Our first full day in Mongolia – Success! And Sore…

Today we got our first daylight exposure to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. We met Marc, the Resident Managing Director from the American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) who has been coordinating our program, and Chimka, our super awesome translator. Chimka led us on a tour of the area surrounding our hostel (we are really centrally located) and assisted us in exchanging and understanding the money conversion.

We had an amazing lunch at Rosewood. It was really fantastic and the atmosphere was awesome. I am beyond impressed. Then there were some extremely cool city sites such as Beatles Square and Chinggis Square. We also had the opportunity to get in some shopping and it was so hard to hold back. I was really excited to do a little shopping at Mary and Martha Mongolia (www.mmmongolia.com) which sells fair and ethical handmade gifts. BEAUTIFUL art, handwoven bags, slippers, decorations and more…and super affordable. I will definitely be returning before heading home.

Tonight we went to the Irish Pub next door for some dinner and began preparing for our first week of interviews. Our first one is 10am on Monday morning! I am so excited these students are going to have the opportunity to be co-inquirers on this research process. This is going to be amazing, we are going to be learning from and about so many interesting and cool women leaders from several different fields. It is really a privilege.

I was surprised at how much ground we covered considering our jet lag…and now I am feeling it. I am spacey, a little cranky and swollen ankles. I plan on taking a little nap and waking up around 2am to hopefully chat with my family. I think I finally have the time difference down. More adventures to come!