An Anniversary and What's Next...

Three years ago I boarded a plane, tears streaming down my face, saying the hardest goodbyes I've ever had to say. Within that sadness was also a twinge of excitement: I was boarding a plane for San Francisco where I would meet 67 fellow Americans bound for the adventure of a lifetime in Mongolia. Three years. THREE YEARS! Countless triumphs and failures later, I'm now facing my departure from this place. I'm starting to feel that same mixture of emotions: sadness for leaving, excitement for whatever may come next. And whatever comes next starts in 56 days...

In the mean time, I'll be spending the next two weeks near the Russian border with the Tsaatan People doing "Reindeer Camp."  About 20 of us are going up and we'll split into two teams.  I'll be at the West Taiga camp, though both camps will be working on the same projects: life skills (critical thinking, decision making, etc), behavior change initiatives (hand washing, tooth brushing, etc) and English (basic for the kiddos, business/tourist/tour guide English for the adults).  I had to miss out on this amazing opportunity last year as I was serving as the DTM for PST 2013, an amazing opportunity in its own right.  So grateful to be going up to camp this year!

For some info on the area and the people, check out:

Tsaatan Community & Visitors' Center

Before They Pass Away Photos

And, of course, Wikipedia

The First Goodbyes: Choibalsan

After COS, I flew out to Choibalsan.  I wanted to visit the place where it all began, my home for two years, and say some goodbyes.

 The airport in UB; not sure I ever took a picture of it.

 Spicy, Koty's cat.  She was such a snuggle bug all week!

 On Monday I went to school and surprised my old CPs!

 Hangin' with the APDC crew.

 When my students got wind of my presence, they made me come back to school.  We played an impromptu game of Jeopardy! and chatted.  I was blown away by their continued commitment to English language learning.

 Tried to go see Bujin at LEOS but she was in UB; she got pheasants and ducks in the last year!

 She still has the geese...

 And turkeys!

 We went to the new Coffee Shop (yes, that's its name).

 I think I was more excited about the Cherry & Vanilla Coke than the coffee!

 The library (where I spent many, many hours on community projects) was added on to; upstairs there was an exhibition of Mongol Script.

 Ice cream, wine in jars, and cheesy movies, just like old times!

 Oh Spicy gurl!

 A duck out by the river, near where I lay Bams to rest.  I wanted to go out and say a final goodbye to her.

 So many hours out there!

 The powerplant, aka the beacon of hope on the looooong bus ride.

 The development is finally finished, though no one lives there yet.

 Everything was so green while I was there!

 Playing tourist.

 This was "Stream" when I was there; now it's an Irish Pub...but with nothing Irish on the menu.

 The powerplant and cooling pools workin' hard.

 Back where it really all began: the Pilots' Memorial, the first place our senior sitemates took us when we were new in C-town back in August 2011.

 Gonna miss this hudoo!

 Dinner with the C-town PCVs and our Mongolian friends.

At the bouncy-floor club.

 And a surprise visit at the airport just before I left!

Yum!  Dornod Bread!  In addition to eating it all week, I had to bring a loaf back to UB.

It was very strange visiting the place that was so formative, so impactful, so meaningful to me.

 It was almost a year to the day that I had left, and while a lot had changed, it still felt familiar and like home.  I am so glad I was able to make it out.

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!?