26.6.10

First off, I would like to say that it is soooo hot right now in Mongolia!  I thought it was supposed to be cold here!  Hahahaha.  Things are going well.  We still have language classes in the morning and we started teaching in the afternoons twice a week so it is fun.  The kids are excited to learn English.  It has only been about a month and it is funny how close our group has gotten.  We have no problem telling each other how often we have or haven't gone to the bathroom, about the foods we have eaten and the funny stories about our families.  (I am regular by the way in case anyone was wondering.)

A couple people in our group have gotten sick - vomiting and diarrhea.  I have not thankfully.  It only lasts about 2-3 days.  I'm praying that I don't get it. 

We saw the shaman the other day.  It Alyssa's sister who is only15.  Apparently, she was sick for two years.  She couldn't even go to school and would pass out on a regular basis. They finally tried to go to a shaman and they said she was sick because the spirit was trying to get into her body.  He has been training her.  She has only been doing it for 9 days.  You have to train and then do the rituals for 39 days.  After that, he can tell us about our spirits and our families.  So we get in there and she blindfolds herself, puts on a mask with fake eyes on it, and string coming down.  She starts beating on a drum to envoke the spirit and turns in circles.  When she stops, she is moaning like an old man and can barely stand.  She sits down.  It is her great great great great grandfather (maybe add some more greats) from the 1500s.  He smokes and drinks vodka and milk tea and talks to us.  Our teacher was there to translate and told him we were interested in him.  He called me up to him to tell him what I knew about Shamans so I told him about The Horse Boy book.  He then took my head and started rubbing it and smelling me( which I know didn't smell good).  And then he did that to everyone else.  He said he had never seen foreigners before and that the guys were really hairy like yaks!  Hahahaha. We also have a really tall guy in our group and he says to him, 'You are so tall...how are you going to get married?"  I was cracking up.  After that, he left and then 10 minutes later his spirit was sitting on the candle flames and he wanted to come back.  He said we could come listen to him anytime.  I can't wait to go back after 39 days to hear what he says about me.  It was a crazy experience! 

There are tons of bugs in my ger.  It is open at the top so they come in whenever.  Another girl in our group has a ger infested with spiders.  She counts them everyday and has killed about 120 in the past two days.  I would die!  The gnats are bad enough! 

I think that is all for now.  Miss you guys and hope to hear from you soon!  Haven't received any packages yet, but I'm so excited!  I'm also going to try and post pics. 

Love you and miss you! 
M