The end of the year in Mongolia is a time of holidays and celebration, but it is still quite different from the U.S. holidays. Since Mongolia is a mostly Buddhist country, Christmas is not really recognized as a separate holiday from New Years. This means that about the last 2 weeks of December are filled with work and city-wide parties to celebrate New Years, and all sorts of Christmas decorations and traditions are sort of thrown in as well.
So, I started out December by attending Peace Corps Mongolia's In-Service Training (IST), which most Peace Corps volunteers attend after being at site for about 3 months. Since we have spent these 3 months getting used to our sites, getting to know our coworkers, and starting to understand our work expectations, it is a good time to have a training about how to maximize volunteer effectiveness. All of the volunteers in my group attended, and each volunteer brought one coworker with them. For all health and youth development volunteers (there are 16 of us all together), there was an additional 2 day workshop about peer education programs. I invited my coworker Baasandorj (she is the Infectious Disease Specialist at my health department) to the peer education workshop, and Zoloo (she is a dentist and the Hygiene Specialist for the health department) to the main IST.
Going to IST meant that I took a trip to Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, and by far the largest population center. About one third of the population of Mongolia lives in UB, which has a population of about 1 million people. It is basically the hub of all goods and information in Mongolia--most things come through UB when they enter the country. This all means that I got to eat real pizza for the first time in 3 months, as well as Indian food, burgers, Mexican food, and all sorts of great food that is difficult or impossible to get in my town, Chinggis City! I saw my fellow volunteers for the first time in three months--there are 42 of us in my group, and I had only seen my site mates Hannah and Halee since I moved to Khentii in the middle of August. As you can imagine, I spent as much time as possible with my friends at restaurants, shops, and our hostels, and so I ended up spending a lot of money. But it was worth every tugrik! It was great to see everyone, to catch up and swap stories, and most of all to speak English to so many different people!
The week-long IST was held at a hotel about 45 minutes-1 hour outside of UB, up in the mountains that surround the city. It was absolutely beautiful out! Sometimes it was difficult to concentrate on the sessions because the beautiful outdoors were so nice to look at through the windows. We did not have much time to enjoy the outdoors, since there was a lot of material to cover--most days our sessions would begin at 8am breakfast and would not be finished until after 7 or 8pm! We did manage to have a fun snow ball fight one night, even though the snow was very powdery since there is not much water in the air here to make more moisture-heavy, packable snow.
The amazing view from the front of the hotel.
The great Mongolian blue sky, beautful mountains, snow, and crisp cold air--what an amazing place!
This is the 8 Health volunteers in my group--we survived our first 6 months in Mongolia! From left to right: Jerome, Laura, Brittany, Kelbe, me!, Sarah, Cedell, and Ryan in the front. I miss these guys when I am at site! It was great to reconnect and spend time together during IST.
After IST, I headed back to site and prepared for the next big happening--my site mates and I hosted a weekend-long Christmas celebration. This mostly consisted of constantly eating lots and lots of food, which we broke up by going ice skating, singing at a karaoke bar (in Asia it is common for karaoke bars to actually be many private rooms, so we could sing American songs to our hearts content), walking from one ger/apartment to another, taking lots of pictures, exchanging presents, and holding a Christmas talent pageant. It was all lots of fun, and I really appreciated all of the volunteers who made the trip to Chinggis City. Here are some highlights:
Eating lots of food! We had veggies and ranch dip (Halee's family sent her dry ranch packets, which mix perfectly with Mongolian yogurt!), cheese and crackers from UB, and lots and lots of chocolate!
We made mulled wine in my rice cooker--it actually turned out pretty tasty!
While we had our big Christmas dinner in my apartment, Krista was much better at doing the cooking than I was. I kept getting distracted by the great food and company! Here is Krista checking on the chicken, which we baked in my toaster oven. Delicious!
Hannah is tired of mashing the potatoes.
My site mates and I! I love these ladies--we spend lots of time together, watching movies and shows, discussing books, cooking and eating out, and enjoying the company of fellow English speakers. I can't imagine what Chinggis City would be like without my site mates! Halee, on the left, is an English teacher at one of our complex schools (elementary and high school together), and she is from California. Hannah is a youth development/social worker at the tech school in town, and she grew up in China, but her parents are from Michigan. I am so lucky to have such a good relationship with my site mates!
This is Marcus, the cool Canadian hockey coach that lives in town. He loves coffee as much as I do! The four of us are the only young foreigners in my town, so we get together whenever we can.
After our feast, we played a fun game--each balloon as a strip of paper inside with instructions. Everyone has to grab a balloon, pop it by sitting on it, and then do whatever the paper says. I had to walk around and act like a zombie!
Hannah was supposed to act like a frightened puppy--a common sight in Mongolia, where dogs are mostly unclaimed and quickly learn to be wary of people.
Marcus had to wear his socks on his ears!
The gang that made it to Khentii Christmas--and now I know I can fit at least 10 people on my bed!
We had a white elephant gift exchange. I actually got a cool present--some drink mixes, a good daughter quote-book, and a pencil case. No complaints from me!
On to the talent portion of the night--Jake played a song on the flute he was given at site!
Rae-Ann, frustrated by the long wait for the next act, composed a haiku about how we should get going.
Jake and Ryan performed a wonderful rendition of 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.'
Halee, Hannah, and I created a puppet show about the Christmas Caterpillar (we created him too). Halee was the narrator, and Hannah and I were puppeteers. Halee has a video, which might be available on our facebook pages at some point.
There were many great moments of the weekend that I didn't capture. It was very difficult being away from our families during the holidays, but getting together and having some fun made it easier to handle. I was lucky enough to be able to Skype with my family on their Christmas morning, my Christmas evening, and that made me feel like I was still a part of the family Christmas. Overall, I feel like a had a great first Christmas in Mongolia!
