Mongolia's 'Switzerland'

Well a lot has happened between the last time we were able to write a message. First and foremost we passed our language exams, which is good because Mike dosen't want to get on a plane anytime soon. We didn't do the best but we definitely weren't the worst, and most importantly we scored the same. After our tests there was a lot of celebrating and relaxing. It was really hard to say goodbye to our families, they were such a big part of our lives this summer. Mike seems to think I am as nice as his host mom and will continue to do and press his laundry- you would think after almost a year of marriage he would know that his hands are capable of laundry too.

I made American pizza for my family as a little going away gift. Quite the experience because I had no oven and only a ger stove. With a little hard work and elbow grease - mission accomplished. It was actually excellent by my standards but then again I like things with flavor and most importantly cheese. My parents thought it was ok I think mainly because it was so different. My siblings however loved it. It was a good thing because I take after my mother and don't know how much to cook so I ended up with 7 medium pizzas.It again was an amazing experience to watch them eat something that reminds me so much of home.

All of the trainees are back together, attending meetings and celebrating site announcements. Mike and I are so very excited to be able to live together again and in our own place. Who would have ever guessed that our first place would be a ger. Yes, Mike and I will be living in a 5 wall ger for the next 2 years. We hear that 5 wall gers are pretty spacious- well as spacious as 1 round room can be. We are really looking forward to the amazing experience. I can't say we weren't a little bit shocked and even a little bit scared. What doesn't kill us can only make us stronger, right. Since we are living in a ger we will also have a haasha family. This means essentially that our ger will be on someones property. Great news for us- we will have someone to show us how to survive Mongolian winters. From what we know it is a younger married couple with either no children or a baby. Our ger will be located in an aimeg center called Murun. It is a fly site(I should mention that neither of the 2 runways are paved)!! Mike is so excited. This means that we are ruffly a 30 hour drive to U.B but only a 1 hour flight. From what we hear we really lucked out it is supposed to be the Switzerland of Mongolia. The province has a lot of trees and water. Check it out on the internet for us we are pretty much going in blind. We do know that we have reliable internet access and might even have at the places we work. I am working at a Mathematics school(1900 children) teaching 5-10 grade. Mike is working at the other school(2500 children) in the city as a school social worker/after school director. Many things to look forward to. Sorry we are so vague right now but we don't have a ton of information.
We love and miss you all and will write more as soon. We love reading all of the emails and blog posts. We love and miss you all- Allie and Mike