Hoodo Tales

The Mongolian word "Hoodo" means countryside, but since this is a place with a lot of countryside we translate it as anywhere more rural than where you are right now. Two weekends ago we went from Hutul, which has aparments with running water and paved roads, to Orkhan, which has none of these. The plan was to visit some other trainees and maybe see the river which shares its name with the town. That's where the trouble started. We found a taxi to take us to Orkhan, but the driver wanted more money than we expected. He said it was because he would have to wait for us. We said he wouldn't and we started driving. Eventually we pulled of the road (we were expecting to take a dirt road eventually) and pulled up to the riverbank. At this point we realized that he thought we just wanted to go to the river (I had been holding a towell). This struck us as odd and kind of like having someone bring you to the Mississippi river instead of to the state of Mississippi. Dan, one of the four trainees in the car, said he knew the word for city, as in Orkhan city, and told the driver "Orkhan mot". We then went back on the highway and across to the other, shadier side of the river. At this point I looked in our dictionary and saw that "mot" and "hot" meant city.

After that we had a little laugh with the driver and ended up making it to Orkhan to see our friends. We swam in the river and played frisbee and had two lunches (one with each trainee's host family). On the way out of town the wheel of a second taxi fell completly off and we had to find another ride. This week learned more word to use when arranging transportation so hopefully we can use them soon. Well, I have to go learn how to play a Mongolian musical instrument . I'll more Hoodo tales in my next post.

First Week of Training

I'm back in Darkhan for some shots (ouch!) then we go back to Khutul. My first week of training has been exciting. I'm living in an apartment with and mother, father, and three kids. It's kind of small, but I have my own room. Everyone in my group has the same situation and we get together to trade our cross cultural experiences.

The language classes are going fine. We started on the alphabet this week after learning some useful phrase like "I like eggs" and "I have explosive diarrhea". It's hard, because a lot of the letters sound the same. My host family helps me though.

We might go out to the country this weekend or try and climb this mountain that only men are allowed on. I'm not sure what that is about, but I'll try and post pictures later.

Seacrest out!

PS, I haven't read any American news since June 3, so I don't know what's been going on. I want all readers to comment with what think has been the most important story and I'll post the results as a poll. A little description would help also.

Greetings from Mongolia!

I'm in an internet cafe in Drakhan and Gmail just kicked Hotmail's ass. In other news, I made it here fine after a layover in Incheon airport near Seoul. We stayed in a ger (Mongolian name for a yert) camp that night. We didn't know where we were until morning, but it was really cool. I can't post any photos now, but I will soon.

Right now we're in a hotel in Darkhan. On Sunday the Youth Development and Economic Development people move to Khutul for 11 weeks of training. I'm not sure if I can post from there, but we'll be coming back here and going to Ulaan Baatar (UB) a few times.

The food is fine, but it has all been in the hotel so I'll have better reviews after Khutul. I'll probably be living in an apartment most of the time from now on unless I visit someone in a ger like a TFEL teacher. That's it for now. Thanks for the comments.

My Photo Album

To amuse you all in case I can't write for a while, I've uploaded images from a photo album I put together for my host family. Peace Corps said the families love to see volunteers families and homes etc. Hope you all enjoy.

Here's a sample.

Aren't I cute

Ice-breaker, dead ahead!

Today was the last day of staging in LA and we did a lot of "get to know each other" activities. It was better than some of the other team building stuff I've done before, because the activities were all geared towards our Peace Corps Service.

We got to practice what is like to be scrutinized by others and what it is like to be part of (or not part of) a group. There was also a lot of info about our Pre-Service Training (PST) which starts after we arrive in country on the 6th. PST lasts 11 weeks and I'm not sure I'll be able to post. If I can't, I'll write about it and post a long summary (and maybe pictures) after I'm swore in n August 20th.

Thanks for the emails and support. I'll work on the comment option and write more later.

And so it begins...

Welcome to my new blog. I'll be uploading photos and updates on my progress so check back later. My first stop is LA, then Seoul, and finally Ulaan Bataar (UB). Feel free to comment on any post or email to keep me posted. Thanks for reading.