Seoul Sister

So far, Seoul good. We're on our layover in South Korea, all the m20s (myself included) are using the free wireless to update facebook on their location as we come one step closer to reaching our 'GOLIA. ha!

On the plane, I learned more about Mongolian wildlife:'

• Musk Deer - Looks like a small deer, live in burrows like rabbits, hop like kangaroos, and they have tusks! WTF? I will definitely be visiting the woodlands to locate one of these dudes. Apparently they are hunted for a gland that they have that excretes liquid used in perfume (a musky scent, anyone?)

• Wild Mongolian Gerbils - I had about 25 gerbils when I was a kid (all at the same time, i know...gross), but they looked just like this! Maybe I've got more experience with Mongolians than I thought
  

-----<"Sain Bain uu!">



Besides all that, I'm really digging Peace Corps and the M20s so far. Orientation was actually helpful and all the other trainees (there are 69 of us!) are really positive and friendly. There's an openness to friendship and a lack of cliqueness that I have never experienced in a group setting like this before. I hope it keeps up!

Next stop, Ulaanbaatar (universally UB for short), more impressively, THE CAPITAL OF OUTER MONGOLIA.

daaaaang.

Heading to the airport.

Blastoff!!!

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.

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!

Mongolian Throat Singing: An Introduction

Welcome to the blog of the next two years.

If all goes as planned, I will be serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia for the next two years. I'll be working in English Education and Community Development. I'll be part of batch 'M20,' which means I'll be part of the 20th group of PCVs to be sent to Mongolia. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO MONGOLIA. I've carried out some pretty crazy plans in my 24 years, but I think this will be the wildest yet!

I'm pumped about: horse culture, desert and steppe, Genghis Khan's people, Buddhism and Shamanism, the Cyrillic alphabet, Mongolian throat singing, a nation full of cowboys, wrestling pastimes, modern day nomads, livestock of all kinds, and gers (Mongolin Yurts!).

Siberian winter, bucket bathes, nasty food, desolate landscapes, extreme loneliness and frustration? BRING IT ON!

The purpose of this blog will be to update about all the interesting things I learn about Mongolia along the way. I would like to avoid updates like "OMG I'm so lonely and I feel like I'm going crazy and I'm tired of being cold and I'm tired of bad food" wah wah wahing. That stuff I'll post in LiveJournal and you can read that here if you want: lisonay.livejournal.com. No sir or mam, this one will be about cool stuff only. And, until I report for duty on June 10, 2009, it will all be based on what I've read in books or found on google.


Ok, Ok, here we go!