#mandyinmongolia

Sunday, May 31st, 2015 to Sunday, June 5th, 2015 Somewhere North of UlaanBaatar:

     At this point on the journey, I am already exhausted beyond compare. I do not think I have moved around so much over a 24 hour period like I did the day before, but this is no excuse because Peace Corps is a job. “The toughest job you’ll ever love,” to be exact and this was only a teaspoon in an ocean of what was to come.

     We began our days with breakfast as an entire cohort. Continued with meeting after meeting after meeting of valuable details we must gain as trainees. This included an introduction of Host Country Staff, a review of medical details, a look into policies, safety and security regulations and a taste of what to expect during our Mongolian Language sessions.

     A basic schedule: wake-up -> breakfast -> meeting -> tea break -> meeting -> lunch -> meeting -> tea break -> meeting -> dinner -> sleep.This same basic structure runs for the entire week of orientation.

     After the basics, we took a ride to {undisclosed location} where we would have continued, periodic training for the remainder of our service. Through this training session, we gained knowledge on what we would be doing in our specific sectors, another peek into the Mongolian Language classes and how they would be structured, ways to care for our bodies in a foreign country explained through the medical staff, specific detail on safety and security to implement while in country, specifications on what is expected of a future volunteer with Peace Corps, and ways on how the Peace Corps helps the communities we work in plus how we are expected to put forth those ideals. So after having a view of what was coming, we gathered our bags on the last day of orientation which was the same day we found out what our Host Family make-up would look like and where we would be living for the next two months of training. As I looked at my paper, I could not be more excited with the fact that I would be living in a Ger and that I was with a decent sized family which included a mother, father, and  three children (2 of which were teenagers).

     Once we finished all of sessions, we piled into our respective vans that would take us to our new (temporary) homes. I was filled with both excitement and nerves as we crept into the town just twenty-five minutes from our training site. Our language facilitator, the person who will be teaching the new language, accompanied us along the way. We listed to music on the radio through out our ride and enjoyed the views of the country side until we reached a restaurant in the center of the town.

     {Undisclosed Location} is a small town of just about 10,000 people and we were going to join in on that number. I took a deep breath as we walked up the stairs of the restaurant as I straightened my dress and jacket to look some what presentable to my new family. We said hello to the new crowd of people and took our seats on the opposite end of the room. They called our names once by one after we ate a small salad. We each got up to greet our host member who had presented us with a blue colored scarf pronounced “Khadag” which represented the Mongolian “Eternal Blue Sky” and was a sign of respect and welcome to their community. I bowed forward to sip the milk tea that was given to be by the woman who would be my host mother and folded my scarf, holding it close to me like a growing comfort.

The evening of Tuesday, May 26th, 2015 to Thursday, May 29th, 2015       Now that I’d gathered my things and headed for the exit, I tried to find the right van that would take me to the correct hotel written in my “Staging” e-mail from Peace Corps. I noticed a few other individuals, who were around my age, getting on the same bus and smiled thinking they must be apart of my cohort. Once I reach the front desk of the hotel, I check-in and receive the warmest cookie I have ever received at a hotel (which it was the first), plus it happened to be delicious. Going to my room, I wondered if my room mate would be there already or if I was the first to arrive. Of course, I was early and had pick of which bed I wanted but both were so fluffy.

     I prepared myself in the business casual that was required for that evening’s first meeting. It wasn’t really a meeting but rather a time to do paperwork that needed to be completed before we left country. Logistics. All the trainees looked around at each other trying to see all the new faces in Mission Group 26. I was intrigued and wondered what it would be like to work with this new group of people during the coming months.

     Staging, for those of you wanting to know, is a sort of “pre-pre-orientation” to “pre-orientation” I.E. a gathering where we get to know one another in the group, receive some information about what to expect in the coming days traveling into country, and basic information about Peace Corps to apply through out your service. But this event wasn’t to find out exact details, for that would come later once we were in country.

     So after 3 days of exploration into what to expect as a Trainee overseas, getting a feel for the members in the cohort, and making sure all paperwork that needed to be done was done, we headed to the airport with all of our items. Seventy-four individuals headed for a foreign location they had never traveled to before in their lives. We boarded the first flight (second for me) which would take us to Seoul, South Korea. This would be the longest flight of my entire life and by the end of it I was completely exhausted but I had to keep it moving, at least until I had a chance to lay down.

     11 hours later, we arrive. The first thing I had to do was drop to the ground because the shift in atmosphere was so intense on me along with sheer exhaustion taking over. I did not sleep longer than 30 minutes on the flight over because I never sleep completely when traveling. So, as I lay there trying to breath and catch my equilibrium, I wondered how would I ever get to Mongolia after such an experience.