Peace Corps Mongolia Swearing-In and First Week in Ondorkhaan

I am now an official volunteer, with an actual home, an actual stipend, and an actual job.  At some times this is a little overwhelming, being completely on my own where I am the only non-Mongolian in almost every situation.  I have been a minority before, but never quite so different from everyone else. Still, my coworkers and neighbors have made me feel welcome in this new place, which has been a real comfort.  I am sure I will feel better and better about it as time goes on, I make more friends, and my Mongolian language skills increase.

First, let me tell a little about the Swearing-In Ceremony and Darkhan Final Center Days.  After a full week of sessions preparing us for our new sites, and joint sessions with our supervisors, it was time (and we were definitely all ready) for pre-service training to come to an end.  At the completion of PST, Peace Corps Volunteers are sworn in as official PC Volunteers and representatives of the US government.  The swearing in itself only takes about 5 minutes, but the ceremony was a special time for us, for our trainers, for our host families that could make the trip, and for our new supervisors.  We had representatives from the Mongolian Department of Education and the Department of Health, as well as the US ambassador to Mongolia and of course the Peace Corps Country Director.  They all gave speeches about how important PC volunteers are, and things to keep in mind during our years of service.  Then, we were officially sworn in and got to shake hands with the ambassador.  After that we had a small talent show--three volunteers gave speeches in Mongolian about their experiences in PST (I was one of them! It was a great honor), we had a picture slide show of everyone's summer, and then several groups sang Mongolian songs, played Mongolian instruments, or danced Mongolian dances.  The 8 health volunteers sang a funny Mongolian song called 'The Rendezvous' or 'The Date,' about a woman who is mad at a man for not coming to their date after they ran into each other on their camels and agreed to meet up.  The song ends with the man saying, "I'm married!" and the women are left to be righteously pissed off.  We did alright, but other groups and individuals had amazing performances that the Mongolian crowd went wild for.  After everyone who had learned something was finished, we all sang a group song and took a group picture.  Then it was time to say goodbye to our visiting host families for the last time, and head back to the hotel for lunch with the ambassador, then loading everything up and leaving for Ulaanbaatar.

The health group before the ceremony--all rocking our awesome Mongol deels!

 

A kind-of-poor picture of me giving my speech.  I talked about how great the summer has been, and how thankful I am for all the help I received.  I shared a funny story about mispronouncing 'come buy hooshor!' which I talked about in my Naadam blog post. Everyone thought that part was hilarious, which was good--they actually understood what I was talking about!

Our group performance of 'The Date.'  Our language teachers found the costumes for us, and we had to make some last minute adjustments to our lineup--since there are 6 women and 2 men in our group, 2 women were 'men' for the song.  I was originally a man, but switched to being a woman because I could fit into the woman's costume (barely).  Some things in Mongolia are 'one size fits all' but they are actually the size of your average ten year old.  For example: chairs at any school, even high schools; baby forks and spoons that are actually not for babies; and these costumes.  Anyway, the song was a lot of fun, and I was glad when it was over so that I could breathe again!

  

All of the M24s: we are the 24th group of Peace Corps volunteers to be sworn into service in Mongolia!  

It is crazy for me to think that I have known all of my fellow volunteers for less than 3 months, because I feel like I have known some of them for years.  They have been an amazing wealth of support for me, since most of my friends and family are asleep when I am awake!  This makes it a bit difficult to have regular conversations.  It helps so much to have other people that can relate to what you are going through, because they are also going through it.  I look forward to meeting up with my fellow volunteers over the next two years, and spending way to much money on phone units to call and text them whenever I need some advice or just need to commiserate.


After the swearing in ceremony, everyone started their journey to their final site--for most of us, this meant staying in Ulaanbaatar for a night or two.  I managed to buy some oatmeal and have a great lunch of Indian food, and I was reunited with my second bag of luggage which I hadn't seen since I left the airport back in the beginning of June.  When my supervisor was ready to go, we loaded down a car with all of my worldly possessions and 7 people (it's Mongolia, there are always tons of people in one car) and made the 6-ish hour ride to Khentii Aimag, Ondorkhaan soum, my home for the next two years.

