Beach Corps

Here I am, last full day on the island. And I'm on the internet blogging and checking March Madness stats (SUCKS TO SUCK MICHIGAN ahahahahaha). I'm waiting for my family to wake up so I can make breakfast and go snorkeling one last time. We're on St. John, and we've pretty much not had to go anywhere else... full of freaking amazing beaches and even more amazing food and people. I adore it here, but my skin doesn't- I still think I'm slightly allergic to the sun, because I get those awful rashes if I'm out too long:

Ignore my haggardness of appearance and my pouty face- I've just woken up. Also, the rash doesn't look as bad in the camera. 

That's another reason I'm not in the Beach Corps (the oh-so-affectionate name for Peace Corps volunteers who live on islands/near water), or anywhere really hot. I talked with one of my old sitemates just before I left, and he said that Beach Corps volunteers complain incessantly about their situation. Which they shouldn't, we both agreed. I guess bugs wouldn't be fun, but we have those too. Grass is always greener though, right?

Anyway, apparently the temp doesn't get too high here in the summer, and year-round it's something like 70-90 because of the sea regulation. Crazy. It also hasn't rained at all since we've been here, despite a 50% chance of rain everyday (watch... downpour = tonight).

In honor of St. Patrick's Day (which we will be celebrating today at all the bars by the beach), here is some Caribbean fun:

That is truly the question, isn't it?

Rum rum rum... yum!

(Real pics to follow when I get back to the land of the blue sky...)

Lay down in your new town, walk the ground

So I'm back! I've actually been back since late last month, but work comes first, and I never seem to have the motivation to write down daily happenings.

Welp, I have zero shortage of work for the rest of my service. I'm not complaining, I realize I'm one of the lucky ones. I just finished two proposals last week, which along with Children's Camp this summer... I'll be set. Doesn't seem like a lot, but things go pretty slow here. Gotta give it time.

I feel sad that I've been away from my town for so long. I'll be spending more time in UB in the spring, and I fear what I'll miss then. I said I wrote my last blog post before I left. When I arrived back in the BU, I had found out that Altansuvd had lost her baby while I was gone. I thought about changing my post, but left it as it was... I feel like it would have been cheating if I changed it now. I've been able to see her a couple of times since then, and she's doing well. She told me the other day that her family won't have Tsagaan Sar this year, because of the grieving period (I think she said 45 days?).

In other news, in a couple of weeks I'll be on my way to Florida to see the grandparents and take a vacation to the US Virgin Islands with mom and Monika... vacation well deserved, the calm before the storm that is the rest of my time here in the BU.

Some pictures from my trip:

Woman in the traditional medicine hospital. She had a stroke, and the doctor said with traditional treatments, she was able to walk again. Interesting, no?

Children at the Disability Center in Bayankhongor.

Old house in Arvaikheer!

A desk that was donated as a part of G.W. Bush's Millenium Challenge (Mongolia was selected as one of the countries to receive grant money)... I think it's interesting that the USA is translated literally as "America's 1st Country". Maybe I'm just reading it wrong. 

Seabuckthorn wine! It actually tasted pretty good.

Creepy old hospital wheelchair.

Seminars! It's fun to give each other the heimlich, right? 

Always remember to call for help.

Jess and I did a mini-photoshoot thing for fun!

Looking out a window is always a good way to look amazing. Fact.

Oh nah nah, миний нэр хэн бэ?

...what's my name?...

Chillin' by the seaside in Hong Kong

Hey, all. My bad with the lack of updates. If you didn’t know, I was in AMERICA. It was pretty darn awesome. I hung out with my friends every day, I got to see lots of people, drink lots of good booze, and eat lots of good food. A completely awesome trip.

Since I’ve gotten back, I’ve gotten the same questions: “How was America?” “Was it weird being there?” “Was it weird coming back?” “What was the weirdest thing about being in America?”

A lot of ‘weird’ questions. America was good. It’s still there! It wasn’t weird being there, nor was it weird coming back. I was sorta indifferent, I think. Of course, it was sad saying goodbye again to my friends and family, but on the plus side, my mom, sister and brother booked tickets for July! Hopefully Ellen’s tickets to come soon after. :)

HARRY POTTER PARK!

