SOMEONE ASKED " WHAT DO YOU EAT?"

Cooking In Mongolia is not as challenging as it was made out to be. Moreover, maintaining my vegetarian diet has not been as difficult either. There are many things accessible here in Mongolia. Although I am in an Aimag center, which has a generally good food market, I’d reason that this would be possible in the countryside too. Peace Corps issues a cookbook to all volunteers that is edited each year and all of the recipes are either updated or I would assume discarded if another is similar and better. In the cookbook there are different sections Hoodoo, and Posh-corps. These perspective sections offer alternative-cooking methods for one living in the countryside verses the one living in a town or a city.

My experience with cooking did not start here. Once I decided to become a vegetarian four years ago. I had to fend for my self the 1^st year. Besides my aunt who enjoys cooking any and everything thing (Trina) and the occasional veggie dish from T-Hurt (step mom), I had chosen an interestingly independent path. Actually, my friends were good about it too… But it works and I love it, even more in Mongolia. A few of my staple dishes or regulars are Pizza, Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, Fried rice, Curries, Vegetable Soups, Breads, Bagels, Granola, Yogurt and Peanut Butter. Lately I have explored biscuits, cakes and bean burgers. My downfall is that I try them over and over until I get it right, leaving me tired of that particular recipe. Yet, I find that there is a peace and joy in cooking and even more when the cooking is done with and for others.

What are some of your favorite easy recipes? Lets Share!

Peace,

Clifton A. Hurt

5 DAY BACK-PACKING TRIP

So how do I describe this trip?

It was a good learning experience filled with adventure and brotherhood. Ben, Cameron, Cody and I had a blast. We arrived to the lake in late afternoon with our bags and plans up in the air. We walked through town to gather our last few items from the local stores and headed to our first campsite. I lead us to this one that I knew O so well from my previous travels up to the lake. This first night was good!

In the morning we rose and gathered our things for breakfast. There was coffee, oatmeal, and whatever else we personally packed. Did I mention coffee was in the mix. I appreciate a good cup of Joe in the morning. The day would be filled with traveling as far north as we could. Little did we know, the Crazy Cliffs lie ahead. On the Cliff’s, that were width of three bricks side by side and other times a bit wider, we climbed and at times crawled toward or destination. However, we did not get as far as we expected on this second day. Yet, our dear friend Ben seized the moment during lunch and while sitting on the shore, he swam in the lakes freezing cold water.

Our living quarters for each night consisted of a 4person tent. After the first night we decided this did not work for us four. Ben, being the height of a NBA center and four huge sleeping bags made our quarters quite tight. So the next day Ben decided to sleep in a scout made tent using a tarp and sticks. Ben is quite the EAGLE. I was impressed with Ben and Cameron’s Knowledge of the out doors and what to/what not to do will traveling as we were.

There was a dog that tagged along for the whole five days. The name of the dog changed many times and as I remember, we never settled on a name. We all had our names for this friendly dog. I’d like to think of this dog as our guardian angle… This dog was loyal for so little food. After the third day or so it was in order to make sure she had water and food. The most impressive event was her hiking up a huge mountain. She went the whole distance. Man, the loyalty of dogs, I digress…

Although it was the end of the summer, Lake Khuvsgol’s water never changes from cold or frozen. I had to take my opportunity to get in while it was cold. So, One day when the sun was, well, not as consistent as I’d like, I took a dip. The water was fresh and clear like being on an island except very cold. I guess it was my only bath during our hike too… It was the Real Deal, Fun, and just enough time in the outdoors for me!

"HOPE CAMP 2011"

July has been nothing short of a blast. Candace, Paul, Michelle, Mary, Amy, Cody, Crystal and I worked together at Hope Summer Camp. There were two campsites. One was at Future School where I work during the school year. The other took place in conjunction with a local NGO at one of the local churches in town. The camps started on July 4^th and finished July 20^th right before the Nadaam Celebration in Murun. They were four hours a day, Monday through Friday.

Each day of the camp started out with a 30min “Harambee” session. This included the students and volunteers coming together for a time of motivation before we jumped into our day of fun filled English learning(30min), life skills(30min) and afternoon activities(30min+). Harambee, which happens to be my favorite part of the day, included cheers and chants, the theme song, recognitions and a read aloud. (This part of the day camp was modeled after Freedom School, which is very special to me)

Followed by Harambee the students had a 30min English lesson that focused on grammar, speaking, reading and listening. With each grade level the material covered varied. During the life skills portion we had a theme for each week. The first week was communication, second week relationships and third week decision-making. Our goal during this time was to motivate our students to think through various topics of discussion based around the life skill theme of the week.

