Thanks for Giving!

Hello all! I quick update on life here in my small soum. The snow has started and it creates a beautiful layer of shimmery white all over the town as well as extremely slippery streets. Its not uncommon for me to slip or/and stumble across as I try to get to my destination of choice. I always hope no one sees me but they do every time. (humph) In other news I have (finally) found the disco club! Yes, that's right, in this small, sleepy, middle of no where town is a beautiful, fog machine, disco- ball, laser lighting, disco bar. The dance floor even lights up! I was shocked when me and my sitemate stumbled into it as it looked dinky on the outside so I expected it to look ruin down and sleazy on the inside. Yet it was not so at all! They play a mixture of techno and Mongolian music and I always leave smelling of cigarettes but its a lot of fun nonetheless.

On another note, the cold is slowly getting more and more cold and my apartment is freezing! It heats up a bit when I cook but I often worry about how it will hold up once it gets in the negatives. However, my landlord promised to give me a big heater to help in those cold winter months so that eases my anxiety a bit. The coldest months in Mongolia are December, January, February and despite the fact that I already think its cold, Mongolians simply shrug their shoulders when I ask them if they think its cold now and say “This is zugeer (not a problem); the winter months are the worst.” Sigh.

But on a happier note I will soon embark to Ulaanbataar (UB) which is the capital of Mongolia, to meet up with my amazing Peace Corps friends to celebrate Thanksgiving together and I simply cannot wait! Going to UB is a treat in itself, even though it is extremely expensive and will be really cold, because it has all the good food and better quality clothes. But on top of all that, I will get to be with my very much missed friends so I couldn't be happier about going. Also, the way Peace Corps celebrates Thanksgiving is quite cute; its potluck style so everyone makes a big dish and brings it to a hall that Peace Corps rents out. PC also provide the turkey and I was even surprised that they found turkeys here in Mongolia. What will I be making you ask? Well, since I am a master at cooking, I have decided to go with the very complex dish of mashed potatoes (I am not looking forward to peeling all those potatoes! Oiy! It will remind me of Chanukah tho) Well that's all for now my friends! I hope all is well in the States and I miss ya'll a whole lot!