Holiday Roundup

I got back from IST on Monday. It`s good to be home, because the air is much better here and I`m not spending my month`s living allowance in a week. UB is kind of in a bowl surrounded by mountains and the smoke from the ger districts in the hills settles on the city. We go through money so fast because all the food is more expensive and there`s actually stuff to buy. I didn`t do any shopping this time, but I`ll stock up in two weeks when I go back for a mercy corps meeting.

IST was a mixed bag for me. Every day we had language and technical sessions plus the odd medical and admin meeting. All the language sessions were really good. I learned a lot of new stuff and filled in some holes from the summer. I was disappointed with the technical sessions. The point was to get people to go to sessions that were outside their area, but I thought that the business sessions were too general for us and too specific for anyone else. We`ll be the last business volunteers in Mongolia so we can`t change anything for next year, but we have had a few people come up and ask how they can help businesses at their site. We talked to peace corps and they`re letting us come in a bit early for our next training to work on some general business sessions for other volunteers. This also fits in with their goal of integrating business with the new youth development program. We hope to do some work with new trainees this summer to replicate some of our training.

Spending Christmas in UB was more fun than I thought. The medical officer had a party at his house on Christmas eve with good food and there was even a gift exchange. On Christmas day, I went to a friends aparment and help make pancakes and hot chocolate. Here are a few pictures of Nukht and holiday decorations around UB. You`ll be glad to know that the war on Christmas hasn`t reached Mongolia.

PS, here`s a comment I got from my friend Jeremy`s father.

I'm Jeremy Green's dad and I came upon your blog a couple months ago while surfing the Web and checking out Mongolia-related sites. I very much enjoy reading your blog, particularly since you're based near Jeremy and are in the same class as him; reading about your experiences gives me a better appreciation for what he's going through as well. All of us admire what you and the other volunteers are doing in Mongolia. I know it can't be easy, but I hope it's rewarding. I'm sure the experience and confidence you and the other volunteers gain will help you the rest of your lives--no matter what you end up doing after your tour is over. Keep up the great work, and happy holidays.

I`m never sure who actually reads my blog so it`s good to hear from new folks. Please comment with suggestions and encouragement (especially encouragement) and send the link around to anyone interested in Peace Corps or Mongolia.

Pre IST

I'm leaving for IST (in service training) tomorrow morning. We get to spend four days at a resort called Nukht. It't 20 km outside of town in the mountains and they refer to it as a "three star" resort. That should mean hot showers and tiolet seats. Score! It's the first time all the remaining M16s are together since swearing in. We've had a few ETs early terminations), mostly for medical reasons. IST will consist of hours of playing in the snow, drinking, and some kind of "training sessions". Each volunteer is supposed to bring their "counterpart" or main coworker. I've heard stories of hanky panky involving volunteers and counterparts so some of us have started refering to IST as prom. We'll see what happens. There should be plenty of gossip by the time the week is over. I got a glimpse of that when I took a Mongolian girl to lunch last week. Actually, my tutor fixed us up. A few days later I hear about it from my counterpart. Apparently, she heard about it from a friend who heard about it from the owner of the restaurant we went to. It's a very small country.

Well, I'm looking forward to spending some time with my fellow CEDs and attending a session about teaching large, multi-level classes. That will be valuable when I start teaching at the market when I get back to site. I'll post some pictures when I get back to site. For now, here are some from a trip I just took to Khangai soum.

Oh, and thanks to who ever followed by brother's orders and sent me a card. The only ones I've gotten so far are from Nicole of worththetime. Thanks again Nicole.

21 Months to go

Today is the 6 month anniversary of my arrival in Mongolia. So far I've made a lot of new friends, learned the language, and seen a good bit of the country. Since my trip to UB I have a lot of new ideas for what I want to accomplish at work. And after interviewing transalators all day on Friday, I think we found someone I can work with. I should get a lot more done now. I'm also starting my english lessons at the market. I got some advice from a sitemate who's been teaching here for a year. She said that with mixed ability classes you should start with the basics. I've never taught reading before, but I think she's right. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck.