8/23/13
I love having site
mates! Every night this week we have made dinner together in Jen's
Ger because she is the only one with an oven, go figure. Both of the
gers that my site mates live in are so pretty inside, I almost find
myself wishing I had one, but then reality hits me, winter in a Ger
is something I am looking forward to never experiencing! I'm okay
with not having to wake up every couple of hours in the night to make
a fire and I'm also okay with not having to bundle up in layers to go
outside to go to the bathroom. I will enjoy visiting my friends' who
live in them. We apartments dwellers, are living the Peace Corps
“Posh Life” (that's what everyone in PC Mongolia calls it, the
majority of PCVs live in gers), although I don't have an oven,
refrigerator or running water, so it is not that much of a step up
from Ger life.
On Tuesday night we
made pasta and “meatballs” (meatballs= sliced ham that comes in a
tube shape), Wednesday night we made homemade Pizza, which turned out
to be not like pizza at all, but resembled more of a taco like dish,
yet, still delicious and then last night we decided we wanted to make
garlic knots and tomato sauce. First we made the dough, and then we
had the genius idea of putting cheese inside the knots (they only
have their version of sliced American cheese here), it was the same
cheese we put on the pizza. We sprinkled garlic, sea salt and pepper
on them and put them in the oven to bake. The oven always causes her
Ger to loose power, apparently the power is too much for the circuit,
so it was a constant game of turning the oven on for 5 minutes, the
power going off, flipping the fuse bag on, turning the oven on and
etc. I think we went through that cycle 6-8 times before they were
finally cooked. Were they the garlic knots we had pictured when we
first got the idea to make them? No, but they still tasted pretty
good even though all the cheese seeped out burned on the pan. Our
tomato sauce turned out to be more of a salsa, but yet again still
pretty tasty. We have come to the conclusion that it is pretty
impossible to make American dishes in Mongolia, so we have lowered
our expectations when cooking. As long as it tastes good it is a
success. Tonight, we have decided to go out to eat at a place called
“Fairfield's Cafe”. It is a restaurant/cafe run by an Australian
couple who is here on a mission trip. They serve lasagna, hummus,
veggie burgers, salads, hamburgers, soups and so many other
“American/Australian” dishes. The past two days I have gone there
for a Machiatto and an oatmeal cookie, a great way to end a day. It
is a little piece of America/Heaven that is only 5 minutes down the
road from me. They also rent out mountain bikes and do laundry for a
small fee! I have really hit the jackpot. I'm planning on having them
wash my clothes once a month, to get them nice and clean, and then
I'll hand wash in between. They also have a really nice guest
house/hostel attached to the cafe, which have showers we can use!
Which I may need to start going to, since I have had no water in my
apartment this whole week. Every time the water is turned on the
pipes flood my bathroom. I have to catch the water from the pipe
before it hits the floor whenever I need water.
Yesterday, my
supervisor came over and took a look at the place and said that I
will probably be moving and that they are going to start to look for
a new place. The maintenance man (who I'm pretty sure is a teenager)
is here right now trying to figure out what is going wrong with all
the pipes, but it doesn't sound promising. Hopefully I will be moved
into a place with a refrigerator! My site mate who lives in the
apartments near me has one. But I've already decided that I will be a
“vegetarian” for the next two years because A) the meat here is
sold in an open market, sitting out all day with flies (makes me
nervous), B) I have no refrigerator to store meat in, C) I do not
know how to cook lamb or goat and I'm afraid I will poison myself. So
because of those three reasons, I will not be eating meat, unless
someone cooks it for me/ I feel like eating it at a restaurant I
trust. I am also giving up bread for the next couple months. I ate
way too much of it during PST. And what I mean by a lot is, a minimum
of 5 pieces a day, on top of the meals that were always rice based. I
will still eat rice, since soon it will be winter and less vegetables
and definitely way less fruit will be available to eat, but the
loaves of bread are not necessary. I really need to learn how to
cook. Another goal for the next two years: be able to cook meals
other than pasta and stir fry.
