Third Mongol Christmas

I celebrated Christmas twice this year, once in Khentii aimag and once here at home in UB.

Khentii was great, having a group of us all together to celebrate the holiday...Plus it was nice to get out of the smog for a weekend!  We started the day in Halee's ger, just us girls, with sloppy joes for lunch and just hanging out.  Then we moved over to Marilyn's apartment for chicken dinner with all the trimmings, gift exchange, games and a talent show/pageant.  We had so much fun!

 In the ger.

The whole gang!

Then on Christmas eve, I made a beef tenderloin for me, Koty & Max.  We watched Christmas movies and kept it low key.  Christmas day Koty & I relived our "tradition" (if you can call anything that's happened for the two previous years a tradition): big brunch and Christmas movie marathon in our jammies.  Then we got dressed and went to the Ambassadors house for appetizers and mingling.  It was really nice!  We wrapped the day with a pork shank dinner and more movies.

 In our jammies watching movies.

PCVs & PC staff at the Ambassador's house.

And Santa even made it to Mongolia (at least according to the Google Santa Tracker).

All in all, it was a very nice third Mongol Christmas.  I was able to Skype home on (central time) Christmas day and hear about all the wonderful things Santa brought Makade.  Hopefully next year I can see it in person!

So Very Long Overdue

Wow, I have been a terrible blogger.

Here's a quick recap on the last two (shame, shame) months:

Thanksgiving was awesome.  The UB volunteers (and a few former volunteers) got together, I made turkey, gravy & stuffing and everyone else brought a dish to share.  It was a really great day.

Absolutely loving my PCVL work.  It's been so great being in the office, getting to know our staff better and working closely with them to impact the PC/M program.  We've got lots of outreach and support projects going in addition to the usual, every day work.  So grateful for this experience.

The situation with my HCA, the UNFPA Youth Development Center (YDC), isn't going exactly as planned.  We've identified a site (it had to be moved out to the ger district) and I've got a counterpart, but the program planning has really stalled out. I've got a couple other projects in the works, including a volunteerism seminar with Koty (who's also doing the YDC project), which has a lot of really great potential.

Last week I was at the M24s' IST, facilitating sessions and supporting the trainers & staff.  Below are a few photos from the training:

 Me with Ariunaa, a teacher at Dornod PolyTech

 Me with Tumee, a teacher at C-town School 2 and one of my former TOFEL participants

 Me with Bolormaa, a teacher at Dornod Teachers' College

 Me with Enkhmaa, one of the LCFs from PST this summer

 PCVLs + Trainers

 The amazing sunsets...Unfortunately at like 5pm :(

The hotel.  Same one my COS conference was at.

And here are a few pictures from around UB, where it actually looks like the holidays!

 The Coca-Cola bears!

 Fun display in front of Central Tower

 Trees in the smog at Sukhbaatar Square

 First flooding of the ice rink in Sukhbaatar Square

Ix Delguur all decorated for Shine Jil

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.