COS Conference, Version 2.0

The first week of May we had our Close of Service (COS) conference.  It was a time for the senior class to gather, reflect on their service, begin to think about what's coming next, figure out the logistics of leaving, and say some hard goodbyes.  This was the last time the entire group would be together, and with staggered leave dates conflicting with summer work/travel, goodbyes were inevitable.  

This was my second time going to this conference and I was far more emotional this time than last.  While last time I said goodbye to my cohort, agonizing as that was, this time I was saying goodbye to my service and my friends.  I cried, a lot.  But I also learned a lot.

The night before we had a Lord Of The Rings theme party.  It was really fun!

 The hotel we stayed at.

 Koty and I led trivia; super fun!  Nearly everyone participated.

 Lots of fun with good friends.

 A new tradition: COS certificates with the Ambassador and Country Director!

 Our amazing staff.

 The M22s!

 Our Country Director and Safety & Security Manager singing "Take Me Home"

The COS-ing class of 2014!

After the conference, and knowing we'd all be going our separate ways soon, we resolved to host the Great Mongol Beer Challenge V2.0:  7 tasters, 14 Mongolian beers, blindfolded.

 Leonardo was an honorary participant.

We had a lot of fun, but then, of course, cried when we ended the night.  Goodbyes are never easy, but we know it's not forever.  With friends, like this, how could it be!?

A Weekend in Nalaikh

This past weekend I ventured an hour East to the district of Nalaikh.  My friend Cedell lives there...And it's one of the poorest districts of UB, famous for it's ninja (illegal) coal mines.  If ever a place needed a PCV...

Anyway, as a (now) resident of UB, I had heard the plight of the ninja mines in Nalaikh, and in addition to wanting to get out of the city for a weekend (as my original plans of a trip to the Gobi had fallen through and the thought of sulking in my apartment was just too much to handle), I decided to  head out.

 The view to the right from Cedell's balcony: the ninja mines.

The view to the left: ger district & Mosque.

We sort of stumbled into a "religious" tour of Nalaikh on Saturday as I wanted to see the Mosque and we both wanted to see the Monastery.  And the Mormon temple just  happened to be in between so why not!?

 The new mosque

We were greeted by two super nice Kazakh women who gave us scarves to cover our heads and showed us around.

Inside was so beautiful!  

 Then we were treated to a little girl singing a passage from the Qur'an.

The old mosque.

 The Mormon temple.  No one was there so we couldn't go in.

The monastery.

 Incense burner.

 These Buddhas greeted us when we walked in, flanking our left side & right side.

 The ceiling.

 Entry.

 Upstairs was the prayer area; unfortunately it was cleaning day so no drumming.  :(

 View from upstairs.

 So, yes? No?

Exhausted from our tour, we made s'mores over the hot plate and called it a night  Then on Sunday we decided to walk near, not all the way to, cuz, well, why risk an encounter with someone doing something illegal, the ninja mines.

 The old, crumbled town from when the legal mine was still producing.

 Ninja mines scarred the earth.

 

It was a really sad, dirty part of town.

In the course of our wanderings, I noticed a lot of really pretty painted fences.  Of course I had seen them before in the ger districts of C-town and every other aimag center or ger district I'd ever been to, but for whatever reason, I got the urge to take photos of them...Maybe because I'm trying to capture everything before I leave in 80 days?  Who knows.

It was a really nice weekend out of the city; still gonna make it down to the Gobi-gobs though, come hell or high water.  80 days 'til I close my service, then it's shaping up to be a week in Japan then home sometime around July 28.  Then...who knows!