Wac-Evac

Alli has been gone for a week now. It’s a good thing that she is coming back tomorrow because I’m losing my mind sitting in the ger by myself. I honestly don’t know how the single volunteers that are out in the hoodoo do it without going crazy. Well some do go crazy and since nothing crazy has been going on ill share some hoodoo legends about PCVs losing it. This first story is legend and I’m not positive if it actually happened but PCVs across the world have heard of it, the legend of the bagel lady. She lived in a ger out in the hoodoo and was an English teacher at her local school. Well one day she didn’t show up for work and then the next day and the day after that. Her work became worried and went to her ger but it was locked and no one answered so they decided to call Peace Corps office. PC came out to look for her and as it turns out she was in her ger and for the past three days she had been making hundreds of bagels and had them hanging up all over her ger. Needless to say she was wac-evac, and sent back to the states. The next story also has to do with an English teacher in the hoodoo, and this story I know is for real. Once a year our medical team visits all the volunteers to make sure that they are reasonably healthy and that they are not living in filth. Well one volunteer had integrated so well into his community that when our medical officer came out to visit him he refused to speak English to him at all and would only speak in Mongolian. He asked for a translator to speak to the medical officer, at which point he was sent home.
After living by myself here for only a week I am surprised that there are not more stories like these, but then again we all must have been crazy before we got here, we did volunteer for this after all.
The picture of the animal is actually a cross between a cow and a yak, kind of strange but very tasty.

Sorry it has been so long since we have written. I guess we have been busy. Sorry no more funny stories at this time. We finally winterized our ger. I will do my best to explain the process. We added an extra layer of felt around the ger which probably took the least amount of time. However it did require undoing the ropes that go around the ger only to put them right back on. Then we put plastic going from the bottom rope to the ground. Then after Mike finally shoveled all the dirt with a handmade shovel, I put the dirt around the bottom of the ger- this helps with the air flow. Our hasha dad finished it off with wood to keep the dirt from going away. Total it only took 4 of us about 2-3 hours to do. Mike and I were exhausted! Luckily we did it just in time because later that day it snowed. Yes it snowed on October 5th. Looks like we in for an early winter. So far it seems like it helps the ger maintain heat a little better. I added pictures if my words are hard to follow. We still have not bought our winter clothes yet but that suddenly got put on the top of our priority list. However shopping here for clothes is not that much fun. I think it has something to do with the fact that we are almost twice the size of most Mongolians.
Mike, Elizabeth and their students are still working hard on their map project. It is gigantic and seems to be taking some time. Otherwise, Mike has been working a lot teaching students and teachers life skills and seems to really enjoy it.
I am currently in the capital where I have been for the last week. I am enjoying the food and shopping but also really looking forward to going back home to what seems like a small town.
Before I left Elizabeth and I taught 13 English teachers how to make American pizza. It was a wonderful English class. The pizza they made was fantastic and loaded with meat. Mike was so excited- he got to eat pizza all day without any of the work.
Will write more soon- we love and miss you- Allie and Mike

I added a few new pictures. Click on flickr under picture post to view them. Allie

Outhouse

Well fall is definitely here. The weather here is getting a lot colder and the wind is getting stronger. Good thing we are from Chicago and are used to the wind a little bit. Although in Chicago we didn't walk everywhere which makes a big difference. The last couple of days we have needed a fire going in the morning and at night to keep the Ger warm. The leaves on most of the trees have changed from green to yellow although none have fallen yet. Next weekend we will winterize our Ger which should help keep it warmer for the time being. When Mike left for U.B he did leave me a ready made fire- all I had to do was throw the match in. Unfortunately that didn't help when it was cold the next morning. My hasha family has been great though, I think they think I will starve and freeze while Mike is gone. They having been bringing me food, chopping wood for me and getting me water. Not to mention the teachers at school and our Mongolian friends have been checking in on me daily.
Not too much is new here so I will share a funny story. As many of you know we do not have indoor plumbing we have an outhouse (jorlon). Most of the outhouses here are built for Mongolians who on average are a lot shorter and smaller than us. Getting into the jorlons can sometimes be tricky. Most of the time you have to duck and step over the thresh hold at the same time. Doesn’t sound too tricky until you really need to use the bathroom. Last week I tripped while walking in and almost fell in luckily my body is bigger than the whole so I only fell in up to my thighs, but man was I scared.Oh course Mike laughed and laughed about it. Well this week it was Mike’s turn. While stepping into the jorlon he tripped. When he came running to tell me about it, I thought something really serious had happen from the look on his face. Come to find out he only lost his flip flop. Next thing I know, Mike is attaching rope to a hanger to try and get his flip flop back. I suggested many times that we could get him new flip flops for next summer, but that solution was unacceptable. So into the jorlon Mike goes with his homemade fishing equipment. Believe it or not he actually got it out. Of course then he didn’t know what to do with it because it needed to be cleaned. He put it outside hoping the rain would clean most of it. The next day however his flip flop was gone, the dogs obviously thought it was a toy. All that hard work down the drain.
This week our schools had sports day. At my school all the different classes wore different matching outfits for the occasion. It is a big day for the classes to show off their talent. First they all marched and did routines in unison. Then they continued to march for about 2 km out into this big field. In the field the different classes competed in 3 different activities; push ups, long and short distance running. It was amazing to watch. I mainly watched the 4th graders since they are most of my students. I watched a little girl do 50 pushups and a boy do 117, their upper body strength is incredible.
P.s- on the way to the post office I found Mike's flip flop clean with only a few bite marks. I had to find a stick to pick it up and carry it home. If that isn't love I don't know what is.
That’s about it! We love and miss you all—Allie and Mike

