Published on August 14, 2018August 14, 2018 by TravelwithAnna131 Comment

I’m officially a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV). I flew home on 1 August on a direct flight from Beijing. This time my suitcases were under the 50 pound limit as I mostly carried home my Mongolian clothes, gifts I received, and all of the goodies I bought in Ulaanbaatar.

July was simultaneously a slow and fast month. It was pouring during the Naadam festivities. Then during one weekend, my entire town lost power. Last time this happened Mongolians had been forewarned about it and had told me, so I could pre-download movies and charge my external battery. However, this time, there was no warning. My closest friends had either left for the countryside or were in the city. I was standing in a dark supermarket with other Mongolians looking glumly at what we could buy that wouldn’t require electricity to prepare: a jar of pickles, canned fish, carrots, crackers. Ultimately, I dropped my shopping basket, walked out, and went straight to the bus station to buy the next ticket to the city.

**Trying to avoid getting drenched at the Naadam stadium.**

**A ride around the government square.**

**Went out for dinner with Tuya’s family.**

Clearing out my apartment was a month-long process. For future Peace Corps Volunteers in Mongolia, don’t wait until the last few days to begin organizing, donating, and selling your items. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll accumulate. My apartment wasn’t going to have another Peace Corps Volunteer living in it so everything had to go.

Peace Corps offices around the world have a special bell which volunteers are allowed to ring when we have successfully completed our service of two-years. It signals the end. My group decided to wait until everyone had finished their end of service interviews, medical exams, and other miscellaneous paper work in order to ring the bell together. We were a little too enthusiastic as a piece of the bell fell off.

“We came in together, we’re leaving together.”

**With 5 out of 9 of the Yeruu gang/my training group from 2016.**

Now I’m happy to be home, but my time in Mongolia will be with me forever.

Watch my video at the top for my last summer in Mongolia.

Two-years in Mongolia

Published on May 31, 2018June 3, 2018 by TravelwithAnna132 Comments

Two years have come and gone. I’ve been having long phone calls with friends reminiscing about our time in Mongolia. I will be going home in two months. All that’s left to do is to go to Lake Hovsgul where I’ll be working at a Junior Rangers Camp, visit my host family one last time, last-minute exploits around UB, empty my apartment, find a car to take me to the city with all my bags, and ring the bell in the Peace Corps office.

Just like last year, here’s a summary of all that’s happened during 2017-2018:

SUMMER

June 2017

My first year working at school ended and my second summer in Mongolia was beginning.
Solo traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia.
Had a new blue deel made for me.

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July 2017

Celebrated Naadam in my new deel.
Me and Jenni, my M26 site mate, went to a concert of some popular Mongolian band.
Re-arranged my entire apartment because PCVs have to find any way to feel productive and active when the days are long and your counterparts have left you for the countryside.
Walked to a different restaurant every week to use their wifi in order to watch Game of Thrones season 7. I got a lot of curious and strange looks as I sat in the corner.

My counterpart helped me to design my new summer deel.

August 2017

My parents came to Mongolia. We traveled around the Gobi and explored UB.
Rode a camel.
My school never paid for my power when I was gone for two weeks. I came back at 10pm to no electricity and an awful smell coming from my fridge.
Had MST (Mid-service training) in Terelj National Park. Nobody was expecting how cold it was going to be.
Rode a horse.
Finally got unlimited internet in my home.
When Andy spilled M&M’s, causing them to clatter everywhere, while people were sleeping at 2AM in the guesthouse: “OH F###!”

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Flaming Cliffs in the Gobi.

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AUTUMN

September 2017

School began.
Signed up for the GRE.
Teacher strikes were happening all around the country.
Special Olympics was held in my town.
Celebrated Teacher’s Day.
Met Zaya, owner of Friends Café. My new favorite place and an amazing person.

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My amazing counterpart and friend who has helped me with so much and has accepted me as part of her family.

