The exploits and escapades of a PCV serving in Mongolia as a TEFL volunteer.
May 2014-August 2016
The views expressed on this blog do not reflect the opinion of the US Peace Corps or the United States Government.
Teacher’s Day in the Countryside
Teacher’s Day- an opportunity for teachers to celebrate with their coworkers, eat all of the Mongolian food, and drink a lot of vodka. This year, our school decided to celebrate in the countryside, at a “picnic area” about 10 km outside of town. It was a beautiful fall day and a horhog by the river sounded perfect.
Horhog is traditional Mongolian barbecue- in a manner of speaking. They gather stones from the river, heat them up, and place them inside a container along with some vegetables and a goat or a sheep, seal the container, and cook it over the fire for a few hours. The result? Really tasty slow cooked meat. The only downside is it’s usually served with one knife for a large group of people, and no silverware- everyone just digs in! So it can get a little greasy at times. Still my favorite Mongolian meal by far.
We had a fantastic day- we played volleyball (I mostly watched once they realized my height did not mean I was a natural athlete), took pictures by the river, played cards, ate, and drank. It was a great opportunity for me to chat with some of my non-English teachers. I realized that my Mongolian has improved significantly over Teacher’s Day last year and I was able to have a lot of conversations.
My favorite moment of the day was meeting my music teacher’s mother (seen below in the blue/ green deel). She came over to me and asked (in English), “Hi! How are you?” We talked for over an hour (in English and Mongolian) about how she was studying to learn English because (in her words) she wasn’t getting any younger, so why not? It was such a refreshing attitude, to see an adult so passionate about learning and so eager to practice English. I really enjoyed our time together and hope to visit her again soon- I was honestly so caught up in our conversation, that I never realized we hadn’t introduced ourselves! I guess that will be next time :)
Nine hours later, I returned to my ger; exhausted, stuffed, and a little tipsy (a normal post- Mongolian celebration list of feelings). As I often feel after attending gatherings with my school, I felt very thankful that I was placed in such a tight knit community of workers- we really are a family!
Happy (belated) Teacher’s Day to everyone! Much Love, C
PHOTOS
The best English teachers in Mongolia :)
The beautiful scenery of Zavkhan!
Making new friends with Chimgee’s old teacher/ the music teacher’s mom:)
Cards…
Horhog…
Vodka toasts…
Volleyball…
and Basketball! All the necessary ingredients for a Mongolian picnic celebration :)
I’ve been at site for a few weeks now and things are slowly
settling into a routine again (I’ve forgotten how much I missed routine). I’m teaching thirty hours a week plus three
hours of teacher’s classes. Add in six
hours of lesson planning and some hours for tutoring and English Club, and you
get a jam-packed week!
The
Mongolian school system has adopted a new curriculum for grades 6-9. The goal is to increase student-centered
teaching and, for English, to focus more on speaking and listening and less on
grammar. While I am thrilled that
Mongolia is moving to an education system that is better for students, it is
difficult to re-train teachers to abandon their teacher-centered ways of the
Soviet era past. My teachers have been
doing a great job adjusting to the new curriculum demands, but we definitely
take a lot longer lesson planning than we did last year. I am glad that the
demand for better lesson plans and student-centered activities is coming from
the curriculum and not me. My teachers
also seem to be motivated to work harder this year because they know I will not
be here next year. While thinking about
some other PCV sitting in my ger next year saddens me, I am going to push my
teachers harder this year. I don’t want
to leave the next PCV wondering, “What did Christie even do here for two years?” Both my teachers and I want that answer to
be very apparent.
Another
exciting observation that I have made is the remarkable change in many of my
students, but especially my tenth graders (now eleventh graders). At the beginning of last year, I tried to get
them to do a speaking activity- and many refused to participate. Now, we do speaking activities every day and
they are much more motivated and
engaged in class. I am working with a small group of eleventh grade students
who want to study in America upon their graduation. We are working hard, but they are definitely
up to the task. I hope that they make it- and maybe in 2017, when they come to
America, my parents will let me invite them over to dinner for Thanksgiving!
