What is this...Grouchland?

I lay peacefully relaxing this morning, my last in UB. The only drawback to my rest was the fact that the room was a bajillion and seven degrees...Celsius, that and my ribs still hurt a bit from the costal condilitis. When suddenly a glorious sound came to my ears...it was ice cream truck music! Surely I must be dreaming...I know Mongolia finally got delivery pizza (I've yet to try it as I hear its rather expensive and not that great), but an Ice Cream truck...in winter? No, no, no, just not possible it must be in my head. Then my friend Shuree came in.

"Cass, get up the truck is here!"
"REALLY?!?!?!?" Now I knew I must be dreaming, maybe a side effect of all the meat and onions I ate right before bed last night.
"Yes, hurry please I have class, can you get the trash?"
... O_o? ... "Trash?"
"Yes, the trash truck is here, can you take the trash out to it, don't forget the front room can."
... O_o? ... "Oookay...?"
"Thanks babe, it will be parked outside, just go right."
... O_o? ... "No problem...?"

So I gathered up all the trash from the training center, the whole time listening the the whimsical childlike music making the situation all the more surreal. The was just no way, maybe this was all a joke, maybe I actually was asleep and would wake with no memory of this strange dream except for an odd craving for ice cream. But sure enough, there it was...a big ol' garbage truck, emitting the dulcet tones that make children's mouths water all over America (or at least used to...are their even Ice Cream trucks anymore?).

It was bizarre, you could see people pouring out of the surrounding apartment buildings, their hands full of trash, all slowly meandering towards the siren call of the garbage truck...the Pied Piper of Grouchland. I got strange looks from both the garbage men and my fellow flockers...I am a gadaad khun ("foreigner"), yet there I was in my Mongolian Deel Jacket and pink house slippers (with no socks :::gasp:::). If only they could read my thoughts their confusion would have reached a whole new level...

"Why does the trash music make the foreigner want ice cream?"

Curse Mongolian Internet

So I wrote a long detailed wonderful entry about my Tsagaan Sar ("White Month" aka Lunar New Year)...it was witty and insightful and lacked any referance to poop or outhouses...thus, inevitably when I went the post it the internet freaked out and POOF ... baikhgui ... gone

So I sighed a massive sigh...and despaired of rewriting it...thus I present you the Cliffnotes version of my glorious entry:

Was supposed to be in my small town and experience first hand a real traditional Mongolian Tsagaan Sar...yey!...Anthropologists dream! ... but I was exausted from being sick forever and decided to "hide" in UB and "skip" Tsagaan Sar :::gasp::: ... did celebrate with Shuree's Family and Ganaa's Family (who gave me a traditional Mongolian Jacket and a watch respectivly...that oddly enough happen to match)...made buuz ("steamed dumplings" traditional Ts.S. food) and ate quite a few of them ... only had 3 shots of vodka the whole week! ... took many showers, made no fires, rested, relaxed, missed Gregory, but was happy overall ... the end!

Sorry its a lame entry I know...but I'm tired and want to nap and then do laundry!

Updated List of "Needs"
AAA Batteries
DVDs
Crystal Light Instant Drink mix pouch thingys
No-Bake Cheesecake
Bite Sized Assorted Candies
Books (for me...the kids have TONS of new books)
Love ^_~

For those who don't have Facebook...

25 Random Facts about Cassandra ... The Mongolia Edition

1. I haven't been online in over a month. Blame my town's internet center that is equipt with all the latest in computer technology (for rural Mongolia), but is located in a spot that doesn't get internet service. Good one.
2. Overflowing toilet...gross. Overflowing outhouse...you don't even want to know.
3. I got a tattoo here in Mongolia. It on my inner left arm, a G serves as a sun setting into the ocean, its about the size of a Sacagawea dollor coin. G=Gregory. The Mongolian tattoo artist studied business in NYC and believes that the end of the world will come in 2012.
4. My Mongolian name is Anu. Translation=USA.
5. I have met BX ("Mongolia's Justin Timberlake") twice. He isn't very impressing.
6. There is a cat that prowls outside my ger every morning. Its meowls sound like a baby crying. It scares me.
7. Velicoraptors come from Mongolia. That scares me even more.
8. I always blush when my 11th graders ask me what is my favorite kind of Boov. I pretend they are talking about the delicious tea time pastries, even though I know they are being evil and talking about "Man Boov" (a weener). Even in Mongolia I can't escape male genetalia jokes.
9. I've a Mongolian boyfriend. His name is Ganaa. Translation=Steel. He has a Mongolian equivilant of a rat-tail. Its not as bad as it sounds. The first English word he ever asked me to teach him..."poop".
10. I enjoy intestines if they are fried in a hot pocketesq dough pastry...aka hooshoor.
11. I can sware in Mongolian. They think its cute. My anger is not taken seriously.
12. The most frequently refilled item in my medkit...chapstick.
13. When getting my new phone number the lady was shocked that I didn't want to personally choose my last four digets. She gave me 0789...its apparently a nice number. I wish I had G-Mobile service so then I could get the phone number: 8867-5309.
14. In the month that I have had my dvd-player in my ger, I have watched all of my 18 dvd's at least twice, and seen most of the commentaries and special features. If you haven't seen the Comedy Central Tv Series: STELLA...do it.
15. When its too cold outside at night I just pee in a bucket and then empty it in the morning.
16. Everyday I steal a bowl of the elementary children's free snack. If I'm lucky its a delicious soup. If I'm unlucky its a delicious bowl of rice in a sweet milkesq substance.
17. I make about minimum wage...for a Mongolian. They find this confusing, funny, and sad. Volunteering is still a strange concept to many of them. They also find it strange that the family didn't get money for Gregory's organs and what not.
18. I've developed amazing squatting muscles, but Marie Windsor's patented "Elevated Clams" and "Fetal Thighs" still cause me pain.
19. I can type faster in Mongolian than many of my Mongolian Counterparts. Unfortunatly this means that I now often type up both the English and Mongolian work. Touche.
20. My towns people are sad that I lost the ice cream and cheese-it weight I put on in America, as I need more insulation against the cold.
21. Drinking cold water made me sick, not germs. I never knew.
22. I taught the 9th graders spin the bottle for a Valentine's Day treat. We only kiss on the cheek but they would get so embarassed, it was cute.
23. I broke in my new credit card by taking the "family" out for pizza, and buying "American" food goods (including a whole chicken, which was less than the small can of JIF Peanut Butter I decided not to buy) to take back to the soum. Time to break the sheep stomach addiction.
24. Mongolian has two words for you...for elders "ta" and for peers and youngers "chi"...most of my students call me "chi"...this makes the teachers mad as its "rude" but I really dont care.
25. I still haven't ridden a horse in Mongolia. They are convinced I will break something. It's sad.

