11/17/2014
This week I have been working with
the Adolescent Center Doctor to come up with a plan for World AIDS Day, which
is December 1. We decided on doing trainings for all the 9-11th
graders at the local schools the week before World AIDS Day and then having a
big awareness celebration on the 1st. There will be a volleyball
competition at the Sports’ Center, in which school students will play against
each other. The Health Department will be there wearing condom costumes and
handing out pamphlets to students and their family members. The posters that
the children made during the training will also be hung up on the walls in the
hallways for the community to look at during the competition. At the end there
will be a big parade, all the students were told to wear red and each decorated
a red paper ribbon to wear during the parade. Unfortunately, I will not be
there to help with the trainings, since I will be in UB training the new PCVs.
My sister made this wonderful list
on her blog, called a Nectar List. The idea surrounding the Nectar List, is to
make a list of important/exciting things you have already accomplished in your
life. Everyone is constantly wishing they could do more things, travel more,
etc, making bucket lists. But it is just important to look back and be happy
with the small things you have already accomplished in your life.
Here is my current and
growing Nectar List:
1.
I’ve watched the fireworks in the
United States, Mongolia and Greece. Each and every time I am mesmerized by
their beauty against the dark skies.
2.
I’ve cheesily danced around a field
with my Mongolian friends wearing a traditional Mongolian Deel at 3am.
3.
I’ve cried from happiness when I
finally ate a fruit salad in Greece, after spending nearly a year and half
without fruits.
4.
I was on a Division 1 Rowing Team in
College.
5.
I’ve been serenaded by a Mongolian
Pop Group in the middle of their concert.
6.
I’ve taken many showers with
baby wipes and bowl of water.
7.
I’ve shot-gunned beers in the showers
of my college dorm with friends.
8.
I’ve watched the sunset over the
ocean while riding a ferry boat in Greece.
9.
I’ve gone kayaking in the lakes and
rivers of upstate New York.
10. I have mastered countless raps breaking any “white girl”
stereotype (not to brag but some include Kanye and Jay-Z’s Ns in Paris, all
Nicki Minaj songs and Busta Rhymes verse in “Look At Me Now”).
11. I have danced on bars and jumped into the arms of my amazing
friends in numerous Buffalo clubs.
12. I am 1 of the 7000
people chosen each year to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. (over 23,000 apply each
year)
13. I can speak Mongolian and read the Cyrillic alphabet.
14. While in Mongolia, I lost my uncle, being thousands of miles
away from family, I was able to grieve, cope and learn just how strong I am.
This is something that I could never have imagined doing before.
15. I hiked a volcano in Greece and jumped off a boat in the
middle of the ocean to swim to the hot springs near it.
16. I figured out how to navigate and use public transportation
in foreign countries without speaking the language.
17. I was able to hold my Dziadzi’s hand and talk to him the last
minutes of his life. This day had a profound impact on my entire life. It was
the strength and courage he showed in his last hours that I will never forget.
I try to emulate him every day. I also got to see just how strong and amazing
my Nana is.
18. I’ve smashed plates and danced in the streets of Athens with
my best friend and waiters we met that night.
19. I held a real hunting eagle outside of a Buddhist Temple.
20. I’ve watched a Shaman in the woods preform a ritual.
21. I successfully navigated me way from one side of the world
to the other by myself through 4 lay overs in different time zones.
22. I was told I was trying too hard by a man in a plaid shirt,
at an emo punk rock concert, when I dressed in a skull dress and converse
sneakers. I had the time of my life at that concert.
23. I know what it’s like to dance on top of a roof in the snow
without shoes on with great friends.
24. My daddy taught me how to shoot a shot gun and I have gone to the shooting range a few times with him to practice.
25. I was lucky enough to be taught how to play the clarinet and piano by my Dziadzi (grandfather in Polish) and how to sing and act by my nana.