Being a
second year volunteer does indeed feel different from my first year. It was hard to fully articulate the
difference this summer, but back at site the differences are becoming clear. I am now no longer struggling with my
schedule. The halls are filled with
familiar faces and smiles (I know my students now, I know what they’re capable
of and how to respond to their needs). I
know the strengths of each of my teachers and we have made plans to improve
upon their weaknesses together. I do not
think I would have been able to have that discussion last year, as I did not
have that level of relationship with them.
Setting up projects in town, while daunting, is not impossible. I know all of the key players in town and if
I want to reach out to someone new, I feel a lot better about awkwardly showing
up at their office and proposing project ideas.
Of course,
many things are still the same. I have
not magically grown fond of getting up early to make fires before school (and
yes, the nights are already in the teens here and we’ve gotten snow, so it’s
quite necessary haha). Saying good-bye
to my family on Skype or the phone is even harder than it was last year- I miss
them so much. My students and my school
are still my main support network, with my American friends here supporting me
as well. Of course, Mongolia still happens- we had school on Saturday this week
because in two weeks we will maybe
not have school on Monday. Maybe. But I
think it’s quirks like this that I have begun to cherish and will most
certainly miss when I return to America.
I will
leave you with a few pictures from my first few weeks back at site. As always, I appreciate your support and am
so incredibly grateful for it. Thank you!
Love, C
PHOTOS
First Day of School celebrations
We matched for our first day :)
Some dancing by my 7a student :)
The first graders ringing the first bell of the school year!
I’m so excited to be back home :D
View from our hike!
Laundry selfie- thank you Travis for letting us use your washing machine!
After finishing my summer in
Darkhan, I headed to the capital for mid-service medical and dental exams and
another Peace Corps Training: Mid-Service Training (or MST). After breezing through my medical exam and
stumbling through my dental exam (two cavities, one drilled out without novocain,
ouch!), I finally boarded the bus to MST.
MST took place at the same hotel I attended a workshop at in March, a
beautiful hotel located in the hills outside of UB. As soon as I was off the bus and checked in,
I immediately dragged Tyler outside because there was a whole FOREST behind the
hotel. It might seem silly that I was so
excited, but after a year of only being around bare trees (or very stunted pine
trees), the aspect of being surrounded by trees was exhilarating. I forgot how much I missed being surrounded
by trees and hills (Vermont- I will be back in your lush landscape soon!) and
it was a much-needed mental health escape.
The tone
for this training was… odd. A lot of it focused on the support volunteers felt
that they needed and weren’t getting.
Emotions were high and there were several tense moments. However, overall, I think our cohort came out
much stronger and much more supportive of each other. We have always been supportive of the people
we were closest too, but I think we left with a greater responsibility to the
rest of our cohort. We would finish our
final year together. Our last session was a “preparing for your
second year” session lead by our visiting staff member, Kavita, who I have
grown quite close to during my work as a trainer. It was a very moving session, that almost made me cry (sooo many emotions
this week!) but I left the session excited, re-energized, and ready to get
things done.
There were
a few highlights throughout the week. First, before we even went to MST (but I’m still counting it in this post), we were able to celebrate Melissa’s engagement to Kyle! For those of you not intimately familiar with my PCV friends’ lives, Melissa is my best friend here who recently got engaged to her boyfriend when she went back to America. I am so happy for her!! :) We secretly planned a surprise “engagement party” by cooking an entirely gluten-free (she’s allergic to gluten) and super delicious Mexican dinner. We were even able to Skype Kyle in for a champagne toast!
While at MST, the
Peace Corps Chief of Staff Laura Chambers stopped in briefly on her visit to
Mongolia. She was a PCV in Senegal many
years ago, but told us how she recently went back to her village and was
remembered and celebrated by everyone.