We made it to our apartment building (my supervisor is my next door neighbor) around 1 am last Monday morning, and quickly unloaded all of my stuff.  I immediately went back to sleep, and didn't wake up until late morning.  When I woke up, I realized that the water was out--and I was super thirsty.  So, I decided to explore and find a shop to buy something to drink.  I found a shop nearby, but when I was at the cash register, I realized I only had about 400 tugriks in my wallet (about 25 cents) and so I gave back my juice and tried to find a bank.  I didn't notice the ATM on the opposite side of the store's building (my duh! moment for the day), and so I gave up after 20 minutes of trying to follow the cashier's directions with no luck.  I came back home, and my supervisor's eldest daughter (she is about 15) came to my apartment with bread, a fried egg, cucumber slices, and tea and I was finally not thirsty!  She told me the water was out for the day for repairs, and that her mom would take me to work that afternoon.

I put on some nicer clothes, and we walked to the Khentii Health Department--a good 30 minute walk from my apartment building.  I met some of my coworkers, but many people were out of the office--it is very common for Mongolians to take long vacations after Naadam (July 10-11) until the school year starts (September 1), either to spend more time with their families, go to the countryside, or take a trip somewhere.  My supervisor is currently on vacation until September 5, so I have used the past week at work to get to know my coworkers, or counterparts as Peace Corps calls them, better.  It seems that everyone's work is slow at the moment since so many people across the country are not at work, and so there is not much for me to do.  I have spent a lot of my time looking up information about my province online, and trying to prepare information on important health topics and English language lessons while I have the free time. 


I am looking forward to when I am busier at work, which I am sure will happen soon.  I will keep you updated on what I am up to, and post pictures of my apartment and of Ondorkhaan hopefully later this week!  I am at work now, and I don't have any of my pictures with me so you will have to wait until my next blog post!

***Drumroll.........Site Announcement Time!!

It is now the last week of Pre-Service Training.  All of the Mongolia PC Trainees are in Darkhan for our final week of training, which is region and site specific.  Our supervisors also have a two day conference in Darkhan this week, and we all meet our supervisors before travelling back to our site together, where they help us get settled in at our new living quarters.

This tumultuous week started early Monday morning, when I left my host family's house for the last time, all of my bags packed.  When we were at home, my host mom said something like, "wow, you have a lot of stuff!" in Mongolian.  After the four of us left home (first my эмээ, my grandmother, said goodbye and sniffed me, then we were out the door) and saw some of the other trainees' piles of belongings, they decided that my amount of bags was just fine.  I am going to miss my host family so much!!!  They have all been so great, and it was so sad to say goodbye.  However, I am sure we will keep in touch--I have been away from home for about 38 hours, and my host mom has already callled me 5 times.  She is so caring and concerned about me living alone, and wants to make sure I am doing alright and that I am happy.  I couldn't have asked for a better host mom and host family!

My host family and I at Selenge Aimag's second Naadam celebration!  I finally have at least one picture with all four of us in it!!  Also, we noticed after we took this picture that we had arranged ourselves in height order.  Oops!

I am going to miss moments like this, when my mom does something crazy, like put these nasty looking seeds with their gooey excretions on her face as part of a new beauty routine.  My host family is always laughing and joking, and this made me feel able to make jokes and feel like part of the family.  My mom loved to joke with people that I got super drunk and she was shocked (I drank 1 shot of vodka on two separate occasions and that was is) and I always had to repeat some funny thing I said to everyone who came over to visit.  I am really going to miss the easygoing atmosphere at my host family's house.

I will also miss Sukhbaatar and the surrounding area--what a beautiful place!

And now, on to the information that you actually want to hear about:  my site placement!  I have been waiting (not so) patiently all summer to find out where in Mongolia I will be living and working for the next two years, and I finally know a lot more of the details about my site!

After leaving my host family and arriving in Darkhan Monday morning, we all went over to the school in Darkhan where our sessions are held.  In the late morning, we were given our language proficiency results.  I scored at the Intermediate Low level, which is one step up from our necessary minimum of Novice High!  I am happy with this, and hope to really improve my Mongolian at my site as well.

