As I have entered into my second week of writing both day and night for my Comps exam, it is getting harder to sit still. I find myself looking for distractions in whatever I can. And so I made the call to Mongolia. I had been planning to prepare myself, spending hours re-learning the language and words I am sure are just under the surface of my very bad memory. I had even crafted a script to follow so that way my Mongolian family would have a chance of understanding what I wanted to communicate with them. In the end I just winged it-- I know, out of character right?
I am so happy that I did! As soon as I heard Sergee (my mongolian mom) say Sain uu? a flood of happy emotions and memories swept over me. And once she realized it was me, I could tell it was the same for her on the other end of the line...she was shouting for Buuya (my mongolian dad) and sent someone to fetch my younger brother so they could all gather around her cellphone (still cant believe they have those now!) to listen in. Just got to love it.
Although there were definitely communication problems, (mostly because my brain seemed to want to speak Spanish)--we were able to share the most crucial elements of how we miss each other and love each other, despite the distance and time that separates us. I was also able to let them know a more critical piece of logistic information that Pearce and I would be coming to Mongolia this July to see them. Sergee then launched into a whole string of sentences that I can only imagine went something like: Oh my gosh you are coming to Mongolia! Are you coming to Uvs? Bouya will come get you in Ulaanbaatar, Tuya (her younger sister) lives there now. We will bring you to Turgen soum (my town) where we will have a big party and make you drink copious amounts of alcohol and eat lots of sheep butt. (okay so I am embellished the last part, but let's just say that it is intrinsic in throwing a party!)
So for me, it is now official: Pearce and I are going to Asia and I cannot wait to see my family again! I just hope that between now and then I can cram in enough Mongolian language studying that I don't totally embarrass myself!
Allyson