My Skype date with my family--It was around midnight Christmas evening in Mongolia, and about 10am Christmas morning in Illinois!
'Shin Jil,' or New Year's, is a big holiday in Mongolia. Basically every workplace will host a nice party at some point in the week or two before New Years Day, and everyone will attend. It is important to look very nice (wearing something sparkly is best), and many Mongolian women will get their nails and hair done especially for the party. I did my best to glam it up for the big event, and I had a blast! My health department's party included a nice dinner, drinks, karaoke, and lots of dancing. I drank wine and champagne--and of course a few shots of vodka, although I managed to only pretend to take most of the shots I was offered, a common technique here where vodka is an important part of many events--and tried my best to learn how to Mongolian waltz. I taught my coworkers the Macarena (they loved it!) and I sang 'Call Me Maybe' for my karaoke song (...they thanked me, but I don't think Mongolia is ready for Call Me Maybe yet). I think it is a sign of how well adjusted I am to life in Mongolia that I didn't think anything of my coworker's shiny gold suit or the other fashion and decoration choices that you probably wouldn't see at a fancy American party. I have to admit that I love the sparkly Mongolian style!
My supervisor, Dashnamjilmaa, and I at the Christmas tree! Dashaa is quite tall for a Mongolian woman.
When we arrived, we each received a glass of wine, a card with our table number, and an order to stand for a photo. Mongolians don't always smile for pictures, but I always do!
Everyone seated at my table! The neat thing about Mongolian workplace events is that everyone is invited--the director, the health workers, the janitors, the front desk guards--and everyone is treated equally. Within the workplace there is a pretty strict hierarchy, but outside of work tasks people do not let their job titles define their relationships. It seems like a very nice system. Everyone is proud of the work that they do. And everyone gets to dress up and celebrate together!
Unroo (Unurbayar) and Urnaa (Uransaikhan) were our lovely emcees for the night. They kept everything moving forward and gave out nice presents!
After the first course, it was time for the first round of champagne!
And then some dancing--I love watching the Mongolian waltz, and I tried to learn during the party. But I am terribly clumsy and slow! It doesn't help that it seems like all Mongolians are very good, and so they don't expect me to not know how to dance!
Then Santa arrived! I'm not quite sure why Santa is blue, he just is. Maybe because blue is a sacred color for Mongolians. Or maybe because it looks cool. Also, here is my coworker wearing a shiny gold suit. If I was giving out awards, He would win for best outfit!
Then it was time to start hip-hop dancing--we all got in a circle and danced together. This got more and more interesting as more alcohol was consumed!
After dinner, each table performed a karaoke song for Santa!
I contributed as much as I could to karaoke--it is difficult to do karaoke on a song you don't know in English, and even more difficult if the song is in Mongolian! There are maybe 5 or so songs about New Years that were favorites, so I got pretty decent with those songs by the end of the night.
Then it was time for presents--some people got camel wool lined blankets as an award for something (I don't know what exactly). Santa presented them and 'sniffed' each person as well as shaking their hands--basically the Mongolian equivalent of kissing someone on both cheeks. It is mainly done by the elderly to their younger family members, but Santa gets to sniff anyone!
One of the camel wool blanket recipients--Hannah has one of these blankets and says its pretty warm. I might just invest in one soon!
I got a picture with Santa! Later, Santa (when he was out of costume) taught me how to waltz. He didn't seem to mind that I messed up a whole bunch! He really had the Christmas/New Years spirit.
Three of my coworkers with perfect Mongolian picture taking skills--volunteers call it Mongol Steel. I can't take a non-smiling picture without looking sad or confused, but Mongolians often take serious pictures!
The ladies of my office room (we are in charge of public health trainings) with Santa. From left to right: Dashaa, my supervisor and Non-Communicable Disease Specialist; Zoloo, Dentist and Hygiene Specialist; Baaskaa, Infectious Disease Specialist; Tsendjav, who has been on maternity leave since I have been here so I don't know her specialty; and me, resident Peace Corps Volunteer! There are two positions that I think are open as of now--Children and Youth Specialist and Fitness/Healthy Lifestyles Specialist, who will also be in my room.
The Khentii Health Department staff--Happy New Year!
Time for more champagne!
My camera died when we were getting gifts, but I got mine before it died. I got a pair of yak wool socks! Mongolian socks are much warmer than any American socks I have, and much cheaper in comparison.
So, then my camera died so I have no pictures of the last part of the night, when many of my coworkers were quite intoxicated and singing loudly to Mongolian karaoke songs and waltzing around in circles. Maybe its better that I don't have picture evidence of it, now that I think about it. But I had a great time, and I am looking forward to the next time my work hosts a nice party. We got towards the end of the night and still had more champagne, so then we just drank all of the rest and then I walked home with my supervisor, who is also my next door neighbor!
New Years in Mongolia is very different from Lunar New Year, which is called White Month, or Tsagaan Sar. This holiday occurs at the end of January, and is a time to visit family and friends at their homes. I am sure that I will have a lot to tell about my Tsagaan Sar experiences, so if Christmas/New Years seemed too much like a big party and not enough about spending time with family, that is because they happen at different times of the year for Mongolians!
These have been the big events that have happened in December. I have not had much work to do at the health department, since there were important end-of-the-year reports due, and I cannot help my coworkers with them. Now that January has started, they will be hopefully many more opportunities for me to get involved in planning and attending health trainings with my coworkers. I also have several English classes that have just begun or will begin by next week. I think it will be good for me to be busy, it will keep my mind off of the cold months to come!
I hope you have all had wonderful holidays, and are re-energized and ready to return to work or school. Until next time!
