Where in the world?!

Well.  it is officially official.  My next huge adventure awaits, and it won't be waiting too much longer.  About 11 months ago, I submitted my application for the Peace Corps, and in February, I received the news that I was invited to serve in Mongolia.  MONGOLIA!

When I applied, I relished in the idea of going anywhere the Peace Corps thought I would be best suited for -- I had left my preference list open and I saw it as having the world at my finger tips - any place could be mine to explore, and I would be excited to go there.  And now...now, to finally have an invitation and a set destination is astonishing.  I have to say, of all the place I imagined going, Mongolia never happened to be one of them.  But since receiving the invitation, I have been doing my own research about the country, and learning about its incredible history.  This invitation has also gotten me connected to and introduced to so many new people who have told me their first hand experiences from Mongolia.   Here are just a couple general facts about my new home to be:

* Mongolia is the 2nd largest landlocked country in the world, a little larger than the state of Alaska

* Mongolia is the most sparely populated country in the world. Horses and sheep outnumber people.

* Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, has the lowest average temperature of any world capital (it averages below freezing for 8 months of the year).

* Mongolia is home to the Gobi desert -one of the coldest desert in the world, also where the first dinosaur eggs were found, and is home to the bactrian camel.

* The Mongolian death worm (the big foot tale of Mongolia) lives in the Gobi desert, and shoots acid and electric waves in order to kill anything approaching.  It's body mucus can also melt steel. 

No, I don't know where exactly I will be living yet when I get to Mongolia, but what I do know is that I will be a secondary English teacher after I complete my three months of training.  I cannot begin to describe how fortunate I feel about being able to have this opportunity to learn and experience while at the same time helping others to do the same.  It has been something that I have dreamed of doing since I was young, and here it is.  MONGOLIA!