SWEARING IN AS A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER 
Today I woke up nervous and excited about what was about to take place. There seemed to be both a sense of anticipation and also excitement as my fellow trainees and I prepared to perform for our supervisors and the rest of the team that makes up Peace Corps Mongolia.
Today was also the day that some would last see there training mates until IST (In Service Training). This was truly a “Bitter Sweet” day. Among the many performances including traditional mongolian dance, speeches and songs was a performance by Ellie,Ashlie, Leon and myself. It was hard to get our performance together at first but it turned out just right. So many people complimented us, it really warmed my heart.
It seemed like right after all of the excitement and our last meals in UB restaurants we were torn apart. Many of us went to the inline skating party/social. The party was fun and full of laughter and dance. After being at the party for a few hours, I decided to go back to the dorms and pack. I packed until the early morning. At about 4a.m.
Cameron woke me up to say goodbye to the first from our training bunch to depart from UB to their new home in the Gobi.Man, it was like leaving home all over again, saying goodbye to these people I had spent most of my time with in mongolia up to this point. I witnessed five of my training crew leave before it was my turn to travel to my new home. Three new site mates and I got on a small plane and flew for an hour to our northern mongolia home near the lake. This was a new Beginning!
ARRIVING IN MORON
Once we arrived in Moron with all of our things we were greeted by more counterparts and directors from our various host agencies. My manager flew into Moron with me. We were met by the school director and two other english speaking counterparts. These people were amazingly nice and full of excitement...ME TOO! When we finally grab all of my luggage we put it in the directors Toyota 4 runner and went to lunch at the Dul Hotel in Morons center of town. The restaurant was awesome and had a nice menu. I was so happy to see spaghetti on the menu that I had to try it. It was good. The best part about this date was sitting and talking to my director with english speaking counterparts to help translate. He expressed how happy he was to finally have me here after much preparation. Moreover, he shared with me his vision for the future of the school. It was amazing to know that as the school is expanding in many ways he wants to give the students many new opportunities and this is where I come in... After finishing lunch I with three of my counterparts arrived at what my home for the next 24months. The Crib is truly a PAD! This wooden house is like top of the line type stuff and it is worthy of a Cribs/How I'm living video type production which will be coming soon. I After signing some papers and talking for a while I was left alone in my new home. I could smell the aroma of milk-tea that was sitting on the table. I could see the hashaa dog in the yard watching my doorway. I could felt the warmth and care of my neighbors as they continued their daily activities occasionally checking to make sure I was OK throughout the day. I was at my new home!
THE BEAUTY OF MUREN (Moron)
The of city Moron is a beautiful place. It is down stream of Lake Khuvsgul and is surrounded by a beautiful view of rolling hills and mountains in the distance. The cities square is filled with stores shops and a Hotel. Moreover there is much construction going on within the city. Within my first few days of living in Moron their were many tours. But I must say that one of the best was a trip to the river with a third year volunteer Patrick. He took Cody and I twice in one day and it was worth every bit of it. The river is backdropped with mountains and horses that are herded by a family whom lives in a ger hind where most of my pictures were taking.
The river seems to usually be filled with families whom come and enjoy the beauty of it. They eat, swim and enjoy this beautiful nature. I went out a few days later and set reading for about four hours. Needless to say, I finished the book I was reading...LOL!
On the edge of town is the big sports complex where huge shows are held. In front of the building stands three large statues of mongolian strong men.
Wrestling is a big part of mongolian culture and sport. I found out through the history teacher at my school that Khuvgul has many men that went on the be wrestling champions. Furthermore, my school director noted that there are many scientist and doctors and famous teachers that come from this province also. I am impressed with the history of this beautiful and rich land.
THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL(Journal Entry)
Wednesday Morning I woke up to the sound of my small black Nokia's alarm that I set for 6:45a.m.. However, I quickly hit the snooze button and slept until 7:15a.m.. Once I really arose from my sleep, I prepared water for my morning coffee and wash-up. I got cleaned up and listened to some music to spice up the morning. I departed from my home at 8:15 with my guitar on my back and work brief in hand. Traveling down the
street toward the cites square I briskly walked past parents and their children all excited and on their way to school. Many people watched me for they had never seen a black person in real-life before. I assume mostly movies and sports is where most mongolians get their view or portrait of black men or black people in general...Oh! And pop culture!
When I arrived to the school there were many children, parents and school staff standing on the front lawn of the school. There were sounds of excitement that filled the air.
Hands clasped as teachers greeted one another and said congratulations. This was the start of a new chapter... I could smell the perfume as people walked by. I was finally notice by a fellow language teacher as I traveled slowly up the schools steps. I was told to come inside of the school. My friend Odna helped me with my things while telling me I looked nice in my traditional mongolian styled shirt. Odna and I followedas teachers went into the teachers lounge and greeted each other with mmore hugs and kisses, shakes and good ole Mongolian congrats.