Then we had a lunch break, and several sessions in the afternoon before walking to the nearby Darkhan Children's Park.  There is a gigantic map of Mongolia, drawn out with concrete raised borders delineating each aimag and a big wooden square marking each aimag center (each provincial capitol).  The map was so large that you had to shout to the people in the neighboring aimags, and I couldn't even see my friend Jerome, who was standing on the other side of the map (and he is over 6 feet tall, so it takes quite a bit of space to hide him).  To start out, all of the trainees grouped together, nervously waiting to hear their fates for the next two years.  Then, one by one, each site was announced with a pause before a trainee name was shouted out, and one by one, we were escorted (none of us had any clue where to go!) to our place on the map, and got a big packet of information about our host country agency (HCA for short), our village (soum/сум), our housing arrangements (apartment/байр, Mongolian ger/гэр, or wooden house/модон байшин), and other information including current volunteers in the area.

I am going to be living in Ondorkhaan Soum, which is the aimag center of Hentii Aimag, which means that it is the largest town in the province (tallying in at around 16,000-17,000 people).  Hentii Aimag is known as the birthplace of Chinggis Khaan, who is believed to have been born in the mountainous northern part of Hentii.  Ondorkhaan is located about 6 hours east of Ulaanbaatar, and a paved road connects the two, making travel much easier and comfortable.  I will be living in a Soviet block apartment somewhat near the Health Department, and I am excited for the prospect of hot water!

Hentii Aimag is located just east of Ulaanbaatar.  On this map, you can see that Ondorkhaan is at the edge of the mountainous region of Mongolia, where the mountains border the steppes (flat prairie-type land) of Eastern Mongolia.  Directly to the south of Hentii is the Gobi Desert, which covers the entire southern section of the country and includes about 60% of Mongolian land mass.  

I am working at the Ondorkhaan Health Department, which is in charge of consolidating information for and helping to supply resources to the entire aimag, as well as working to improve the health in Ondorkhaan Soum.  I have a very general idea of what I will be doing at site, and I will learn more when I meet and talk with my supervisor later this week, and when I begin work next week.  I know that I will be working with several different people at the health department, helping to plan, implement, and evaluate health programs, holding trainings for health department and hospital workers, teaching english a few hours a week, and other tasks as well.  I will be working at the health department about 30 hours a week, and will spend at least 10 hours working on other secondary projects in my town, which I can pick out depending on my interests, the needs of the community, and the available resources.  

From all that I have heard about Hentii Aimag and what was included in the information I was given, I am very excited to move to Ondorkhaan and start to work in the Health sector!!  There will be many more updates to come about my new home in the future!  

For now, I am preparing for meeting my supervisor on Thursday (eeeeeek!) and I am one of three trainees that will be giving a speech at our swearing-in ceremony on Saturday, when we officially become volunteers, so I am working on and worrying about that as well.  I am so pumped to head to UB and on to Hentii this weekend, and hopefully I can pick up some things that I have been told are scarce in Ondorkhaan.  

I will update again as soon as I can about swearing in and moving to Ondorkhaan!  I am sad that I will no longer be with all of the great friends I have made during pre-service training, but I am also excited to hear about what life is like in so many different areas of Mongolia.

Until next time!

Дахиад Наадам (Second Naadam): How to Make Hooshor!

Hello everyone!  I just finished my language proficiency exam and my last health volunteer assessment interview, so now I just have a long weekend separating me from finding out my site placement where I will live and work for the next two years!  I thought that the exam and interview went well, but I won't know any results until Monday, when I will get a certificate with my language proficiency (novice intermediate, novice high, intermediate low, etc).  Mongolian Peace Corps volunteers are supposed to reach novice high level by the end of summer training, so let's hope that I got at least that!

Today I am going to talk about how to make the Mongolian traditional food called Hooshor (Хуушур).    Hooshor is basically like a flat, meat filled empanada or hot pocket.  Many families eat it often, and it is basically the only food that is eaten for the two day celebration of Naadam.  Another food, called Booz (Бууз, pronounced like the word 'boats'), is eaten regularly and also during White Month (Цагаан Сар/Tsagaan Sar), which is the Mongolian Lunar New Year celebration.  I'm sure I will have an update about Booz closer to Febuary for White Month/Tsagaan Sar.