Stories like that make me feel very emotional. How will I serve my community? If I return to
my little school 20 years from now, how will I be remembered? Hearing Laura speak and talking to her
“confidential assistant” Elle really made me appreciate the kinship there is
between Peace Corps Volunteers. We all
have similar highs and lows, regardless of where or when we served. I look forward to connecting with RPCVs from other countries when
I return home.
Another
highlight was spending some quality time with Melissa and Joanna. I count the two of them as some of my closest
friends here, and it was really nice to just spend some time relaxing with
them. Joanna read to us from The Office’s B.J. Novak’s book and
Melissa and I read Joanna some crazy panda facts (this was when we discovered
there were new twin baby pandas… sadly now only one… at the zoo in D.C.). Joanna and I took a long walk into town to
buy chocolate and we had a really good talk about life here. I am so fortunate to have friends like these,
friends I (probably) never would have met outside of Peace Corps. It is moments like these where I feel truly
grateful for the opportunity I was given to come to Mongolia. Not to get sappy, but I feel like I am taking
so much more from my service than I am giving back. Being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia has
changed my life, forever. And now that I
am a little over half way through my service, I am ready to finish my second
year stronger than ever.
PHOTOS
Cooking dinner with my favorites to celebrate Melissa’s engagement!
Pre-MST selfie. Apparently we didn’t need to be in biz cas. Oops.
Look at the forest!
The view was soooo nice. Summer in Mongolia is wonderful :)
How do I pick a favorite tree photo?
Melissa is psyched by the trees as well.
We really spent a lot of time with trees.
A beautiful sunset on a wonderful week spent with friends :)
Thank you for all of your continued support and love! I miss you all so much- we’re over halfway done!! Love, C
Between a very busy second half of my summer, a jam-packed
MST, and my second school year starting, I have let my blog sit un-updated. I’m
hopeful that I can return back to my usual routine of Sunday blog updates- less
than 50 til I’m back in America :)
This post,
though dating back a bit, is one that definitely needs to be made. The second half of my summer, I was fortunate
enough to be selected to be a TEFL trainer for the new cohort of volunteers. I worked with my counterpart Naraa at Nomgon, a small soum (town/village) about 30 minutes outside of Darkhan and a temporary home to 11 Americans. It was my job to assist Naraa in facilitating
sessions on topics like team-teaching and capacity building. Mainly, my job was to add my experiences in
Mongolia as a PCV when Naraa asked me to :) Naraa and I also
observed the new volunteers’ practice teaching lessons. Each trainee had to teach 3 40-minute lessons
to students of different age groups 3 days a week. They were responsible for designing a unit
plan that sequenced grammar and vocabulary in addition to writing daily
lessons. On their teaching days, Naraa
and I would observe different trainee pairs and give advice and feedback on
their lessons.
Being a
trainer was an amazing experience for me.
Prior to starting my work in July, I was reluctant to leave site
(Zavkhan was so green! So warm!) and work a demanding schedule. However, I left Darkhan brimming with new
classroom ideas and a renewed excitement and enthusiasm for my job as a
volunteer. I also left Darkhan extremely close to many of the staff, including the new
TEFL coordinator Udval, the TEFL staff (Naraa, Puje, Tsegi, and Hongoroo), my
fellow volunteer trainers, and the PST Director, Kavita. These friendships are
friendships I will have for the rest of my life- every day at the office was so
much work (but it did not feel quite like “work” because I was with my
friends and it was so much fun!) After hours, we would go out
to eat together, work out, cook dinner, go shopping… I realized how much I had
missed having a social life after work (that did not involve me being alone and
calling someone on the phone).
I also got
to work with 11 inspiring new volunteers.