The weirdest thing I noticed in America was not the clean bathrooms that had toilet paper, not the super awesome customer service, but the fact I tended to ignore people when I was shopping. I’m used to not understanding people around me, and I think that transferred to American stores. I felt quite dumb.

I also had a second leg of the trip, in Hong Kong to see my dear Janice. It was a really nice trip, full of equally awesome food and lots of shopping. :) We saw some of the usual tourist sights, and Janice took me to some local areas that were out of the way. It’s a super big city… much like London or New York I think (although I’ve never been to NY). Full of life, lights, and sounds.

My sister, Jack-Jack, and Lauren!

I finally arrived back in UB late last month. The next day my wallet was stolen (fun times), and the only reason I was sticking around was because people were coming into town who I hadn’t seen in a while. I was really happy to get back to the BU, back to home (and Mika!), and of course, work. I got a warm reception and I’ve been pretty darn busy since then. Children’s camp, seminars, case studies to write, projects to keep up on… I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I left America!

Mommy and Jack :)

Since I’ve been back we’ve had three visitors, if you can believe that. We’re not a well-traveled Aimag since we’re on the edge of Mongolia and there’s not much out here. Last week we had Peace Corps for a visit, this past week we had our dear friend Cassandra come from UB on HCA (host-country agency) business, and yesterday we had the UB embassy come for a talk about scholarship opportunities to study in America. It’s been really nice having people (read: other Americans) come by to chat. It was especially nice for me to hang out with Cass this past week- lots of girl talk. :) Dava and I were talking and we decided that we want at least one other girl site mate next year (her school might be getting a teacher-trainer, which would be really great), so we can have girl chats and hang out after work. In Mongolia, if a Mongolian woman is seen hanging out a lot with a man (foreign or otherwise), it can be construed as them being involved together… that’s why there’s a government official that had to be corrected by my supervisor since he thought I had three boyfriends. Sigh.

The usual crew! WTF Luke.

Sadly, it’s not all been good news in the BU. Nate’s supervisor had a really bad stroke and at this point, I believe he’s still in the hospital. He’s such a super nice guy, and I really hope he gets better. :/  Last week, Tumbee (who used to work at the children’s center as well), got into a bad car accident in UB. Thankfully, he’s ok, but his passengers aren’t doing as well. This is kind of a doubley bad thing since Tumbee’s wife is having a difficult pregnancy and the stress of the accident doesn’t help. And to top the week off, my coworker had a death in a family, so it’s been a little stressful around the work place as my coworkers are getting ready for the nursing competition in dornogobi (another aimag, south west of us). Actually, now I can’t remember if they said it was in dornogobi or dundgobi. They’re right next to each other.

At the club, partying it up like we're 20 again, ha.

But otherwise, things are good. My routines are back to normal, and I’ve even started running regularly since the weather has been SO NICE. 50’s, 60’s, even a low 70’s last week. And since it’s (literally) always sunny in Mongolia, it’s seemed even warmer. My apartment has been hot since it’s a bit too cold at night to have the heat shut off. I’m gonna be a little sad the day they turn the heat off… back to the tumpin bathing.

Mika’s been a little bugger lately. The weather has seemed to give him cabin fever, and he’s exploring any possibility to get out of the apartment. He already had attempted suicide when Sarah was taking care of him, and with me he’s gotten stuck in my neighbor’s balcony and nearly fell off. Stupid ass cat.

Lastly, if people are interested, these are my currents:

TV Show: I finished Parks and Rec in record time… finished 30 Rock, now onto Arrested Development.

Movie: None. I’m so ADD, and I love my TV shows. I usually flip on Oceans 11/13 if I just want background noise.

Music: Really mellow stuff at the moment… Aqualung and Jack Johnson on repeat, yeah!

Book: River Town, about a TEFL PCV in China. Neat story so far.

At one of the many black markets in Hong Kong!

Hangin' with Janice!

Oh, and some BU pics too. This is what we did when I got back:

Now that's what I call a beer pong table.

...Wait. What?

It's how we do it in the 'Bu.

All in a day's work.