So, I don't have a recipe for Hooshor.  I'm not sure if a recipe exists, because it seems like the sort of thing that you just get a feel for making over time.  Here is my best guess for the ingredients involved, and hopefully the pictures will give you an idea of amounts:

For the floury outside layer (I don't have any pictures of this being prepared because my host mom usually makes the dough in advance and lets it rise a little):

• flour
• salt
• yeast
• water

For the filling:

• ground MEAT.  Lots of it. 
• garlic (optional)
• onions or green onions (optional)
• salt (NOT optional to Mongolians!)

***You can also make potato hooshor, which are very delicious!  They usually are made with boiled and mashed potatoes, a few carrots or other boiled and mashed vegetables, possibly some meat and salt for flavor. Besides the filling, all of the steps are the same.



First, start by preparing the dough and letting the dough set for a while.  Then, mix the meat, salt, and whatever else you feel like adding in.

The dough is ready, and after deciding to add a bit more garlic, we were ready to begin!

Our meat mixture:  my host mom likes lots of garlic.  I have seen Mongolians taste a little bit of the meat mixture by licking some of it to see if it is good.  I would not recommend this, for obvious meat safety issues!

The dough is ready to be rolled out.  To do this, first cut the dough into roughly ping-pong sized pieces, which will be rolled out to form each hooshor pocket.  

Our ping-pong sized pieces.  My cousin is spreading extra flour on the pieces and the board to help with rolling out.  Also, the bruise on her arm is from getting in a small car accident--from what I understood, the car suddenly stopped or hit a large bump, and she hit her arm really hard on the door--about a week before this.

My cousin was in charge of rolling out hooshors the day I took these photos.  My mom was frying, and my mom's younger brother was pinching the hooshor closed, which is an artform you will see later on.  I was in charge of taking pictures (self assigned), staying out of the way (self assigned), and assisting in pinching hooshor (half-heartedly assigned to keep the American involved).

After the small piece of dough is rolled flat, a small amount of filling is added.  Too much, and the hooshor will not pinch closed, and too little and the hooshor is too doughy.

After some filling is added is the trickiest part of preparing hooshor.  There are multiple ways of pinching the hooshor closed, and I just couldn't get the hang of my uncle's method even though I tried for a good half hour.  First, he would fold the dough in half, with most of the filling in the center.  Then, he would start to pinch the sides together, alternating between each side of the dough edge.

This forms a neat edge where there are alternating puckers and no open holes in the dough.  He makes it look easy, believe me!

Then, after the hooshor is fully sealed (look at that beautiful edge pattern!), pat the hooshor to flatten it and squish around the filling to be equally spread out. pat, pat, pat!  This is one part of the hooshor pinching that I could actually do!

My uncle's finished hooshor, ready to be fried.  Note the pretty edging and uniform appearance....

And then here is one of my best attempts at hooshor pinching.  Easily recognizable by my awful edging and uneven dough.  My host mom ate this one, and she said it still tasted good, so there is yet hope for us beginners!

Hooshors being fried:  The vegetable oil is heated up, and then hooshors are added.  Depending on the filling, size, and temperature of the oil, the cooking time can vary.  The best method is to check the underside, and if it is lightly brown, then it is time to flip!

You can see the light brown color of the top hooshor, which was turned at just the right time.  After a little while on this side, check the underside again and remove when both sides are lightly browned. 

Let cool for a few minutes before devouring as many as you can.  Beware of dripping juices escaping from the bottom of the hooshor as you eat!  It is hot and will probably stain your clothes!  

The best location to eat hooshor is Naadam, the two day festival held every July.  A man from Celenge Province where I am living won the national wrestling competition that is an integral part of Naadam (the other two sports being long distance horse racing and archery).  He decided that the best use of his prize money would be to host another Naadam in his province, so Sukhbaatar had a second Naadam last Friday.  We made these hooshor at home on Friday with the intention of bringing them to Naadam to watch the end of the wrestling tournament, but we finished just as Naadam finished.  Instead, we picked up the rest of our family that had stayed at Naadam, and headed down to the river to eat our hooshor.  Definitely a great way to start the weekend!

Now, I am off to take a nap before celebrating the completion of exams with my friends.  I hope everyone has a great weekend, and that everyone in Boone County has a great fair week!

Баяртай! Goodbye!