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October 2017

Finally got hot water in my apartment.
Drove to Kharkhorin for a Halloween race.
Started my English club at the Children’s Center for 5th, 6th, and 7th graders with two counterparts, Uugunaa and Saikhnaa.
Because my shower hadn’t been working for two-weeks due to a burst pipe, an entire bucket of water I was filling up as my “shower,” tipped over the edge, cracked, and spilt EVERYWHERE. Neighbors below came running up when they saw my water leaking into their apartment. When the repairman also came he could see how exhausted and defeated I looked, laughed, and said he would finally fix my shower the next day.
Read 12th grade essays. Here’s an actual excerpt from one: “Policeman is light, criminal is night!!!! We stop crime. May be we!!! Can be!”
Bought my ticket to Japan.

The Halloween Race banner that was hung on the side of the bus.

Representing Arvaikheer!

Me and Zaya, owner of Friends Café, who came to help out.

Our first group picture.

We had a Halloween themed club before Halloween.

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Sitting at attention.

November 2017

Finally bought a yoga mat.
Almost had an electrical fire in my kitchen.
Began Write On preparations.
Hosted Thanksgiving for my counterparts in my home.

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WINTER

December 2017

Finally took the GRE with 3 other people in a small room at the University of Science and Technology. There was a power outage right in the middle.
Attended a Peace Corps PAC meeting to talk about the TEFL program (Teach English as a Foreign Language).
Began reading “War and Peace.”
No longer being afraid to call out people when I could hear them talking about me in Mongolian.
Began an air pollution project to raise money for face masks.
My apartment door broke. Neighbors would know I was leaving or entering my home because the action was accompanied by 5 minutes of kicking, slamming my shoulder against the door, and growls of frustration.
Had my counterpart and her family over for Christmas Eve dinner.
Had a really fun New Years party with my school.

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We wish you a Happy New Year!

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My counterpart’s daughter dancing a solo.

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January 2018

Traveled to Japan and visited Kyoto, Nara, Hemeji, and Osaka.
Turned 25 years old in UB.
Ran a study abroad session at a Career Fair with Miga.
A month-long winter break from school.
When school resumed, I held writing workshops.

Kyoto, Japan

February 2018

Traveled to my host family to celebrate Tsagaan Sar, Mongolian New Year. I was so happy to see them all again.
Write On competitions were held throughout the country. The medals I received to give to winning students were so awful – it was like a 5-year-old child DIYed it in her kitchen. Uuguanaa told them, “If you want to get your medals fixed we can go back to the store after Tsagaan Sar,” but they all thought the ugly medals were so funny no wanted to get new ones. “Charming,” as an 11th grader put it.
At 6AM on 12 February, I woke up to a very loud “POP” followed by great stream of boiling hot water spraying all over my bathroom. It sounded like a geyser. The pipe connecting to my shower head to the hot water pipe quite literally exploded. While getting showered in blistering hot water I had to turn a rusty knob that hadn’t been turned in 3 years to turn the pressure off. The adrenaline, fear of a flooded bathroom, and being burnt alive gave me the strength needed to crank it.

Two years later, Winter 2018 with my host family.

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March 2018

So many sand storms. Nothing but brown murkiness as you look outside.
Schools and the market were shut for one-month because my town was under quarantine.
Spent a weekend at the Shangri La.
Cheering on the Loyola Ramblers during March Madness.

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SPRING

April 2018

Held a weekend long girls camp with Adiya.
Began receiving the first emails about COS (Closing of Service).
Sporadic snow storms and dust storms throughout the month.
Taught myself how to gut a fish.
Created a reading nook with all the donated books from America.

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May 2018

Had our COS conference at Mongolica outside of the city.
Finished “War and Peace.”
Received my ticket to fly home at the end of the summer.
Helped a 10th grader apply for a week-long English program in the city during the summer.
No longer have hot water in my apartment. It’s back to the bucket!
Attended a hair cutting ceremony for Uuganaa’s daughter.

