I feel like Mongolia broke up with me. Every song I listen to reminds me of it, and I’m constantly looking through everyone’s facebook albums to remember what we all did. I keep remembering the quote Nicole told me at the closing ceremony : “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” – Dr. Seuss. I think I’ve heard it probably a gazillion times before, but for some reason, with Nicole saying it, it really stuck with me. Thanks Nicole =)
A few hours ago one of the girls from Mongolia was talking to me on facebook chat. I’m sure many of you remember Rainbow (one of the names she went by). Well anyways, we were just catching up and then she told me that she misses all of her Canadian friends and that having us around was one of the best times of her life. with a mutual feeling, I couldn’t hold back my tears. We talked about school, and friends, and boys, and learned some things about each other. The school she goes to is having academic Olympiads at the time. They compete with other schools in subjects like biology, chemistry, english, and maths (I love how other countries say ‘maths’, it sounds way better than ‘math’). Best of luck to them. I am looking forward to our next chat. I miss them all so much and unfortunately can’t talk about her or the rest of them anymore or I’ll start crying again.
On another note, I took some time to look at all the Global site’s photo albums, and we have come so unbelievably far as a group. We’ve come from hassling teachers to buy our meat, to giant assembly lines at bottle drives, to getting soaking wet at car washes, to exchanging $15 gifts with each other, to meeting VIPs like Steve Nash, Daniel Igali, and the Mongolian Ambassador of Canada. And over time we have grown from being little clicks who shy away from one another, to one massive, unstoppable collection of wonderful people who can’t seem to stop hugging each other when our eyes meet in the hallways. We are 30 individuals who have set goals and exceeded their boundaries. We are 30 individuals who share memories that will last a lifetime. We are 30 individuals who stand on common ground. We are 1 family who made a difference in the world and should feel proud, because I know i sure do.
Sudah W <3
About an hour after I got home I fell asleep. I woke up a full day later. I missed an entire day of my life sleeping! my sleeping pattern is all wonky now. I go to sleep at 9pm then wake up at 3:30pm the next day, and still I feel tired. I don’t fully feel like I’m at home still. I miss Mongolia so much already, and looking at all the pictures over and over doesn’t exactly help, but I can’t seem to put my camera down. There are over 400 pictures up on facebook and there are plenty more where those came from, but between sleeping and eating and sleeping some more, I can’t seem to find much time. I dont even feel awake anymore. waking up on time for school should be quite interesting =S
I came to the realization today that for the first time in two weeks I’ve had regular milk =) it was yummy. I am incredibly tired yet again and have a lot of homework to do. not a good mix =( I am totally dreading school tomorrow.
Hi Habeebah, I hope you are doing well back home. Believe it or not I actually miss you a lot. Yesterday we went to the main street of the village we are in during a break from work. I did my first bout of shopping in a local market and saw lollipops! I instantly thought of your sweet tooth, so I bought you a pack. I can’t wait to see you next week =). It must be so weird for you to read this, haha.
Today was our last day at work, and given circumstances we didn’t get to completely finish the school but we are super close, and the best is really all we can give – a good thing to keep in mind on this trip, considering situations keep getting thrown at us. Our closing ceremony is in a few hours and I can’t wait for the locals to see the product of our hard work. It’s sad to think that today is possibly the last time we will see all the new friends we’ve made here. Luckily many of them have facebook (something I would have never guessed). Another shout out goes to Danielle. I miss you like crazy, girl! Can’t wait to see you! Well I gotta go, hope to see you ALL when I get home, with a nice hearty beef stew for dinner. *hint hint* ABU! See you in one week!!!
PS. I hope you are making a quick recovery Abu! Try not to fall down too much, old man. And eat a lot of eggs =)
last night we had another dance party at one of the schools. Mongolians never take a break from partying, and they do it well. A few other students and I are in charge of digging a hole for a toilet. We started yesterday and only got 3 inches done until today because of the condition of the soil. Every morning the upper layers of the soil freeze over making the job extremely tough. But today we got to two and a half feet which is a huge progress from the day before. Once we learned how to properly use a pick-axe there was a significant difference. The entire hole should be dug out by the end of tomorrow’s work day. The school on the other hand is coming together really easily. All the walls are up and the windows should be going in tomorrow! There are three helpers on the site whose names are Anji, Sete, and Buddy. They are the most energetic people ever and quite frankly they are amazing, and I’m going to miss them so much when I leave. They taught me how to swear in Mongolian! Hahaha! All the kids here are the cutest things ever. Today I worked with the dentist and you would not believe how calm the children are. We would tell them exactly whats going to happen, extractions and all, and they would just nod their heads and go along with it without any tears or screaming. These kids are troopers. I’m considering becoming a dental assistant now. There are little kids playing behind me and want their pictures taken, so I gotta go! See you all soon!
