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Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Kiribati
|Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in [[{{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Kiribati| |6}} {{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Kiribati| |7}} {{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Kiribati| |8}}]]
|As a Peace Corps Volunteers, you will have to adapt to conditions that may be dramatically different than you have ever experienced and modify lifestyle practices that you now take for granted. Even the most basic practices— talking, eating, using the bathroom, and sleeping — may take significantly different forms in the context of the host country. If you successfully adapt and integrate, you will in return be rewarded with a deep understanding of a new culture, the establishment of new and potentially lifelong relationships, and a profound sense of humanity.
| See also:
Living Conditions and Volunteer Lifestyles by Country
Pre-Departure Checklist
For information see Welcomebooks
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- 1 Communications
- 2 Housing and Site Location
- 3 Living Allowance and Money Management
- 4 Food and Diet
- 5 Transportation
- 6 Geography and Climate
- 7 Social Activities
- 8 Professionalism, Dress, and Behavior
- 9 Personal Safety
- 10 Rewards and Frustrations=
Few countries in the world offer the level of mail service we consider normal in the United States. If you come here expecting U.S. standards, you will be in for a lot of frustration. Mail can take weeks or even months to arrive in Kiribati, though mail leaving Kiribati seems to be more reliable than mail arriving in Kiribati. Some mail may simply not arrive. Often mail is delayed because of a canceled flight or weight restrictions on international and domestic carriers. Although we do not want to sound too discouraging, communication can become a very sensitive issue when one is thousands of miles from family and friends. We think it is best to forewarn you about the reality of mail service in this part of the world. Advise your family and friends to number their letters and to write "Airmail—via Fiji" on envelopes.
Despite the potential delays, we strongly encourage you to write to your family regularly (perhaps weekly or biweekly) and to number your letters. Family members typically become worried when they do not hear from you, so advise them that mail is sporadic and that they shouldn't worry if they don't receive your letters regularly. (If a serious problem were to occur, Peace Corps/Kiribati would notify the Peace Corps Office of Special Services in Washington, D.C., which would contact your family.)
Airmail packages sometimes take weeks to arrive and occasionally don't arrive at all. Surface mail takes anywhere from four months to one year or longer. Packing items in plastic containers, aluminum foil, or sturdy plastic bags is prudent because of rats, ants, heat, and humidity. You are responsible for paying any customs charges for personal items.
Past Volunteers have enjoyed receiving candy, dried fruit, homemade cookies packed in tins, spices, canned potato chips, anything dehydrated, nuts, small packages of condiments and other foods (soup mix, powdered eggs, and macaroni and cheese), books, tapes, batteries, balloons, trinkets for kids, card games, newspapers, comic books, magazines, beach toys, photos, personal voice recordings, hair-care products, underwear, film, clothing, teacher stickers for students' work, good pens, and fish recipes.
It is difficult to receive packages sent via airmail from the U.S. directly on the outer islands. To increase the likelihood of getting through, packages should be in large envelopes (NOT BOXES) and weigh no more than two pounds. Otherwise, the package will be held up in South Tarawa. Larger boxes can be forwarded to your island from Tarawa, but you will be responsible for the additional costs incurred.
Your mailing address during pre-service training will be the main Peace Corps Office mailbox:
"Your Name," PCT
PO Box 260
Bikenibeu, Tarawa
Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific
Mail can be sent to you at this address during your entire two years of service. However, once you have a site placement, you will have a local address on your island and it is generally better to have your mail sent directly to you there rather than depend on the Peace Corps/Kiribati office to forward it.
Local and overseas telephone, fax, and e-mail services are available on the capital island of South Tarawa. Public phones in South Tarawa operate only with a locally purchased phone card. All of the outer islands have some form of electronic communication with South Tarawa, but it varies widely from place to place and is not always easily accessible to Volunteers. The government is expanding phone service to the outer islands and has completed the installation on at least five of them, but it will take some time before all of the islands have this service.
