent and the
word was and English word spelled out with the Mongolian alphabet.
The word: Proctology. I then had a fun time explaining what this job
was to my counterpart. Hahaha. I knew when I would pronounce the name
that it sounded so familiar. I kept saying “Proktogi”, which is
how it was pronounced using the mongolian alphabet. Then it finally
hit me. After, reading a couple of slides in which that word was, it
completely made sense. Mystery solved. Proctology.
My
counterpart's wife just adores me. She is only two years older than
me and always tells him how she wants to live with me and be my
friend. She is so sweet! Next weekend, I am going to go over to their
house and make cupcakes with her and daughter, thanks the mix and
frosting my parents sent me. Their daughter loves the color pink, so
it is perfect that the frosting is hot pink and I have pink
sprinkles. I think it will be so much fun!
This
week I have also started running every evening. The days are longer
now, so that it is now light until 630pm. So as soon as I get out of
work, I bundle up, put my hiking boots on and go for runs through the
mountain passes. I just love breathing in the crisp air, although I
can only run for about 20 minutes, because I think that my lungs
actually freeze up. It becomes very painful to breathe after that
time period. The one good thing about running in -15F is that
basically your legs are numb to start with, so leg pain and muscle
tightness is not really a problem at all. If only the air wasn't so
cold, I feel like I could run forever! I only slipped once this week
on ice while running which is amazing because I think I slip at last
twice a day walking to and from work. Running on the treadmills at
the fitness center has proved impossible, because everyone crowds
around me to watch me workout, which I do not like. When working out,
I just like to be alone and process my thoughts, which is not
possible when 5 people are trying to speak English or Mongolian to
you and taking pictures while I am sweaty. Not pleasant, so I had to
take it outside, where no one else is.
