MeEt and GReEt!

The next could of days were relatively uneventful.  The only outstanding thing that happened was the supervisor ceremony which happened on Thursday.  At 12 or so, PCV volunteers were told to line up on one side of the room we were training in, and supervisors on another.  The regional managers called out our Aimag and city placements along with our schools and we were to step out and meet them.  Somewhere along the line I realized I did not have a camera and grabbed my iphone from my purse in hopes of snapping a few photos. Unfortunately my iphone has been slow to turn on!  The first two placements were called...and then it was time for my region. In the back of my mind I knew I could not POSSIBLY be the one who was called next and continued to fight with my cell.  My regional manager Batbayar yells out “Arkhangai, Tsterleg” and then something I could not understand because it was in Mongolian. After 15 seconds or so of no one stepping forward I realize it is ME whose site he is referring to, and my school name was the Mongolian words he had spoken! Slightly embarrassed and probably a tad bit red I step out of line to meet my supervisor.

I immediately realize I adore this lady. She is well dressed, has a bright smile on her face and exhumes warmth. Over lunch she tells me she has three children (aged 1, 11, and 14) and is 47 but doesn’t look a day over 35. She speaks very little English but does enough pantomime to communicate. She laughs at my attempts at Mongolian but is also great with correcting my grammar! I consequently cannot wait to work with her!