The government maintains a CB radio-telephone link with each island, located at the government council station. Volunteers can place calls to the Peace Corps office or other locations in South Tarawa by CB radio-telephone at certain times of the day, but these calls are not private. The police station and the health clinic on each island have CB (shortwave) radios, which can be used by Volunteers in an emergency. There are also private or church-owned CB radios on many islands that will be made available for emergency communication if needed. The Peace Corps provides satellite telephones on the most isolated islands for Volunteers. Not every Volunteer has one, but most islands do. These phones can only be used for official communication. In many places on the outer islands, it is not possible to call the United States. However, in an emergency, Volunteers may be authorized to travel to South Tarawa to communicate with family members.
Computer, Internet, and E-mail Access
Internet services became available in Tarawa in 1998. The Peace Corps office has two computers with reliable Internet access available for Volunteer use.
The few Volunteers assigned to Tarawa can make use of a personal computer and may want to bring a laptop computer. Volunteers stationed on the outer islands will need an alternate power source (e.g., solar panels) as the outer islands generally do not have electricity. For this reason, and since you will not know your island of assignment before you arrive, we don't recommend that Volunteers bring laptop computers.
Housing and Site Location
All Volunteers in Kiribati are required to live with a host family during training. Volunteers are also assigned a host family, with whom they will live for the entire two years of service. This includes Volunteers living in South Tarawa. Understandably, many Volunteers have difficulty adjusting to this because it means giving up the independent living to which they are accustomed. Household rules, especially for women, are likely to be completely different and feel very restrictive compared to life in the United States. Yet, in most instances, the rewards are great. Living with a family makes it easier to learn the language, offers a much greater understanding of the culture, and ensures a safer and more secure environment for the Volunteer. Much of a Volunteer's life in Kiribati will be based on interactions with his or her host family, which provide an entrance into the community.
Volunteers in Kiribati are placed on all of the islands in the Gilbert group. The greatest need is on the outer islands, and that is where almost all Volunteers are assigned. Most of the houses on the outer islands are made from local materials.
Houses have stick walls supported by larger posts in the ground and a thatched roof. Windows have no glass and are cut from sticks. There is usually a socializing buia (a raised platform) next to the house. All houses also have a roki (bathroom), which is either inside the house or nearby. The roki will have a water-sealed pit latrine. Bathing consists of dipping a cup in a bucket and pouring it over you. Clothes are washed by hand in buckets. Water is drawn from a nearby well. Volunteers sleep under mosquito nets. Peace Corps/ Kiribati provides heavy-duty wire fencing (referred to as security wire) to be installed in the Volunteers' housing.
Living Allowance and Money Management
The local currency is the Australian dollar (AUD). The current exchange rate is approximately $1.12 AUD to the U.S. dollar. As a trainee, you will receive a walk-around allowance in the local currency that will be just enough money to buy some stamps, a snack, and an occasional soft drink. Your host family will provide all of your meals. Once you are sworn-in as a Volunteer, you will receive a modest monthly living allowance paid in the local currency. Included in this is the equivalency of $24 (USD) for two days' leave. Volunteers accrue two days of annual leave for each month of active service as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Since the amount of the leave allowance is legally fixed in U.S. dollars, it must be adjusted monthly to reflect any changes in the exchange rate; therefore, the exact amount may vary slightly.
Directly after you are sworn-in, you will receive a settling-in allowance to purchase household items such as pots, pans, and a stove.
Traveler's checks and U.S. dollars may be exchanged for local currency at the Bank of Kiribati or at a hotel on South Tarawa.
(The bank offers a better rate for converting traveler's checks than U.S. currency.) There is no restriction on importing currency into Kiribati via traveler's checks, foreign bank notes, or other instruments. There are several branches of the bank and three operating ATMs in the country where access to local and U.S. bank accounts is possible. These are all located on South Tarawa. As the ATM machines are sometimes down, the bank can also process cash advances on credit cards and debit cards. Trainees and Volunteers may not accept payment for any services or work done other than the allowances received from the Peace Corps. They may not engage in any activity for personal financial gain, and they may not receive payment for photographs or writing while serving in the Peace Corps.
