A year from now, we'll all be gone, all of our friends will move away...

...and they're going to better places
but our friends will be gone away

nothing is as it has been
and i miss your face like hell
and i guess it's just as well
but i miss your face like hell

been talking 'bout the way things change
and my family lives in a different state
and if you don't know what to make of this
then we will not relate
so if you don't know what to make of this
then we will not relate

rivers and roads
rivers and roads
rivers 'til i reach you

-----

In my many new-music exploring times, I found this band- "The Head and the Heart" and this song... it came at the right time, since I have less than a year left in Mongolia. I've started making tentative plans for when I go home, grad school, more traveling, etc. Of course, I was thinking about these very things last year, and look where that got me! :) 

Not too much going on in the big city. I'm incredibly busy, running around from place to place. Man this city life is expensive, though. 

OH I SHOULD MENTION! That Mika was FOUND (if you're my friend, you probably already knew that, however). Mika then got a grand ride to the UB from the BU (thanks to Jess, Britta, and Mezelle!)... the poor thing was stinky as hell and looked like he just crawled out of a sewer (which he did). After giving him food and a bath, my friend Max was kind enough to take him in. He only lives 4 hours south, so that'll be an easy trip to visit my old kitty... and Max, of course :)


I'm pooped. I spent the weekend doing nearly nothing except for cleaning, playing "pocket planes", and talking with mommy and (Amerik) Jess Jess.

I shall return later this week with photos of my Gobi 10k adventure! For now, enjoy these:

Interesting conference...

...and a way more interesting concert in the square! The Beatles!! (They about killed us how they were pronouncing "bayaralaa"...)

Ashley with her super-depressing artz-tei cheesecake.

Sunset after work...

On the road in the south.

Every Bate? Bates? FREE BATES!! #downtonabbeyhumor

Happy end of September, ya'all.

Just know you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna make this place your home

I've moved. Capital city, baby!

I've actually been here for some time, since the beginning of the month. Ever since then, however, it's been a whirl-wind of activity and excitement mostly on the Peace Corps end. I'll be honest- I'm loving my life right now. I can't believe how lucky and blessed I am for these opportunities and for my dear friends here. I feel like I'm in a really good place and I hope to keep that up this year.

That's to say this summer didn't come without tears:

Some of my amazing BU friends who came to see me off.  That morning was the end of an important chapter in my life, and I was kind of a wreck.

I have a lot post about my last couple weeks in the BU, but for now I'll post random pictures I've been taking (with my cell phone... ha) during the past couple weeks during my transition. They're basically in order from the beginning of August, to the end:

It's official!!  

Pomegranate lemonade... SO GOOD. I heart this city.

I forget how beautiful UB summers are sometimes.

DARKHAN! COWS AND HIKING!

Volleyball with friends...

Toasting marshmallows with a candle... because we're BALLA

(Now ex) sitemate picture time!

One of the coolest parts of the year- SITE ANNOUNCEMENTS! The PCVLs got to announce the placements :)

Back to the party! A large group of M22s are trying to grow out rat tails...

Love ya, Leon.

Swearing in! Look at all the new M23 PCVs :)

Meanwhile, Chris set up a bar using a bed inside of a ger. I was amazed. 

At Terelj National Park for the PCV seminar... nice clean air, and wonderful running trail!

Making nachos with the left over food. YUM. 

Hey! It's my new hospital! Which is... nearly built?

And at my Peace Corps work... I love working with these guys.

Also!! I've been training all summer... and late next month I'll being doing my first 10k run (ok, ok, so I've really only been training for a 5k, but there's no 5k in the gobi this year... boo. Therefore doing the 10k!). So pumped!

Howling ghost they reappear, in mountains that are stacked with fear

We did a trip! Check out the map (thanks to Krista!):

Where we went: Sumber soum (red dot) and Buir Lake (blue dot), Ikh Burkant (purple dot),

We were in Dornod, the province above mine. It borders both Russia and China, and we were (obviously) so close to the China side that we needed special permission from the government to be there. Even Ellen, our (now former!) Country Director, had to write a letter saying that we were cool and not spies for America or whatever. 

It was a looong ride (~8 hours) each way, and being only a two day trip, my tailbone was a bit bruised. It was some good times though. We even camped outside and made SMORES. Over a REAL ((cow-dung)) CAMPFIRE! I hadn't had smores in over 2 years (maybe 3?)... it was magical.

Anyway, to spare you the history lesson about this (turns out, extremely important) World War II battle site, read the wiki:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol 

Now! For pictures! (Pro tip: clicking on the picture makes it big and it seems to look better... at least on my work computer)

Actually in Dornod...

On a tank, also like a BOSS

Jess, lookin' good with her kitty umbrella... 

And me, lookin' not so good with my kitty umbrella... (I had a bum toe from a huge blister from the build, and it was HOT outside and I'm trying not to get sunburned. This was from when we were waiting for a ride back to the city after watching the horse race)

Aaaand here's Chris, in our ride back to the city. We're in a "pick-up" truck of sorts, probably more suitable for livestock.

Ok, NOW we're on our way east!

Past a many military checkpoints...

And FLAT open steppe.

I liked tree pictures this trip apparently. 

Camping!

Near a mosquito-infested river! (It was really quite nice, but I still have bite-scars)

TREE

Our porgon, from faaar away.

Grave/memorial sites

Buddha on a hill (that we apparently weren't supposed to be on...? told to us after the fact) 

Really awesome.

Aaaand a huge lake that's connected to China. Which we apparently were also not supposed to swim in, also told to us after the fact!

Now that (my) Ellen has left... what is there for me to do? Apparently blogging and waiting for Naadam to be over so I can finish my project are the appropriate actions. Also, watching WWII documentaries. SO much I didn't know about it! I felt quite stupid. I need to take some more history classes.

Alrighty. Over and out.

July, July, it never seemed so strange.

Since it's the end of July, most M21s have left... I missed most of the TEFL goodbyes because of camp and the like, and it's been really strange knowing I can't text or call people like I used to. The goodbyes have been strange, too, knowing that I'm staying.

And now it's nearly my turn to say goodbye to my community, as I move to UB. Considering the amount of times I almost started crying at work on Friday, I'm thinking this is going to be tougher than I thought. I really, really adore my hospital and my community and I'll miss being here everyday. This Peace Corps poster really sums it up well:

"The most difficult challenge is leaving."

Speaking of goodbyes, there was one that I didn't get to do- Mika. During my trip in UB/Dornod, I received a frantic call from my site mate saying that he had gone missing from my apartment. We think since he knew this time was growing ever closer to part with me, he decided to do it prematurely... and jump out the 3rd story window. There haven't been traces of him since, but I hope he's happy, where ever he is! God speed, you crazy bastard cat. :(

There are so many things I'd like to write about, but I'll save it for later. I'll basically be an emotional wreck for the next 3 weeks, so ignore the screams as it were. Instead, here are some photos from Ellen and I's trip to the countryside with my counterparts in late June:

He is my squishy and he will be mine. And he will be my squishy. (One week old kid!)

Milking a cow... LIKE A BOSS

And one more photo from Dornod's Naadam:

Happy Naadam! :)