Chugging Along

We have just crossed the one-month mark! I'm beginning to feel that hourglass effect where the sands of time are slowly but steadily running out. We are leaving Olgii on June 21st, spending a few days in UB officially closing out our service, and then flying home on June 24th.

We have both been busy figuring out exactly how we will transition back into our Californian lives. For Ashlee, that means abandoning our threadbare fleeces and long underwear for more appropriate SoCal apparel and, for me, it is navigating the confusing world of university financial aid. Among other things, we are also shopping for cell phones (to get iPhone 4s or not, that is the question), another car (anyone looking to sell something clean, reliable, and economical?), deciding between on- or off-campus housing for the Fall, and looking for work. We have also been drawing up a budget to figure out how we are going to survive the next few years. Man, life in America is expensive! In the shorter term, however, we are both excited about enjoying this summer and mooching off of our families -- you know, the American dream.

Something else that is going on here in Olgii is our friend and sitemate, Brian, is spearheading a fundraising effort to purchase new sports equipment for his school and we have promised to help spread the word. Sooo, if you have an extra 5, 10, or 20 bucks onhand and you want to help a bunch of kids in Mongolia, please consider making a donation via Paypal. Brian has a blog with more information: http://sportsresourceproject.blogspot.com/.

That's about all that is going here at the moment. The weather has been nice and school officially ends this Friday. In the next few weeks we will have to say our goodbyes, pack up our things (hopefully donating most of our stuff to friends here), settle our account with our landlord, and finally make a trip out to Tavan Bogd, the national park on the Chinese/Russian border. Our Peace Corps service will be over before we know it.