Getting Ready to Go Home!

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So tomorrow morning I leave for home! :-)

I haven't had hot water in three days so advance warning to my peoples back home. If I smell, it's not my fault!

Working and living in Mongolia has been an experience of monumental highs and lows. Although it was difficult to imagine that I would ever adjust, it is now difficult to imagine leaving. Part of Mongolia returns home with me and I feel that I have accomplished all I wanted to acheive and more. I am looking forward to returning and sharing my experiences, pictures, and myself with my academic community and of course with my friends and family.

Working with the Centre for Human Rights and Development has given me intimate insight into the problems currently brewing in Mongolia. But more than that, it has shown me that regardless of our ethnicities, cultures, and walks of life, there is a part in all of us that wants freedom, peace, and equality for our own people and communities. In many ways the Mongolian people share the same ideals as we do in the US. Their focus and dedication to crafting a functional democracy has paved the way for new opportunities and for many difficulties as well. But things are changing, as they do all over the world. As globalization leaks into the farthest reaches of the globe, places like Mongolia are finding international support and international friends. It is through our common struggles and likeness that we forge lasting relationships and I look forward to continuing my own support and understanding of this small, often forgotten part of the world: Mongolia.

I want to extend a special thank you to the people I've worked with at CHRD and the friends I have made here. Carrie, you were such a fundamental part of making my experience a positive one and I sincerely appreciate all the efforts you made to help me see Mongolia for all it is. Thank you :-) And thank you to my travel mates Barb, Miriam, Oren, Orus, and Ashleigh. You made the Gobi trip everything that it is, and it was AWESOME! Safe travels to you all!

So I guess this is me signing off for now. At least until my next adventure! :-D

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