June 3rd-5th- RoLlINg HilLs and EndLess Sky'S of BluE!

June 3rd! DUNKHAR!

The third we travelled to Dunkhar. It was a four hour drive. We kept ourselves busy with trivia, and just checking out the countryside. I now understand why they call it land of blue skys and rolling hills. For as far as the eye can see you see landscape, hills, and the occasional sheep herder with his flock. Of course there is also the small villages…(I use the words village loosly because you may see 2 Gers or 20 huts with a fence around them). I can completely see why so much of Mongolia is practically untouched.

 

June 4 Welcome Ceremony!

Today we had our first day of language class and orientation! The welcome ceremony was AMAZING. The had a dancer, two singers, a flexible little girl and a little girl who played a interesting looking instrument.

       

         

Language class went by extrememly fast. I learned basics…hello, proper and inproper, my name is, excuse me. Etc. THe language is hard but doable with practice. They have sounds that are not in the American vocabulary. OOOO’s and aaaahs, and throat growling, tongue flipping etc. It’s great!

We also broke into our groups so I was with all of the Community and Youth development volunteers.I learned that past volunteers in CYD had created a plethora of programs for their community. From creating and opening a development center to creating fitness and health clubs, to peer education programs.  Needs are  communitybased so, I am excited to get to my final site and work with my counterpart (which is a Mongolian local) and determine how I can help. 

WE received our health kits today! I have medication for every ailment I could possibly get! In the next week or so we are supposed to receive our medication for the BUBONIC PLAGUE!!! While no one has gotten the plague, apparently we could if  Marmot is not prepared properly!

 On a side note, I will NEVER AGAIN take the availability of toilet paper and FREE WATER for grantide. In the united states we go through paper like no ones business (pun intended).  Water is easily accessible to drink and FREE ANYWHERE.  TOILET PAPER is available in every store, bathroom, restaurant, rest stop etc. Here, it is impossible to find! You have to carry your own toilet paper when you travel because the outhouses do not have it…most business do not have it, even the hotel where we stayed out did not want to give us more toilet paper! It is advisable in Mongolia to buy water bottles and fill it up at the start of everyday out of your own personal water filter. It is so easy to remember how spoiled we are, until we go to another country!

June 5,
      Today we had  Cultural Fair. We learned about the many customs that Mongolians have. For instance, when you are offered food or drink you roll down your sleeves (going through the motion, symbolicly if you don't have them), rest your left hand under your right elbow and take the food palm up. Rolling down up your sleeves symbolizes that you want to fight, so rolling down your sleeves represents that you are here as a friend. You are also supposed to TAP, not hit the bottom of a plate before you take something from the plate itself. When serving people you are supposed to serve from the oldest to the youngest. It is respectful. Mongolians will also try to insist you drink a shot of vodka. It is suggested that the first time you are offered a drink, that you should not take it. If you take a full shot, you will be expected to keep drinking. While the head of the household may be persistent in giving you the drink, it is best to keep denying it so that it is not assumed you are there to get drunk and partaaaay.  When a bottle is opened, Mongolians make an offering by dipping their finger in the vodka and flicking up and to the side.
       As American's we are obsessed with time! How long is it going to take to get there? How long do I have to complete this task etc...In Mongolia if you ask someone these time related questions, especially when it comes to the length of trips, it is considered bad luck because you could jinx the trip!
        Breast milk in this country is considered lucky and will bring god health. In the United States it is taboo to breast feed past one and a half or two....here, it is normal to breast feed till the ages of seven.  It is also believed in Mongolian culture that if an individual is sick, they believe drinking a healthy relatives urine will make them healthy. 
       Below I have uploaded some pictures of what we were able to try yesterday. It is a sheep head and instestines. I Enjoyed, the head, liver, heart, and kidney's but the intestine was foul. I will try to stay away from that if I am served! Children usually will eat the ears and tongue and the rest is left for the adults.

         I also uploaded this picture of horses in the truck. I saw it on the way to dinner and can only assume they are going to be slaughtered since they do eat horse here!             

  
      I saw these little guys yesterday coming home from training. While it is now taboo for our generation to allow children to run around with toy guns, I can only imagine this looks very similiar to the United States when our parents were growing up, as cowboy and indian play was normal!

            

June 2nd- Ulaanbaatar!!!!

 

San Ban-0? (How are you!)

Today was FUN! We woke at 7 and had breakfast at 8a.m. We then got on the bus to head into the city for our rabies and Hep A shots as well as walk around the city. We were told after our Rabies shot to not get bit for 6 weeks (dog bites seem to be very prevalent around the countryside).

We got a flat on the way, which is quite normal for the rough terrain. It took a bit of time to change it but definitely not as long as it takes for triple A to show up in the states!

When we got our shots at the Peace Corps office we were taken in groups to tour the city. Our Peace Corps Training leader was Ned. He was hysterical and quite calm about everything.

 It was a nice change from the security training we had the previous day.  Here are some warnings we received yesterday from the Peace Corps Security Administration:

-In UB pick pocketing is prevalent, so don’t bring a big bag or purse

-People with tattoos are often looked at as being part of a gang

-A previous Peace Corps Volunteer was once walking alone down the street when out of nowhere a Mongolian male slapped her.

