Mongolia Suz

For my fellow PCVs in Mongolia, as we prepare for another winter...

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - The Mongolian government is confident it can resolve disputes with Rio Tinto <RIO.AX> over a $5 billion expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine by December 31, the

Sounds like a great program, but does anyone here in Mongolia have direct experience or knowledge about it? I haven't seen 160 books in my countryside school, and the teachers I work with have never mentioned the big books described in this post. Would love to hear a little more about this!

The less fortunate news is that at the moment, my macbook is completely nonfunctional. It won't get past the white screen to actually boot up. It is highly unlikely that I will be able to have it repaired while I am here in Mongolia. That means my photos from the last 6 months (not to mention all of my work since I've been here) may be lost forever. I'll try to have it looked at next time I go to Ulaanbaatar, but I have really low expectations since Mac computers generally don't exist here. That said, I still have my duct-taped together camera! And I will do my best to periodically upload photos when possible. If anyone has any suggestions for salvaging my macbook (or at least the contents of the hard drive) let me know!

A new draft mineral law would end the freewheeling approach of Monogolia's minerals industry. Aubrey Belford toured Monogolia's "Wolf Economy" back when people made their fortune, legally or otherwise.

Through a government grant, my school received money to plant trees and create a garden like area outside of the school yard.

The graduating 11th grade students performed a concert for the town in our culture center.

Whenever I have visitors, a surefire way to entertain them is to simply open up photobooth on my macbook. It's a great resource and way to build friendship despite the communication gap!

After the graduation day opening, and mock lesson, the graduating classes climbed into vans decorated with balloons, and were driven to the outskirts of town, first to take photographs at the buddhist shrine, and then to hang out and have some snacks at the summer camp.

Graduation at my school is celebrated by the 11th graders, 9th graders, and 5th graders. The outdoor opening ceremony was cut short by rain. (I was the only person in attendance with an umbrella, and soon found myself surrounded by about 8 people clinging to me, trying to share it.) Following the opening, there was a mock lesson that I observed, in which 9th grade students were taught to write and pronounce the letter A and number 1. Parents of the students even attended and sat through this mock lesson. I didn't understand the point of this at all, as it was happening, but one of the teachers later explained to me that it was to remember the first days of school, the excitement of learning, and make the students see how far they have come since then.

Twice a year, in spring and fall, my town has a trash pick up where all families and town entities are responsible for cleaning certain areas of the town. The school, including all workers, teachers, and students, was responsible for a significant stretch going down to the river and edge of town. Students brought gloves, face masks, and a variety of tools to assort with the cleaning day. At the end of the afternoon, our area really looked great!

My counterpart invited me to the kindergarten to watch her daughter in their end of year concert. Now I understand why virtually every member of my community is capable of dancing the waltz and not shy to belt out a song in public-- children learn the waltz from kindergarten and are encouraged to perform continuously!

Preparing my ger for the summer. In May, we removed a layer of felt from my ger, added an extra plastic sheet to keep rain out, and removed the bottom skirting around my ger on the ground so my ger is now fully ventilated and spider-accessible.