At 9:30a.m. The opening ceremony began. There was music played by the music teacher on the casio keyboard which was amplified through the schools sound system. There were songs sung by the melodic voices of the 2 MCs and than there were presentations. The director was awarded along with some
of the older staff and than the newbies. I was among the group of newbies, and I stood out the most...LOL. Following the awards I was to deliver a speech in english and than mongolian. Than I would sing and play on guitar the mongolian song I worked on all summer during training. I was pumped and prepared. As I deliveredmy speech the audience that covered the front lawn of the school was completely silent.Using my most native sounding tongue I delivered the same speech in mongolian. There were bright smile and a posture of encouragement at my attempt to produced un-english accented mongolian. Than I sang... This is what won the points. For the rest of the day I was flooded with “Good Jobs” and statements of that sort. My english counterpart Odna told me this was a good way to get mongolians to like you. Learn a mongolian national song... The day was smooth after that. The schedule was not finished yet so I did not teach. Instead, the director took the new social worker and myself to every classroom in the school and reintroduced us. This was the first day...
THE DIRECTORS PARTY ON FRIDAY 
Mongolians know how to party well. I left my house at 4:15 p.m. To arrive at the directors party that started at 5 p.m.. My colleagues and I road the meeker up through the hills and unpaved roads to arrive to a place that overlooked the city. It took us 37mintutes to get to this place that overlooked the city. 15 minutes before we arrived it started to rain. When we
arrived the rain stopped and we were welcomed by the other teachers whom arrived before us. There were about 15 of us in the meeker. When we got to the restaurant we easily filled two tables.
The tables were filled with various were filled with various kinds of salads, juice, water, vodka and
beer. There was potato-ham salad, fruit salad, and array of candy.(Let call that candy salad)There were orange slices and melon slices too. I smelled the fresh scent of oranges and could not resist eating them along with the melon next to them on the platter. These fruits are rarities in mongolia... My fellow attendees also indulged in this nice array of fruit. There was so much salad I thought this was the main course. After eating the melon in front of me I was quickly passed the apple raisin salad that also included dried/candied pineapple. It was delicious.
Following our large indulgence we (our table) was called to the front yard as another group filed into the restaurant. The school director was giving tours of his camp/ resort grounds. At this point my good friend Odna decided that it would be good to translate what he was saying for me. The directors land was awesome. We started outside of
the first building which was the directors (gwonz) or restaurant. This is the building where we would have the banquet and party. The foundation was shaped in the style of a huge mongolian ger. We than headed to the sacred tree in his garden. Here there were two trees growing together intertwined.
He expressed that this was a symbol that peace dwelt within this/his soil.
I was quickly captured by the marvelous sight of a rainbow in the sky with the sun shining brightly on the left-side and the city down in the distance below. After this sight the director focused our attention on Khuvguls black goats.
He than showed us the well that was dug when they first developed the grounds, sharing that the water was rich in minerals. Amusingly, he was soaked by a loose hose when he opened the door. I know it is unorthodox to laugh at your new boss but I had to get a picture of it. It was truly funny. Following the well he showed us that there were many cabins and gers for people to stay in. Later he lead us to the house that was currently used as the resort museum. In front of
the house stood the skin of a bear that he and others captured years ago. I took so many pictures with people in front of this creature. It was fun.
Once I finally got inside of the house I was amazed at the beautiful artifacts and cool mongolian things like chess sets, and ancient thermoses and photos, etc...
Now the party really began. There was a program of singing and speeches. This lasted for 2 hours. While this was going on the main course meal was being served. There was rice, meat, vegetable salads with an egg on top. However, my plate included two eggs and my friend Odna gave me her salad. I was so full. After eating I was called to the platform to sing. I sang a mongolian traditional song and “My Girl” by the Temptations. It was a fun experience! After the last of the singing and speeches the man of the hour got up gave a speech and proposed a toast. The custom was for him to give the toast speech and than go to each table and touch each glass before anyone drank. Needless to say it took a while for him to get around to all 74 attendees.
Drinking is a huge part of mongolian culture. At about 8:30 dancing started. We started with the mongolian waltz. I figured I should get on the floor early so I would not look bad later... So I did! I was the third guy on the dance floor with my partner. Everyone was shocked that I knew how to waltz. This was something I learned during the summer training. By this time I had come out of my suit into more comfortable clothes jeans and a nice sweater. AT 10:30 I thought the party would slow down...LOL...Yeah Right! My new friends and co-workers we just starting. Vodka was now being taking back like water! LOL! Furthermore, the party was moved outside. It turned into a outside dance party with a bond-fire on the directors basketball court.
There was a wood pile the size of a small house which was lit by the director. It was as if a whole new party began...After another hour of dancing I decided to retreat to a small stomp to take a break. I was quickly pulled back into the dance circle by my counterparts. I was done & done (EBD), but I smiled and danced anyhow...
@ 12a.m my friend Odna said we should leave, and boy was I ready. However, I thought it was a trick or
something because we went back into the banquet hall and set down and ate cake. People began to trickle back into the large room and as they did my directors wife provided more bottles to each table.
I was amazed! But after the cake we did leave. Under the midnight sky full of
stars we traveled home. The scent of wet grass and smoke filled the van as my counterparts sang mongolian songs. It was a time well spent... Saturday I slept until 1p.m. Not uncommon for me on the weekends and I did even have one drink...LOL!
Clifton A. Hurt
Peace Corps Mongolia
M21 
