As I was saying...

I went to Mongolia. In August of 2008. It is now 2010, and I am still attempting to update my blog. The more time that passed, the more stuff I would have to add to my blog. And thinking about updating all that stuff got me feeling a little overwhelmed. So I was ignoring all the updating I needed to do... until now. Because I don't feel like doing my work... and I want to procrastinate.

So Mongolia. After spending a week traveling around the countryside, I volunteered at a summer camp for orphans. Also in the countryside. There were about 15 volunteers from many different countries working at the camp. Lovely people. The kids were really friendly and seemed starved for attention. Actually, the kids just seemed starved in general. I'm not sure they were given much food. one of the volunteers told me that some kids were looking for potato peels and bones in the trash because they were so hungry.

We organized many activities for the kids. Sports competitions, Mongolian idol, a dance party, art classes, dance classes, origami classes, and my specialty: English classes. As the only person from an English-speaking country (and the only person with experience teaching English), I was unofficially in charge of the daily English classes. With very limited supplies (we quickly ran out of paper), it was a challenge to think of teaching activities. But with the help of my fellow volunteers, we managed to pull it off. One boy enjoyed the classes so much that he would follow me around while asking, "Amy Teacher? English? Now?" I suppose that was better than the little girl who would say to people, "You monkey! You stupid monkey!"

The second week of the summer camp, it started to get cold. Below freezing at times. Uncomfortable, considering there was no heat anywhere at the camp. It alsos made my trips to the outhouse quite chilly. I suppose I shouldn't complain about the outhouse-with-no-door. We had an outhouse! Considering that many Mongolians do their business on the grass, I felt like I was living in luxury. Or as close to luxury as you can get without running water. Or showers. And needing to boil water from a stream so you can have something to drink.

Despite feeling dirty and cold, I still enjoyed volunteering at the summer camp. I made some new friends, and I was pretty tempted to take home a few orphans. Until I realized that I can't be the mother of 10-year-olds right now (or a year and a half ago). So I waved goodbye to the kiddies and headed home.