Spectrum

When I first came here, it was cold and the sky was clear, the color of my skin was much different then my new friends. 

This is a post to tell you about my first weekend with my new host family. 

Keep in mind that all of my interactions with Mongolians thus far have been a game of charades as language has been a huge barrier. 

Unlike my Salone experience Peace Corps has split us into groups of ten and placed us into small soums around the countryside. The soum im staying in has roughly 1500 people and contains; a hospital, police station, school and a shop. 

We arrived at the school around 7pm and were welcomed by ten families standing in a line, all smiles. They called my name and my host parents stepped forward to claim me. We loaded up the Honda and went to my new home. Everyone but one person from my group lives inside the host families house. We pulled up to my house and I realized that I was going to be lucky enough to have my own one room a-frame home in the backyard of my host families house. It's perfect in every way. It wasn't until I unpacked and went into my host parents home that things took a really WEIRD turn. 

We sat down for dinner and my host mom brings out a map of the USA. I know that they have had three previous Peace Corps trainees before over the last ten years and she motions that she wants me to sign my name on the map where my hometown is. As I take the pen and look for Spokane I realize the space has already been filled. My host dad chants "Spokane! Spokane! Spokane!" And I realize then, that their first volunteer was from Spokane, WA as well. Instantly I knew I am where I should be. My host dad and I then spent the next three hours watching Mongolian television, having broken conversation using a Mongolian-English dictionary. 

The next day I spent most of my time studying my Mongolian until in the evening when my host dad told me to follow him. We walked to the market and met a few of his friends. We were only there for ten minutes when two men in a Honda Civic swooped in and took my host dad and I. We drove up to a high point and watched the sunset over our soum. The beauty is something I can't describe because I can't do it justice. I've never witnessed a more beautiful place, the sky is so blue and never ending. While watching the sunset, I found out that I was in the presence of a Mongolian celebrity. He showed me his K-Pop music videos and then did some traditional throat singing for me. 

Sunday was a day for us to go far out into the Mongolian countryside to see my host dads parents. After driving 40 minutes off-roading in a Honda we arrived at a house in the middle of nowhere. I spent 3 hours helping my host brother herd 300 sheep and goat across the steppe to and from the watering hole. After we returned home with all of the animals my host dad asked me to pick one out. If you haven't guessed by now, it was slaughter time. For the next three hours I watched my host family take apart this entire goat piece by piece. Every part of the goat is used for something or another. We cooked all of the innards and had fresh goat for lunch. I was a little worried at first, but wow what a meal! The liver and heart were tender and I'll never forget the flavor of the fat. It's a meal I hope to get quite frequently because it was that good. 

I'm having a great time here. My host family has been very welcoming, I feel safe in my community so far and I feel at peace. It's hard to not be a peace though when you look outside to nothing but the beautiful blue sky, mountains, horses and other wildlife roaming free. 

  

Packing for the Peace Corps Part Deux

I figured since this isn't my first time packing for a 27 month adventure, I would take the time to write some sort of packing post to inform you on what I am bringing and possibly some tips. Ill continue to update the post as new packing ideas and techniques come about. I pride myself on being efficient and well prepared so I hope that this serves as help for someone who in the future finds themselves creeping on old volunteers blogs. This post serves mostly for those going into service so if not, you'll probably want to disregard this post. Also, these are all just my own opinions and I know I have missed some stuff that I will come back and change as I remember. Pack smart and being organized will be your best bet. Linen is the easiest fabric to wash and dry but not the most practical in colder environments. Cotton is easy to hand wash as well but it does tend to stretch out more than other fabrics do.

General Clothing

When it comes to packing clothing, make sure that you pack smarter and not harder. Pick a color theme and run with it. That way its easy to mix and match different outfits and not look ridiculous. Shop for clothing against the season and be smart about it. That means if your going to somewhere like Sierra Leone shop for clothes right before the winter season begins. Same idea applies to going to Mongolia, the longer you wait in April and May the cheaper those higher priced clothing items will be. For men, be cautious of the patterns/lack there of that you choose within your shirts. You must remain professional but covering sweat and stains will allow you more wear of your shirts with less hand washing. Darker plaids and thin/close stripes provide you more room to hide imperfections as opposed to a solid colored shirt. Air compression bags will be your best friend.