The volunteers at Nomgon were so hardworking and dedicated to their
jobs- they truly wanted to be the best volunteers they could be. Talking with them helped me gain back some of
my enthusiasm for this job that I had lost along the way (probably in January when my phone
froze while I slept haha). I cannot wait
to see what they are going to do at site in these next two years- they will all
do amazing things! :)
A belated “Congratulations” to the
new Mr. and Mrs. Swanson! :) Your wedding photos looked amazing, Ris, and I can’t
wait to watch the video with you next summer! Another congratulations goes out
to Matt (or should I say Dr. Gingras?) and his newly acquired white coat- so
proud of you!
Much love, C
PHOTOS
On the way to site with Hongoroo!
Abby and I went to the salon with Dulguun for makeovers (Dulguun likes red lipstick haha)
Some of Nomgon’s most dedicated (or hyper) summer students
Naraa and I before heading to site :)
Some of the Nomgon crew (and Abby) eating dinner at Naraa’s place!
Abby and I before swear-in: take two!
Some of the PST staff/ trainers at our post-PST picnic!
A photo from the talent show portion of our picnic haha
John ruining mine and Udval’s perfect duck face selfie.
A few weeks ago, I celebrated my second Naadam in Mongolia. It was vastly different than my first Naadam and I think really highlights some of the changes that I’ve made in country.
The night before Naadam started, instead of uncomfortably sitting with my host family, I went to the river with my awesome khashaa family. There were rugs that needed to be washed and I lent a hand. Sambuu, Bolor-Erdene, and Bolor-Erdene’s brother drenched a rug with water from the river. While my older duu played in the river with his friend, my younger duu jumped all over the rug (think puddle jumping) while we scrubbed it with laundry soap. We rinsed off the rug with river water (but not in the river) and packed it back up in the car. We then enjoyed a large bottle of Iced Tea by the river and watched the sun set. It was so nice and relaxing because I felt much more at ease. There was no anxiety, no awkward communication, just inclusion and acceptance (and a good arm workout from the scrubbing haha).
Last year’s Naadam was SO HOT. This year’s Naadam was so cold! I wore my vest over a dress this year, but ended up pulling on a jacket. We left on time to get good seats (versus showing up late and Amina and I sitting on the stairs). When we got there, a lot of the faces in and around the stadium were familiar ones. My students rode by on horses; I greeted fellow teachers and their families. Sambuu asked if my friends (the other PCVs) were coming and we saved them seats. After the opening ceremonies, we went and got food and I was able to walk around before heading back to my ger (Zavkhan’s Naadam is much more spread out than Selenge’s. The main event I had wanted to see, horse racing, was a 45-min drive away). I picked up a few things at the delguur and was able to relax at home. Not only did I feel much more integrated this Naadam, I also felt like I had the freedom to do what I wanted. I didn’t have to leave with my family- we both did our own thing and caught up at the end of the day. Independence is a beautiful thing.
Of course, there were still some similarities. I did eat all of the tasty huushuur (a fried meat pancake) again, but on my terms (with ketchup). I drank milk tea while getting stared at by Mongolians (a foreigner!!) Although this time, I had Sambuu to giggle with :) I was unprepared for the weather, and left because I was too cold (versus last time being too hot. Maybe next year will be perfect… third time’s a charm?)
Zavkhan’s Naadam was just as stunning as Selenge’s, if not more so. I was able to see the 9 Flags of Mongolia brought in by traditionally-dressed Mongolian soldiers on horseback. The horses’ hair matched the hair on the flags- white/ blonde for times of peace. Traditionally, in war time, the Mongolians would ride on black horses and change the hair on the pennants to black as well. My CP Uuree’s husband was one of the 9 warriors (a very big honor). I was also able to see a Tsam Dance performed. A Tsam Dance is a Mongolian Tibetan Buddhist dance, characterized by dancers wearing extremely large masks. These masks are intricately decorated and depict various holy figures and demons, animals and people. Each dance tells a story- in the one that I watched, an old monk banishes demons. I wish I knew more about the tradition, but most of the Mongolians I asked didn’t know (and the internet oddly doesn’t have a lot of information on the dance).
