March 17,
2016
It's tournament time, and I am
absolutely ready. I won't whine about the seeding my team – UK –
got, because I still think they're capable of winning it all if they
play to their potential. It was a... poor decision on the part of the
committee, though.
So, it's been a while since the last
post, mostly because very little has happened in the past month. Work
and some play, work and some play. I lost my phones during an
impromptu soccer match at the Uvs Lake Ice Festival, which was
unfortunate. And no, that's not a typo – I had a phone my dad had
given me to listen to music and take pictures, and my PC-issued
phone. The phone fell out of my deel pouch (the chest area, supported
by a tied belt) and into the snow, and was shortly thereafter
covered. We searched for it to no avail.
The rest of the Ice Festival was a lot
of fun, though the name conjures up what is probably not an accurate
image. It was essentially this: “Hey, look, the lake's still frozen
even though the sun is out, and the cold won't kill you! Let's go
hang out by the lake, drink vodka and eat food, and play tug of war
and cards!” To which someone else responded, “Tiishdei!” (“Of
course!”)
The morning was kind of funny – there
had been a sports competition at my school the day before, and once
it ended, my teachers all went out and drank. As a result, most were
too hungover the next day to go to the lake at 10 am, which is what
we had said we would do. [For my part, I played basketball with my
team (FOR NINE HOURS) the first day, but after an embarrassing
incident during the last sports competition, declined to play
volleyball on second day.] I showed up to the school at the appointed
time to find only one of Korean friends there and literally no other
teachers. At one point, she tried out a word I had taught her (or I
like to think that I taught her) that is a vulgar substitute for
poop. Eventually, some others showed up, though, and gave us a ride
around noon.
Uhhhh.... what else? A quick run off of
recent things: It's still cold outside, but not very cold anymore,
which is nice. Until very recently, I had been able to workout in a
decent weight room in the city, but they unfortunately decided to
start charging. That's a bummer. It's only the equivalent of about
$15 a month, but still. Free is cheaper, and I'm on a volunteer's salary. Emily and I have started
taking Mongolian lessons again, which we really enjoy and need. I
found a beer (at the recommendation of a fellow PC volunteer) that's
sort of a wheat beer and which I really like (mostly because it's not
a lager). If someone tried to sell me a hoppy American Ale right now, I'd probably
offer them my right arm. I don't know what they'd do with it, but it
might end up on the table.
In the near-future: this upcoming week
and weekend promises to be interesting (though not in that order).
Tomorrow morning, I get to watch UK play LIVE for only the second
time since I've been here, and in the NCAA tournament to boot. On
Saturday, all five Uvs PC volunteers (PCVs hereafter) will be
together to celebrate St. Patty's day with our Korean friends and, if
they come, a few Mongolian friends. On Sunday, a representative from
the US Embassy will visit and deliver a seminar to the English
teachers in Uvs. On Monday (I think), we will have dinner with them;
we had dinner with the consulate last year and that was a lot of fun,
so I expect this will be as well. On Monday and Tuesday, Uvs will
hold its annual Academic Olympics, including an English Olympiad,
which we've been preparing our students for for some time. Tuesday, I
actually get to help grade those tests, which I'm looking forward to.
I don't know why, but I like grading, and since the grading is blind,
I don't worry about being partial.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
