Happy Singles Awareness Day!! (for the single peeps) Happy Valentine's Day! (for everyone else) Only 51 days left (including weekends) until departure!!!! I'm feeling mounting excitement and mounting terror at the prospect of having to leave. Part of this is due to the fact that my roommate just decided to move out, forcing me to have to deal with the new situation of getting new roomies. This is not a good time for this additional stress but I think it will all work out in the end. I have someone who can definitely room in my apartment while I am gone, [View Full Entry]

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So I just bought my plane ticket by Air China for $1,300 roundtrip. I bought it through an airfare consolidator but I still have a hesitant feeling, though it could be because I've never spent that much money on a plane ticket!! I still need to buy a ticket to LAX for the actual flight but Southwest is having their special $49/way special though I'l have to see whether its good for the time frame I'm looking at. And I'm still waitng for my scholarship funds to pay for that ticket. But life goes on and I still have school work [View Full Entry]

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So I'm currently reading Women of Mongolia as part of my ILC on Mongolian culture. They are interviews with different women living different lifestyles throughout the country. I thought I would share some passages that I found interesting. "I get up at eight every morning. But then I have nothing to do. No sewing, nothing. I sit here at home. Sometimes I go into Ulaanbaatar--just to look. I don't know anything about politics or laws, but our life is difficult. It was better before than it is now, but I think the future will be better. I believe in 'better'... After [View Full Entry]

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A mass grave yard was discovered last August, during the construction works in Ulaanbaatar city's suburb. The police collected into sacks the human skulls, each with an accurate round hole in the back, and took them to expertise. The remaning bones were put back. But even without expertise it was clear that these are the remains of victims of 30s mass executions. 63 years ago, another group of Russian commisars came to Mongolua. Though they were frequent guests, this time their arrival meant bad news. Buddhist monasteries were abandoned as Communists arrested all high priests and fo [View Full Entry]

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Khushuur or fried meat pie is very popular in Mongolia and quite simple to cook as it requires only meat, flour, onion and meat. Ingredients for four persons serving: - 0.5 kg of tender mutton or beef - 0.5 kg of flour - 2-3 mid size onions - salt, seasonings 1. Make soft dough, let it stay for while in closed jar or container. 2. Prepare minced meat. Mongols prefer to cut meat by hand believing that this method preserves meat’s taste and juice. 3. Cut onions into small pieces and add to minced meat. Add salt to your taste and [View Full Entry]

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So heard back from my volunteer coordinator and it sounds like my references checked out and that I will be good to go as far as my position is concerned. LEOS will give me an opportunity to work "in the field" so it will be a great opportunity to visit nomadic communities in more rural areas. Just finished up my Hep B shots. Still have one more Hep A shot to go but that will have to wait until right before I leave. I was informed at my Travel Consult appointment that I will need a Typhoid vaccine and a booster [View Full Entry]

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