#WhenInMongolia

The past week has been insane. I have been to the countryside, started teaching classes, and it was confirmed that I will be getting a ger! This past weekend after a late night hanging out eating cheese and drinking beer with my teachers I went on my daily 6 am run with one of my counterparts, Gerlee, who is also conveniently my neighbor. And yes I go running now, be jealous. We are up to 7 ½ minutes. We run in between the two rivers in a beautiful flattish pasture. Afterwards I came home to fall asleep because I was so tired from the night before. Around 11 or so my host mom comes into my room, and yes I still don’t have a lock so needless to say I can’t sleep in the nude. She says we are leaving for the countryside in 5 minutes. I quickly pack a bag consisting on my camera, water, and a sweater and we were off. We drove the 30 minute drive in a meeker packed with supplies for her sisters store. Her sister has four children, 3 boys and one girl, all of which are under the age of 15. Once we got there I knew why she woke me up. It was beautiful. There were gers, tents, and cars all piled together right next to a small stream that lead into the lake. We had a perfect view of the snow topped mountains. Most of the day we hung out, cooked different meals here and there, and fetched water from the spring. This specific spring was supposed to be good for your stomach. Apparently each spring has a different health benefactor. I decided not to take my chances, due to the fact that I still haven’t shit my pants and am proud of that. I drank beer with the bank tellers from my soum and they were so kind. They were also really fashionable too. I am always amazed at how put together the women always look and how dirty the men are.

Later on in the day I was able to see something incredible. They basically flame torched a goat. They previously took out all of its organs, which we fried the liver and it was scrumptious, and stuffed it with vegetables. They torched it for about an hour, burning off all the hair and cooking the skin and fat. It was like a train wreck you couldn’t look away from. They would check to see if it was done by shaking it to see if they could hear any liquid. Once satisfied, they laid it on its back and sliced its belly open carefully. They started collecting the meat and vegetables and serving the liquid inside as soup. It was actually rather tasty. About an hour later they came back with the meat and vegetables, which they had boiled at someone’s ger. We ate it like classic Mongolians, from a huge bowl with our bare hands. It was probably the freshest tasting meat I have ever had. Everyone was so kind and always made sure I had enough to eat. Afterwards we played soccer and my team even won! Needless to say it was a great day, one for the books.

The past two weeks I have started teaching and it has been amazing. I teach 5^th through 12^th grade, 4 classes per grade, so it is anything but a simple schedule. I finally figured it out to where I teach with two teachers for one week then trade the next. I decided that I will teach 5^th grade every week because the foundation for learning a foreign language is incredibly important, that and they are adorable and we get to sing songs all the time. The days are starting to blur together, but I still hold the record for longest time without a shower. I am going on almost a month now. Ok before you gag let me just reassure you I wash my hair twice a week and baby wipe myself almost everyday. But yea I have kind of let my hygiene go.

As for the ger, they say I will get one as of October 1^st, but seeing as this is Mongolia, I’ll believe it when I see it. They have been super helpful and my director even gave me meat last week! It was so good, and goat of course, and I actually used my kitchen supplies! I do hope I will get a ger because then I can have private tutoring sessions that are not awkwardly interrupting my host families family time. I would also be able to shower without the fear of someone walking in on me, make food without any judgment, and be able to sleep without a crying baby in the next room. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my host family, but at the same time I am the only one in Peace Corps Mongolia who is currently physically living with a Mongolian family, not to mention that they have a 1 year old girl, a 6 year old boy, and no lock on my door.

October 5^th is Teacher’s Day so this week we picked our secret santa, or secret teacher. I am so excited to be apart of something at work. I know it seems lame because you probably all have done work parties and events over the years. But may I remind you this is my first real job! So I am excited!

The past two weeks I have received 2 packages and a few letters so keep them coming! Shout out to my amazing mother who sent me a package with sweets, amenities, and presents from both Greg and G-ma! Thank you all! Also my best friend Becca Swarm not only sent me a package with a birthday present, which is perfect by the way (you are amazing!), but also included updated news articles! I never thought I would say this but I miss hearing the news. I told her I have no idea what is going on in the world and the articles were great! It also worries me what is happening out there, maybe staying in the dark wasn’t such a bad idea.

I love and miss you all and keep the updates coming! Hope to hear from you soon!

Much love from the Ikh Bogd!

Rojo