Food and Diet
The diet in Kiribati consists mainly of locally available products (fish, coconut, breadfruit, chicken, pork, and occasionally eggs) and imported rice. Most Volunteers have a diet that is very high in carbohydrates and quite repetitive. On the outer islands, other imported foods are available, such as corned beef, curried chicken, limited canned vegetables, cheap cookies, and basics such as flour, sugar, and rice. The closer the outer island is to Tarawa, the more variety is typically found in the stores. In Tarawa there are a number of stores with imports from Australia, U.S., Fiji, and Indonesia. These items tend to be very expensive, sometimes three or four times what they might cost in the U.S., but most Volunteers are willing to spend a little extra money for some specialty items. Since eating in Kiribati is a significant social activity and a vehicle to personal relations, you may find it necessary to demonstrate your friendliness and willingness to accept local customs by eating food that you would prefer not to eat. It is often difficult to refuse food in Kiribati without offending your hosts. They will watch you eat and wait for you to announce that the food is delicious.
Kiribati is not an easy place for vegetarians. Local dishes are often filled with fish, pork, or chicken. Many dishes are prepared with canned meat. Most vegetarians who come to Kiribati add some fish to their diet, and some eat chicken. Finding other sources of protein is often difficult or expensive. However, some vegetarian Volunteers have managed to find food to their liking and have taught their communities about their eating habits. This helps alleviate awkward situations when someone offers food that you do not eat. During food shortages on the islands resulting from drought or waiting for the next boat to arrive, the choices for vegetarians are even more limited.
Transportation in developing countries is not the same as in the U.S. International flights to Kiribati and domestic flights to the outer islands are subject to frequent delays and cancellations. As of January 2007, Air Pacific flies twice a week from/to Fiji. Our Airlines also flies from Brisbane to Majuro and back twice a week, stopping in Tarawa to collect passengers for Majuro on the way up and for the Solomon Islands and Brisbane on the way down. Air Kiribati is the national airline and has at least one scheduled flight a week to each of the Gilbert Islands. At the time of this writing, there is only one Air Kiribati plane in operation and often this plane is down for service or unable to fly due to poor weather. It is hoped that Air Kiribati will have another plane in operation soon.
On Tarawa, minibuses provide transportation from one end of the island to the other for a fare that varies from 55 cents to $1.40 (AUD) depending on the length of the ride. On the outer islands, trucks can be hired for groups or for longer distances. Most Volunteers purchase a bicycle in Tarawa, which is shipped to their outer island. The Peace Corps will provide each Volunteer with a safety helmet. Though there are a number of boats that service the islands, Volunteers rarely travel by boat any more. For safety reasons, Volunteers are only permitted to travel between islands on vessels of the Kiribati Shipping Line or the SuperCat (a large catamaran). Volunteers must have advance authorization from the country director to travel by sea and must always bring a life vest (provided by Peace Corps).
Air transportation costs for official purposes, such as scheduled in-service trainings, during your two years of service are calculated based on your site and included in your living allowance. Approved travel costs for medical purposes or other unforeseen official travel will be reimbursed separately.
Geography and Climate
The Republic of Kiribati is one of the smallest countries in the world. It is composed of 33 atolls scattered over more than 2 million square miles of ocean, yet its total land area is only 264 square miles. Kiribati is located in the central Pacific, near the point at which the international dateline intersects the equator. The islands are in three main groups: the Gilbert, Phoenix, and Line Islands and Banaba Island.
Kiribati is tropical, with an average daytime temperature of 91 degrees Fahrenheit that varies little from season to season. Rainfall varies greatly, ranging from 40 inches yearly near the equator to 120 inches in the extreme north and south. Banaba Island, the central and southern Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands, and Kiritimati Island are also subject to severe droughts that may last many months.
Social Activities
Just about any social gathering in Kiribati is called a botaki. These range from having a few friends over for dinner to a week-long island-wide festival. The average botaki is held in a mwaneaba (meeting house) where people sit in a large circle around the floor. The older men and guests usually sit in front with the women and children sitting around the edge of the mwaneaba behind the men. Almost always, speeches are given, some prayers are said, and large amounts of food are eaten. Groups of people also stand up and sing songs. Often, Volunteers are asked to sing as a group. If there is a generator or other power source available, loud music is played and people are invited to dance in the middle of the mwaneaba. If you are asked to dance, it is typically considered an insult if you decline. Botakis are held for a variety of reasons, including a first or 21st birthday, first menstruation, engagement, wedding, anniversaries of buildings or people's arrival on the island, and any holiday. The biggest national holiday is in July when Kiribati celebrates its independence from Britain. This is a week-long national holiday. Other holidays include International Women's Day, Easter, National Youth Day, Human Rights Day, National Health Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year's.
