2 Months In Country and Christmas parties galore!
on Sarah in Mongolia (Mongolia), 21/Dec/2009 12:34, 34 days ago
Another week down and we have been in country over 2 months! It has been a long and busy week as our Christmas party was on Thursday. That meant I was in a mad panic for the last few days trying to get everything sorted, prizes in, collected etc.Of course this being Mongolia it was all done at basically the last minute but we did end up with enough prizes to hold both an auction and a raffle. Also in keeping with this being Mongolia no-one thought to tell me that we took Thursday basically off to get our hair done and nails done! So after working to 10pm on Wednesday night I arrived in at 9am to find no-one else there. It was mildly frustrating but I took the afternoon off and was able to get a last minute hair appointment and nail appointment so I was able to look my best. Whether getting my hair done by someone who spoke no English was a good idea, Ill leave to your judgment. Apparently it is a good Mongolia hairstyle! In my crazy mood I decided if I had Mongolian hair I would also wear my Deel out. It was hilarious the crazy looks I got from the kids and Mongolian people!The party was great fun even if the food was dire - there was lots of alcohol on the tables and everyone seemed to have a good time. My raffle and auction raised over 400,000 tugrug which was fantastic for the fundraising event in Mongolia. It was overshadowed by the ridiculous gift bags given to everyone. At the last minute they decided that chocolates, calendar, newspaper and annual report were not enough that they would buy an extra 100 bottles of champagne, one for everyone who was there. Each bottle cost 5000. So my fundraising was basically eaten up by buying champagne which I am not ok with. My boss did agree with me when I brought it up in work this morning but I will be discussing it further. But the dancing was good, and I had fun with the younger crowd and everyone was happy with how the fundraising and my appearance went!Of course seeing as they hadn't told me Thursday was pretty much a day off they didnt tell me that Friday was basically a day off. So having got in late, I got up at 8.30, it took an hour to wash the hairspray out of my hair and made it into work for 10.30 and there was one other person there, who looked at me as if I was crazy and told me to go home! So I got a day lazing around the house which was at least a nice way to spend the day!Friday night we had two Christmas parties - the British Embassy and a VSO one. At the British embassy we had mince pies (not as good as Mum's!!), mulled wine and carols around the bonfire along with the outdoor ice bar! Sarah and I then headed to the VSO house party where we had sausage rolls and lots of cocktails and dancing. We also tried out the Mongolian party trick which is throwing a cup of boiling water out the window at -30 and it turns into snow! It is very cool!!Sunday was pretty quiet which was nice but I still made it to church and discovered a few more volunteers attending service which was nice.I also finally received my package from my Mum, 6 weeks after posting and I discovered why it had taken so long– Royal mail in their infinite wisdom had sent it to Malaysia instead of Mongolia, even though it was clearly marked Mongolia! So I did get everything, but the chocolate was all melted!! Lol!