Milestones

Caleb and I have been in Mongolia for 9 months. We have been at our site for 6 months. That means a quarter of our Peace Corps service is complete. Only 18 more months to go. Time goes by quickly when you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer, or at least it does for me.

 

Valentine's Day Menu

We celebrated our 1^st of 2 Valentine’s days in Mongolia. It was a nice day. We realized after some discussion that our apartment is the best place to eat in our city. So, I decided we should prepare ourselves a 5-course meal.

Course 1: Beer Cheese Soup

Course 2: Tzatziki Bites

Course 3: Spicy Carrot Salad

Course 4: Honey Dijon Chicken with Herb Rice

Course 5: Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies, al la mode
(Sorry it's a little dark, the sun had set by this point)

And the only ingredient that we didn't buy here was the chocolate chips! It is possible to cook great food here! Caleb and I are both becoming better cooks at time passes. 

Birthday cards from family

Last Friday was my birthday! I am 25 years old, a quarter century. So this also means I have celebrated one of the two birthdays I will have in Mongolia. It was also a nice day. I only had to teach one class at school that day, followed by a class for adults at the Education Department. Teaching adults is great! I really like it. Caleb got me some nice presents. 

A giant box of dark chocolate.

A four set of "shagai" or anklebones. With these, you can tell your fortune. We hope to get more eventually, so as to play some of the other traditional Mongolian shagai games. 

And a Mongolian cashmere cardigan! 

Caleb and I have almost made it through an entire year of Mongolian holidays, as well. Naadam (the summer festival of the three manly sports), Shin Jil (New Year's) and Tsaagan Sar (the Lunar New Year) are the three major holidays here, and we've experienced them all. There are a few more minor holidays left before we start the cycle over again.

With our work, Caleb is making headway with our city's Family and Child Development Center where he is working with children with disabilities. And all of the schools are preparing for the academic English Olympiad which will happen in March (I think), which is keeping both of us busy. 

It is slowly warming up outside, and I am looking forward to seeing what Mongolian spring is like. Some say it's the worst season in our city because of the extreme changing temperatures, dust storms, and thunderstorms. But I haven't seen or heard rain since October, so I say bring it on! 

~Sally