It's been interesting just telling people why I'll be gone for over two years! I think the vast majority have to ask where Mongolia is, which isn't actually hard to describe: "Between Russia and China" is all I usually have to say. I tell them it's cold; it's high; there's lots of livestock - basically Montana but in Asia. (I have literally said that at least a hundred times this spring). An important note I should make is that I will not be given an assignment upon arrival; I and my cohort (the group of volunteers I will be entering the country with) will undergo three months of language, cultural and technical training before being placed in our permanent sites.
Ulaanbaatar, the capital city
Mongol steppe (grassland)
Now that you've got some idea of where on the planet I'll be I can start explaining what it is I'm doing over there!I was accepted into the Peace Corps last fall as an English co-teacher. Other volunteer projects in Mongolia seem to center around health, youth development and business education. The peace corps also focuses on agriculture and environmental projects, with different countries desiring different types of projects. Education is by far the most common, and teaching English isn't even all that's asked for; math and science teaching positions are also offered, and I think I've seen some positions combining subjects.
So I was looking for some good music videos by
Mongolian artists; I never thought that mixing hip hop and camels could work, but I'm not mad at this video!
In other news, sh**'s getting real as my my flight for staging in Portland, OR has been made by the oh-so sweet and amicable SATO representative over the phone. In a minor twist of irony the hotel which I and my cohort have been booked at is the Courtyard Marriot - I drove a shuttle for them in Missoula last fall as a weekend job until the night hours finally drove me insane!
The emails related to my future as PCV (Peace corps volunteer) are getting more interesting as well.
Apparently they are now trying to fix us up with our host families in country by having us fill out a small questionnaire; mostly they want to know if we like being around kids, smokers or non-smokers, and are we vegetarian or have any diet-related needs? Can we walk up to 30 minutes between our host family's location and our training site? For me personally, I enjoy little kids; I don't care who smokes; #baconislife; walking is good for you.
