hello family...where's my bed?

well hello finally...so, where to begin...ashely and i arrived to mongolia at about 11 p.m. on wednesday night...after a terribly long flight...seriously, the human body was not built to sit for 14 hours straight...i don't really know how we made it, but we somehow ended up on our way to our host families that night...kinda awkward meeting a family of very shy mongolians who don't really speak english in the middle of the night...anyway, i took my bags to my room and then took a much needed shower...now i know a lot of us have taken cold showers before...but frigid doesn't even begin to describe this...my brain actually started hurting...the bathroom has a washing machine, a sink and a tub in it...its very quaint ;) and there is no shower curtain...so it feels kinda weird, but i mean, what can you do...after my awesome shower i ate some traditional mongolian soup...it was mutton, some onions and chicken broth i think...it was good...they also gave me sausage and pickles...weird...i didn't eat that...

so then i went to sleep...not...i got in bed about 12 midnight mongolian time, which is about 1 in 11 in the morning birmingham time...i just kinda laid there fore about 9 hours...finally i fell asleep around 8 a.m. i fell asleep and slept until 12. Then Projects Abroad came and picked me up along with Ashley, and another volunteer named Roger (Roger is actually Chinese...he picked the name Roger out of a dictionary to make it easier...ha) We went and visited a monestary with a 20 meter tall Buddah...crazy tall...then we walked around, exchanged money, got some water, and met some other volunteers. I really like the people i've met thus far...they are mostly from canada...a few are from the US...one if from Scotland, one from australia, one from europe...and i haven't met any more...after we chatted at the office for a while, we went and ate korean food together...it was delicious!

after dinner they took us home and i took yet another freezing shower...then i helped the youngest daughter with her english homework. Then i hit the sack...but not really...i didnt fall asleep until about 5, and had to wake up at 7:30 to go to my placement (the hospital). I woke up and my host mother made me breakfast...it was fried eggs and bread and coffee...they kept trying to give me cookies...i dont know why...then some guy who i called Tinky because i can't pronounce his name came and took me and Roger to our hospital. I met my supervisor whose name i also can't say...she is an anesthesiologist...she speaks ok english...she draws me pictures a lot...she gave me keys to my locker and to her office and then we went to check on her patients...one of her patients has ovarian cancer and she let me feel the tumor...we operated on her later that day...but before i get to that, i have to tell you about the first surgery...the first surgery was a procedure to fix this man's nose that had caved in...basically, it was just flat and he couldn't breathe...so, they give me a mask and a cap and we go into the operation room...they start getting him prepped for surgery and they asked me to do the manual breathing machine...no prob right? after about 30 minutes of standing with this man's lungs in my hands, i passed out...ha...they hadn't even started the surgery yet...luckily (and my fam knows this) i've passed out before, so i felt it coming on and made it to a chair in time...all the nurses thought it was pretty funny...once i felt better i went back in to watch the surgery...then about an hour later, my supervisor made a hammering motion and said "sally, you leave now"...if you didn't get that, they were about to hammer into this guy's head...i gladly left the room...the surgery lasted 3 hours, but the patient had a functioning nose in the end! Then the ovarian cancer patient came in...i felt a lot more prepared this time...i don't think i realized how close and personal i was really going to be...also, the mask over my face makes me really hot, so i now know to step out every once and a while...anyway, the ovarian surgery was really cool...and i didn't pass out...they ended up having to take out both her ovaries and uterus...never thought i see all that in person...

so, ya...mongolian surgery...my life for the next 29 days...it is very interesting to see how clean/unclean it is...there is a lot of reuse...lots of reused towels and draperies and such...obviously they are washed, but they are definitely old. They mop after surgeries, except the mop is just two pieces of wood nailed together in the shape of a T, with a cloth draped over it...but, for such terrible conditions, they are good doctors...they have all been to school, just like any doctor in the US or anywhere else...a lot of them actually go to Russia for schooling...anyway, i was impressed with their skill...after work Roger, Ashley and I went to get some water and then headed to the office which is where i am now. Tonight Projects Abroad has planned for everyone to go eat pizza (yes!) and then go to karaoke (a very popular activity amoung mongolians)...

well i know that was a lot...i will hopefully be more regular in my updates...this place is very different than i imagined...a lot harder i guess...everything is just hard...the wind, the sun, the lifestyles...but, it is extremely cheap...a half gallon of water costs 0.55$ and a taxi ride costs about $1-2...cell phones are only about $20 (and they are nice)...and food is beyond cheap...usually never more than $5...i will miss that...

ok well i've been on the computer for a while...i'll update soon! Thank you for your prayers...peace

p.s. this is for my friend kimmy...i got of the plane and asked for a boogle...they looked at me and said "slorry, l'estaurant policy"...so then i just wandered off into the desert, hopped on a camel and shouted "bella!" at the top of my lungs...then i saw the door across the hall open, but it was just a mirage...until august