10/09/13
Today was the
Arkhangai Soums Health Centers Summit. A soum is like a
town/district. I live in the Aimag, which is like the capital city of
Arkhangai. So comparing Arkhangai to New York, I would be living in
Albany and the soums are all the other towns like Saratoga, Buffalo,
Syracuse, etc.The 17 soums of
Arkhangai each sent their Governor and then three people who
represented the hospitals/health clinics, a gynecologist,
pediatrician and head of the hospital. At the summit, each soum gave
a presentation on their future health projects and plans and also how
previous implemented projects were going and what they needed in
order to become more successful. The French Ambassador to Mongolia
was there as well as a diplomat from Monaco, who both aid in
supporting many of the project that were discussed at the summit.
They were both incredibly nice and interesting to speak too. I loved
how they called me Mademoiselle when they spoke of me or addressed
me. I love a French accent. When speaking to the French Ambassador
during the tea break, he asked if I was fluent in Mongolian and I
said no, not at all, still trying to learn the language. He then
asked where my translator was and I said that Peace Corps doesn't
give volunteers translators, they really want us to learn the
language. He looked flabbergasted at the idea and told me that he was
amazed and then asked if I understood anything that was being said
during the presentations. I understood some of it, but not enough to
actually be able to talk intellectually about the ideas the health
centers were speaking of. Then tea break was over and we resumed our
seats. During the summit, the French Ambassador spoke, the beginning
of his speech he spoke probably a paragraph in Mongolian. I
understood every word of it. He spoke at just the right speed and
over pronounced the words just like I do. It was great! I then sat
for the next 6 hours with my dictionary trying so hard to pick up on
words I knew and put together sentences in my head. Who knows if they
were right, but I felt good being able to form what I thought were
pretty logical statements that went with the theme of Health Care.
For lunch, they took us all to a local restaurant where we ate salad,
sheep ( I think) and stir fry, had chocolate cake and wine. Then the
second half started and the groups were split up into different rooms
depending on their job title. I was sent with the gynecologists.
There were a couple power point presentations, a couple Mars bars
eaten and then a disagreement (I think, due to their tones and hand
gestures) about the budget. I then helped clean up and the summit was
over. I can not say that I learned much about what was going on in
each soum, but it was nice to be a part of the meeting and see how
they run these types of large meetings. There are some reports from
each soum being translated into English, so I look forward to reading
them and seeing what they were really talking about at the summit.
10/14/13
Friday was my 23rd
Birthday! Everyone at my office kept congratulating me. Literally.
They would come up to me, shake my hand and say congratulations. It
took me a while to catch on, but then I realized they were
congratulating me on my birth. They do not say happy birthday here.
When I first got here, the town was celebrating its 90th
Anniversary and the same thing happened. Everyone I passed on that
day would shake my hand and say congratulations. At that time I had
no idea what they were saying, I had not learned the word for
congratulations, so I went around the whole day wondering what people
were saying to me and why everyone I passed shook my hand and said
the same word. I thought it was maybe a different word for “thank
you” and that everyone was just being so kind and thankful that
day. But now I know and I think its so wonderful that on that day
everyone in town congratulated each other and was so proud to be a
citizen of Tsetserleg. The schools had big celebrations, dances and a
lot of food and drinking to celebrate. It was awesome!
So for my birthday, we
went out to dinner at our favorite local restaurant and Will bought
me carrot cake! It was so delicious! We then went to Lore's Ger to
watch a movie and just relax after the long week we each had. The
weekend was spent at Will's, starting with a pancake breakfast on
Saturday morning and then a day full of celebrating and watching new episodes of The
League, It's Always Sunny and Colbert Report and then out to the local club for some dancing Saturday
night. The club was once again full of dancing Mongolians who
immediately wanted us to dance with them and take pictures with us. I
am truly going to miss feeling like a celebrity when I go back to the
States. Haha. One of our new friends took Lore and I up on stage
where we proceeded to dance and watch with front row seat the dance
battles that played out through out the night. We also made friends
with the DJ who has us help play songs. Soon we were tired and went
back to Will's to sleep. First, spaghetti was made, the internet was
surfed and then we all fell asleep and woke up to it snowing a lot
Sunday morning! Gorgeous snow flakes covered the ground and
mountains! Around 1pm Lore and I went shopping and decided to make
sweet and sour chicken for breakfast/lunch/dinner meal. It turned out
so delicious! Definitely something we will have to make again. It was
a great birthday weekend and I am so lucky to be surrounded by such
great friends and in such a beautiful country!
Sunday afternoon, I
also went to Lore's Ger to help here get water from her well. We said
hello to her hasha parents, who invited us in for some milk tea and
bread. Her parents are so cute and so kind! They also brought out the
“good” candy dish for us, full of milky ways and snickers. They
asked how my apartment was and when I told them how cold it was they
were very concerned and told me to come to their house more often to
get warm. After her hasha mom thought we ate and drank enough we were
allowed to go get water. This was my first time fetching water and I
was so excited. But then the excitement quickly ended and once again
I was reminded how lucky I was to be living in an apartment with
running water, but Lore, by the end of these two years is going to
have amazingly sculpted arms! The 10 minute walk up the hills with
pales of water is no easy task. It was freezing, but you can't grip
the handles of the heavy pales with gloves on, so you are forced to
brave the cold and carry the pales bare handed as freezing water
splashes on you (me more than most, her hasha cousin was a pro at
carrying them!) Also, you must balance on the snow and ice while
climbing up the hill that Lore lives on. By the end my arms felt like
jello and ached. Every time wish I lived in a Ger, and had a hasha
family, these kinds of tasks happen and I am sent back to reality and
am perfectly happy living in my apartment.
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