• One pair (tops and bottoms) of mid-weight long underwear
• One pair (tops and bottoms) of heavy-weight long underwear- Outdoor stores have great sales on these products come May. 
• Winter coat or parka - I found that space>packing a large winter coat. Ill be saving money and buying one in country when the time comes.  
• Fall/Spring coat 
• Gloves or mittens - 1 pair of mitten/glove combo  
• Scarf -1 
• Stocking cap -1 
• A few (3–4) pairs of woolen socks 
• A few (3–4) pairs of cotton socks    
• Two to three "professional” shirts to work in  
• Your favorite pair of fat pants- Nothing will feel better than coming home, taking off the dress clothes you've been wearing all day to put on your favorite pair of lounge pants/pajamas and just relaxing.
• Two to three pairs of nice pants for work - I've never been able to follow this rule, that is why air compression bags are my best friend. I pack 5 shirts and pants, one for everyday and that way your hand-washing in theory once a week.  
• One to two pullover sweaters - I am again packing 5 of these, but I am going to place them over the 'professional' shirts to save space on packing.  
• One pair of jeans  
• Five to six of your favorite T–shirts - Its always good to have a couple basics, and invest in a couple t-shirts of your favorite things you will love wearing.   
• Sweatpants and sweatshirt
• 2 Belts - 1 brown and 1 black   
• Two pairs of shorts (essential for summer and playing sports) - A pair of dress shorts and favorite basketball shorts.  
• Underwear -Avoid cotton and try and invest in good quality underwear... this is a must. Cotton stretches and will smell faster :/
• One formal piece of clothing, such as a suit for males and a dress for women

*If your rolling your clothing, grab a couple boxes of your favorite protein bars and roll them up in there individually. You never know when you'll be served a not so tasty dish and need some protein for that extra energy.

Shoes

When it comes to shoes I plan to leave the hiking boots and snow shoes at home. I want to save that packing space for other things and buy the winter boots once in country.
Packing 2 pairs of dress shoes (one brown and one black)
2 pairs of boat shoes
a pair of shower sandals
and a pair of athletic shoes
When it comes to packing the shoe, just shove that where ever space allows once everything is already in (toe down). Tie your athletic shoes to your carry-on bag and keep them close to avoid hitting people in the face and getting them taken.

Kitchen

Leatherman or Swiss Army Knife

Sturdy water bottle(s) (e.g., Nalgene) - I am packing 3 blender bottles, but make sure that you don't  waste space and that you pack random trinkets and pens inside of these bottles while you travel.  

Plastic storage bags

Small sauce pan

French fry cutter (do I need to explain the importance?)

Crystal light To-Go's. - I am not sure how the water will taste and staying hydrated is important when you don't know exactly how your body will react to things you eat.

 Flint

Toiletries 

If your anything like me you don't really care about what shampoo and body wash you have as long as it gets the job done. So I am brining enough to make it through training. I will however pack an ample amount of toothbrushes, you just never know when you'll drop your toothbrush on your bathrooms floor and need a new one. 

Deodorant - Bring enough to make it through training, its an easy item to have shipped in a care package.

Baby wipes - just do it.

Everything else is up to you, I cant tell you how to live your life in the bathroom, so bring what you want. Just be smart and bring one of everything you need, don't forget simple things like toenail clippers, qtips and hand sanitizer.

Miscellaneous

A small photo album of family and friends (a must-bring item)  - one of my favorite memories in Sierra Leone was sitting around with my host family and looking through all of the photos of my friends and family as they laughed and it was a great way to have a positive experience with not a lot of language skills.

220-volt converter (essential if you bring American appliances)

Rechargeable batteries

Camera

Flashlight - Headlamps work well too and make great gifts for host families. The key is making sure you find solar powered goods.  