Hi fam and friends. Unfortunately I cant type too much because we only have a certain amount of time on the computers – so I’ll type the highlights of my trip so far. I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes =P and if the whole thing is kinda jumbled.
since weve arrived in mongolia, the excitement has never ended. It just keeps going. Once we got into our gers, it was a bit of a challenge. Ive never faced a cold like this before. Its kind of cool. No pun intended. The night sky is actually amazing. I have never in my life seen the little and big dippers before, but they are truly breathtaking. Throughout our to cultural nights, we have experienced things that none of us thought would ever come our way in mongolia. Last night we had a pance party! It was so awesome. There are a bunch of wild dogs running around, but thay arent a big problem for us. We moved out of our gers yesterday and into a dorm because we werent able to keep the fires burning warm enough. Yesterday was our first work day. We are nearly done the foundation of the school and today we will most likely get majority of the walls fully built up. The work is intense but its so much fun. Thanks abu for teaching me how to use a hammer. I rocked at building a dirt carrier yesterday. I gotta go. Talk to you soon!
<3 Sudah W
It’s 2am and it’s no surprise to many that I’m still awake, even if it were under normal circumstances. only 7 more hours!
Today was a good day for the most part. I improved significantly on my report card since last term, and I spent time with a few great friends. But unfortunately I missed all my sister’s calls from Texas. sorry =(
I just drank the last glass of cream soda I’ll have in a while D: I finally finished packing about two hours ago and, not gonna lie, it took a lot out of me. I’ve never had to pack for anything before so this was actually pretty hard. I tried at least 4 ways to make my sleeping bag fit, so i guess 3 isn’t always a charm. It will be interesting to walk around with a backpack two thirds the size of me haha. I’m so excited! I finally get to use the travel name tags my mom made for me when I was little! Mongolia is going to be amazing. I will write in my journal everyday, and take pictures (and lots of ‘em) every day. I cannot wait =) LAST BLOG IN CANADA for two weeks!!! Have a fun spring break everybody, and be safe! Don’t wind up getting a torn MCL on St. Patrick’s Day like I did last year lol. See you all in two weeks! And see you Mongos in a few hours =) Thank you to all who helped me with this trip, and thanks Keef for the beautiful card. You’re so sweet.
Hasta Luego!
It was pleasure to meet Mr. Daniel Igali. Thanks Mr. Matheny for bringing him in to speak with us. His determination and passion with the things he wanted to accomplish in life is absolutely crazy. The story he told us was so amazing and it was so strange how I could tell he was being sincere. Every time he was about to say something in great detail, he would kind of replay it in his head to remember exactly how it went. Ever since I found out that there was a Grad trip to Nigeria, I’ve wanted to tag along, But when Mr. Igali said that ‘children should not have to look up at the sky to see if they could go to school’, that’s what really got me. It’s so insane how often I complain about just walking to school in the rain when there are some kids in this world that depend on the weather to even learn something new. I can honestly say I’ve never thought of it this way before I met Daniel. I wish I could go on the trip but I cannot afford it with college coming up. Maybe Insha’Allah (if God wills it) It can somehow happen. Even if it doesn’t, luckily there are plenty of things I can do to help and contribute my time and efforts locally =)
I definitely was not expecting the Mongolian ambassador to come in, but all the while i was disappointed when it was Arnie that walked through the door. And I don’t remember a time where I wasn’t smiling out of excitement. I have to say that Mongolians are officially the cutest people on earth! They are a beautiful people, and I’m so glad that I got a chance to ask them to teach us some words in Mongolian. It seems like the class really loosened up with the mutual interaction. Now I know how to say ”Hello”, “Thank you”, and “I love you” in one more language =) very vital information haha. Only 3 weeks until be depart, and I can’t wait! I guess you can say I’ve officially started counting down the days. I’m so thrilled to meet new people, learn new cultures, languages, and ways of living. And I especially can’t wait to see the smiled on the childrens’ faces when he are finished the school, and give them their new school supplies. That’s going to be so awesome to me. seeing a child smile it such a beautiful thing in my opinion. I CAN’T WAIT!!!
