Saturday, May 16, 2015

Last Post from Mongolia



5/16/2015
"And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future."

On Thursday, I rang out my service with Peace Corps. Ringing out is a tradition in many Peace Corps countries, where the leaving PCVs ring a special bell. The bell alerts all the staff that a PCV is done with their service and they all stop what they are doing, come out of their offices and clap and cheer for you. They all then came up to me and gave me hugs and thanked me for my service. It was really emotional and I was so lucky to have some of my closest friends drive into the city to watch me ring out. It was an amazing experience and really caused me to reflect back on my service.

What first comes to my mind when I think about my service in Mongolia, is the relationships I have built. I think of my beautiful host sisters and brother – I imagine there hands touching my face and hair when they first met me, trying to figure out why I was so different from them, the little taps of their fingers on my door and their soft voices telling me it was time to eat breakfast, their giggles, the millions of times they told me they loved me and the afternoons where I would walk home from classes and they would be waiting at the gate yelling my name and jumping up and down, so excited that I was home once again. I think about my counterpart, who shares a piece of my soul and is a better person than I’ll ever be. I think of going out to the real countryside with my amazing Mongolian friend and experiencing true nomadic life. I think of the Volunteer community, Volunteers who connect with me on an entirely different, somewhat disgusting, unique plane of shared experience than anyone else ever could. It gave me a new group of close friends both throughout the United States and Mongolia.  I think of the love I felt from Peace Corps staff and the understanding of the Peace Corps doctors that took care of me physically and emotionally.

 I have gained far more than I ever sacrificed. As proof of this, on Friday, the new staff that I had been working with at the Traditional Medical Center, took me out for a delicious lunch and gave me presents. I had only worked with them for two weeks, but here they were taking time out of their day to spend with me. The doctors I worked with for just two weeks, gave speeches and said how grateful they were to have me. At the end they said I was an angel who blessed their work and that God put me here on this earth to touch the lives of others and they were so grateful for it. Wow. I was speechless.  The director gave me a card which she wrote “Thank you for all your faithful, hard work for our researchers and doctors. We learned many new things including what it is like to have a wonderful teacher. From the bottom of our hearts thank you for you warmhearted, helpful, great job with your beautiful smile.” I have never been so touched in my life. I hope that I can bring back this sense of gratitude for the small things people do and to always remember to thank people no matter how big the deed is. I think that in America we forget to truly thank people, for just being in our lives and it is something that I hope to never stop practicing.

My Peace Corps experience has changed the way in which I view the world and my role in it. It changed what I care about. It changed how I approach my relationship with myself, with others and ultimately how I approach every individual I meet. It changed how I will, one day, raise my children and what values I will try to instill in them. It taught me what I am capable of, alone and in a group.  Peace Corps taught me why the “teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for life” saying is so obviously accurate. It taught me to build upon assets rather than dwell upon deficits to create positive change. 

                     “Being able to touch someone’s day and go home knowing you did something
                      for this world. This is what life is about because your life could end in the next
                      hour and these are the things you will have cherished.”

I experienced days and weeks where it seemed like nothing mattered. There were times where I no longer wanted to try and thought of going home. Those days would flip into moments where every single thing had a purpose and the smallest act brought tears to my eyes. This experience has made me be so grateful that by chance of birth, I was born in a country where people have fought so that I and everyone else can enjoy social safety nets, to help people from following below a certain poverty line. By chance of birth, I’m from a country that, despite its deep and many flaws, seeks to protect its most vulnerable, even if it doesn’t always manage it. By chance of birth, I’m from a country whose citizens have the ability to voice their grievances to a government elected by the people. A country that is by no means perfect, but has the potential to be so, if only we work harder, work together, care about each other more. By chance of birth, I am American, and that is a privilege, it is luck. My Peace Corps service has been difficult and at times I hated it, but ultimately I am the lucky one for having the opportunity to live in Mongolia. **