The day would conclude with afternoon activities. During this time we would share with students through sports and conversation. We played volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and basketball. It was important for us to teach our students how to use the proper English for communication within these sports. I must say, this was not a challenge, but very “entertaining” for the students and volunteer teachers.

It has truly been an honor for me to serve and work with so many talented and wonderful humble Americans and Mongolians this summer. I am especially grateful to my two site mates whom jumped in during such notice in a time of need do to some unexpected circumstances. Moreover, Candace and Mary were awesome spirits and motivation for the summer team. Amy, was amazing with her help with the second camp and Mongolian language skills.

This summer I formed a job for a very special student from Murun named Dulguun. She was the winner of the English Olympics. She worked as my coordinating assistant for both camps and did a very awesome job. She went above and beyond her duties and even helped by teaching lessons. It was beautiful for me to see because this was the essence of capacity building. Her peers and the students younger than her respected her as a leader and all agreed that she was humble and very knowledgeable. I was pleased with “Hope Camp 2011”.

TEACHING SEMINARS

Mongolians love seminars. There seems to be countless seminars all the time. I like doing seminars here in Mongolia. Teachers seem to come with a certain expectation that you may not see normally in their everyday character. When it is seminar time though, it is important to have something fun and kinesthetic for a Mongolian audience. If not, they may look at you funny... Having people move works for me…

The Foreign language teacher seminars take place in the city in one of the schools. The local English teachers and soum teachers come to these seminars. Our English seminar was a one in a half-day event, which included all of the Peace Corps TEFL Volunteers and two counterparts whom we facilitated with. The way we divided into to groups was one native speaker worked on two different seminars with one counterpart.

The planning phase for this series of seminars was rather simple for me. My second year TEFL star Alison worked a lot with the English language teachers association of Murun to help smooth the schedule out. Thus, my part in the preparation and planning was to copy the Seminar DVDs and prepare my personal presentation materials. The previous week included me working with my two counterparts. I worked with Odna on our seminar entitled “Listening in the English Classroom” and I worked with Sanaa on “ESL Websites & Computer Basics”. Our planning was very smooth. Sanaa and Odnaa came with so many ideas.

English Olympics followed the seminar days. I truly enjoyed the amount of work that there was to do during this period. I was very happy when this whole period was over too. The Good news…The family whose yard I live in has a 10th grader who has been working really hard. Her English is amazing and she would many times come and make me practice with her, mainly, because I work at the competing school and did not have time during the Olympic rush… However, She won the 11^th Grade Olympics! The first week I met her I said, “you will win this year…”

I am Happy!

AAW!

AAW

Alcohol Awareness was such a success for our crew here in Murun. There were many things we were able to accomplish together.

Things we did:

-Had a Poster Contest between the schools

-Met with the Mayor and all of the district social workers

-We got the Alcohol video played on the local television.

-We showed the alcohol movie to our students and counterparts and lead discussion.

-We visited every school in the community and shared out materials and gave presentations.

-We ended with a big all school community concert in the main theatre.

This week was an important week for me. Although, alcohol abuse is something that happens all around the world, its impact on the lives of many close to me had me motivated to work hard and bring awareness to the rising abuse in this city. I really enjoyed seeing the reactions of my students when the watched the movie. (which was in Mongolian) My music club students performed their hit song “Freedom” by Eddie James at the "Finale"(if you will). When teaching the song, I explained in my limited Mongolian that they are free to do many things with their lives. Moreover they have the choice to decline alcohol… It was a good week.

At my school I put up a poster that read “ It Ok to say NO”. The students really liked it and they did not take it down for weeks after. In the pictures you see my students the adult lady is my school training manager. The great thing about the current situation is that many young educated Mongolians are shying away from over consumption of alcohol. This is such a good thing.

Going into it, the first years (PCVs) of my crew, did not know what to expect and we were surprised to see how much support and work is already going forward on the alcohol abuse situation here. Next year will be a great year also.

Question:

What are your views on Alcohol consumption?

Abuse?

Etc…