But my favorite part of the entire Naadam? It opened to the Star Wars main theme song. Mongolians love using this song for important events (maybe George Lucas borrowed it from the Mongolians when he took all of Queen Amedala’s costumes?) This country is so rich in cultural history, but they totally aren’t afraid to use Star Wars music when the occasion calls for it. I love it!
PHOTOS
3 of the 9 Flags of Mongolia being brought in.
The 9 traditional Mongolian warriors hand the flags off to the modern Mongolian soldiers, who will place the flags in their holder on the right hand side of the picture.
Some VIPs watch the soldiers line up.
All of the preschool children are led in a dance while the horse head fiddles are played.
The Tsam dance begins.
The Tsam Dance.
I’ll see if I can figure out a way to post the video with the Star Wars song in the background. In the mean time, have a wonderful week!
And congrats to my big sis and her now-husband Mark on their wedding this weekend! I can’t wait to celebrate with both of you next year :) Love, C
I’ve been so busy with training and Naadam that I’m a bit behind on my blog posts. Sorry!! Without further ado, my first real vacation in over a year.
Once it was determined that Abbey would be staying with me for almost a month in Mongolia, we talked about going on a trip after my seminar. Various countries were thrown out in Southeast Asia, but we ultimately decided on Myanmar for a multitude of reasons. Myanmar has really opened up recently for travel, especially after Obama visited a few years ago. Moreover, with it being the rainy season in Myanmar, a lot of the tours and hotels were WAY cheaper than during their busy season. And, most importantly, I have been staring at pictures of Bagan on my Pinterest page for forever. I even brought a few crisp bills with me from America just in case I went there. It’s been on my radar for quite a while.
After much back and forth, Abbey and I decided to book our trip through a travel agency based in Yangon. We mainly did this because we would only have 8 days in country to accomplish a Very ambitious agenda. We didn’t have the time to stay in Yangon to book the trip ourselves (regrettably). Abbey and I had SO MUCH we wanted to do and with the help of all of the in country flights, we established the following itinerary:
June 24: Arrive in Yangon, 11:50 pm June 25: Yangon June 26: Bagan June 27: Mt. Popa/ Bagan June 28: Mandalay June 29: Inle Lake June 30: Inle Lake/ Yangon July 1: Yangon July 2: UB, 11: 50 am
Highlights of my trip:
Bagan: Bagan was beautiful and awe-inspiring. Over 3,000 11th century pagodas in one place! We were allowed to walk in and out of all of the pagodas with ease. Inside the pagodas were ancient Buddhas, detailed fresco paintings, and many miniature Buddhas. At each temple, we had to remove our shoes before entering, which was a new experience for me. Feeling the warm brick or sandstone under my feet was strange but comforting. Abbey and I also were able to explore Bagan by old-school bicycles the second afternoon, which was so much fun!
Mt. Popa: Monkeys! Easily the biggest takeaway from this short trip. Mt. Popa is a 19th century (?) monastery that was built at the top of an extinct volcano. It’s a one hour drive from Bagan. To get to the top of the monastery, you have to climb all of the stairs. And scattered all of the stairs were monkeys! There were people whose job literally was to scare away the monkeys with slingshots (they shot the ground, not the monkeys). A monkey definitely took my plastic water bottle, bit it, and drank the majority of my water. Then kindly returned it to me.
Mandalay: Mandalay was a strange mix of modern and ancient, like Yangon. We visited a beautiful teak palace of the last king of Myanmar. We were also fortunate enough to visit the largest monastery in Myanmar and watch the monks receive their final meal of the day from local donors. Mandalay also made me realize my own ignorance about this country and its history when we visited a WWII memorial. I had no idea that Myanmar was a battleground between Britain and Japan. I left this city with a desire to read more about this country (and guilt that I hadn’t read more prior to coming here).