Happy Valentine's Day

I am sick....again. About 3 weeks ago I got larengitis, and couldn't talk for a week, it was actually kinda funny as they still kinda made me teach. But mostly I just typed up a bunch of curiculum stuff that they then managed to delete. I cried, which was also funny. My voice came back and was replaced by a wicked cough and eternally runny nose...horray chest/sinus infection! The after two weeks of that the docs finally but me on anti biotics...lets hope they work as I've already got costal condolitis (stabbing pains in my ribs where the violent coughing has enflamed the cartalage...fun times). You win again Mongolia...maybe I'm not so sorry for polluting your air with my coal fumes.

Besides the horrific bouts of illness life in the soum has been great. I've gotten my firemaking routein down to an art. I've gotten my schedule cut back to reasonable hours. I've got my students finally respecting me, and by respect I mean they think that what with my cool new professional look (thanks for the wardrobe update Mom!) that they will at least pretend to learn, sometimes. I haven't had to clean or prepare any animal intestines. For Meredith's sake I won't go into the school's outhouse situation :::shudder::: I've lost the excess

Teacher's Holiday was last week. Free food and drink. Dance party with the older students (my Mongolian waltz is getting better, I think). I got an award from the town's Cultural Center. They also gave me a present...checkers, but with sheep ankle bones instead of plastic pieces, not as creepy as it sounds. I gave a speech about how Mongolian teachers should feel lucky because their students love them while in America teachers are often viewed as just another thing in the classroom. Because of my miserably sick state I was allowed to leave at 10pm (after the fireworks show), while the rest of the teachers partied in the library until 6am. That's okay. Gurgi and I had our own party, and by party I mean making it 15 minuets into Lethal Weapon 3 until the tylonol pm kicked in and I passed out.

Tsaagan Sar ("White Month"), aka the Mongolian Lunar New year/biggest holiday of the year, is on February 25th! I have been most busy helping my countryside extended Mongolian family prepare. We made 1000 dumplings this week, and thats just for "Grandpa's" ger. I'm most excited and can't wait for all the delicious food and drink and the random gift socks. This year will be extra special as I get to share Bituun ("Tsaagan Sar Eve") with my "family." I've yet to experience this aspect of Tsaagan Sar as its only for family, and I didn't have that in Dornod.

The weather has been really nice and crisp, windy as all get up but nice. I have been wearing my thin long-johns and only one pair of socks (also the new boots I got...gloriously warm, actually a bit too warm...my feet sweat and now the stench from inside my boots rivals that of an outhouse in summer O_o). But of course for my first trip into the city since coming back to Mongolia it gets cold and snowy again so I freeze anytime I go out, especially since I ride the bus. Honestly, why pay 5,000 tugrugs for a taxi when you can take the bus for 200? Sure it takes you an hour, but you would only spend that extra time on YouTube. I also got frostnip of the ear when I first came back...talk about ouch. At first it was like I had cardboard for ears, and the the week of peeling ear skin. Double layering my hats may look goofy, but its less so that being earless.

Recieved and e-mail from the Country Director...Close of Service is August 18. It seems so far away, and yet I know it will come all too soon. My plan as of now is to stay in Mongolia another year and work with my friend Shuree at her English Center. I'm excited, and it will give me extra time to quit my sheep stomach soup addiction.

That's all for now, the whole interweb thing has overwhelmed me and I haven't even checked my e-mail yet.