#WhenInMongolia

So I know I have been mia lately and I am terribly sorry if you have been idly waiting by your computer to read my posts from halfway around the world. Here is what you missed in the last four months:

December:
I went to the capital, UB, for an official Peace Corps conference. It was pretty great to see all the other volunteers, but it was also very overwhelming. I hadn't been around that many Americans in months and to say it was stressful is an understatement. Now it is hard to explain to Mongolians that just because people are from America they are not the best of friends. Don't get me wrong, I have a handful of volunteers here who I love to spend time with and call on occasion when I am in my soum, but I am not biffles with every volunteer here. So with 88 American volunteers plus 88 Mongolian English teachers in one hotel with sessions from 9-6 everyday it was a little excessive. I did have wonderful meals, pizza included, and plenty of venting on how we all miss American things and whatnot, but by the time it was all over I was ready to go home. It was a little surprising to me because I hadn't really considered Bogd my home until that moment when I was relieved to be on my way home, despite the 12 hour bus ride in the snow...
When I got back it was just in time for New Years! We had a fantastic celebration with all of my teachers at the only karaoke joint in my soum. It was a blast! We ate, drank, and sang our hearts out the whole night long. This was definitely a bonding moment for me and my teachers. And my dancing skills are still talked about to this day. Also was asked multiple times if I could milk camels and if I wanted to live in the countryside with some drunken Mongolian herders. Needless to say I was flattered.

January:
The new year rolled around and it was time for the traditional winter camel races of Bogd. I was ecstatic when my director asked me if I wanted to go with my training manager and her family. It was during school so it was quite a treat to skip class. Some of my teachers still haven't seen it and they have been living here for years. So i packed up my famous deviled eggs to go and hopped in the car with my training manage, Bontorma, her father, husband, and two sons. It was incredible. We drove about 30 minutes into the countryside, aka the middle of nowhere, and stopped at a ger to have some tea. One of her sons took a motorcycle the rest of the way because he was in the race. Traditionally in races children ride the camels so it is kind of a big deal. It is also terrifying because they don't wear helmets so if they fall it could become serious fairly quickly. Anyway, there were two races, one for one year old camels, and the second for the rest of them. The race was 20 kilometers and we drove behind them. At first they were walking and I was a little disappointed because it was so anticlimactic, but it turned out they were just walking to the starting line. Once the race began they were fast. It is beautiful to see camels run. They are so majestic and fast. We drove along side them most of the way and then sped up to see the finish line outside the car. It was an experience I will never forget. I also got to ride a camel for the second time with some of my bank workers. It was so exhilarating. They are so tall and gentle, but they can kill you with one kick. Mine was a little stubborn so I stayed on it for a bit because it refused to sit down so I could dismount. So I enjoyed the view, posed for some pics, and relaxed on a camel in the middle of the desert in Mongolia. It was also really exciting to see some of my student participating in the race. It was really cool to see how excited and proud they were to be apart of it all.

February:
It finally came to one of the most famous holidays in Mongolian history. Tsagaan Sar, or Lunar New Year. Now this holiday is similar to Christmas and also very different in so many ways. People come together from all over the country to visit their relatives. In most places the tradition on Tsagaan Sar Eve is to make buuz, or meat dumplings, and put one coin in one of the buuz. The one lucky soul who gets the coin will have good fortune for the rest of the year. In my soum it is a little different. We make huushur, which is basically fried meat dumplings, and exchange it with family members. I helped one of my elementary school teachers, Tegshe, roll dough, as well as my haasha family and the next day my shoulder was sore. Hopefully that puts into perspective how many we made, here is a hint: a little over 100. Tsagaan Sar officially lasts three days, but truthfully it continues for about two weeks because realistically how are you supposed to visit all of your relatives in three days if they don't live in the same place. So on the first day of Tsagaan Sar I went with my haasha family to the countryside to visit a few of their relatives. When we entered each ger we were served milk tea, arol, and candy. Then we were served buuz. And then finally the host gave a present to each guest. This happened in each house or ger. So needless to say it is quite an extravagant holiday. Many Mongolians even take out loans to help pay for it all. The second day there was a huge wind storm so I spent time with my haasha family and relaxed. The third day I slept mostly. Although technically the holiday was over, we continued to visit teachers houses for the next two weeks. It was intense.
I decided to throw and American Tsagaan Sar because I knew my teachers would be busy and wouldn't have time to visit my ger on the actual days. I invited 13 of my teachers to come, my English teachers, and others that I have become close with throughout my time here so far. So they came over a week after and I served them deviled eggs, goat stir fry, and pancakes for desert. I gave each of them a spring scarf, a red correcting pen, and three sea shells from my hometown. They loved it and when I visit some of my teachers I see the shells on display in their homes and it lets me know they are proud to be apart of my life.

March:
Finally March arrived and it started to warm up. I rarely make fires now and it is wonderful. I have more free time and I love it. I recently went on vacation to a neighboring state with some other volunteers and visited another volunteer in a far off soum called Batultzii. There we were able to visit a frozen waterfall and a hidden monastery. It was unbelievable. First it was crazy how much colder it was just a little more north than I live and second there were trees! She basically lives in the forest it was beautiful. We went to the waterfall first and were able to walk on the bottom and look up. It was an extraordinary perspective that I will never forget. Then we went to the monastery. Because of the snow we drove as far up the mountain as we could and then hiked the rest of the way. It took us around 2 hours to make it all the way there, but it was worth it. It also told me I am in the worst shape of my life because it was exhausting. We legitimately climbed part of the mountain to make it up to the meditating caves. There we met a monk and a Mongolian who had meditated for three days in the cave without leaving. I wanted to ask technical questions like, did they make a fire in the cave, where did they pee, and so on, but I thought it might be a bit rude considering we were on their turf. We spent about an hour wondering around, taking pictures, and basking in the glory of the frozen mountains. After our 2 hour walk back we were exhausted. It is definitely a trip I will never forget.

Now for the stuff I am truly proud of. Last week was the Mongolian English Olympics, which is the national and state English tests. Each some gets one student per grade to participate and through tests my teachers and I chose each student. I had been working with my students for weeks on preparing them for the exam. We did speaking and listening practice almost everyday. It was intense to say the least. But it paid off! For the state olympics my 6th grader Gantigmaa took 4th place, my teacher Ichka took 2nd place, and my 5th grader Munk-Erdene took 1st place! It was amazing to see such results because student in the aimag or state capitol have so many more opportunities to learn and practice English. But finally my 9th grader Uyunga took 3rd on the National test for my state! Needless to say we were all pretty excited about it.