11/23/2014
I took the GRE yesterday in
Ulaanbaatar. I did so well, a huge improvement from the time I took it back in
the States, which I am super happy about. The day started off a little iffy. I
arrived at the university it was being held at an hour early, to make sure I
could find the room and get situated before it began. I walked into the main
building where it was supposed to be and asked the guard at the front desk
where the test was. He had no idea. I then began asking students if they knew
where the “English College Test” was being held, since none of them new what
the GRE was. As I was wandering the building, a woman from Turkey ran up to me
and asked if I was there to take the GRE too. We began to search for the
testing room. After exhausting all the options people in the halls, we found a
janitor who told us where it was. We ran up four flights of stairs, at this
point we had about 20 minutes till the test was about to begin. We went to the
room, to find out that was the location for an English seminar, not the GRE,
but they told us go to the library, the test was on the 6th floor. So
we left for the library, hiked up the 6 flights of stairs to be told once again
it was not there. At this time we both began to get a bit paniky, she more so
that I. I knew that I was in Mongolia, and more than likely the test would not
even start on time. It was ten minutes past the time, when we finally were
directed to the right room to take the test. We were both drenched in sweat,
quickly filling out the forms. Luckily, we were able to start the test late,
without a time penalty.
11/26/2014
I met
with a recent graduate of the UAlbany PhD program for Public Health last night.
I have been in contact with several UAlbany staff, professors and admissions
officers for the school of Public Health. One of them told me that there was a
recent graduate and a professor working in Ulaanbaatar, doing Environmental
Health Research and that I should contact them to meet. I had dinner with one
of them last night at her apartment. It was so wonderful to hear about her
positive experience at UAlbany and to hear about her interesting work she is
doing in Mongolia. Her research is focused on lead poisoning in children here.
What are the odds of UAlbany graduates being in Mongolia, conducting research
while I am here? It is so awesome. I
officially submitted my applications to all the schools today. So hopefully I
will hear back soon!
12/9/20144
I
celebrated Thanksgiving surrounded by 15 fellow PCVs. The American Embassy
donated a bunch of food to us, Turkey, side dishes and desserts. It was all so
delicious and it was so nice to just be with friends for the evening. Several
Mongolian counterparts came as well, we each took turns describing how we
celebrate Thanksgiving with our families in America and shared the tradition of
saying what you are thankful for before eating dinner. This year, more so than
last year, was really emotional. I think that we all miss our families so much
, but at the same time we realized that this was going to be our last
Thanksgiving in Mongolia as well. Each volunteer said some variation of being
thankful for the Peace Corps and how it has transformed our lives, at that
moment, reality hit that we are 8 months away from being done with our service
and for some, never seeing Mongolia again. It is the weirdest feeling being so
homesick for America, yet dreading the day we have leave Mongolia. The night
was so much fun.
What
I am thankful for:
1)
The Peace
Corps: It has given me a once in a lifetime opportunity to grow as a person
and really has helped me to be thankful for the life I had back at home.
2)
Friends
and Family: American and Mongolian. I am so blessed to have such supportive,
accepting and loving people in my life. I am so lucky to have found a second
family in Mongolia.
3)
Clean Air,
Water and Heat: Living in Mongolia
has opened my eyes to the troubles of the developing world. In the winter the
air pollution is bad here, that people wear masks and trying to run outside is
impossible. You can taste the coal as you breathe. I am never going to take
clean water and air for granted again. Heat. You don’t know what real cold is
until you can’t remember what warm feels like. This is 8 months out of a year
in Mongolia. As I write this now, it is -30F outside and the radiators here
cannot keep up with that. Apartments are freezing and painful. At this point,
My body is in a constant state of shivering. I no longer remember what being
warm feels like.
4)
My Health
and Body: I will never again complain about my body. I am grateful to have
a body that allows me to go for runs, hikes and play sports. A lot of the time
we are told that our bodies need to be changed in some way, but after living in
Mongolia, where everyone is so accepting of all types of bodies, and just happy
with the body they have, it makes me never want to “hate/shame” my own body. It
is capable of wonderful things and it is healthy, what more could I ask for.