 “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ― Margaret Mead

Thursday, May 7, 2015

COS and my new job



5/5/2015
We just had our COS (Close of Service) conference. This is a time where Peace Corps brings in all the COSing  PC volunteers (volunteers who are finishing their service this summer) for one last seminar. The COS conference’s purpose is to equip us with tools and ideas to use when we go back to the US. Basically, how to readjust to life in the US. The session topics included: Readjustment, Job Search, Resume writing, Non-Competitive Eligibility for state jobs, elevator pitches, reminiscing on the past two years, how to say goodbye to Mongolian friends and what it means to be an RPCV (returned Peace Corps Volunteer). Peace Corps bought in a few RPCVs who live and work in Mongolia still to talk to us about life after PC. It was really interesting to see how their lives were changed by PC and how being an RPCV really helped them with jobs. We also had our physicals, which included giving two stool samples (this was the topic of conversation every night, techniques, successful attempts, failures, etc.). Gross but true. Living in Mongolia for two years and all modesty and manners go out the door. Who am I?

Throughout the whole conference, I was a mess, crying in almost every session (luckily I was not the only one). Since I am early COSing, it really hit home to me. I will be leaving this country in 2 weeks. The other volunteers have three months left. It is scary to have to readjust back to life in the US, but  I am so happy that I am moving back to the capital district and will be so close to my family. We heard from many RPCVs that adjusting to life back in the US is just as hard as it was adjusting to live in Mongolia when we first arrived. We have lived in Mongolia for two year and it has had profound impacts on all of us. In my director words "You're not going to be the same person when you leave Peace Corps as you are when you come in." A lot of them talked about how overwhelming the first couple months are in America. You have to really readjust to American life, which is so different from Mongolian life. There are a lot of changes to deal with when serving in the Peace Corps. “During the first 2-3 months volunteers go through pre-service training. This training includes meeting all of the other volunteers, living with a host family, going to school 8 hours a day, trying to learn a new language and adjusting to someone else making the schedule. Volunteers often get homesick for a myriad of reasons. After training, volunteers leave their new friends to be alone. They have to adjust to a completely different job, house, village, a regional culture, making new friends and missing everyone back home. Towards the end of service there are more worries about what's next, adjusting back to life in America and leaving the place you lived in for 2 years.” We have formed strong bonds with our Mongolian friends and fellow volunteers which makes it really hard to say goodbye. I think that is the hardest part for me is that these people have become my family, they are the only ones that truly understand this experience and not having them around all the time is going to be tough. Luckily, we have a Facebook group, so we can all stay in touch after service.
                             “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see 
                              the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people
                              there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not
                              the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett
I am really excited to be returning back to the capital district. Upon graduation of high school, I moved out to Buffalo, in Western New York and lived there for the 5 years before moving to Mongolia for 2 years. I can’t believe that it has been almost 7 years that I have lived away from the Saratoga Springs area and I am really looking forward to moving back there.  I have found a new appreciation for home and cannot wait to spend summer in the Adirondacks once again, as wells as fall, winter and spring. J We shall see how long the love affair lasts.

The last day of our conference, we had a ceremony, where our country director awarded us with our completion of service certificates. Another tearful moment. Watching the other 24 volunteers receive their certificates and receiving one myself made it so surreal. How could 2 years have already gone by?  We were all so proud of one another. It was a long hard road, but we made it. Out of the about 50 volunteers we arrived in country with, 24 of us were left. 24 of us had made it through 2 years in subzero temperatures. We did it. It was and is such a tremendous feeling.

The days after COS were filled bar after bar and party after party after party. It was the last time we were going to be all together, so we were determined to make the best of it. One night we all got together to watch a slide show of pictures of us over the past two years. It was humorous to watch how much we had all changed in the two years. Two volunteers were in charge of giving out superlatives to each volunteer. They were hilarious and it was in the form of a roast. Just making fun of each other and laughing hysterically. My superlative was “most likely to be found watching a reality tv show while solving 8 logarithms at the same time.” I like it, it gives praise to my intellect while also giving nod to my love of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Dance Moms, Married at First Sight, Duck Dynasty and other reality shows I habitually watch.  Other peoples were “most likely to seduce their students with their cleavage” “most likely to be kicked out of PC Mongolia, etc.  

