Monday, May 18, 2009

Genghis Khan at first glance


Two things I know about Genghis Khan:

  1. He was born with an effing blood clot clenched in his fist.
  2. When he died, his body was taken back to his homeland and buried. Then soldiers on horseback trampled over his grave hundreds of times to disguise its locations. Then another group of soldiers murdered these soldiers to prevent them from telling the location. Then a third group of soldiers murdered this second group to prevent hearsay. Then the entire homeland was blocked off as a restricted zone and guarded by Mongolian soldiers for 800 YEARS. When the Soviets took over, they continued guarding the homeland to prevent nationalist uprisings. They stored heavy artillery around its perimeter. In 1990 the Soviet Union collapsed and Genghis Khan's homeland was opened for the first time in almost 900 years. The Soviet artillery remains.
More to come.



Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I wrote a letter to the president!

Dear Barack Obama (or Barack Obama's letter answerer),

My name is Alison Boland and I am joining the Peace Corps. I will be leaving for my 27 month stint in Mongolia on June 11. I am extremely excited to become a part of this program and nothing makes me happier than knowing that I am serving my country in a way that you fully support!

When I received my invitation packet in April, it included a welcome letter from the President. I understand that it takes time to get all of these things updated, but I was a little bit disappointed to see that it was still a letter from George W. Bush.

I know that you are very very VERY busy with all the important problems of the world, but I am writing to request that, when you are able to get around to updating the Peace Corps welcome letter, can you have it sent to all the people currently serving as well? Or just make it a Youtube video and send us the link!

You were a big motivation for my decision to join the Peace Corps and it would make me (and I'm sure many other PCVs) extremely happy to receive a letter of welcome from you.

I'm really glad you're my president and it's an honor to be embarking on this journey under your administration!

Sincerely,
Alison Boland

P.S. If, by any chance, you're in Los Angeles on June 11, do you think you could make time to stop by our orientation event? It would make my year (and this is going to be a pretty exciting year!)

Setting the Stag(ing)

I got my Staging information today!

The first email they sent said it was going to be in Washington DC (which would change ALL my plans) but now they've corrected themselves to a more appropriate Los Angeles, CA!

Notable developments in my understanding of what is about to happen to me:
  • We have to wear business casual attire to orientation. (I'm still not sure if this means what I think it means...I always end up under-dressed it seems)
  • We'll be having orientation at the hotel near LAX.
  • Our flight to Mongolia stops through Seoul, Korea.
  • The Peace Corps is going to pump me full of more safety literature than I will ever be able to keep track of.
  • This is getting REAL and FAST.


I leave Little Rock in two weeks.


Goodbye America, sometimes you disgust me!