I am excited to start
working on projects with the Health Department. It is still vacation
time, so nothing is really being done, they are just in-putting their
statistics and getting ready for the next coming months. I have
decided to make a survey/questionnaire about the health situation in
my community this weekend that I will give out to my co-workers. I
will write the first draft and then have my main counterpart check it
over to make sure the Mongolian is correct and then give it out to
everyone on Tuesday or Wednesday. I have a couple questions in mind
that I want to ask them, but since language is still a large
obstacle, I think it will be easier to have them fill out a survey
and then I can translate it into English to find out what their ideas
and opinions are. This will be part one of my Needs Assessment.
Depending on the feedback and number of responses I get back, I want
to then take it to the hospital and family clinics for the staff
their to fill out. This is the easiest way I can think of starting my
Needs Assessment, since I lack the language skills to interview
people and be able to really understand what they are saying without
getting them frustrated or annoyed with me. I am very interested to
see what their responses are! I am also working on my lesson plans to
teach English to my coworkers. I am going to start having English
lessons with them in September.
Tonight, our other
site mate is coming into town. He lives in a soum (small village)
about 2 hours away from the rest of us. Our other soum-er, who is an
M23 (on his 2nd year), I am a M24 (the 24 group of
volunteers to come to Mongolia), is coming in to stay with me
Sunday-Wednesday. He is going to show us around and introduce us to
people. He is also bringing me a pillow from UB. I have been without
a pillow for the last week, they don't sell them here, so I am so
excited to finally be getting one!
One last thing, there
are the biggest flies I have ever seen here. You can actually hear
them flying around, it's crazy. I am on a killing spree with my fly
swatter every morning. I am just thankful I don't have the millions
of big spiders that the Ger dwellers seem to have right now. I can
deal with flies, big spiders are whole different story. Yuck.
8/25/13
Yesterday, our Soum-er
Mike came in to spend the weekend with us. During the day we visited
the active Monastery, which was in session already, so we weren't
able to go in, but we listened to the Monks chant from the outside.
The monastery and its grounds had such a peaceful presence to them.
The chanting was so beautiful. The monastery itself is gorgeous and
surrounded by gold prayer wheels and statues. When you walk around
the monastery or even walk past it, you are supposed to turn all the
prayer wheels as you walk by. I am so interested in learning about
Buddhism, I am going to ask around to find out the schedule of the
Monastery, so I can join in on the services. As a secondary project,
I would love to work the Monastery that is next to my apartment. I
was thinking about doing an English class for the Monks and in return
they could teach me about the Buddhist culture. More and more
tourists are coming to Mongolia, so learning English is very
important to Mongolians. I would also love to help with the monastery
museum. Once I know how much time I will have outside of the Health
Department, I will start to go about setting this project up. After
the monastery, we climbed what seemed like the endless stairs to the
Bulgan Mountain Temple, which houses giant statues of Buddha and
other Buddhist statues. At the top of the stairs is a large Buddha
statue which is surrounded statues of the Chinese zodiac calendar. To
the left of the Buddha is a large bell, which you are supposed to hit
with a rock three times when passing. Then, up a couple more flights
of stairs is the temple. Mongolian people come here to pray and give
offerings. Inside the temple are huge statues, prayer wheels,
incense, artwork and another large bell. When you enter the temple,
you must circle the statues three times in silent prayer. The statues
are stunning. They are painted with bright colors and intricate
details. When I walked into the temple, there was an instant calming
yet uplifting effect. It is hard to describe. Behind the temple is a
large mountain, with its face covered in large rocks. On the rocks
are bright and vivid paintings of Buddha and various other Buddhist
symbols. They can be seen from anywhere in the city.
After, visiting the
Monastery and temple, we all went home for lunch. Lori came over to
my apartment and we attempted to make grilled cheese and tomato soup.