Meeker Mongolian for Micro Bus

This particular meeker was built for 9, we had 17 adults in it. I am not a fantastic writer so I am not positive if I can describe what a terrible experience the ride from Murun to UlaanBataar was. Well first of all it took 24 hours in a meeker with 16 other people. Funny story- there was a drunk herdsman riding with us and when our meeker broke down for the first time around ten at night in the middle of nowwhere he asked me if I wanted to go into the woods and have sex with him. To which I refused. Apparently Im prettier than his sheep.
The entire trip was over unpaved roads and the part of the trip where there should have been a paved road the driver wouldnt drive on it because he was trying to save gas by cutting corners and going cross country.
We ended up breaking down a grand total of 6 times during the trip most likely because of the drivers refusal to drive over anything that resembled a road. After I arrived in UB I felt like I was still moving for about four hours. Today I feel better and have decided that I will fly back to Murun. I would rather die in a fiery plane crash than have to do that ever again. Thank you. Love Mike

9.18.07

Sorry that the blogs have become less frequent we are still trying to get accustomed to our site and our new jobs. This weekend our other site mates that live in soums came in. Mike and the boys enjoyed a guy’s night, playing video games and watching star wars. Elizabeth and I enjoyed the break! Luckily Elizabeth is a fantastic cook. She made me tortilla chips, queso dip, quesadillas, and biscuits and gravy. For a minute I almost thought I was back in the states.
Finally, Mike has started work. I guess now we will have to share the housewife responsibilities although he was really starting to get good at it. He now will be busy; teaching life skills to both teachers and students, teaching English and leading a yoga class for teachers (thankfully Lavonne gave him a deck of yoga poses). Mike, Elizabeth (our site mate) and 18 10th graders are also working on a world map project. They are painting a world map on a wall that is 6 feet by 18 feet. It is amazing to watch the process and Mike is taking a lot of pictures along the way. They are hoping that they will have it done within the next month or two. We are all very excited to see how it turns out. I am still really enjoying teaching English. This week I have started team teaching with 3 of our English teachers. My schedule is a little crazy right now but I am really enjoying my Tuesdays off.
Wow, it has really started to get colder here. On Sunday morning we were able to see snow on the mountain peeks. The snow made me think that maybe I should learn how to make a fire. This weekend I learned, although it absolutely didn’t seem to last as long as the ones Mike makes. I am sure I will become much better at it throughout this year and if not it can be Mikes job. It doesn’t take long to heat up our ger but it loses heat really quickly. If it is cold we generally have to keep a fire going. I guess soon it will be time to buy some winter clothes.
It is amazing how much you don’t eat when it takes a long time to make anything. Usually for breakfast we have an apple, oatmeal or the wonderful biscotti Mel sent us with a nice cup of coffee. For lunch, we usually have a bowl of rice sometimes if we are feeling a little spicy we will put some carrots or potatoes in it. For dinner we frequently use the leftovers from lunch and make some type of soup. Our diets have significantly changed from how we ate in the states. We obviously eat a lot of rice, noodles, potatoes and carrots. So far it hasn’t really been that bad. We are learning to branch out a little and made pizza the other night for our hasha family (they had never eaten pizza before). Tonight we will try to make burritos.
That is all for now. We love and miss you all- Allie and Mike

Movin' on Up

We got a refrigerator!!!!! We are so excited, it is probably hard to imagine our overwhelming excitement but we didn’t realize how much of a luxury it was. We can’t even explain to you how much it means to us to receive mail, emails and phone calls. It is like having Christmas everyday! Allie started work this week. She is supposed to wear a suit and heels to work. She is teaching teachers, 2nd, 4th and 8th grade students English. My name is now Allie Bagsh (or Allie teacher). The students here are amazing and very well behaved. They seem to have a lot of respect for their teachers. All of my students wear uniforms colored according to their grade. The teacher’s schedules are a little hard to figure out but luckily I have really nice counterparts that have basically held my hand throughout the process. I think my schedule changed 5 times this week and is still not set in stone, luckily I am pretty easy going and don’t mind change to much. The first classroom I walked into I was scared to death, I almost felt like I was a little kid again going to school for the first time. When I walked in to my amazement all the children stood up and in unison asked how I was doing or Sain Bain uu? A little overwhelming to have 40+ students confront you at once, but very cute. Mike said that they did the same thing in Nepal. The school system here is different than what I was accustomed to in the states. Here they have a split schedule- that is even grades go to school in the morning and odd to school in the afternoon. They have to do this because of the amount of students and space. The students also stay in the same class all day and the teachers move. I have also found it interesting that almost all of the schools are within the same 1 mile radius.
I think the best thing about going back to work this week is that Mike had the week off and became the housewife. I would come home to find him hand washing the laundry, cleaning or cooking us food everyday. I asked him if he was sitting at home eating bon bons and watching soap operas but it turns out he was eating mutton and throwing knifes.
It is a really interesting feeling to be a foreigner. It is really hard to describe how weird you feel being totally different and only being able to understand a very small amount of what is going on around you. Now that school has started and the kids are out in full force we do have a lot of people staring at us. Hopefully the more we become integrated into the community the less staring we will have. This morning I had about 10 kids walk me to school it was a very interesting conversation- they were all talking really fast and intermittently throwing in Allie Bagsh and the only thing I could reply is that I like bananas.
We are still enjoying Murun and all it has to offer. We now can use the internet just about whenever we want since it is only a 5 minute walk. We found really good tutors (our hasha family) so hopefully our Mongolian should continue to improve. There is a restaurant that serves really good schnitzel every Tuesday. At night we are able to see every star in the sky and the entire milky way and every morning we are able to wake up to the beautiful scenery of being surrounded by mountains. Life is good. We love and miss you all—Allie and Mike