Hunger Games

I am very lucky that the Hunger Games movie actually came to Mongolia, and only a week after it opened in the US (unlike some of my unfortunate classmates who are going to have to wait months to see it, I'm truly sorry). I went on Friday, the first day it opened here with my roommate. Overall I enjoyed the movie and I thought it was a pretty good adaptation. My only issue was seeing it with a Mongolian audience. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't care so much what the audience's reactions and behavior are during a movie, but I have read and loved the books and was REALLY looking forward to seeing this movie, and I was taking it kind of seriously. The entire movie there were people talking throughout the theater and the couple sitting next to me was the worst. (If I knew how to chew someone out in Mongolian I seriously would have done it. Nothing gets me more upset than someone ruining my film watching experience.) Add to the chatter that people around me were checking their cellphones the entire movie (including ANSWERING them). Then, the reactions to the movie were kind of weird. Every time the movie showed Gale, the whole audience would laugh. They laughed at a lot of the movie which I found a little disturbing. Granted when children started to be killed during the opening bloodbath at the cornucopia that shut the audience up pretty quickly. The whole experience has made me appreciate the American audiences I usually see movies with. Once before when I was in Switzerland I saw the movie Enchanted and the Swiss audience didn't get all the references and therefore didn't react as well to the movie as I did. I later saw Enchanted a few months later in Provo, with a packed theater and it was a much more enjoyable experience. I think I'm going to have to see the Hunger Games again, hopefully with an audience that appreciates it a little more.

Despite my complaining, I'm still super happy I saw it.

Waiting for the movie, I was pretty stoked.

Mexican Fiesta Con Los Misioneros

On Wednesday I had the missionaries over for dinner. Now that I have my own apartment and my own kitchen I figured the least I can do for the missionaries is feed them. There were two American Elders and two Mongolian Sisters and my roommate. Now I don’t cook very much under the best of circumstances and therefore do not feel very confident when cooking in not so great of circumstances, so I went to my old fall back of Mexican food. I made my own tortillas (a skill I’ve found essential since living in Switzerland back in 2007) and with them we had chicken taquitos and beef tacos. As sides we had black refried beans and lime cilantro rice. The tacos and taquitos were pretty good, the rice was adequate, the beans were in trouble but I added cheese and the Elders ate them anyway. It was really fun to have all four missionaries over and to get to know them better. It was also awesome for my roommate to meet them and talk with them for quite a while. Despite my sometimes lacking culinary skills, I'm declaring the evening a success. 

I forgot to take a picture of the table before we ate, so this is a picture of after.

Elder Jolley, Elder Quinton, Sister Bolor Erdene, Sister Naran Gerel, and me.

It Whips My Hair Back and Forth

My attempt at showing the wind.

Now that winter is definitely over, freezing temperatures are not my biggest problem (though apart from a few hours at the hottest part of the day, it is still below freezing). My new weather foe is the icy wind that seems to have arrived with spring. It stings any exposed skin and almost makes things as cold as they were in January. It is even worse when you get a hefty dose of dust and dirt blown right in your eyes and mouth. As I type this from the safety of the indoors I’m happy to declare that it is not as bad as the -40F weather, but when I’m outside I think my hatred of cold temperatures are swept away with the heavy gusts of wind. The weather has also turned quite volatile. Yesterday it alternated between heavy winds with snow and sunshine. A couple of my coworkers have told me that Spring in Mongolia means we can have all four seasons in one day.

Homely Family With the Bishop

For those of you outside my immediate family, ‘Homely Family’ is our term for Family Home Evening. For those of you outside the Mormon religion, Family Home Evening is supposed to be a time during the week (typically Monday nights) dedicated to spending time with your family, usually with a religious lesson, an activity, and treats. Being a single individual and far from my own family, I don’t participate in Family Home Evening very often but was happy to accept an invitation to the Bishop’s house for FHE on Monday. I really like my Bishop and his wife, they have been extremely kind to me since I’ve been here. There were about 10 other people there from church and we had a great time. We had a lesson about Easter, people shared their testimonies, and then we ate (and ate and ate). The whole evening was really nice and pleasant. While we were all sitting there eating and chatting (me kind of slipping in and out of my imagination as is typical when surrounded by all Mongolians, only being pulled back into the conversation when I pick up an English word or two), I came to a realization: In that moment, there is no where else on earth I would rather be. Sitting amongst a group of people who have shown me genuine care and kindness, enjoying everyone's company. I am so lucky to be here in Mongolia and have this opportunity to know such amazing people. I know I gush about the people I've met through church a lot, sorry, but seriously I really love them!

