First Days in Mongolia

 June 4, 2012

Most of us were running on very little sleep as we woke early to catch the bus to the airport on the final leg of our journey into Mongolia. We were greeted with a horde of currently-serving Peace Corps Volunteers, cheering and shouting and welcoming us to Mongolia. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, but glad to have arrived at last, all I could do was smile as I walked between the lines of exuberant volunteers.

We took a bus to the immigration office, where I got one of the worst pictures I think I've ever taken, and then headed to the ger camp. The van unfortunately broke down, and as we laughed and joked, giddy with sleep deprivation, we had the opportunity to view the equine mating rituals of some horses in the distance. We were eventually picked up by another van and taken to the camp.

We picked up our luggage and got into our gers. Though not 'real' gers, they had the same circular construction, and they were furnished with three beds (two double and one single, as there were 5 of us bunking there all together), chairs, and sofas. We had a lovely dinner in a rather large ger in the center of camp, where we were introduced to the staff and given a little orientation. We headed back to our gers, took a shower, and headed to sleep.

So, there's this thing called jetlag, and all of us, accosted as we were by it, awoke naturally around 5:30 or 6am. We rose and got dressed. One of the girls in our ger, Kitano, headed out, and me and another, Brittany, soon followed. When I saw Kitano had begun climbing the nearby hill, I was eager to do the same, and Brittany and I began our way up. As we climbed, we met other groups of Peace Corps trainees, and our number had swelled to about eight by the time we reached the top of the foggy, wind-swept hill.

We ate breakfast, then took buses north to Darkhan, where we would be training for the next few days. The ride revealed miles and miles of open spaces where the gently-slopping hills and he wide expanse of sky revealed the vast and remote beauty Mongolia is known for.

When we arrived at Darkhan, we dropped off our luggage. Or, I should say, hauled our rather heavy luggage up three flights of stairs to the fourth floor. Who needs strength training when you're a Peace Corps Trainee? We were separated into small groups and were sent to get shots, then went out to dinner with a currently-serving Peace Corps Volunteer. Ours, Heather, I barraged with questions. There is so much to learn!

Later that night, I ran into a game being played by a larger collection of my fellow trainees, and we played for a few hours. I'm not sure what the game is called, but it involved one or more people being pegged as a murderer or mafia-member, one as a doctor, and one as a detective. It was fun, and we played and laughed into the night.

The beds here in Darkhan Hotel, where we're staying, are pretty uncomfortable. They're extremely hard--a couple inches of padding across what is essentially a plank of wood. This morning I'm pretty exhausted, and hope a combination of caffeine and excitement can help me power through this day of training.

When I have more time (probably in a couple months) I'll add pictures to this post--right now I have to run!