Orange Day

Last weekend I received a call from an RPCV (retired PCV). His organization in UB and he are trying to raise awareness about violence against women in Mongolia. In his call he informed me that every month on the 25th it would be great if everyone could wear orange to raise awareness, and it would be great if i could get my school to participate this month to start the trend. I of course jumped on it and Monday (Tuesday was the 25th), had my interns go to the classrooms and explain what would happen the following day. It was clear that violence against women was not really a thought that the children had because we got a few chuckles out of the request. Yesterday was a mini success. A plethora of students wore orange and held the sign UNITE to signify coming together to stop violence against women. No one however, showed up to the second picture. I had involved other schools to the second picture but no one showed up for it from other schools either. It was a tad disappointing but really I was just amazed that so many kiddos wore orange. Going ahead, I am having the interns create an "Orange club" to get kids involved in creating monthly activities that will be held the 25th of every month. I am hopeful that the children will want to get involved and maybe help educate others in the community about the importance of taking a stand against not only violence against women but violence in general.

29 and feeling fine (миний төрсөн өдөр)

A month ago I had my first Mongolian Birthday. It fell on a Wednesday so the birthday festivities didn't happen till later the weekend when I went to UB. I was extremely excited that I would be spending my birthday with my new expat friends and PC friends for my birthday weekend. My weekend started with an amazing home cooked meal and a unique birthday present. I got an easel from my guy and couldn't wait until dinner was ready to experiment with my new present!  The next day Katelynn, my really good PC volunteer friend that I roomed with from day one in Washington came into town. After a fantastic day of shopping and doing all things girly, we all got dressed up and went out. After a fantastic dinner with about 10 friends we went out to another bar and then finally out to a club where (thanks to said boyfriend) we had an amazing time in the VIP section. The weekend ended on Sunday with Marc by watching a ballet performance and having a delicious dinner. It was fantastic to be able to just watch a ballet  in UB, but the females in the performance far outshined the men. It was still amazing to just be there. The restaurant made me feel like i was back in Boston. It was delicious, and one of the most perfect birthdays I have ever had.