On a slightly less mushy subject, let's talk about the food for the evening. We pretty much ate a full on dinner of buutz, potato salad, green salad, and then dessert. The potato salad was particularly good and everything was delicious. The only problem I have is with the amounts of food that I feel expected to consume. As soon as I finish off my strategically chosen small plate, I'm encouraged to get more food, and more food, and more food. Don't get me wrong, I like the food, but my digestive system is still not used to eating such copious amounts of Mongolian food. Thank heavens the weather is getting warmer which people have told me means that Mongolians will eat lighter, less meaty foods.

(Sorry for the no pictures, I forgot to take any at FHE because I was enjoying myself too much.)

Miracles Happen

Back to Baking

Thanks to my friend Flower showing me a market where there are a lot more imported items (ahem baking powder and cheddar cheese) I was able to gather almost all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies!!! (The only thing I couldn’t find were actual chocolate chips so I just used a couple of candy bars.) So I finally got to bake something on Saturday night and brought some cookies to church for my YW’s lesson on Sunday. The cookies turned out ok. The brown sugar I used was a little interesting (looked like there were hardened lumps of molasses in it). But they were decent enough to eat and that’s the important part. The YW and the leaders seemed to enjoy them. Next up will be a cake I hope (I just need to buy a pan).

I Win!

I am officially declaring victory over the Mongolian winter! Winter is over and I survived. Temperatures are now averaging in the middle 30s F as the high and above 0 F at night. I no longer wear a hat when I go outside (though I'm still wearing a scarf and my heavy coat), the ice and snow are melting, and the air is getting cleaner. On a hike up a hill on Saturday (ward activity that I'll post about later) I actually took my coat off after getting to the summit because I was too hot. Winter, I declare you conquered!!!

That is actual running water that you see on the right hand side of this very shallow river.

 In a slightly related note, I feel happy to announce that I am out of the funk that I was in the past couple of weeks from being sick and injured. Thanks to an email exchange with a friend, receiving a package from my sister, and listening to Ke$ha for a couple of hours on Thursday (and trying really hard NOT to dance my way home on the streets of UB) I am feeling much better and am no longer annoyed about being in Mongolia. I win again.

This is my cheesy pose attempting to demonstrate my victory over winter as I stand atop a hill without wearing a coat. Yea me!

Redemption

Mongolia, you have redeemed yourself for all that you have wronged me for. The Hunger Games is coming to Mongolia on March 30, only a mere week after it premiered in the US, something that I can obviously live with. I have been trying to find out if the movie was coming here ever since I arrived back in January but couldn't find any information until a couple of weeks ago. I was randomly googling 'Mongolia, cinema' yet again when one website showed a poster for The Hunger Games. I couldn't read the website though and had to wait a couple of days until I could ask a Mongolian friend. Even then, when my friend confirmed that it was coming, she told me to still be skeptical because just because the website says it doesn't mean it's true. This very large poster on the main street of Ulaanbaatar is confirmation enough for me. I will now be avoiding everything Hunger Games related on the internet during the intervening week.

Ugh, Another Long and Boring Blog Post

Ok, I've been MIA from my blog for over a week now and I apologize to my fan (i.e. my mother). The main reason I haven't blogged is because I've been in kind of a bad mood for most of the past week and I didn't think it would be very attractive of me to be using this blog to rant about how annoyed I've been. But now that I am in a slightly better mood I will record the 'highs' and 'lows' of the past week or so.

First as a preface, last weekend I moved out of my hostel and into an apartment with a girl I know from work. Several of my 'highs' and 'lows' depend on this.