Inle Lake: Easily my favorite part of the trip. Largely because it was SO MUCH cooler than the rest of the country, being up in the mountains. I enjoyed traveling by canoe from village to village and having the opportunity to observe a wide variety of handicrafts being made. Abbey and I were also taken to a ruins site similar to Bagan except that it was all overgrown. With it being the rainy season, Abbey and I literally had the place all to ourselves to explore! It’s a bit more Indiana Jones-esque when you aren’t surrounded by other tour groups and people with selfie sticks lol.
Yangon: Yangon was HUGE. Way bigger than the “big city” of UB that I’ve become so familiar with. Yangon has so many buildings from colonial era that are still in very good shape. Here, we were able to visit Myanmar’s largest and most revered temple- the Shwedegon Pagoda. Shwedagon Pagoda is a massive golden pagoda that houses four relics of the four previous Buddhas, including eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama Buddha. This temple complex dates back to the 6th century and was filled with people meditating. We were able to watch the sun set on the main temple before being taken to the airport. It was truly a wonderful way to end our time in Myanmar.
Ultimately, I learned one thing about myself: I am not a jet setter. All together, I took eight flights in eight days and was SO exhausted by the time I returned to UB. I loved our trip and had an amazing time with Abbey but I definitely would have liked having a “home base” to return to that was consistent. This trip probably would have been better over 2 weeks but Abbey and I did it in 8 days (in true Gingras fashion lol).
I returned to Mongolia feeling so much more integrated then when I left. It took being a tourist again in another country (where I didn’t speak the language) to make me realize how comfortable I had become in Mongolia. I am by no means the most integrated of my group (and definitely NOT the best at Mongolian), but I found myself reaching for my Mongolian throughout the trip. I also grabbed someone’s arm after stepping on their foot.. only to receive a VERY weird look (oops.. better work on that before going back to America!)
Here are some of my favorite pictures from vacation- I can’t wait to go on another adventure with my sister! Love you Abbey! :)
PHOTOS
View from the top of a Pagoda in Bagan.
Market Day, Bagan
Abbey and I at the top of Mt. Popa
Monks lining up for their last meal of the day in Mandalay.
I was ecstatic when my parents
decided that they would spend the first two weeks of June with me in
Mongolia. Add in my sister for (almost)
a month and you get a fantastic staycation (for me). After not seeing my family for a year, I was
so excited to see them but also a little anxious. Mongolia has become my home, and my school my
family. What if they didn’t like it? Mongolia (or at least the countryside
where I live) isn’t for everyone. Sure,
I would coach all my Mongolian friends thoroughly
beforehand in what my family liked (hint: no intestines!) and we would be
eating at the restaurants way more
often than I do on a much higher budget but still. There’s not a lot to do in Zavkhan. As the dates grew closer, I spent my time
talking to my family about what they should pack and talking with my Mongolian
khashaa family and friends about what my family would eat.
When the day finally arrived for me
to pick them up at the airport in UB, it was a hectic day to say the least. I was
training in Darkhan (see previous post), hopped onto a bus at 6pm with all of
my stuff, took the four hour bus ride to UB, met up with Melissa and Tyler at
the bus station (love you guys!) and went straight to the airport to wait for
them to get off their flight. I got
there about ten minutes before their plane was set to land. It landed! I ran to the arrivals gate with
everyone else and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, one hour after the
plane landed, my family arrived! They were really here! It felt like a dream.
After all of the hugs (I missed them so much!!) we loaded them up in the taxi
and headed to our hotel. After checking
in, it was almost 2 am in the morning. I
said goodbye to Tyler (shout out to the best boyfriend for waiting with me at
the airport so I wasn’t alone!) and went to sleep.
The next day started our whirlwind
in UB. Jetlagged, my family went walking
around UB with Melissa, Tyler, and Sarah (the most amazing M-24 ever). We ate all of the food, celebrated my dad’s
birthday, did some shopping, and took pictures.
