Q: OK, first off, what’s up with the X-Y-P-P-backwards Es in the upper-right corner of the page?
A: That’s my made-up Cyrillic spelling of ‘hooray,’ which which I’ve seen apocryphally attributed to Mongolians back in the horde days. By the way, ‘Genghis Khan’ is the bastardized version of Chinggis Khaan. Soften the ‘k’ a little, too, and you’ll impress the next Mongolian you talk to.
Q: How’s the weather?
A: It has been warm/hot most of the time since we got here. The most interesting weather pattern so far is the tendency for freak wind/thunderstorms to blow through with no notice. It should stay fairly warm until about November, when winter will start. Then we’ll have about 6 months of freeze-your-face-off cold. Hooray!
Q: Are you speaking any Mongolian yet?
A: Getting there, slowly. I have about 15 hours of language instruction per week. If a Mongolian talks to me I can understand 10% if I’m lucky. But I can construct sentences and native speakers will understand me most of the time. I’m ahead of Peace Corps’ minimum language proficiency requirements, at least.
Q: When will you finish training and go to your permanent site?
A: Training goes on for about three more weeks. Site announcements are August 15th, and a few days later everyone ships out across this massive country. Katie and I will get to move in together again, and harmony will be restored to the world. We don’t have much info on where we’ll end up, but it will probably be a city of between 15,000 and 100,000 people.
Q: Will you be able to play fantasy football from Mongolia?
A: I’ll certainly try. I mean, what would Chinggis do?
Q: How are you staying clean?
A: I shower every 3 to 4 days. If you could feel how cold the water is, you wouldn’t blame me. Other than that, baby wipes: I swear by them. It’s pretty unusual for homes here to be equipped with showers, actually. A lot of trainees have to bathe in a bucket.
All right, clearly I made these questions up. If you are curious about something, leave me a comment.
July 23, 2010 at 11:46 am |
Will you be exposed to the elements?
July 23, 2010 at 11:51 am |
In order to understand this joke, you need to know that Mr. Timm was my high school chemistry teacher. He pops up in the unlikeliest of online venues.
July 24, 2010 at 2:47 pm |
These Mongolian elements is nothing to joke about, Ryan.
July 26, 2010 at 2:13 pm |
If you are using all the baby wipes, what are the babies using?
August 5, 2010 at 4:19 am |
That is sort of a lie – I am pretty sure I asked you outright if you’d still play fantasy football. I bet you’ll end up winning.
August 12, 2010 at 10:23 pm |
Since you are doing FAQs I figured I will submit some questions…
Q. Is there such a thing as a Mongolian Death Worm as pictured here in the movie of the same name? http://www.tvtango.com/movie/mongolian_death_worm
Q. Related question, if they exist do these worms protect the tomb of Genghis Kahn, as posited by the movie’s synopsis:
When an American oil company sets up an experimental drilling plant out in the vast deserts of Mongolia, they awaken a nest of deadly creatures that have been dormant for centuries, the Mongolian Death Worms. The worms begin to breed and spread, devouring everyone in their path. The only person who can stop them is treasure hunter and adventure seeker, Daniel Upton, who has spent his life searching for the legendary tomb of Genghis Kahn, which is fabled to be protected by the Death Worms. Daniel knows he must do what he can to kill these creatures and soon finds himself teamed up with a (no doubt sexy) humanitarian UN health worker to stop the monsters from destroying not only his life’s work but all of civilization.
August 13, 2010 at 1:51 am |
Ha! I heard of that movie a few months ago and was very disappointed when I watched the trailer. If there is a real Mongolian Death Worm, it’s probably got something to do with eating bad goat meat.
The thing with Chinggis’s tomb is, nobody knows exactly where it is, despite many archaeologists’ best efforts. According to legend, there was some elaborate scheme where the group of guys who buried him were slaughtered by another group of horsemen, who in turn were also massacred. I guess they didn’t trust people to keep a secret.