Following COS conference, I started my new job at the Traditional Medicine Institute and Research Center. It is so cool. I am helping them translate their abstracts and research papers into English. In the next couple of months they will travel to China for an international symposium on Traditional Medicine. I am also teaching 3 hours of English lessons every day and conducting CPR trainings for the Traditional Medical Hospital. I am really enjoying it. The first day my new counterpart, who used to work for PC, gave me a tour of all their facilities and brought me into rooms to watch the traditional Tibetan medical procedures. I was able to see different massages, acupuncture, suction cupping, raking, mud wraps, as well as tour their research facility where they make all the drugs from the different medicinal plants. I also took a trip to their greenhouse to see how the plants are grown and cultivated. It is so interesting, I am so happy to have this opportunity to see the more holistic traditional medical practices that take place in Mongolia. Perks of my job: midafternoon Acupuncture and massages. HEAVEN. This is the perfect way to end my service.  I am hoping to try cupping before I leave, it is the practice of suctioning hot mason jars to areas of the body (usually the back) to “restore healthy blood flow” and treat many kinds of ailments. Although, I am going to do some research, because it leaves huge bruises/dark marks on body for days. I need to see if there are any problems with suctioning your skin like that for about 20 minutes. I do not want to cause a blood clot or permanent scarring. But here in Mongolia, they swear by it and it would be a pretty cool thing to experience. 

Life in UB is so much fun. There are so many things to do here. I am no longer going to bed at 8pm because I am bored and trying to pass time. I have been up till at least midnight every night, hanging out with friends. I was afraid that I was becoming a socially inept lazy troll who never left her apartment. Luckily, it was just because I was in a small town with nothing to do during the winter. I feel alive and rejuvenated living in the city! Now that I am getting ready to leave Mongolia, I now find humor in this list that a former PCV made. It is called the summer challenge and it is for Americans at home to try to give you a little taste of what it is like to be a volunteer in Mongolia.
The time frame of this challenge is one week. Some of the challenges will only happen once during that time, though you can repeat if it’s something you’d do more often. Others are activities that take place over the entire week. These are marked with a 1W.
Point values are assigned to each challenge item, depending on the difficulty. For 1W items, you may only get the points if you do the item for an entire week.…
The Challenge: Summer
1.    Do not use your personal vehicle. Options allowed: hitching rides from others, bicycle, public transportation, or by foot. 5 points per day
2.    1W Do not leave your house after 9 pm unless you will be staying at a friend’s house for the night. 10 points
3.    Spend an entire evening after dark (minimum 5 hours) without electricity. Flashlights are allowed, but candles are preferred. 15 points per day
4.    1W Spend no more than $3.00 USD per day.  15 points
5.    1WOnly watch TV channels in a language that you are not fluent in. However, you are allowed to watch any previously downloaded TV shows or movies that are already on your computer – in any language you prefer. 20 points
6.    1W Do not use the internet on weekends. 20 points
7.    1W When you have to go to the bathroom, first go outside of your house/workplace and close the door, then walk back inside. Then you may go to the bathroom. If you really want the authentic experience you must go to the bathroom outside. 30 points
8.    1W Only use water from a bucket i.e. fill the bucket from a tap and only use water from the bucket. You may refill the bucket as many times as you like. 40 points per day you do not use your indoor tap (you may wash your dishes directly in the outdoor tap)
9.    Do not shower for the full week. You may only bucket bath (fill a pot and use a ladle to pour water over body, heat water on the stove and crouch over a large pot, pouring water over your body.) or use wet wipes. 100 points total if you go the entire week 5 points per bucket bath/cold shower
10. Wash an entire load of laundry by hand and let the clothes hang dry. 20 points for wash; additional 5 points for dry
11. 1WYour only food options are the following: 40 points (50 points if you do the vodka shots)
1.    You’re in luck…I live in a large town and luckily have access to a lot more variety than my fellow volunteers, but even I have my limitations…
2.    Your only veggie options are carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, onions and potatoes.
3.    Your only fruit options are brown bananas, oranges and apples.
4.    You may only supplement them with white rice, pasta or bread.
5.    The only dairy products you are allowed to have are milk and yogurt (must be at least a week expired).
6.    The only canned foods you are allowed to eat are pickled vegetables, canned peas or stewed tomatoes.
7.    You can only eat sheep, beef or horse meat (can only be fried).
8.    But you can eat all the eggs you want.
9.    The only spices you can use are salt, pepper and garlic.
10. No condiments other than soy sauce.
11. The only kind of alcohol you can have is the cheapest vodka. (Whenever visiting a friends home for the first time or for any type of party/celebration you must take 3 customary shots in a row. You can only chase with a piece of meat or a pickle.)
12. 1W Your only drink options are the following: bottled water, Coke, Sprite, orange soda, tea, and coffee. You may have a glass of juice once every other day; it’s all you can afford. All must be room temperature and flat. 20 points
13. 1W You may not use your oven (stove top is okay), microwave, nor your dishwasher. 20 points
14. 1W Do not open your refrigerator. How to survive: store foods/leftovers in a pot or container on the counter. Be sure to reheat thoroughly each time you eat (on your stove). 30 points
15.  Only cleaning floors in house (including those carpeted) with a washcloth or broom. No vacuums or mops here 10 points

