From PCT to PCV- HEADING WEST!

After completing summer training, I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer!
Site Placement Ceremony: Before swearing in, our directors laid out a large map of Mongolia on the gym floor in Zuunmod and all the PCTs (me) lined the boarder of the map shoeless. One by one, they called out our names and site placement. After they called the name and site of the PCT, the PCT walked onto the map and stood in the location of their new site. I was the second name called… “6th School, Jargalant Soum, Khovd Aimag: Suzanne Cunningham.” I was heading west, far west.
Swearing-In Ceremony: All our school directors and supervisors attended our swearing in ceremony in U.B. At the ceremony, we took an oath and officially became Peace Corps volunteers. After taking the oath, some of the PCTs preformed for the directors and supervisors. For the second half of the summer, Mandy, Mindy, Alyssa, Cassie, and I studied Mongolian Dance. We learned a dance that we preformed at the ceremony- Hilarious! We actually preformed better than we normally do- thank goodness J
Here is a link to checkout traditional Mongolian dancing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIShdGph8hs
(thanks for the idea J-J-J-J-JACKIE)…Can you believe Shorty even attempted to do this???!!
Khovd Aimag: Although going west initially seemed terrifying, I am happy with my placement. After researching the city, I realized PC did a great job matching my skills and personality to my site placement. All of the community development and school projects I hope to do during my 2 years of service are available in khovd.
If you are interested, wiki highlights khovd aimag…but to really get a feel- COME VISIT!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khovd_(city)
VIVA KHOVD!

Nadaam festivities UB style

Nadaam (the largest summer holiday in Mongolia) - my family and I celebrated Nadaam in U.B. We packed bags full of presents, candies, and dairy products to give to relatives. We managed to cram a live goat with a bag over his head and 7 or 8 family members into a small car headed to UB. After 2 hours of bahhhhhing and an uncomfortable amount of bumps, we arrived at my Emee's oldest son’s ger in the outskirts of U.B. Tables were set with potato salad, egg salad, candies, cookies, and meat and meat galore. It is Mongolian tradition for an appointed man to kill a goat (the poor little goat that ventured to U.B. with me) by slitting a small gash into the throat and reaching his bare hand into the wound to crush the heart. Once the goat is killed, the man blowtorches and scrapes away the fur until all that remains is burnt flesh. After the skin is crisp, the women and men begin preparing the goat to be cooked.

Over 50 family members attended the Nadaam celebration. It was nice to see the whole family together- even my Emee was able to attend for a couple hours. No matter what happens to her this summer, it was so nice to see her celebrating Nadaam with her entire family one last time.

Once the whole family was stuffed and many (although not my host family) drunk, we went to mount zsian, which offers beautiful views of U.B. The next day, my family sat around eating fried eggs, ham, and cucumbers, and watched on TV the traditional Nadaam competitions: archery, horseback riding, and wrestling. The women, including myself, had a photo session wearing tradiational Mongolian dels. We swapped and tried on at least 6 different styles and colors of dels. Although different in obvious ways, Nadaam reminded me of Thanksgiving, but instead of watching the Macy’s parade, I watched men wrestle in rather tiny outfits…LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!