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Today, I had my last day of work. Let the summer begin!

Closing of Service

Published on May 18, 2018 by TravelwithAnna13Leave a comment

Our Closing of Service ceremony (COS) at a nice hotel outside of the city felt a lot like having a big party on a Sunday night and then immediately returning back to work on Monday.

On paper, we are finished as Peace Corps Volunteers in Mongolia but technically we still have another three months left in country including one more month left of work.

I think I’ve done the best I could in my situation. I don’t think my school ever wanted a PCV or if they did they didn’t know what to do with me. During my first year, I was more polite asking, “Can I do this?” During my second year I was more, “I’m going to do this now!”

I came to realize that if no one at school was asking for help, proposing ideas, or telling me what I should do, I had to take the bull by the horns so I could stay busy and feel productive. I believe without that attitute my girls camp in April never would have happened.

Seeing friends again and receiving our certificates was both exciting and bizarre knowing that two-years has flown by. Unfortunately, my name on my certificate said Anne. I will get a new one before I leave. We received a lot of information about what we need to do before leaving our villages and towns such as closing our bank accounts, alerting our landlords, having a final interview with the country director, and visits to the doctor’s office.

**Mongolia’s Peace Corps Director, Gene**

I also received my departure date to fly back home. My flight leaves Mongolia at 6 AM. I’ve been mentally preparing a feast to eat as soon as I land – (seafood, seafood, seafood, seafood, seafood, seafood). The plan is to reacquaint myself to the big city, to Amerian life, and a different time zone. Then possibly followed by a trip to visit both my grandmothers in Sweden and Scotland.

This time last year I was planning my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. My parents were also visiting for the summer. Now I’m eyeing everything in my apartment that either needs to be sold, donated, or thrown out. Work at school has been slowing down. My last project I’m trying to finish up before the end of the month is recording all the reading passages in textbooks teachers can use next year when I’m gone.

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I can still clearly remember arriving in Seattle in May 2016 and seeing other people, who were complete strangers at that time, struggling to leave the airport with all their bags. We would look at each other and go, “Peace Corps?” “Yep.” “Niiiice.”

Only one person from my training group was absent as we took pictures together in our deels and with the Mongolian flag.

A weekend with the girls

Published on April 20, 2018April 20, 2018 by TravelwithAnna135 Comments

As my school’s very first TEFL volunteer, some ideas are considered to be too radical. Met with indifference or confusion that later get swept away under the rug.

As my second (and last year) was starting in Mongolia, I thought how I wanted to do something at my school so I could end my year with a bang. A high note knowing I’ve accomplished something different and new.

With the help of one counterpart, Adiya, we organized and prepared a weekend-long Girls Empowerment workshop/camp/training/call it what you will that occurred on March 13-15. The second semester of school in Mongolia is thwarted with many long breaks – winter break in January, Tsaagan Sar break in February, and a Spring break in March. Suffice it to say…time was running out and I knew I had to begin early.

Powerpoints and worksheets had to be translated into Mongolian, subtitles added to videos, activities had to be thought of, and what type of topics to be covered during the weekend. I then turned into a part-time health volunteer when an 11th grader said: “We are told we should do something but not told the importance of why we should be doing it.” Thus health was included into the schedule.

What impressed me the most throughout the weekend was the amount of English the girls wanted to use despite the difficulty. They were free to discuss amongst themselves in Mongolian and write in Mongolian but they all wanted to speak and write in English.

Some of the topics and activities we did from Friday to Sunday, 10 AM to 4:30 PM:

Girls learnt about Mongolian and foreign role models. Malala Yousafazai was very popular.

The girls learnt about non-profit organizations and in teams created their own non-profit. The winning team was about human rights while the runner-up was about an environmental issue.

After kicking out the boys who were playing basketball, we did yoga in the gym. For most of them, this was their first time ever doing yoga. Lots of giggles erupted when we were in happy baby pose.