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Trip to the Gobi Desert.



5/4/2015

“New experiences are the reason we live. They are the reason we get up every day, the reason we carry on. While we enjoy comfort, we crave experience. The point of living is not to resign yourself to one part of life, but to continually redefine yourself. It’s to baptize yourself, over and over again, in new waters and new experiences.” - RPCV

A lot has happened since the last time I update my blog. Late April, I went to the Gobi Desert.
It was an amazing trip with 4 of my closest friends here. Our first stop was to visit two PC volunteers who live there, we all got dinner and hung out in their gers for the night. We woke up early the following morning, to hop into a big SUV and start our Gobi Adventure. The first day, we drove to the eternally frozen river. On our way there we stopped at the driver’s parents’ home for lunch. They were adorable and showed us around their land. There was a whole litter of puppies who had just been born, and surprisingly the mama dog had no issues with us picking up the babies and snuggling them. After our cuddle fest with the puppies we went back into their home to do the customary three shots of vodka, snuff and eat soup. I was happy to see that our driver did not do all three shots before heading out. 

The eternally frozen river was amazing. Here we are in the Gobi Desert, although still chilly because it is April, and there is a giant frozen river. We walked down the river on the ice for a couple hours. The huge rock mountains surrounded us and made the river even more mesmerizing to look at. You could hear the water running beneath us. The ice had formed a pocket over the water, so it appeared as though it was all frozen, but it was not. There were a few feet of frozen water on top of running water. When you looked into the ice you could see that water rushing underneath. It was so neat. After taking numerous pictures, including posing with a giant dead yak, we headed back to the car to go to the next site. 

As we drove, we passed herds of camels and even passed wild long horn sheep and gazelles! It was so cool! A few hours later we arrived at the ger we were going to be staying at. We decided to rent out a ger from a nomadic family instead of staying at a tourist ger camp. The family was so accommodating and cooked us dinner and provided us with tea in the morning. We all ventured out to explore the desert around us for a few hours and then hopped back into the car to go to the Flaming Cliffs. The Flaming Cliffs are like a miniature Grand Canyon made out of red packed sand. We hiked to the top of them and were amazed by the view of the other cliffs and the miles and miles of desert beneath us. Once the sun began to set, we went back down the cliffs to watch the sun set on the cliffs. This is where they get their name from. As the sun sets, the cliffs begin to glow and become a deep red-orange color. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. We then went back to our ger. When we got back we realized the family we were staying with were camel herders!! There were at least 25 camels in front of our ger. We walked around taking pictures with and petting the camels. The baby camels were adorable.

