My Very Own Kazakh "Sweet"

Ashlee and I just got back from a farewell lunch with a few of my teachers and the school's vice-principal. It was our third or so round of goodbyes and probably our last time eating Mongolian food...hmm, hopefully I didn't just jinx us on that. Sorry, Ashlee!

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from Bahitgul asking me to come to school because the teachers wanted to give me a "Kazakh sweet." I learned long ago to not seek immediate clarification on things like this (especially over the phone) so I decided to go with it. The entire walk to school I kept wondering what exactly a Kazakh sweet would entail. It turns out that she meant to say a Kazakh suit. The reason I had to go to school was because they were going to get it tailor-made and they needed to measure me.

At lunch today they presented me with my new suit -- a snazzy embroidered velvet jacket and matching hat. Despite the measurements, the coat has a pretty snug fit -- it's about an inch shy of buttoning and I can't really lift my arms above my shoulders. Everyone found this funny, however, and they took turns trying to pull the jacket shut and then, upon giving up, patting my tummy. Thanks, guys.


They also gave Ashlee a really pretty wall-hanging, bringing our collection of hangings to three now. We're going to have a pretty heavy Kazakh theme in our next apartment.

After finishing lunch, we all headed out to the town square to take some pictures in front of the government building and the war memorial. Then we just sort of awkwardly stood around for 10 minutes or so because no one really knew how to say goodbye. I guess I have been so focused on our return to America that I haven't really given much thought to what our departure will mean for the friends we have made here in Olgii. Everyone was really sad and worried that we would forget them. I tried to my best to assure them that we will keep in touch -- afterall, if our future children turn out to be spoiled little jerks you better believe that we will be sending them to spend a summer with Aunt Bahitgul in the Mongolian countryside to get some perspective!

Now in a couple of hours we will have our last sitemate get-together with all 5 of us Olgii PCVs. Although we aren't leaving until Tuesday, Justin is taking off tomorrow for a children's camp in the neighboring province. We will be marking the occasion with multiple hands of Monopoly Deal over a bottle of Grant's scotch whiskey along with sour patch kids, cheezits, pretzels, and peanut butter. Can you tell that our cupboards are getting pretty bare?