The grilled cheese came out amazing, but the tomato soup
unfortunately did not. We thought we had all the ingredients to make
a nice creamy delicious tomato soup, but instead it came out tasting
like pickled tomato water. We bought a can of tomato paste, milk,
salt and water. We mixed them up in a pot and cooked them. In our
heads, these ingredients were what we needed to make tomato soup. As
it cooked we tasted it several times and it just tasted like we had
squeezed a tomato and were eating the juice from it. So we added more
milk. By the time we were done cooking it, we had added salt, pepper,
pickled vegetable in hope to give it some flavoring. It didn't work,
but we ate it anyways. It wasn't tomato soup, but it wasn't bad. We
are determined to make a proper tomato soup this winter. I think we
just bought bad tomato paste. But I have now looked up a recipe, so
there wont be anymore guessing.
After dinner, we all
met up again at one of the local pubs and then went to Neptune which
is a dance club. At the pub we met up with two men that Will had met
on the bus to Tsetserleg. The one man was from Poland and was
traveling here on holiday. His name was Thomas and he was a
photographer who is currently living in Shanghai. The other was a
man, Reese, had recently moved to Tsetserleg from Kazakhstan. He is
going to college for Public Health and found a job here in the public
health inspection department. Both guys were so interesting to talk
to. I of course had a soft spot for Thomas. Through out the night we
talked about what it was like growing up in Poland and I threw out
the random Polish words I knew, talked about Christmas Eve traditions
and Polish foods. His favorite food is also Pierogies. He told me I
need to try the fruit filled ones. He has such a passion for
photography and art. He went to university in France, where he
studied Art and Photography and now lives in Shanghai where he shoots
music videos, photographs landscapes and fashion. I couldn't believe
that here I was having drinks with a man from Poland, who knew people
with my mom's maiden name (apparently there are a couple famous
actors with the last name Lukasiewicz, pretty cool). I definitely
think that he was sent by my Dziadzi (grandpa) to look over me. It is
way to much of a coincidence! He and Reese were so much fun to dance
with at the club. It was an awesome night!
Today, Will, Reese,
Thomas and I went on a hike. It was beautiful as always. I really
enjoyed talking to Thomas about every where he has traveled, which is
pretty much every country. He leave tomorrow to go back to Shanghai,
but he will be returning in the winter. I admire people like him so
much. He has done so many cool things and gone so many places already
in his life, and he is only 32! I loved hearing about all the
different cultures and countries. I can't wait to do some more
traveling of my own! Reese is awesome to and throughout the hike was
teaching me Kazakh. He is going to be a great person to work with. He
is so passionate about Public Health and is currently working in a
program with doctors from Johns Hopkins University. He wants to go to
Johns Hopkins for his Master's Degree. So do I!
After about 4 hours of
hiking, we were at the bus station picking up the other Mike, who is
staying with me till Wednesday. He lives in a soum about 4 hours away
from us. He is going to show us around the city and introduce us to
his contacts. We all made Tsuivan
at my apartment, which is a noodle dish with vegetables and chicken
steamed with some Mongolian seasonings on it and watched a scary
movie called VHS-2. Super freaky, I recommend it to people who like
sci-fi and scary movies. Each part of the movie was directed by a
different person, it's pretty cool how it is put together.
8/26/13
Today, Reese came to
visit me at work on his lunch break. His English is so good for only
studying it for a little more than two months. He has agreed to help
me with my Mongolian and in return I will help him with English. He
is going to teach me some Kazakh too! So far at work, I have finished
my questionnaire that I am going to give out to my coworkers,
hospital staff and family clinic doctors. I translated 8 questions
into Mongolian, which took me hours, but Reese looked them over and
said they were correct. The questions ask about health concerns, ways
they would like to improve it, what projects are going on now to
combat health issues, and how can I help them reach their goals. I am
hoping it will give me insight into the health community here and
will serve as the beginning part of my needs assessment. I also want
to come up with questionnaires to give to community members and
teachers. I feel a written questionnaire is the best way to go at
this point of my service. My language skills are not good enough to
conduct a proper interview, so having them fill out the
questionnaires and then translating them will be the easiest way now
to get the answers I want. I need to observe the community more.
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