Lows:

• Last Friday I was feeling sick. My whole body felt achy and I had the chills. I went home from work a little early, put on 4 layers of clothes, and 2 blankets and slept for 15 hours.
• Saturday I moved. Moving is always a low.
• After moving into my new apartment I realized that there was no door between the living room and the bedroom. This would not normally be a huge problem except that my Mongolian roommate is a fanatical soccer fan and likes to watch Premier League football matches at 3am sometimes. I'm working on putting up a curtain at the very least, but because of other events last week, it is still not up yet.
• Sunday morning I got a call from the hostel that I moved out of. I had not completely moved out yet because I had paid through the 13th so I wasn't in a big rush to get the last few things out. However they needed the room immediately because they had to shuffle around some of the guests because a Mongolian teenage soccer team had arrived and was taking up most of the hostel's beds. I was annoyed that I had to go over there before church and move the rest of my stuff out even though technically the room was still mine. (Yes I considered protesting and putting up a fight but after deliberating my options I decided it just wasn't worth it.)
• Monday night, while walking to church for an activity, I fell. And by fell I mean I ate it, hard. I didn't even slip on ice or anything, I just tripped on some uneven pavement. I think it must have looked pretty spectacular too because I seem to recall some rolling and tumbling. The first thing I checked was that both my wrists were ok, thank heavens. I landed really hard on my left elbow though and within about an hour after my fall I couldn't bend or extend my elbow past a 90 degree angle, and it hurt. This of course made me freak out quite a bit and I was afraid something was broken.
• Having an arm that I couldn't bend or extend meant that I couldn't reach my hand to my head which resulted in my not being able to do my hair for 2 days, meaning I had the same ponytail for 3 days. Very attractive of me.
• I got a cold starting on Monday but peaking on Wednesday and Thursday. I don't get sick very often (I pride myself on a good immune system) and this was the worst cold I've had that I can remember. I stayed home from work for most of Thursday, only going in at 4pm and that's just because I was supposed to go to some ex-pat networking event with my boss that night that I couldn't get out of. Being sick and having to go out in the cold and the terribly polluted air made me not such a fan of Mongolia this week. Thankfully my bad mood was more angry than sad, so there were no tears involved, which is usually my go-to emotional outburst.
• My new roommate keeps trying to feed me. This would normally be a good thing, but she's trying to feed me random Mongolian-type food. Now I've enjoyed most of the Mongolian food people have given me since I've been here, but I'm not ready to start eating it regularly yet. When I'm at home I like to eat my own food (like pasta and salads once in a while, but mainly bread with chocolate spread). I don't want to eat fired eggs with rice and some weird pickled things.

 Highs:

• Last Saturday morning I was walking to piano lessons like normal and was pulling a packed wheelie suitcase to get a jump-start on my move. But I was kind of weak after having been sick the night before and so I broke down and hailed my first taxi on my own in Mongolia. I communicated with the driver only through hand gestures and it worked out great. I was very proud.
• Saturday after the hideousness of moving I went with a couple of friends from church to the black market. It was awesome (see pictures below). They sell pretty much everything. I don't think I will ever be able to navigate or negotiate without a Mongolian. My favorite part are the endless rows of bolts of fabric.
• Saturday night I did 3 loads of laundry because my new apartment has a washing machine. Seriously the highlight of the weekend.
• On Sunday church was awesome as usual. I made a couple of new friends and the Sunday School teacher was using some English materials for her lesson and handed me the pages as she was done with them so I was able to follow along really well; I thought it was incredibly nice of her.
• Monday night I went to a church activity (the one I was going to when I fell) for the Young Single Adults. There was a visiting church authority and so they had a special meeting. It was really nice and fun to see all the Mongolian YSAs.
• After falling on Monday and being freaked out about my arm, on Tuesday I decided I had to get it x-rayed so I would know for sure and feel better about it. This is in the 'highs' section because the process of calling my international insurance company, finding a clinic, making an appointment for that day, and going to the clinic was a very smooth process. The whole experience was great, I was in and out of the clinic within an hour and I was able to do it all by myself. And the great news is that I had no broken bones. My elbow was just severely bruised and the joint was swollen which was inhibiting the mobility, but would get better with time.
• Tuesday I got a call from my friend from church asking me if I would speak on church on the coming Sunday. I would normally never put this in the 'highs' section but I've been really excited to get to participate in church stuff here. (A couple of weeks ago I was asked to give a prayer in Relief Society and I was practically crying with joy because I hadn't had the opportunity to pray out loud or hear a prayer in English since I've been here - sorry, tangent.) Anyway, so preparing for my talk on Sunday has been good and I'm excited to be involved in my ward.
• I watched all 4 seasons of the British TV show Merlin in the span of about 6 days. It has become my new obsession. I'm currently going through withdrawals because there won't be any new episodes until September. (This should probably be in the 'lows' section now that I think about it.)
• The Thursday night ex-pat networking event was ok. The only really good part was that I got my English friend Anna to come too and I was able to chat and catch up with her, so it gets to be in the 'highs' section.
• Friday night my boss made me go to another expat meeting at the UK Embassy. This meeting takes place every Friday night at a little pub that they have on the Embassy premises and you have to have a card to get in (I was the guest of my boss who has a card). I was not thrilled about going because I was still feeling a little sick and hanging out at pubs, randomly meeting people is not my favorite thing to do, but my boss had been meaning to take me for 2 months and we were finally going. So I popped an Excederin Migraine and met my boss there. Turns out I had a great time. It was very casual and I was able to meet and talk to a few foreigners. I gave out all the business cards I had on me and got several in return. I'm probably going to get my own membership so I can go back anytime I want. (Plus one of the bartenders was really cute so that just makes everything better.)

