Bonanza Bananas, Random Pics, and Short Update

It's a good feeling when I wander over to the market to do my grocery shopping and come across bananas, especially 'Bonanza!' bananas. :) I've been trying to be a lot more health conscious the past couple months and finding things like bananas, spinach, lettuce, etc. at the market really helps.

Often when I wander around Olgii, whether it's on a walk around town, by the river, or just the five minute trek to my work, I bring my camera. Often times in the past I'd see things that caught my eye, made me laugh and that I wanted to take a picture of, but I always seemed to forget my camera. Now I try to remember to bring my camera everywhere I go but it seems like whenever I have my camera, I don't see any of these exciting, funny or odd things. Strange how that works huh? So until something funny or exciting happens and I have my camera to catch it, you can just enjoy these random shots from around Olgii. :)

Today I met with Nurbol, Altinbek and my boss Doman, who just came back from Ulaanbaatar, and we discussed a few of the details on the project. The paint will be finished today, we'll be cleaning up the room a bit and hopefully, if things go as planned, we'll go to the market tomorrow and start buying furniture. I want to get the furniture and computers set up, make sure everything works with no problems (electrical basically) and then start getting the computers ready by installing language learning software and preparing them for the worst Mongolian children can throw at them by installing anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-malware software. The sooner I get all of this done, the sooner I can hold some meetings and training sessions with my coworkers and the student council about how the center can be used in the most effective and best possible ways. My biggest concern, when finishing this project is that it will fall victim to what the countless other resource room/library projects done by PCV's over the years; the infamous Mongolian locked door. Basically, different organizations and schools throughout the country are notorious for keeping resource rooms, gyms, libraries, etc. locked and they never get used for what they are meant for. Why this is, I have no idea. Hard to understand, hard to explain, and very frustrating to witness. Let's hope that with the proper training, information and explanations, the children's center will use this resource effectively and keep it open and available to children on a regular basis.

Oh yeah, also, the last pic above is a ger in the main square, across the street from the Bayan Olgii parliament building. It was set up, over a month ago, by the Mongolian democratic party to protest and call for the governor's resignation. They are accusing the governor of corruption (no surprise there) and have listed all of the positions in local government jobs which are filled by the governor's relatives. In talking with my local friends, I've learned that Bayan Olgii has a reputation as the most corrupt aimag (province) in Mongolia. It's very unfortunate and sad.

More updates to come. :)