Day Five Hundred & Thirty-three

Yes, we do have tumbleweed in the Gobi.

Day Five Hundred & Thirty-three
Sunday, November 20th 2011

GRE дуусан! I am elated, ecstatic, waxing poetic that never again in my life will I ever have to encounter the gruesome atrocity & stress-inducing shenanigan that is the General Requirement Test. Supposedly in six weeks I will receive my scores in the mail (when in reality, my parents will receive them, & presumably open the envelope to tell me how well I did). I know with absolute certainty that the writing portions (both analytical & opinion) will boost my score immensely. In terms of math, well, I've come to a comfortable place whereby I am merely a conscientious objector. No, mathematical problem, I do not understand you, but I acknowledge your existence & the importance to others that you may have in the world.

I've taken a very Buddhist approach in accepting that there are some things I simply cannot do well, such as setting up an equation to a question akin to “Two speeding trains are headed to Switzerland, one going 345 miles per hour, the other going 1,000 kilometers per hour in reverse. If the first car of the green train has two young twin boys named Bill & Johann respectively, & the twelfth car of the green & red striped train contains their grandmother, what are the chances that Johann will receive apple juice from the conductor as opposed to a packet of cookies?” The GRE study books would make you believe that this is simple. Obviously, you need to divide the number of juice boxes (J) manufactured by Apple Juice Incorporated (I) by x, while simultaneously multiplying x cubed times the number of years that Granny spent married to her late husband Harold, when in reality, it was Wilhelm who caught her fancy initially when they were both innocent teenagers. Take Wilhelm's age when he was drafted into the army during WWI & subtract it from how many blue ribbons Granny has won for her famous peach cobbler, & you will find the value of y.

I received a melange of text messages wishing me luck on the GRE from friends, family, & even Natsaga who owns Mongol Steppe II guest house! I'm very lucky indeed to have had so many well-wishers. Natsaga's sister, Eiggy, who owns Mongol Steppe I guesthouse behind AB&F (American Burgers & Fries) even allowed me to stay in a private room for the two days proceeding my test for the same rate as a normal dormitory bed would have cost. Such acts of kindness warm my heart, truly, even though the temperature at night here in UB has been hovering somewhere in the vicinity of -10F below.

I got Cago some medication from the vet's office. He needs the dewormer every three months, & I wish I could say this were an easy feat, but for all the good it does, Cago does not tolerate me squirting blue liquid in his mouth via an irrigator (think syringe with the needle removed). In or around April, Cago will require another round of vaccinations, & because the Peace Corps COS (closure of service) conference will fall during this time, it would be unwise to bring my kitty to UB. Hence, I can simply pick up the vaccination at the vet's office, & oh, just do it myself. (Here is where my clever enlisting of my village's veterinarian will come in extremely handy. She's a charming woman, really, & unlike many Mongolians, she does not openly display a fear of cats.)

I'm beginning to realize how intricate a process it will be to get Chicago out of the country with me. I am willing to pay what it will take (meaning that I certainly won't be back to UB before April for any sort of a vacation, & that I must begin to save my money now), but the process is exceedingly detail-oriented. But my mind is made up, & no, I will not (cannot) leave him behind. Even being in UB for less than a week as I have now, I miss him terribly & see him in my dreams. So, Kittyman, you're coming to America.

As I'm sure none of you can quite imagine, I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off since I landed in UB around 18:00 on Wednesday evening. Some of my more notable errands have included several runs to the Peace Corps office, buying Yardley soap (my favorite, & in the new pomegranate & rose scent!), picking up Cago's medications, buying dried beans, buying popcorn kernels, stopping by the Peace Corps some more, somehow managing to feed myself, a celebratory brunch with Bob after my GRE, lunch with PCMO Amy this afternoon, downloading, uploading, printing, scanning, emailing, & more.

I have, however, managed to procure a vibrant plethora of fanciful gifts to bestow upon family members & friends alike. I absolutely love gift shopping, not in the sense of shopping in general or in the sense of Christmas crowds, but the simple & satisfying act of picking out presents for others. I am so excited to send these things to my family, especially the choice items that I know they will particularly appreciate. So, Mom, Dad, & Luke, get ready for a taste of Mongolia, coming to you (from me!) this holiday season.

A random end to a random post: I happened to meet a long lost cousin, Devon Healy, here at the guesthouse in UB. His parents hail from England, honeymooned in Devon, go figure, & we are probably related. (Unless he's one of those Cornwall Healys. I'm not related to them.)