After sleeping in the cold ger that night, we woke up early once again and drove 5 hours (off roading) to the sand dunes! The sand dunes were gigantic! There was the most gorgeous view was we drove along the dunes. There were these huge gigantic sand dunes, behind them giant snowcapped rock mountains! The contrast was insane. We drove to the tallest dune and began the treacherous hike up it. As step you took, the sand moved and caused you to go back a few steps. It was so steep. My friend Laura and I came up with a plan. We would take 15 steps up the dune and then break for a couple minutes. It was like the hardest stair master workout in the world. Our legs were burning and at times the sand created like a mini avalanche that would cause us to go backwards or not move at all. We would take step after step and still be in the same place. It was hilarious and hard. We also tried the tactic of crawling up the dune on all fours. This did not last long, but did give our legs a break. We finally made it to the top and once again we were hit with the beauty of Mongolia. Miles and miles of tall sand dunes. I am used to the beauty of the mountains and rivers in Mongolia, this was the first time I was seeing the Gobi desert and all its beauty. And my god was it gorgeous. We stayed at the top chatting with all the other volunteers who made it to the top. Our conversation: how would Peace Corps rescue us if we fell off the other side. We were sitting precariously on the tip of the dune. Just enough for our butts to sit while I feet hung off the other side. One bad move and we would be sent down the other side. It took us a few hours to get up, and I don’t think our legs could do it again. We wondered if they would have to helicopter us out, because surely a jeep could not drive up and the sand. We decided not to find out and to go back down to the car. This was the fun part. We slid, surfed and ran down the dunes, with small avalanches of sand rushing down behind us. It was SO much fun. We made it to the car, sweaty and covered in sand. We all could not wait to take a baby wipe shower. The entire trip we had no way of bathing, so we relied on wiping our bodies down with baby wipes each night. 

We headed back to our friend’s ger once again, sunburned and exhausted. We stopped many times on the road to take pictures and to stretch our legs. Once we got back into town, we went back to our friend’s ger and low and behold, he had prepared camel meat burritos for us! They were delicious! We ate the burritos and reminisced about the 4 amazing days we spent trekking through the Gobi Desert. What an amazing trip it was!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

My Goodbye Party and the First Lady is going to know about my work!



4/11/2015

18 hours in Arkhangai. I took the 9 hour drive to Arkhangai with a Peace Corps driver to say goodbye to my counterparts and to pack up my apartment. At 1030 am I received a test from my counterpart, saying that Peace Corps just met with them and told them that my work at the Health Department was finished. I quickly texted him back, yes it was true and I am on my way back to Tsetserleg to say goodbye. As soon as the car pulled into Tsetserleg, I power walked over to my Health Department, making sure I would get there before everyone left. At 4:15pm I was in my office in the arms of my counterpart and best friend, crying. He was hugging me and telling me not to cry because it was making him cry. I couldn’t stop the tears, so there we both stood crying and staring at each other, willing ourselves to stop. I knew it was going to be hard, but I had no idea that the minute I tried to speak, I wouldn’t be able to. Every time I looked up to say something to him, my eyes filled up. He told me that he was going to arrange for all the doctors to go to the meeting room, so I could tell them all that I would be leaving the next morning and no longer working at the Health Department. 

While he gathered the other doctors, I went up to see the HD Director. I walked into her room and tried to make small chat and not address the fact that I was leaving, but once again in the middle of a sentence I started crying and then she did. Her assistant gave us tissues and we just sat there holding hands crying. She kept telling me that she loved me and things were going to be okay. I kept thanking her for allowing me to be a part of her work and for sharing her amazing village with me. Once we composed ourselves, the other doctors came into the room. I was sitting at the head of the meeting table, eyes swollen, with all the doctors staring at me. They had no idea that I was not coming back. The whole car ride from UB I had been preparing a speech in my head that I would say to them, to let them know how much they meant to me. But at that moment, sitting in front of them, all I could say was “ Today will be my last day working at the HD because of safety problems. Thank you so much. Thank you for being such amazing friends and for being so kind to me. You are all so amazing and I had so much fun working with you.” Then the tears came again and I couldn’t speak, so I just blew them a kiss and said I love you. They all then laughed and blew me a kiss back and thanked me for all my work and asked if they could all take me out to dinner that night. So I went back to my apartment to finish packing and then headed over to a local restaurant for dinner.

