Home Sweet Home

Check out some pics of my new apartment!

Looking from the living room into the kitchen & entry.

 Looking from the kitchen into the living room.

 Bedroom.

Bathroom (yeay toilet, shower and washer!).

The view from my balcony.  Yes, we already have snow.  Boooo!  But the mountains sure are pretty!

UB on Discovery

Not sure when this originally aired (a month-ish ago?) but I was finally able to sit through the whole thing. Cultural sensitivity obviously passed this guy by. And his abysmal pronunciations of every name were like nails on a chalkboard. But in terms of "cinematography" this gives a good idea of the conditions of the city I'm now living in.

Don't Drive Here - UB

Home Leave

Wow, I had no idea how fast five weeks could fly by.  I had such an amazing time visiting family and friends while in the US and very grateful for the opportunity to do so.  Here are a few photos of my time at home:

Spent time on Big Sandy...


...And riding the 4-wheelers on the North Shore.


Went to a Wild game...


...And a Twins game.


I went to not one...

...Not two...


...But three weddings!  <3

I saw so many friends:

I spent lots of time with my family:

And, of course, so much quality time with my nephew:

And now I'm back in Mongolia.  It really is great to be back.  Mongolia feels like my home, at least for now.  I've been working hard in the the office this last week and a half, and I am SO excited to meet my new counterparts tomorrow (Thursday).  Third year, commence!

M23 MST

In my new role as PCVL, I got to attend/work the M23 MST.  It was a really great opportunity to get to know that cohort better, as well as reflect on my own service and get energized for my upcoming third year. 

The ger camp we stayed at for three days/two nights.

After the sessions finished, we made a pit-stop at the giant Chinggis statue/museum (although the museum was closed for repairs, whomp whomp) to play tourist for a bit.  It was super fun!

 Walking up to the statue/museum.

 At the bottom of the stairs there was a man with birds of prey.  While holding a Golden Eagle was an option, and likely the more standard touristy thing to do, this Mongol vulture was just too huge, too impressive, not to hold. 

 By shaking my arms, the bird would flap its wings to regain its balance and give me the optimal tourist wingspan shot.

 It was SO heavy!

 We're besties now.  (For more info on my new friend, click here.)

 My friend Daniel is a very tall man.  Chinggis is bigger.

 Looking back from the top of the statue/museum.

PST Duusan!

Well, PST is all finished up.  I wrote the last of my reports today and with only one meeting to go next week, my DTM cap is nearly off...Now I've got on my PCVL hat, going into the M23 MST tomorrow, and all the duties that entails.

Below are the last of the PST pictures.

Back where it all started: our PST training hub.

 Zoloo, me and Koty with the new C-town volunteers.

And now some shots of me in my deel with trainers

PCVLs!

C-town!

UB crew!

Swearing-In getting started

Taking the oath...Way to go M24s!

Kherlen, the former Dornod Foreign Language Methodologist/current director of School 11 and Sukhee, a teacher at Dornod Deed.  They're both getting PCVs and were in attendance.  So good to see them!