Back in the Saddle

Well, I'm back in Mongolia, and getting back into the groove, sort of. By order of the PCMO, I'm working half days. I was disappointed at first but once I actually got back, I realized it was a good idea. Though I'm doing much better now, at first I would go home from a half day at work and my ankle would be swollen and sore, which made doing the exercises difficult. It's not as bad now, and I'm out of the walking boot and into a fabulous pair of blue suede, fake fur trimmed boots (as some of you read on facebook). My range of motion is much improved. I go back to Thailand Friday (Dec. 17) for a check up with the surgeon. I'll be in Bangkok by myself on my birthday. I intend to see the new Harry Potter movie and eat really good Mexican food at this restaurant I found last time in Bangkok. I'll also see the physiotherapist and maybe squeeze in a couple physical therapy appointments. I intend to be back at site on Dec. 24. When the Peace Corps medevacs you, they only issue an open-ended plane ticket (because they don't know what the doctor will say). So, I will bend the Peace Corps to my will (cross your fingers) and be back at site Dec. 24. My sitemates have big plans for Christmas which include an actual turkey for Christmas dinner. The turkey is ungodly expensive, and you buy it live. We are arranging to have someone kill it for us. I guess we'll have to pluck it and dress it. Not sure any of us have done that before--another Mongolian adventure! And we'll have a Christmas tree. lights, and decorations. It promises to be a great Christmas. At school, I'm teaching English to petroleum mining students (28 males, 1 female) and 16 teachers from the school. My petroleum class meets once a week and my teachers' class meets 3 times a week. So far, I haven't introduced any petroleum-related language to my students. I am just trying to teach the basics. I want to talk with one of the petroleum teachers who speaks pretty good English to come up with some vocabulary that would be useful for the students on the job site. For homework for the teachers, I'm giving them 10 words a week on flashcards that relate to the subjects they teach. I think they like it, but I'm having difficulty coming up with a good way to review them with each teacher and/or use them in class. One of the problems is that the majority of my class is at the beginning level so the activities I can do in class are limited by the level of the students. It's going pretty well though. I am not yet team-teaching with the English teachers. I hope to get that going next semester. Like everywhere else it is the holiday season in Mongolia. There are Santa Claus's and Christmas decorations around but I don't think they're much related to Christian Christmas. I think Mongolians just like the decorations. As far as I can tell, they sort of roll Christmas into the New Year (Shin Jil--"New Year" in Mongolian) celebrations. And, boy, do they celebrate Shin Jil!! There's a student party and a teacher party at every school, including mine. The teachers pitch in what I think is a lot of money (25,000 Tugruks each) for their party. I think there is a separate party for our branch (3 branches in the school--technical, technological, and other--something I can't remember), but I'm not sure about that yet. The three English teachers and I are going to sing a Happy New Year song of my choice at our party. I don't know what I'm going to choose, but there's an ABBA new year song that I've never heard but is very popular here. Mongolians love singing. My petroleum class asked to learn an English Christmas song, so I taught them "Jingle Bell Rock." It is also winter in Mongolia. It wasn't so bad when it was -10 degrees celsius. Last Friday was the first day I really noticed that it was flippin' cold--it was -22 degrees celsius. Today is more of the same--a high of -22 degrees celsius and a low of -30 degrees celsius. Note that that's celsius, not fahrenheit. It snows every now and then but of course the snow on the ground never goes away, unless the wind blows a patch away. The roads remind me of that show on the Discovery Channel, "Ice Road Truckers." And snow removal in Mongolia is the responsibility of the people who own the buildings. For example, each school is responsible for clearing the stretch of public road nearest it. So, every now and then, you'll see a group of school students shoveling a public road. I'm going to take a picture of it next time I see it. It's quite amazing. It's so cold that my eyes tear up because of the wind, but then your tears freeze on your eyelashes. So when I get to school, I have to brush away the tiny icicles on my eyelashes. I'm going to post a picture of a snowball fight in front of my school, but I'm having technological issues. I'll have to post it later. I'll write again soon. I have more interesting cultural experiences to share, and I'm sure I'll have more as Shin Jil heats up.