-People will slit open your backpacks with a knife

- a female once was checking into a Hostel alone at night, stopped to get cash at 3 am and was followed by a Mongolian Man. I think he tried to slit her bag open but she managed to curb it by turning around before he could.

-If a Mongolian man starts a fight with  you run away because his friends will step in and for lack of better words kick your ass*. There have been Peace Corps Volunteers that have ended up in the hospital because they tried to fight back.

-Never bring all your money because it will get stolen, as well as place your money in separate areas.

So basically do not travel at night, avoid fights, and always be aware.

When I went to UB, I brought my huge purse, all of my money, and money to exchange.  For those of you who know me well, clearly leaving my bag at home was not an option! I did however store a good portion of my money in my boots.  M-24 (our group name) managed to come back to our Gers (pronounced Gars) with all of our money, possessions an more importantly cell phones. There was a running pool going from current volunteers about how many of us would misplace our cell phones the first day we received them.  None of them said zero! No faith!

 While we were in UB, we saw the Parliament Building

There were guards out on the steps. Much like the guards in front of the queen’s palace in England, they do not smile, and do not move. Sometimes they put on shows where they march but, we were not around for that.

Ghengis Kan,  which is really pronounced CHENGIS KAN; There is a statue of him in the very front center of the Parliament building because he was responsible for the fall of the Chinese. He is a very important and respected leader in this country and it is well represented on the Parliament building!

                               

This is the Blue Sky Building. It is a luxury hotel and as you can see is quite trendy and has an amazing view of the city and the countryside!

While these pictures represent the amazing views that you see while walking in the city of UB, the winter air tends to be polluted due to the coal and dung that is burnt to keep warm. Clean energy is costly and it does not exactly correspond with the traditions of the Mongols.  At times, the smog is so bad that planes cannot land in UB.  To curb the traffic in UB, people with certain numbers or letters at the end of their license plates are unable to drive certain days. There is public transportations, buses and cabs, however there is also preliminary discussions of building an underground transportation train system. Since change in UB takes time, this probably will not be built for at least 5-10 years. Pictured below is a coal plant!

Walking around the city, the Mongols tend to keep to themselves. They do not smile or say hi, much like the people of Boston. The traffic is also similar to Boston, and crossing the street is like a free for all.

The cars have steering wheels on both sides, and those cars that do have a steering wheel on the right side have a mirror on the front left side of their hoods.  Mongols also drive on the same side of the road as we do, which really surprised me.

Since the traffic, smog, and risk of pick pocketing risk is higher in the city, they are placing less people in UB. While it would be nice to live in a city of 1.5 million I have decided that a Ger will probably be my preference to live in. While it can be harder, no running water, you have to chop your own firewood and burn your own coal, It is also warmer than the spotty electricity and heat that are in apartments. When it is 50 below, I would rather be warm than have conveniences.

My Group today!

Kaitlynn, Laurie, Karissa, Ned, and Shane. Kaitlynn was my roommate in Washington and we have been inseperable ever since she came up to me at Orientation and apologized profusely for having her clothing strewn from hell to breakfast in our hotel room.  Neither she, nor I even realized we would be having a roommate in Washington!  She is from Kansas and has quickly become a great friend!

NEXT STOP:

DARKHAN (Pronounced Darhan)   

DAY 1= JeTLaG!

I  got up May 30^th at the ungodly hour of 3a.m…It’s now…well…6:30 am the next day (Your time) 7:30 PM mine. Our group of 50 got on two buses this morning at 4 am without a hitch! Airport personnel checked us in (as a group) and three hours later we were sitting at the gate waiting for our quarter to 10 flight.  After a quick layover of 45 minutes we were enroute to Seoul, South Korea. A flight that takes 13 hours.  The plane was gorgeous, and had ridiculous seating for first and business class passengers.

If I had been privileged enough to gain the first class or business class rediculously spacious seating, I probably would have slept however; I did not so my snoozing was at a minimal. Do you see the seats behind the one I am sitting in? Those were ours.

13 hours later and 2 naps at an hour a piece and we land in SEOUL SOUTH KOREA! THe airport reminds me of a mall, and get this, there are showers. I am not talking showers similiar to those in highschool, where there are shower quarters in a locker room; I am talking about an immaculate, spacious personal bathroom. They hand you a towel, toiletries and everything is FREE.  A completely FREE service. Darn right I took one, and I must say; it was AMAZING! The airport also had massage services, a resting area (with lounge chairs), a lounging area, and multiple other luxuries (although I did not partake in those because they were NOT free).

By the time I showered and ate, it was time to board the last flight. three hours later, we landed in MONGOLIA! After grabbing our bags, we were met by other Peace Corps Volunteers cheering and signs Welcoming us to Mongolia. It was a SURREAL feeling! 

By the time we boarded the buses, drove to our Ger sites and settled in for the night it was 1:30 a.m. It obviously did not take me a great deal of time to pass out!