American board and card games - Card games are much easier to pack, but board games can be done. Pack the pieces into a zip lock bag and the board without the box to save space. I'm personally not wasting that space but am going to bring; Cribbage, Uno, Phase 10, 2 decks of cards and Cards Against Humanity. Pass the Pigs. Dice for Bunko.

Music  

Solar shower - NO, youll survive with a bucket shower, don't waste the space.  

Duct tape (highly recommended)   

A bottle of your favorite alcohol... Maybe 2?   

Reading materials/Kindle 

Flash disk or thumb drive - 500GB hard drive for movies and television shows and a 16GB flash drive for work purposes.

Sport equipment- Frisbees, deflated volleyball, tennis balls     

Hand/food warmer

Host family gift

Quick dry towel

A pillowcase

Kite -I am just hoping my plan works here

Colored Pencils, GOOD pens and Sharpies

Travel Sling that folds into itself- Describing these will be impossible, but the two that I have found have been in outdoor stores. They are the bags and backpacks that roll into themselves , zip up and are travel ready. These will work perfect when you don't want to lug around a larger hiking backpack and will be great for trips to the market when you need bags.

 Crossword/Word Search

Picking Luggage

  

I've always seen people asking what type of luggage to bring and how much they can have. I am using almost the same luggage method I had used in Sierra Leone as I will use for Mongolia.

One large suitcase 24 
One MHM Salute 34 liter bag
One 64 liter Northface backpack
One carry on duffle bag

In theory this will work as such; The 64 liter on your back, the rolling suitcase behind, with the 34 liter bag strapped on the front of your chest and the duffle over your shoulder. You still have to worry about the weight of your goods, but the sizes of bags work for the inches requirement and for me weighted 47 pounds each checked bag on the way to Sierra Leone.

Prologue to an Adventure Unknown

I should start off this blog with an introduction, my name is Caleb Morgan. I will soon be departing on what has been said to me, 'the most life changing experience you'll ever have'. I will be moving to the outskirts of Mongolia at the end of May to start my training for the United States Peace Corps as an English/TEFL instructor. I will be saying farewell to life as I know and for the next 27 months fighting to survive the winters of the coldest inhabited place on Earth and witness a new exciting culture. I will learn so much about myself and this Earth that I cannot wait to experience it all.

Mongolia is a country located between China and Russia. With just over 2 million people, it has one of the lowest density populations in the world (1.9 peoples per sq. mile) and is the 18th biggest country in the world based upon land mass. A land of nomadic peoples, a heavy diet on livestock products and very few fruits and vegetables is what I have to look forward to. The population of sheep outnumber those of humans, and while no one seems to be afraid with those numbers of a sheep revolt, ill keep you updated.

This isn't my first attempt into the Peace Corps world. I was training during the summer of 2014 in Bo, Sierra Leone when we were taken home due to the insecurity and safety of the volunteers and staff in midst of the Ebola epidemic in the country. I fell in love with Sierra Leone and think about that beautiful country everyday. I am so happy to be apart of the Salone PC family because of all the good they are doing and the people there really appreciate what PC does. We were almost finished with training, and I had even been given my site placement of Lunsar, Sierra Leone located in the Port Loko district. I find myself still muttering words in Krio to myself when I am out in public attempting hold onto a language I tried so hard to learn.

After returning to the USA at the end of summer we were unsure as to if there was going to be a return flight for us back to Sierra Leone. All of us wanted to go back and I one day will make that trip. The email never came and unfortunately they chose to suspend the program for now. I passed my time in the states by spending it with family, friends and the dogs. I got a job, went and saw a couple of great concerts and spent a week on the Vegas strip with my best friends.  

The adventure officially begins May 26th in San Francisco for our 2 day staging event. I will attempt to keep up with this blog as much as possible. The internet access in Mongolia from what I have gathered seems to be more reliable and available than my access in Sierra Leone was, so I have no excuse.