In the spirit of giving...

Exciting news 'round these parts!  I found out that one of the organizations I do side-project work at is one of three finalists for a major grant.  About a month ago (through the grape vine) I heard about a program at the University of Texas-Austin that presents projects in underserved communities to investors/sponsors to fund. These companies pledge to give money to the project of their choice and the project with the most interested donors then gets the money for that summer's build season.  UT also provides the labor for these projects once it's time to build.  LEOS, the organization I taught English classes at this summer and did the Women's Empowerment Seminar for in July, has been trying to get a women's shelter built for the last 3-ish years.  Currently there are NO shelters in Choibalsan or Dornod for women and their child/ren to escape domestic violence, and there is no permanent place to implement programming for women who, after leaving, need the skills for financial independence.  I gathered up all the info I could from Bujin, the director of the Dornod LEOS branch, and sent the project info to the coordinators at UT.  They LOVED the idea and on Monday chose this project (along with two others in UB) to present to their board.  After a Skype conference this morning to hash out the last of the details, the UT staff will be sending the projects to the donors in the next four to six weeks, which means we now agonizingly wait to hear if the shelter made the cut and will be funded.  Keep your fingers, toes, eyes, everything crossed for us!

Another wonderful happening here in Choibalsan is courtesy of my sitemate Koty.  She visits Anna Home orphanage every week, teaching English and Life Skills to the kids through songs, games, sports, etc.  She heard that Friends of Mongolia was seeking organizations to sponsor this holiday season, so she submitted Anna Home.  And they were chosen!  They are asking for donations of gently used clothing & toys, and some new personal care items & school supplies.  You can find more information, including the Arlington, VA mailing address, here.  Please consider making a donation if you can, and be sure to include a note in the box as to how you heard of this.

A Mundane Update

Woah, where did the last 6 weeks go!?  The good news is that in only 3 weeks it's the first school break.  BREAK!!  I could use a break...So busy!  No time for fun hudoo trips or other shenanigans, but here are a few highlights:


Weds, Oct 3: Found this little girl outside my building.  Called sitemate Sarah, who instantly fell in love and took her home.  Bambuul has a new playmate!

Friday, October 5: Said goodbye to Raj & Jyothi, C-town's VSO volunteers from India.  They aren't really gone yet, just moved to UB to wrap up a project.  VSO is done in Mongolia so current volunteers are being given the option to extend and finish up any existing projects.

Sunday, Oct 7: Nemekhee had me over and made dinner.  Shared wonderful conversation over our mutual favorite Mongol khool: tsuivan.  Nummers!

Friday, Oct 12: Usual expat dinner, but with the addition of C-town's newly reassigned VSO volunteer Liz.  She's a health care specialist from Scotland.  Excited to get to know her, maybe do some sexual health and domestic violence projects together...???  Also, FIRST SNOWFLAKES of the season.  The afternoon's rain turned over to big flakes in the evening.  Luckily, they all melted on impact and it hasn't snowed again...Yet.  :(

Saturday, Oct 13: C-town's first ever Chopped Challenge.  If you're not familiar with the tv show, basically you get 5 random ingredients and have to make one dish incorporating all of them.  As it was Koty's idea, she hosted and chose tubers, flour, a protein, chocolate and vodka as our first challenge ingredients.  Gotta say, all the participants made pretty good stuff!  I made chocolate chip potato pancakes (used all 5 ingredients in the batter) with a raspberry vodka sauce, but Koty's chicken chowder took the prize.  As I am not at all a competitive person, I have zero motivation to try again.  ;)

Sunday, Oct 14: Urgoo had Koty and me over for lunch.  He made a delicious spicy Korean chicken soup and a Chinese fried beef with garlic shoots main dish.  It was so, SO good!  Afterwards I had to take the dog for a long walk around the river, burn it all off.  On the way back home, we stopped into a fenced-in area next to the Mormon church. I took her off leash and threw the tennis ball for a bit.  She did really well with returning the ball and the "Come!" command.  I think that may be our new winter workout spot.

So that's about it.  Nothing too exciting, but pockets of fun none the less.  Looking forward to school break then Thanksgiving in UB.  Can't believe how fast the time is going!  Only 8 more months...