The next day, we went to Terelj National Park, a beautiful park
(supposedly) 45 km outside of UB. We
rented an old Russian mikr (pronounced meeker) which is an old school van circa
1960s. We made our way to the park,
stopping to ride camels. At the park, we
were taken around to the sites I had requested, including Turtle Rock and the
old monastery. Although I was fine with
the roads (they were above average Mongolian non-paved roads) my parents were
less than impressed (dare I say horrified?) Needless to say, they were both
very glad to get back to the hotel (and I was glad they never have to
experience something like driving from Tyler’s soum to Mandalgov which is far,
far worse). Finally, our last day, we watched some Children’s Day celebrations
in the main square. We left SUPER early
the next morning for our flight back to Zavkhan. I was anxious to be back at site and show my
parents the “real” Mongolia.
Our ten days in Zavkhan flew by,
and my parents (and Abbey!) loved it.
There were plenty of highlights to the trip, but I will definitely
remember:
Cooking food for all 60 of our school
workers. It was a combined team effort
and although it took 2+ hours to cook, the food was all gone in less than 45
minutes.
Going to the countryside with my khashaa
family. We milked goats, took lots of
pictures, and even though playing “translator” was a bit stressful at times, I
was glad my parents got to see how beautiful my home here really is.
Dad deciding he wanted a particular purple
flower to bring home. He attempted to
dig one up in front of my school with my teaspoon (not kidding). A bunch of my students gathered to watch and
assist in this task that they definitely did not understand hahaha.
Playing cards with Enkhee and her husband
Muugii. There are few occasions that
both of my parents stay up past 10. This
night, they stayed out until 11:30 with no complaints! Hopefully, we will play
Mongolian card games in America now!
Tyler spending time with my family. I’m really glad he got to spend time with
them. Dating is so weird in Mongolia but
at least he met some of my family 10 months into our relationship lol
Spending time with my family. The Gingras family is usually all on the same
page (“Ice cream?” “Obviously.”) and it was wonderful to fall back into step
with our familiar routines. I’ve missed
being around the people I love most in the world. Phone calls, skype, and face time is nothing
compared to real life!
But sadly, the time went by too
quickly and all too soon I was driving my parents back to the airport. We ended up saying a quick goodbye because my
ride into town wasn’t sticking around (there aren’t many rides when the airport
is 45 minutes away). I cried most of the
way back into town, to the alarm of my CP’s husband. It wasn’t any easier saying goodbye a second
time around, but the fear of the unknown was removed from the equation. I have an amazing support system in country,
thanks to Tyler, Melissa, Enkhee, Sambuu and everyone else in Zavkhan. I also
have an amazing support system in America, one that understands a little bit
better what “ger life” is truly like. I
feel so fortunate that the two halves of my life were briefly able to come
together. My family was able to
experience everything I love about Mongolia: the generosity and kindness of the
Mongolian people, the natural beauty of the Mongolian landscape, and the
simplicity of life here. My Mongolian
friends and family were hopefully able to get a better idea of how an American
family acts (or at least, a better understanding of how different Americans
within a family act!).
Thank you, Mom, Dad, and Abbey, for
not only finding the time for this trip in your busy summer, but also for being
flexible when Mongolia happened. I know those plane tickets weren’t cheap and
that the trip over certainly wasn’t easy but I honestly can’t fully express how
much your trip meant to me. I love you all so much. Thank you.
PHOTOS
No trip to UB is complete without a selfie with CK!
Mongolian camels are the best.
We played all of the cards. Grandma would be proud.
Master chef, nbd.
Enkhee supervising Abbey to ensure a Proper Mongolian potato salad is made.
At the local monastery- my home is WAY in the back to the left of that mountain!
Hahaha this was definitely posted by one of my sitemates! The staring and bumping is so accurate. Worst part was getting off the bus at 4 am to push it out of mud. Silver lining? Mine was only 26 hours :)