5)
Mongolia:
The country has changed me in ways I never have imagined. The people here have
made me a better person and I will be forever grateful for this. I can only
hope that I make a fraction of the impact they have made on me on them.
I love
being in UB and enjoying everything the city has to offer. Everyone who was in
town for Thanksgiving and IST went out for dinner at the Indian Restaurant and
then we did a mini pub crawl the day after Thanksgiving. Another amazing night
that ended in drinking Long Beach Ice Teas (like a long island ice tea, but
with sprite and blue coloring instead of coke) on top of the Blue Sky building,
overlooking the city.
From
November 25-28, I had prep for IST. Sarah (the other health trainer and I) met
with Zorigoo (director of the Health Sector) to develop our plans for the next
week. Each day we met at 9am and worked until 7pm. Because we have the best
Post staff ever, each morning we were greeted with bagels, cream cheese!! and
real coffee. For lunch, we had peanut butter sandwiches and yogurt, and for
dinner they took turns making pies for us to eat. It was amazing. All the food
we had been craving. Although the days were long and spent sitting in the
office, we had so much fun coming up with the lessons and activities. I really
got to know the PC staff even more and realized how amazing each one of them
really is. I have a whole new respect for the staff. They are so hard working
and determined to make the Mongolia Post one of the strongest posts in Peace
Corps.
December
1-6 was IST (In-Service Training) for the new volunteers. There are ten new
health volunteers this year, each one of them came with a counterpart. So
Sarah, Zorigoo and I trained them on topics such as Behavior Change Models,
Needs Assessments, Action Plans and Monitoring and Evaluation of Health
Projects. The purpose of IST was to have them practice going through all the
steps of developing a project with their CP and at the end having a developed
idea and plan they can bring back to site to start working on. The sessions
went great and I had a fabulous time facilitating them, but the real fun was
after sessions were over. The community youth development volunteers had their
IST with the Health volunteers. So we were all in the same hotel for the week.
My friend Hannah and I shared a room, which ended up being a penthouse suite;
complete with two large tvs (which got American TV channels) and a huge
bathtub. One of the nights we dedicated to Spa night, we took turns taking a
bath, then did face masks and drank champagne in the coziest white robes ever.
The next night all of us trainers curled up in our king size bed and watched E!
news and Kourtney and Khloe take the Hamptons. Oh how I have missed trashy tv.
Another night, we turned the other trainers’ room into a giant blanket fort and
projected a movie onto one of the sheets. The last night, we celebrated by
drinking champagne again and playing bananagrams. It was so much fun being able to hang out
with my fellow M24 volunteers, but it was also great staying up late chatting
with the new M25 volunteers and hearing all about their experiences. The food
at the hotel was delicious; the breakfast buffet was the highlight of the week.
I ate breakfast sandwiches every morning. One morning they even had smoked
salmon to put on them!
What
really made the week was the relationship I built with the Health Director
Zorigoo. Sarah, Zorigoo and I spent every day together and it was just the
best. Zorigoo is one of the funniest people I have ever met in my life. She is
so sassy and hilarious, yet takes her job so seriously. She is amazing. A one
of a kind person who the Peace Corps is so lucky to have working for them. It
is people like her that are going to change Mongolia for the better.
Right
before I left for IST, I found five kittens outside of my apartment door. I
took two in. One for me and one for my site mate. They are the most adorable
fur babies ever. So tiny and furry. It is so much fun to watch them play
together and they are amazing cuddle buddies. My kitten is named Fitzgerald,
Fitz for short (named after my favorite author and the hunky president in the
show Scandal) and my site mate’s kitten is name Huckleberry, aka: Huck. I put a
box and a blanket for other three kittens in my hallway and my neighbor was
feeding them, but unfortunately, the cold was too much for them. Sadly, they
all passed away, but I am so glad that I was able to save two of them. There
was a point when I thought I should just adopt them all but then I sat in my
apartment and realized it would be absolutely ridiculous to have five cats in
my tiny one room apartment. I wish I had room for them all!
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