Greetings from Mongolia!
Sorry my posts have been infrequent lately. I have had multiple issues with my internet connection, both at home and at work, and for several days I did not have power. But hopefully these issues will be sorted out soon!
Anyway, I wanted to talk about one of the best things that has happened since I came to Ondorkhaan: I got a puppy! She is a female 'bankhur' mutt. Mongolians call any dog with her markings a bankhur, but it is actually also the mongolian name for a Tibetan Mastiff. She is just a puppy, so I don't know how big she will get, but I am almost positive that it will not be Tibetan Mastiff-sized.
There are many, many dogs in Mongolia. There are tons and tons of street dogs that roam around, eating all the edible (and some non-edible) trash that lines the streets before it is cleaned up. There are also dogs that are usually chained up inside a haashaa, or fenced in yard, to protect the space. These dogs are often beaten to toughen them up, and some can be very vicious. There are basically no pet dogs in Mongolia. People do not fully understand having an animal for the purpose of companionship, like what is so common in the US. Even the word 'pet' does not have a good translation into Mongolian. The closest is 'animal that lives with you' and anyone that has had a pet knows how far from accurate that is. I decided soon after I arrived in Mongolia that I wanted to get a pet dog, since it would help keep me active and help me deal with loneliness. And all of the puppies and dogs around are so cute!! I had looked into the possibility of bringing a dog back to the US before I even left the US, and so I knew that I would be able to take in a puppy and not just leave it to fend for itself after 2 years.
When I met my supervisor in Darkhan, I asked her if I would be able to get a puppy and keep it, since I would need to have approval from my landlord. She said it would be fine, and the last volunteer at my health department had adopted a puppy as well! I was glad that she didn't think I was insane, which was the reaction that many mongolians had already had when I told them I wanted to get a dog.
My supervisor, Dashnamjilmaa, the US Ambassador to Mongolia, and me after the M-24 Swearing In Ceremony. Dashaa is a sweet, quiet lady with three children. She is my next door neighbor, and loves to talk to me in English to improve her speaking. She is very capable at her job and I am glad I have her watching out for me.
So, when Dashnamjilmaa and I arrived in Ondorkhaan, the very next day she asked her son (8 years old) and daughter (9 years old) to help me find a puppy to adopt. That evening, the kids in the apartment complex showed me a litter of 5 puppies that live near our apartment building. Their mother was nowhere around, so I guessed that they were abandoned. All of the puppies were so cute, I couldn't make a choice on the spot which one to choose, so I told them I would think about it and decide the next day. That is when I decided to adopt this beautiful and fluffy puppy, who I named Sukhbaatar, or Suki for short!
Suki on day 1: she was so tiny! I estimated that the puppies were about 5-6 weeks old when I adopted Suki, but I really have no clue.
A couple weeks later, Suki is playing outside after getting yogurt all over her nose! She is a really picky eater--I have only been able to get her to eat meat and yogurt so far. I am working on getting her to eat rice and fruits and vegetables as well.
Suki is a very attentive puppy, when she feels like it. She knows 'sit' and we are working on more commands!
Here is Suki playing with the antler that Tracey sent. She isn't a super playful puppy yet, but every week she is more active than the last.
Suki has helped to make my apartment more welcoming and less empty. She keeps me busy, and her siblings, two of whom still live outside, keep me up most nights! In addition to a growing puppy, every week it seems that I get more things for my apartment, either from my agency, or that I buy in the store to fill some need. So, my apartment is slowly becoming more living-friendly and more homey as well. Last week, I finally got my wardrobe (woohoo for no longer living out of 2 suitcases!), a fridge (yay for milk and non-spoiled food!), a hot water heater (hot or maybe luke warm showers!), and today I got a manual washing machine from a previous volunteer in my town. I have so many appliances and shelves, its so great!
My new wardrobe: finally those suitcases will be empty! Maybe (just maybe) I will clean off my bed instead of using half of it as a big shelf.
My fridge, which is so handy! Since almost everything in the shops here is family sized (Mongolians basically never live alone or cook alone), it really comes in handy to be able to refrigerate things. Once it gets a bit colder, my window sills will also probably be the temperature of a fridge or freezer, but its good to not have to wait for cold weather to keep things cold!
The hot water heater all ready to be hooked up to my space-age shower. Believe me, the shower looks much cooler than it actually is, but the hot water is pretty revolutionary for my cleaning habits! I try to wash my hair about twice a week, and spot clean everything else 'as needed.'
I am really settling into my apartment, and life in Ondorkhaan, Mongolia. I have been told many times that the highs are higher and the lows are lower when serving in the Peace Corps, and this has definitely been the case for me. I have already had days that even small wonders will make it an amazing day, when i feel invincible and great about all of my life choices that have led me to such a great experience. Then other days, when I am feeling particularly purposeless or family-and-friends-sick (like homesickness but so much worse), I curse myself for my craziness at agreeing to sign myself on for a 2 year experience in isolation and despair. I think that as I give myself more time to adjust to my surroundings, I will hopefully have less low days and more even and good days.
Other than getting used to Ondorkhaan, I am preparing for the cold weather coming. Winter is coming, and every week has been getting colder than the last. Temperature fluctuates extremely in Mongolia--in the morning I might wear a sweater, jacket liner and jacket to work and feel a bit cold, and then at lunchtime I can wear a sweater only and feel pretty hot in the sun. But still it is easy to feel the cold creeping in the weather. The heating system in my town is being turned on on October 1, and I think the next couple of weeks will start to be pretty rough as the temperatures dive overnight. I have a warm sleeping bag and lots of layers, so I will be able to handle it just fine! But it definitely doesn't make getting out of bed in the mornings very easy. I will keep everyone posted of what the weather is like in one of the coldest countries in the world!
I have had a few responses to my post about what the audience would like me to talk about, which I am going to start addressing in my next post. Thanks again for reading my posts! I am glad that I am able to keep in touch with so many of you, and feel free to contact me on facebook or through email (marilynalice@gmail.com) if you want to catch up!
Peace out for now!
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