Today is Friday and I just finished my first week of school. I am so excited for these next two months of teaching although it will be chaotic. On the first day of class the students were very shy and unwilling to volunteer and speak in front of the other students. I have realized that this is one of the most difficult things to do when learning a language. Most language learners (including myself) are so hesitant to speak in front of others in fear of making mistakes or sounding silly. Most of the students giggle and laugh when they have to say more than five words in front of their peers and myself but I hope that I can make them comfortable enough to speak more and more each day. I have been trying really hard to be friendly and a little bit goofy infront of them so that they feel more relaxed in the classroom. But for the most part, I have been pleasantly surprised by their friendly demeanors and smiling faces. Most of them laugh a lot and seem genuinely interested in learning English and especially about our culture in the United States. I hope to show them a different side of America rather than what they see through the mass distribution of American media (i.e. Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias). There is so much to share and so much to avoid; it can get overwhelming.
We work long days in this office and luckily it is a nice space on the ninth floor of a building so from every window I have a beautiful view of UB and the surrounding mountains. The weather is warm although the sky has threatened a few summer storms yet nothing has happened yet.
I was worried about surviving as a vegetarian here in UB and although I did succumb and try "buuz" a national dish consisting of noodle dumplings filled with mutton (eh...), I was pleasantly surprised to find a Vegetarian cafe one floor below our school. In this cafe, they serve traditional Mongolian food but with the bold decision to not serve meat. This is a big step in Mongolia because meat has been the staple food since the beginning of time. But now that people are living modernly in the city, vegetarianism has become an option. This cafe has delicious fresh. simple salads (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, olive oil, vinegar), vegetarian buuz (yum), tsuiven (handmade noodles with vegetables), tofu dishes, and a different soup every day. You can stuff yourself here for under 3,000 tugrug which translates to about $2.50. Other than this cafe, there is a plethora of restaurants and options that offer many different international cuisines. Yesterday, Dennis and I went to a french cafe and had paninis with fresh homemade bread. You can drink tea anywhere and the Mongolian beer isn't bad.
Overall, this trip has been great so far. I don't feel uneasy although I have avoided going out alone at night since there is a good amount of drunk men roaming the streets being fools and yelling obscenities although none have approached me yet. Most Mongolians are very polite and respectful even to the token tall white girl. This weekend I plan to discover more of the city and on Sunday the school director, Nyamsuren, will drive us out to the country. She promised to take out out of UB every weekend and we will spend a few days during Nadaam festival camping in the country watching the horse races (mama, I will defintely take pictures for you), and after our two months of teaching we will take a week long trip up to lake Khövsgöl (look it up on Wikipedia, it's 2 million years old!)
I will post more pictures soon and miss you all! if you want a post card- send me your address.
xo, Lucy
