Going, going -- back, back -- to -- Olgii, Olgii. That's right, after two and half weeks of hotels, restaurants, and well-stocked stores I am at last returning to our cozy corner of Mongolia, and I couldn't be happier. You see, while the hotels were nice, the food was tasty, and being able to shower every day was a godsend, I am thrilled to be leaving UB's terrible smoggy air, chaotic traffic, and all those opportunities I had to spend every single cent we have in our US savings account.
Above all else, however, I am looking forward to being back together with Ashlee. As I said before this past summer, if we have learned anything through this whole Peace Corps experience it is that things are so much better when we are together. In fact, we are pretty much miserable when we're separated. Ashlee and I are very much two halves to a whole, so when we are apart it's like being half-heartedly in two places at once. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, so suffice it to say that I am thrilled to be going home.
As for other things, my training was a success. Forty-four of us English-teaching PCVs gathered together at a "resort" just outside UB. We were coming from all over Mongolia: east, west, north, south, and even UB itself. We also all brought one counterpart from our schools. I brought Bahtgul, who told me this was her second trip to UB in 10 years -- I've gone twice in 2 months.
This was the first time we PCVs have all seen each other since August -- and the last time we will see each other until next August. It was so weird to talk to everyone and hear about our different, yet eerily and comfortingly similar, experiences. Some volunteers live in gers in tiny soums way out in the countryside where they get two hours of electricity a day and internet access every couple of months. Others are like Ashlee and I and live in modest-sized cities with modest conveniences. Still others live in large cities and live pretty much urban American lives.
For 5 days we stayed at this "resort" and attended different training sessions. The reason I am putting the word "resort" in quotation marks is because I don't want to give you the wrong idea. The place was nice, the showers were hot, and the food was good, but it was no Sandals or anything. We are still in Mongolia, afterall. We're also on the US government's dime. Thanks all you American taxpayers!
Each training session had a different theme: team teaching, critical thinking, resource development, games and activities, cross culture, project design and management, and grant-writing. Some sessions we attended with our counterparts and others were just us Americans. While a lot of the information we went over we already discussed this past summer, I think that now we are all settled into our sites we are in a better position to actually apply it.
Bahtgul really enjoyed the training. She said staying at the resort was like vacation for her -- no cooking or cleaning for a week! I think she got a lot of the sessions and she seems really excited about working with me. I'm a bit worried, though, that she doesn't quite understand the scope of projects we can work on. Peace Corps as an agency really encourage sustainability -- which means that PCVs should work on projects that the community can continue once the PCV leaves. So yeah, the underlying theme of our entire week of training was about working on small projects that require little to no money (training seminars, English clubs, and health awareness campaigns), but when we left Bahtgul was telling me how excited she is to put together an English resource room complete with 15 computers, language learning software, a copy machine, and a projector. I guess it's a good thing that she's feeling so ambitious.
Our training ended on Saturday (12/19) and I had to wait around UB until Wednesday (12/23) to catch my plane back to Olgii. My buddy Todd and I stayed with a former PCV who lives and works in UB -- he earns an actual salary! He was a very gracious host and he made us feel very welcome.
We killed our time by watching movies, eating, shopping, and visiting the nearby community of Gachuurt where we spent 10 weeks training this past summer. In Gachuurt we visited both of our host families -- Todd's crazy Mongolian family and my very reserved Kazakh family -- and our friend Naraa, who was our Mongolian language teacher and who teaches English at Gachuurt's secondary school. Between helping Naraa teach about Christmas to her 11th and 4th grade classes (we must have sang "Jingle Bells" a hundred times) and resisting cheap Mongolian vodka from being poured down our throats by Todd's host parents, time really flew.
Back in UB we ate at Millie's -- the place with the amazing chicken club sandwiches -- a few more times and we both did a bit of shopping. I completely splurged and bought a nice new winter jacket. It has tons of pockets, it hangs to my knees, and it feels as heavy as one of those lead vests you wear when you get a dental x-ray. I feel like I really blend into Mongolia now. I've even gotten quite a few compliments -- much to Todd's chagrin as the people who complimented my winter clothing choices only scowled at his and told him he must be very cold.
I got to the airport early this morning and got all checked in for my flight. I found out that I was 6 kilos over my luggage restrictions so I had to pay 24,000 tugriks -- yikes. We all boarded the plane on time and I settled in for the 3-hour flight to Olgii.
I'm incredibly excited to get back home and settled in for Christmas. Ashlee and I both seem to have colds, so hopefully it won't put a damper on the holiday. My school is holding it's New Year's party tomorrow, but I'm not too keen on the idea of going. We'll see if I can get out of it.
I can't believe it's almost 2010!
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