And Jesse Speaks

Two posts in two days whatever will you do. For those of you afraid of information overload read yesterdays post first then read this next Sunday.

Since my wife loves to write in the first person I decided to write my own posting this week.

Not wanting to repeat Sierra two much I will say that we are having a great time these last few days at the first reunion of all 54 volunteers since we left for host sites. From the number of late night conversations we have all had it sounds like everybody is having a positive experience with their host families. As in America every host family has its own unique set of quirks but nobody has reported a poor experience to my knowledge.

As for my personal experiences everything is great. As I have mentioned before I live in a reasonably rural community (actually recently found out the economy of my town really revolves around sheep/goat/cattle herding and wheat growth). I live in a four bedroom cabin/house. We have a separate kitchen shack out in the yard, an outhouse, and several pins for the various livestock my family keeps. I have 3 younger brother (13, 10, 4), although the middle one has been living in the countryside tending the sheep most of the summer so I don't see him much . The four year old and I have become really close, he eats meals in my laps, runs to give me a hug when I get home, and talks a mile a minute as four year olds are prone to do. His language skills still far surpass my own, but at least I understand some of the words that come out of his mouth. The older brother is really great. He doesn't speak much English now but it very smart and interested in learning. This means that I h ave had many language exch ange sessions with him during the last several weeks. He has also sort of included me in his group of local friends. This has led to more than one trip to the river, stone skipping contest, grasshopper collecting session, or wrestling match. The time with him and the other kids has helped me to feel at home here as well as to improve my language.

Perhaps my coolest experience thus far though was my trip to the countryside on tuesday evening. The whole event started when my mom decided she wanted to visit her middle child at in the countryside. So about 10 o'clock at night (as the sun was setting) she and my dad loaded the family in the cart for the tractor, fired up the tractor and drove us into the country. We ended up parking next the railway and hiking a bit into the country to the gers where my extended host family lives with the huge family herd (about 90 head of sheep/goat combined). My parents and I were paraded into the ger and welcomed in the traditional fashion. To begin with the ger was really incredible. It was really the first time I have been in a ger that wasn't set up specially for tourists. It basically consits of a mans side and a womans side. On the mans side is a bed, all horse riding materials, the saddles, the TV and Radio, and other manly devices. The womans side contains a bed and dresser where all food prep items are kept. Between the two sides is a alter with photos of elderly family members, and other valuables. And of course in the middle of the ger is a wood stove where all cooking occurs.

Once in the ger we were able to participate in the traditional greetings. We passed around beautiful marble snuff bottles ( worth about 2000 USD),and a bowl full of homemade whiskey (I learned how to politely accept and return the alcohol with out actually drinking any) There is so much tradition and formality surrounding everything here is always feels a bit daunting. After being greeted I spent the next two hours talking about my job, my family here and in the states, and generally what I am doing here. This conversation took place using my broken Mongol, a lot of help from my family, and a mime routine worthy of an academy award. All said the night was an amazing experience

Of course being mongolia the ride home was as exciting as the trip itself. Basically it consisted of me hold on in the front of the tractor cart, while talki ng to a drun k Mongolian who came with us from the ger. All this occuring while a sheep that was destined for the dinner table roamed the cart behind. Oh yeah, did I mention it was 1am, we were driving crazy back dirt roads, and the headlights kept going out. But we arrived safely at home and I only have fond memories of the experience.

Okay, that is all for now. Hope everybody has a good few weeks until we post again.

Jesse