One week… that is how long I have been at my permanent site. I am already settling into a comfortable life with fruits, cheese, an amusement park, and even coffee shops (although I just get juice since coffee isn’t my thing)! But first, you need to know how I got here.
I left my training site Tuesday afternoon. After a teary goodbye (even Aав cried), we loaded onto the meeker to drive to Darkhan for Final Center Days and Swearing-In. The drive took about 2 hours.
When we arrived around 1:45 pm, we eagerly greeted everyone and waited for the other meeker with our bags to make it to the hotel. I was lucky enough to room with my same friend from Staging in San Francisco! After lugging every bag up to the hotel room with the help of some other Trainees, I checked the time and noted I had enough time to shower. This meant that I was about to have my first hot shower since the first week in Mongolia! The anticipation was killing me. I’d had warm tumpun baths and cold showers throughout the summer, so this shower would be a nice relief. The best part of the shower? Not only was my body finally relaxed, but my hair and back were the cleanest they’d been in two and a half months (you don’t realize how difficult it is to wash your back without a shower-head until you don’t have one). After the shower, I donned my usual business casual clothing (my new favorite clothing… by necessity) and walked over with other Trainees to the location where permanent site announcements would be held! The rest of my time in Mongolia was about to begin…
At 4:30 pm, site announcements began. Starting from the Eastern, Central, and Western regions of Mongolia, one aimag’s new residents were announced, respectively. My aimag was announced third (first Western aimag). I eagerly went up to the front of the room to receive my site packet and waited, wondering whether any other people would end up near me. As I heard my friend’s name being called to live in the same aimag center with me, my excitement levels rose! This was one of my two closest friends from my training site! To top it off, the third name called was also a close friend’s (she is placed about two hours from my aimag center). We went to the map of Mongolia and pinned our pictures to our locations. We then returned to our seats. As I waited to see where my friends would end up, I looked through my packet. I would be living in an apartment with amenities, an aimag center that occasionally sells peanut butter and whipped cream, an aimag that has a horse festival, and working at a school focused on language and mathematics!
Once the site announcements were finished, we were given free time to digest the information we’d been given on our lives for the next two years. Most people continued to scour their packets to pick out as many details as possible, but I was not one of them. I hadn’t expected to be so confused upon finding out my site. My friends remarked that I was really quiet, why wasn’t I talking? Was I okay? I wasn’t sure what to think and didn’t want to start forming ideas about my site without having spoken to anyone from my school or having seen my new home. I decided to go out to dinner with friends instead of pondering the possibilities.
At dinner, most people brought their packets and continued to discuss what they’d deciphered. Once again, I stayed quiet and contemplated life. Specifically, why did the restaurant insist on putting barbeque sauce on every meal (meat lover’s pizza should not have BBQ sauce…)?? That night, I went to bed in a state of confusion and anticipation for the coming days.
What followed were three days of training. The first day was separate from our supervisors and focused on paperwork and policies of Peace Corps Mongolia. The second day, we met our supervisors. The supervisors are people who work at the assigned schools (one supervisor per PCV) and guide and help the PCV. Some supervisors do not work as counterparts (CP) with the PCVs while others, like mine, also work as a CP. My supervisor is my school’s social worker. During one of the sessions, we were told to express our worries to one another using Peace Corps Staff translators. With the help of a Peace Corps Staff member, I learned that my supervisor is looking forward to working with me and would like to be friends but is worried about the language barrier. She would also like to gain fluency in English. Furthermore, we discussed my housing. I would be living in the same apartment building as my friend!
Each night in Darkhan, I went out for pizza and occasionally found milkshakes, in an effort to eat the closest food to American food that I could find before heading out west. I probably put on a couple of the pounds I lost during PST, but the food made it worth it. We also checked out the black market and bought backpacks with my friends so that we could fit the extra stuff we had acquired throughout PST.
After the three days of training, it was finally Saturday: Swearing-In Day! At 9 am, we all headed over to the theater dressed in our дээлs (deels). We had done a run through the day before, so everyone was prepared. We started outside with pictures of the entire cohort and were then sworn in by the United States Ambassador to Mongolia.
Afterwards, we filed into our seats. As the speeches began, I anxiously looked around, checking for my host parents. Eventually, I saw Ээж walk in with another Trainee’s host parents from my training site. Now, you need to know that I cry extremely easily… think, the type of person who cries during the trailer for War Horse and then watches the trailer after having seen the movie and bawls again and more intensely than during the saddest part of P.S. I Love You… Anyway, as I saw Ээж enter, I got tears in my eyes and continued to watch, hawk-eyed, for Аав. My first tears of the day were shed when he entered and looked around for Ээж (they ended up not finding one another and sitting on opposite sides of the audience).
Once the speeches were over, the presentation of certificates of completion of PST and officially becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer began. My name was called third by last name, and I nervously, excitedly, and on the verge of tears walked up the steps, shook the Ambassador’s and Peace Corps Mongolia’s Country Director’s hands. A quick picture was snapped, and I attempted to calmly walk down the stairs. As I went to return to my seat, I passed my friend’s host parents and Аав. They stood up as one, and one by one shook my hand. At this point I was crying lightly, but lucky for me, I was nowhere near dehydrated, so more tears were about to come. I continued on, and upon seeing my Resource Volunteer who would be returning to the US a week later, I began sobbing whole-heartedly. After a long hug, I returned to my seat. What followed were two performances from different training groups. One group performed a traditional Mongolian dance, and the second group mimicked the music video to a famous Mongolian pop song as our resident best singer in the cohort sang the lyrics in Mongolian (quite impressive really). After closing statements, Swearing-In was over. Quick pictures were snapped with my supervisor before I went to find my host parents.
The host families from my training site were all standing around one table, but my host parents, true to form, were already in line for food. Ээж started crying as she hugged me and led me over to Аав, who, in an effort to remain free of tears, told me to hop in line and get some food. Back at the table, we ate ravenously. My host parents met my supervisor, each of them having a long one-on-one chat with her. After Аав’s chat, he informed me I would have to buy plates and mugs, which were apparently non-existent in my apartment.
As the event drew to a close, we all exited for more pictures. All the newly sworn in Health Volunteers got a picture together, and my host parents asked for a mini photo shoot. Random friends dropped by for pictures too. Luckily, we all looked great that day, so the photos turned out beautifully. Then it was time to leave…
My host parents accompanied me to the bus. We hugged about 5 times, which consisted of Аав attempting not to cry, while Ээж and I bawled. After I got on the bus, I continued to cry and walked to the other side of the aisle to wave to my host parents. They eventually came to my side of the bus. We were making hearts with our hands and arms, Аав wiped tears off Ээж’s face, and then we all cried again. As the bus pulled out of the parking lot, I reflected on how close I had become with my host family.
Eventually we arrived back at the hotel where we changed and got on the bus to go to Ulaanbaatar (UB). Upon arriving in UB, we were given our fire extinguishers, fire alarms, and winter bags. Then we had free time to explore the city. While most PCVs went to MexiKhan, I was still craving pizza, so guess where I went? Pizza Hut!! The meal was definitely the right way to end the last week before permanent site.
The next morning, most of the PCVs left. My supervisor was coming at 12:30, so I had time. Unfortunately for me, this meant I had a lot of time to cry as I got to say goodbye to everyone. It would’ve been a lot easier had I left first… too bad. When my supervisor arrived at the hotel, we loaded all my luggage into a taxi and drove to the bus station where we had khuushuur for lunch. Then we packed onto the bus, ready for the next eight hours.
To be continued…
OH(IO) -> Mongolia 