And that is a faithful narrative of all my dealing with the past week. It felt like I was in a bad mood for days but after remember the good things, maybe it wasn't so bad. Sorry for the heavy text, light pictures blog post. As a consolation here are some pictures from the black market and a random giant ice cube I passed last week.
 

Giant ice cube. Seriously it was like as big as an oven.

Black Market

Bolts of fabric

Lots of fabric

My Favoritest Things

There are 2 things that tie for my favorite thing about living in Mongolia. The first is the people I get to work with. I really enjoy many of the people that I have the opportunity to spend the majority of my time with. (Number one among them is Oogii, the receptionist, she is just a hoot.) I feel very grateful to be working with fun and competent people.

HFH Mongolia team enjoying dinner after our Charity Dinner Fundraiser.

The second favorite thing I have is church. I can't even imagine what I would do here without being able to go to church and the invaluable people I've met there. I have been given the opportunity to serve and participate in the community and I have met lots of Mongolian friends through church. I also don't think I've ever met such devout church members in my life. The Mongolian members' dedication to the gospel through their actions  and levels of commitment are an amazing example. I'm also grateful for the missionaries I've gotten to interact with (Senior couples and Elders), they seem to be the only Americans I've really met here. 

This is the large church building where I help with the music lessons on Saturday mornings. I'm not going to attempt to spell it, I'm just happy I can say it fairly successfully.

Life could really never be all that bad with these things in my life (dang, that sounds cheesy).

Charity Dinner

Last night Habitat For Humanity Mongolia hosted a Charity Dinner to celebrate women in honor of International Women's Day and to raise funds and awareness for our upcoming Blue Sky Build 2012 event (can you tell I've had to type that a lot lately?). It was a little bit stressful leading up to the even because we were struggling to get more people to attend, but I wasn't the one in charge, so I wasn't really worried. The event ended up being better than I expected. I had to co-host it with another girl from Habitat. We had lots of entertainment and people really seemed to enjoy themselves.

                                   The following pictures are from my camera and from Ken who was our official photographer for the event:

Eenee and I preparing to co-host the program.

Chimgee, the BSB Event Coordinator who was in charge of organizing the Charity Dinner.

Baagii (left), the UB Affiliate Program Director and Billy (right), the volunteer coordinator.

The guests enjoying the dinner.

Ken, the admin assistant and the photographer for the night.

Eenee and I welcoming people to the event.

Selections from the fashion show.

Oogii, the receptionist and Zaya, the finance administrator manning the check-in desk.

One of the home partners who will be receiving a house in the BSB 2012 said a few words.

The US Ambassador and his wife participating in one of the activities, 'Buy a Brick, Build a House;' this was one of the most popular activities of the evening.

'Who's the best Nailer' was a competition where 6 female participants had to hammer 3 nails into a block of wood.

The two winners of the competition, including my friend Flower (left) from church (she was there because the travel company she works for organizes tours for Habitat volunteer groups a lot).

Me helping Baagii with the auction.

The evening was a little stressful but fun because I get to work with awesome people.