^ Here's a cow sneaking into my apartment complex. This is just one of the many enjoyable and entertaining daily occurrences that come with living in Mongolia. Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in updates. I've been sorta busy with typing grants, attempting to fix computers at the children's center, and trying my best to avoid catching the H1N1 flu, or as I like to call it, the zombie infestation that has gripped Mongolia over the past few weeks.
Due to an apparently large number of confirmed cases of H1N1, Mongolia has closed schools around the country. People are donning masks everywhere, the slightest hint of a cough or sneeze brings looks of terror, and the students seem to be on a school break with no end in sight. I've heard it called a 'quarantine' by some and I haven't been able to conduct any classes or meetings with my students. The only benefit to this is that I have had more time to work on the projects I've been planning the past few months. I recently submitted a grant to UNICEF on behalf of the student joint council. The grant is from the '2009 San Marino-Alexander Bodini Foundation Children's Awards' and is worth $20,000. Here's a link with some more information on the awards:
The student council put together a great proposal for the grant, I edited and submitted the grant proposal, and provided a letter of recommendation last week. The award is a huge sum of money and would provide the student council with a huge opportunity and improved access to more resources. The students are interested in providing for a completely brand new children's palace (center) if possible, increased and improved vaccinations for Olgii's youth, and improved education in terms of the dangers of smoking alcoholism, and increasing cultural appreciation and awareness. I just received an email back from a lady from UNICEF today and she told me that our nomination had been submitted. According to the information provided on the website, we should be hearing back within less than two weeks. Wish us luck!
In related news, I'm finishing up the grant to Peace Corps for the children's learning and advisement center. Recently Peace Corps staff were in Olgii to do our scheduled site visit and I had an opportunity to sit down with Peace Corps and most of my coworkers at the children's center. Both the Peace Corps staff members were very positive and encouraging in regards to the project and the children's center workers seem anxious to get started. I am hoping to submit the grant before the weekend and hear back from Peace Corps soon so I can make any necessary revisions or changes. Let's hope for the best. If the grant gets approved, I'm hoping to start construction in early December before I leave for my vacation in Thailand. If things go as planned, the center could be open as early as March. Wish me luck in that as well. :)
In unrelated news, I recently sat down with my good friend Nurbol and discussed the possibility of me learning the Russian language starting soon. I have enjoyed learning Kazakh but I almost feel as if I'm at a standstill in my language abilities and it's difficult for me to stay enthusiastic and motivated, knowing that I'm going to be leaving Olgii in nine months or so. I really enjoy the Kazakh language and though I'm often the most skeptical of my own abilities, I think I've learned quite a bit. I think it would be fun to start learning the basics of Russian and get a good start in the language over my last few months in the country. If I ever find myself working in a post soviet state again or even Russia itself, it would be hugely beneficial. Nurbol speaks Russian fluently and is more than happy to start teaching me whenever I would like to start. I'll discuss that more when the time comes.
We celebrate American holidays quite a bit differently here as you may have seen from my Thanksgiving and Christmas pics from last year but we still do our best to have a good time and enjoy ourselves. Halloween was this past Saturday and we dressed up in some somewhat creative costumes (given our lack of costume and party stores) and played some games. I'll get pics of that onto Flickr as soon as I can. More updates and pics to come as things progress. Hope all is well back home and you're doing your best to avoid the H1N1 zombie plague infestation epidemic. ;-)
Video of the week, how about a little old school grunge.
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