Friday, August 21, 2009

Site Placement




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after 2 months of e-isolation and intellectual boot camp, i am back in the Peace Corps training center and somehow i've managed to get freetime AND internet access...simultaneously! Already this is an accomplishment.

Peace Corps Training is over as of tomorrow at which point I will take an oath, walk across a stage, and become an official Peace Corps volunteer with Uncle Sam as my boss. Training was great and terrible and fun and difficult and painful and inspiring and I'm gearing up for two more years of these kinds of complicated experiences. Really, I couldn't be more excited.

I got my site assignment and I am extremely pumped about what it says. I will be living in Muron City (alternate spelling: Moron City!) in the Hovsgol (Khovsgol/Khuvsgul/Huvsgul) province in the northernmost part of west central Mongolia (Siberia!). All the Mongolians and all the PCVs are extremely jealous because this is considered to be the most beautiful area of the country! There are trees and mountains and a great beautiful lake, and REINDEER!!

The school I will be working at is the Mathematics Oriented Secondary School in Muron. It's a big school (2000 students-more students than my college!) and I will be working with 6 counterparts, 3 of whom are my age! The teach extra classes in math and, from what I understand, students are selected to go there (though this info may be misunderstood). Regardless, it's definitely a school with smart students and i'm excited about that. Besides being an english teacher and teacher capacity builder, my job description is vague and ill let you all know more about that as it unfolds.

Muron is a largish city, which is something that i expected to be disappointed about; but, now that it's a reality, this kind of things doesnt seem to matter. I will have reliable internet access, which will allow me to do all kinds of fun things like staying in touch with you, helping design Midnight Madness 2009, doing grant research, looking into grad schools, doing filmmaking projects with students, and the list goes on. Maybe it would be cool to live rustic like its not the 21st century, but doing good work and being productive is neat too.

I am really excited to be living in a ger (mongolian yurt)! I will have a family nextdoor that i will be looslely connected with and who will help me with emerngency/i-dont-know-how-to-be-an-adult-in-mongolia situations. I'll tell you more about them when i meet them!

also, i got a puppy but i dont know if shell be able to come because i am flying to my site. she will stay with another volunteer who lives closer if i cant take her.

this is the basic information i want to communicate. there is so much more i want to tell all of you about my life but there is just no time. things are very busy and it will take weeks for them to settle down, but know that i am happy and safe and all those good things.

stay tuned for a new address!