For the first time in a Long time, I’ve said what I wanted to say in class wIthout really feeling nervous or intimidated. There was a while there where I Felt like everything I said in class was being vEry heavily scrutinized, so I would barely even talk compared to the other classes I’m in ( I never shut up, ask any of my teachers 
). I think i can finally say that I feel completely comfortable in the class. It took me a while, but better late than never, right? Part of the reason I feel this way is because of what Milica said about the students not lettIng their personalities shine through, when that’s what got us all here in the firSt place. Thanks Milica, This isn’t the first time you’ve really helped me by just saying something so simple, you do it quite a bit and i don’t even think you know it. I am deeply appreciative and i cannot thank you enough =) I think y’all Will be hearing a lot more of what I’ve got to say!
On another Note…Mr.ChiCity
Mr.ChiCity is my favourite YouTube personality, and i consider him to be my hero. He claims to be “the realest person on YouTube” and from his videos I can tell that the tHings he speaks of, and his feelings towArds these things are genuine. Take this video for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ-8SjjGOFg (if the URL doesn’t work for some reason, you can search up “Make a Difference Monday #5 (MOTIVATION)” on YouTube)
I just think that he is such an inspiring human being. He has come from so litTle, and been through so much. His familY has been robbed, at one point he has been hOmeless, he’s been stabbed, and one of his best friends have been murdered. Yet even after so many hardships, he has had enoUgh motivation and hope to make a better life for hiMself, he worked extremely hArd to move from the ghettos/projects of Chicago to the suburbs. And by him bettering himself, he has enabled himself to continue to maKe a difference in his community and in the lives of others (as shown in his series of “Make a Difference Monday” videos. I aspire to be like him. It’s funny how I can say that whEn I don’t know his real name, and I don’t even know what hIs face looks like, but I do know that he thinks about the good of others, and I hope that with whichever path i take in life, I can always look back at where I came from and give back to the communiTy.
( Find the hidden message. There are some letters that should not be capitalized, but are, and they make a message =] )
In class on Friday, we were shown a number of pictures of people and asked to write down the first word which popped into our heads. Some of the pictures that were shown were an overweight lady on a beach, a group of males wearing chemises, and head garments, a group of people working together to build something, and the blueprints for our class project in Mongolia. The words that came up for the picture of the lady on the beach were mostly negative, and the same went for the group of males. Yet for the people building something, and the blueprints, nothing but positive feedback came around. I think that the reason for such a vast difference is because of human nature, where we perceive something which we are not familiar with to be negative. Maybe because nobody in the class is the size of the woman on the beach, she was viewed as a “whale”, “disgusting” or “undeserving/undesirable”, and because of the news and media of the past several years, the men were viewed as “terrorists”. But because all of us are going to work on a project like in the photo, and because we are all so close to making that blueprint a lot more than just an image, we can attach words such as “future” and “Global Perspectives” (the connotation behind global perspectives, that is). But who are we as humans to just label one another? Instead of wasting our time sippin’ on Haterade, we could be spending our time knocking down the walls that are blinding us from seeing what a nice person that lady sitting on the beach could be. And that who may seem to be terrorists to us, could be freedom fighters to them (an interesting point brought up by Steven, I never thought of it that way before). Instead of us being afraid of the unknown, why don’t we do a bit of research and learn? Let’s not let society think for us. Break the mold, and be yourself, and remember that we are all HUMAN before anything else (something I always try to remember that I learned at Diversity Training a few years ago.)
So I realized that in my last post (yes, the one I wrote less than 60 minutes ago) I didn’t really say much about the class activity. Oopsies! So here goes:
I kind of touched on the the “chatterers”, “show offs”, and “bosses” but did not really explain.
Maybe it isn’t always a bad thing to have chatterers in the group – they remind you of why you are on the trip, of your purpose.
Can’t be that horrible to have bosses either – they keep you on task.
The flatterers aren’t horrible either – they give you drive and motivation to keep up the amazing work.
Show off can’t be the worst thing to happen to the planet – they promote competition, which can potentially get the job done more efficiently, if it is healthy competition.
What I’m trying to say is that maybe its not such a bad thing to have a little bit of each of these traits inside of us all. Though they may be seen as negative by some, there is always a way to put a positive spin on things.
When we are in Mongolia, like Mr. Matheny said, there will always be conflict; but try your best to resolve it in a mature manner. And remember that everyone in the class is there for the same reason as every other person, so we owe nothing but respect to one another.
Goodnight Y’all =)