An art project. Girls drew and painted themselves after describing themselves with adjectives and connecting those adjectives to specific colors.

In addition, we talked about the importance of goal setting, stereotypes, leadership qualities, and created bucket lists. An 8th grader said she wanted to visit Genovia and was sad when I told her the country doesn’t exist. While all the girls said they want to travel to another country, goals ranged from the lofty to the simplistic. Having purple hair, wanting to meet Emma Watson, becoming a doctor, learning how to swim and to wanting to walk through a haunted house during Halloween.

This weekend wouldn’t have happened without the incredible help of Adiya. She met with me every week, helped make applications, and did her best to understand everything. As a result, the entire weekend went smoothly and I went home happy.

However, not all projects will have so much preparation time like mine did. You have to judge your school’s vibe. Either you are a very busy PCV or you fall into the same hole as me and your school doesn’t utilize you enough. As a result, I had plenty of time to bring this weekend with Adiya to fruition.

Tsagaan Sar with my host family

Published on February 28, 2018February 28, 2018 by TravelwithAnna13Leave a comment

Сайхан шинэлээрэй!

For Mongolia’s New Year, Tsagaan Sar, I traveled back to Yeruu in northern Mongolia to visit and celebrate with my host family. I hadn’t seen them since we last hugged goodbye in August 2016 when Peace Corps training was finished.

Summer 2016

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Now flash forward two years and it’s a long trip back. I took a seven-hour bus ride to Ulaanbaatar. Followed by a four-hour bus ride to Darkhan and ending with a one-hour car ride to Yeruu. There are now paved roads that shoot straight to Yeruu. During Peace Corps training, there had been a lot of cross-country driving over bumpy terrain.

I was so happy to see my host family. My host siblings immediately wanted to play and my grandmother was tottering about making sure plenty of food was on the table. This family has been there with me since the very beginning. They were there during all the highs and lows I experienced during that summer. They were witnesses to when I first began learning Mongolian as I tried to (very poorly) make the KUUUHH and x sounds. Despite this, I have the most success understanding and communicating with them. They know we need to speak slowly with each other and we all patiently make huge efforts to make ourselves understood.

During my first night, everyone came to the house – all of my host mom’s brothers and sisters and their children. The kids thankfully haven’t changed much and are still chubby and adorable. Together, we drove to a hill and went sledding.

I felt pathetic as I fell asleep dressed head to toe in under armor underneath three blankets while my host family fell asleep in t-shirts with only one blanket. This was my first visit to the countryside during winter and from now on I will only be visiting in the summer. I was like a cockatiel sitting perched on a stool by the stove where the only source of warmth was coming from.

Friday was the first day of Tsagaan Sar. We were all dressed in our Mongolian deels. Every house we visited had salads and buuz on the table with milk tea and vodka. We stayed at each house for at least an hour. There was a lot of: “Back in the car, Anna!” “ZAAAAA!”

I had to leave Yeruu at 5 AM on Saturday morning. Not a lot of transportation leaving during the New Year and having to leave at that ungodly hour was my only option. However, my trip out of Yeruu felt surreal. It was pitch black and snowing. I was stuffed in the back of a small car between luggage and another girl. ABBA was playing on the radio. We encountered no other cars. These small moments of my time in Mongolia are what I will oddly remember the most.

I hope to visit again in the summer!

One year in Mongolia

Published on June 2, 2017 by TravelwithAnna132 Comments

1 June was Children’s Day in Mongolia, a national holiday.

With no school, children were outside playing and families were in the government square where there were toy cars for kids to drive around in, a swing set, and the museum had free admittance.

1 June is also another significant day for me.

I have been in Mongolia for one-year. I have completed one year of Peace Corps service.

When I looked back on what I have written during my service – (I have written more than 500 uncensored pages of my Peace Corps experiences) – it has been fascinating to see how I have transformed in this country.

Here’s brief one-year summary of my first year. Let us precede down memory lane.