Every single doctor showed up to my dinner. I have never felt so much love in my life. They gave me beautiful gifts and my counterpart and another HD doctor sang to me. The name of the song roughly translates to “The most beautiful woman in Mongolia”. After they sang, my coworkers chanted my name and asked me to sing a Mongolian song to them. I only know one and was still crying from watching my counterpart sing to me, so I asked him to sing with me. I sang the opening line and then all the other doctors chimed in and began singing. Which of course made me lose it, here I am standing at the head of the table, looking at all these beautiful faces of people who became my family singing to me. We sat and chatted and ate for a few hours. At the end of the night, I took pictures with everyone and all my close doctor friends said how much they are going to miss me and how sad they were. I told them that if they are in UB in the next few months to call me, so we can meet up. I will be here until at least May 3. My counterpart already called me and told me that he and his wife will be coming to UB at the end of April to see me. I can not wait.

The next morning, it was time for me to hop back in the car and drive back to UB. My counterpart showed up at my door in the morning with a gift from his 6 year old daughter. She had drawn me a picture of her family, which included me. Above the drawing she wrote “I love you.” Ariuk had is beautifully framed for me. The best gift I could have received.  Peace Corps came and picked me up in the car and off we were, on the road again. The Peace Corps drivers are amazing and my country director also was in the car with us. We ended up stopping a lot to see different landmarks and monasteries. We stopped at the large lake in my province and at a special Monastery, that used to be the capital of Mongolia. Here we went inside and the monks said a blessing for us and gave us gifts. It was so wonderful. I love listening to the groups of monks chanting, the ringing of the bells and the smell of the incense. It is so peaceful.

The driver was such a funny man. He loves to talk about fishing, hunting and drinking. He was cracking us up so badly the entire way. At one point, he could not think of an English word he wanted to say, so he kept giving me examples, but for the life of me, I could not come up with the word. He just looked over at me and said “You are American, how do you not know the word?”. I busted out laughing. Finally after about 200km of driving, the word came to me. “Believe” I shouted it out and he laughed. Throughout the next couple hours he kept using it in sentences to help himself memorize it. We talked a lot about Shamanism and how it has changed over the years in Mongolia. In the capital many people are saying that they are Shamans in order to make money from desperate families with sick children or tourists who don’t know any better. It was really interesting to hear his point of view on the matter.

4/15/2015

This week I have been working at the Peace Corps office, helping staff with their work. Mostly, jazzing up power points they made for my groups Close of Service (COS) conference and writing post cards, welcoming the newly accepted volunteers who will arrive in Mongolia in the beginning of June. I have met with several of the staff and at this point it seems like they are leaning towards early COS-ing me, but we are waiting for the regional manager to get back to the office and to hear from head quarters. The most important thing is that I am here long enough for it to be considered a full service, so that I do not loose my fellowship for grad school. I should know what is happening within the next two weeks. 

A pretty cool thing happened to me today... I was interviewed by my country director about a domestic violence project I have been working on with my counterpart. Michelle Obama teamed up with Peace Corps on a project called "Let Girls Learn".  It is being implemented in 11 countries, Mongolia being one of them. Although female attendance in schools is not a problem in Mongolia, finding jobs and domestic violence is a huge problem for girls in the country. Every week the country director from each of the 11 countries with the program must directly send the First Lady one story of a volunteer and counterpart working towards the betterment of women in their host countries. My country director chose my story to be sent to the White House. This means that Michelle Obama herself will be reading about me and my counterpart and the work we have done in our community!! So cool.

Sunday I leave for the Gobi Desert with some friends. We will be traveling by bus down to the Gobi and then stay in gers with nomadic families and tour the Gobi on camels. I am so excited!