You win again, Tsagaan Sar.

I'm going to just go straight to pictures. I'm tired, a little sick, and hung over in oh so many ways (mostly buuz and vodka). I didn't go to as many houses as last year, but still an exhausting amount (15). It was really nice seeing my friends and counterparts, but man, is this holiday tiring (and I didn't even host!). Also: LARGE PICTURE TIME. Yeah.

Check out the customs/play-by-play from last year's blog. 

Greeting the new year's sun!

Greetings :) amar bna yy?

More greetings...

Toasts.

A sampling of the doctors, nurses, and workers at my hospital!

My director and I!

Aldarmaa!

Smilie face boov tower.

BUUZ EAT EAT MORE BUUZ 

Come play with us...

Travis' expression is perfect.

The three amigos, together again :)

It's not Tsagaan Sar without spilt blood in your stairwell.

D'aww.

This picture sums up that night pretty well.

Family portrait. 

Happy Tsagaan Sar, everyone!

The new day dawns, and I'm practicing my purpose once again.

So here's my in-between week. Last week, big seminar. This week, home. Next week, big seminar. I'm leaving again Saturday for UB to be the Health trainer for IST (remember last year I brought Altansuvd?), and THANKSGIVING! I'm excited that next year I'll be with my family, but Thanksgiving here isn't a poor substitute. This will be the last time before COS (close of service) conference that we're all together, so we gotta make it count!

Long photo post! Whoops.

So last week, I traveled the most west I've been in Mongolia so far- to Erdenet. I've been preparing nursing skill presentations for Laura (a fellow M21) and Gracie (a new M22 healthie). I first had a stop in Ulaan Tolgoi (literally: red head) at Laura's soum and did a two day training for the hospital there:

Laura has the CUTEST most well behaved cat I've ever met. And BIG EYES! 

Practicing positioning with Gracie as my patient!

Laura (on the left), Gracie and I with the hospital employees. (Gracie's CP, Doogie, is the one with the black dress in the back- she was my amazing translator the whole week)

I had to take a picture of this. It just says "School". The school is named "School".

We're cold! 

Sunset in Ulaan Tolgoi.

Next it was onto Erdenet! Three days of nursing skill seminars. Tiring, but it was well worth it. We covered everything from nursing ethics to constipation. The nurses were really receptive and we had some awesome discussions. It was also really nice to see the M21s I've missed (Katie, Ryan and Ali!):

And it begins! There were over 60 nurses there. Dang.

View if you were sitting in the back.

SKIN LAYERS WHAT UP

I sometimes drifted to the back to speak just to make sure people were paying attention.

Oh yeah, we had dinner! Here's Ryan and Katie shelling the shrimp.

LETTUCE.

Finished result- salad (with "feta") and shrimp pasta and garlic bread (not pictured). Mmm.

YUMM.

Gracie poured a whole bottle of something on her computer, now the backlight doesn't work. Hilarity ensues whenever she wants to do anything on her computer.

BUNNY HUGZ

Ok, ok, back to the seminar. This woman speaking is the head of nursing in Erdenet, and is best friends with Tuya and Saraa (from the health department). Small country, eh?

The ER doc showed us all how NOT to transfer a patient (Gracie). Owch. 

Two person lift from a wheelchair. Not too bad!

You can see how nervous I am. We're practicing patient falls. This is pretty much how it ended up in my hospital, too.

Alright, I'll stop killing your bandwidth with my pictures.

OH WAIT HERE'S A NICE ONE:

Children's English play... comp...compet.... competition (gaaaahhhh)
But this one was cute. (And it won)

Please tell me what there is complain about…

It has been far too long. What is wrong with me- two months and no update? Another whirl-wind of months go by, and I realize how little time I actually have left here (11 months, WHAT?!). So lets back this train up, and make a (short) list of happenings:

-My CP is preggos, but you already knew that.

-That same week, I proceeded to break my iPhone on a rock (v. bleak moment for me, but I got the whole screen replaced in the capital. Who knew?)

-Altaa is preggos too! And the baby is due around the time that Suvdaa's is!
-Also that same week, I was told I was going to move apartments (I haaaaate moving)

-Ashley left Mongolia :(

-Went to MST (Mid-Service Training), and it was actually a lot of fun, with good discussion and painless seminars!

-Went to Anhaa’s (Sarah’s CP) wedding, hung out in the houdo
-My life being spent watching episodes of TV shows:

       -I finished watching The Tudors (sooo good)

       -Started watching Mad Men (sooo good)

       -Re-started watching all my favorite shows this month (sooo good)

It wasn’t all bad… that same week I had the crazy stuff happening was the same week I had found out from Soyol that we were getting *two* new volunteers instead of one! And dearest Ashley came to the BU as a sort of “final farewell”… more like she was here for seminar purposes, but it was nonetheless so nice to have her here.

After packing up my whole life in boxes, thinking I was going to move that next Wednesday, but not actually moving until Friday and going to the capital on Sunday (with barely unpacking and Mika not getting to adjust to the new place), my brain was fried. I was a crazy hot mess for a couple weeks there!

My place is finally put together (after like 2 weeks of cleaning!), but I still have yet to get a kitchen sink and a shower. But I did get a carpet that makes my place look like there’s a runway in it, so I’ll call that a victory. The sink should be here eventually because my landlord’s (one of the doctors at the hospital) husband is going to be the one to do it, and he’s in China. Of course. Could be worse! Could be raining… oh wait:

Rain? In my apartment?

Hasn’t rained in my apartment since (scratch that- it did last night), even though it was raining this week. So, whatever. It’ll be snowing soon enough. And it has been COLD. I had a moment of “oh yeah. THIS is what the cold feels like.” It warmed up for a while, but windier than I remember it being this time last year.

Work is crazy busy and I love it. We’re really getting into the groove of regular nurse-teaching sessions, and I’m starting some cool programs in the hospital.

Enough small-talk. Picture time!

Boy racing at Naadam

Can you spot the bird?

Anhaa and Zorgoo... the newly wed couple and soon to have a baby :)

Seriously, the creepiest men I've ever met (the two on the left). They were drunk as skunks (as you can tell) and couldn't remember/get over the fact we weren't Russian. And this guy looking at the camera wanted me to call him later. YEAH. SURE BUDDY I'LL GET RIGHT ON THAT. He was also confused on why I wasn't eating a second helping of mutton soup.

Sarah and her "forever six year old buddy"

FALL! Some of the only trees in the BU and they're on hospital grounds.

Happy Fall!