You will not have much privacy in Kiribati. Because you are new and different, people will constantly be curious about what you are doing. Often a neighbor or child will just stop by your house to say hello or to watch you. This is not viewed as offensive in Kiribati culture; people are curious and often want to get to know you better. Through training and time, you will learn how to deal with social interactions and still keep some time for yourself, although this is not always easy to do.
Friendships and relationships are viewed differently in Kiribati than in the United States. Men and women who are not married are never supposed to be alone together and do not display affection in public. You will be required to observe these cultural norms. It is very unusual for anyone to live alone outside of a family group. This is another reason that Volunteers are assigned to live with families.
Professionalism, Dress, and Behavior
There are different standards of professionalism on Tarawa and on the outer islands, but they are still not the standards you are probably used to at home. One of the difficulties of finding your place as a Peace Corps Volunteer is fitting into the local culture while maintaining your own cultural identity. In time, you will realize you are an I-Matang (all foreigners are from Matang, the mythical land where the sun sets); you are no longer just an American nor are you an I-Kiribati. You are something different, something new, made up of elements of both cultures plus your own psyche.
You will be working as a representative of a government ministry and you will be expected to dress and behave accordingly. While some of your counterparts may dress in worn or shabby clothes, it is probably a result of economics rather than choice. The likelihood is that they are wearing their "best." A foreigner wearing ragged, unmended clothing is likely to be considered rude and ill-mannered.
Personal Safety
More information about the Peace Corps' approach to safety is outlined in the Health Care and Safety chapter, but it is an important issue and cannot be overemphasized. As stated in the Volunteer Handbook, becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer entails certain safety risks. Living and traveling in an unfamiliar environment (oftentimes alone), having a limited understanding of local language and culture, and being perceived as well-off are some of the factors that can put a Volunteer at risk. Kiribati is generally a country with a very low crime rate compared to most other countries in the world. But alcohol changes the behavior and the rules in many ways.
Some I-Kiribati will drink to excess rather than in moderation.
Because alcohol consumption can be a significant factor affecting individual safety, Volunteers need to be cautious of others who are inebriated and aware of their own behavior.
Many Volunteers experience varying degrees of unwanted attention and harassment. Petty thefts and burglaries are not uncommon, and incidents of physical and sexual assault do occur, although most Kiribati Volunteers complete their two years of service without major personal security incidents. The Peace Corps has established procedures and policies designed to help Volunteers reduce their risks and enhance their safety and security. These procedures and policies, in addition to safety training, will be provided once you arrive in Kiribati. At the same time, you are expected to take responsibility for your own safety and well-being. Women should never travel alone after dark in the outer islands—even walking from one village to another or to your school. Women should also not go biking or jogging by themselves in isolated areas, and should never go walking in the bush alone.
Rewards and Frustrations=
One of the few predictions one can safely make about being a Peace Corps Volunteer is that it will never be entirely predictable. You can learn from the experience of former Volunteers, but there are certain to be times when you are confronted by situations that are completely new and wholly your own. How can you prepare yourself for this? There are no easy tricks for dealing with the unexpected, but we can tell you something about the kinds of situations you are likely to encounter and how other Volunteers have handled them. Psychologists have shown that people do better in unfamiliar situations if they prepare themselves by imagining how they will feel and starting to adapt to the probable tensions and frustrations.
Cultural adaptation is one of the most important aspects of your service. Here are some characteristics that are critical for adapting to a new culture.
A good sense of humor. A sense of humor is important because there will be much to cry or get angry, annoyed, embarrassed, or discouraged about, and the ability to laugh about things will be your ultimate weapon against despair.
Lowered expectations. Americans abroad too often undertake tasks that are unrealistic. If you set your goals too high and refuse to adjust them to the realities of what can actually be accomplished in a foreign environment, you are going to be disappointed. Experience shows that Americans who are less goal-oriented or task-driven, and more able to relax and ride with events, tend to be more effective and enjoy themselves more overseas.
The ability to fail. The ability to tolerate failure is critical because everyone fails at something overseas. Ironically, however, those most likely to be selected to go overseas are those who have been most successful at home. Some people sent abroad will have never before experienced failure. If you have little tolerance for failure, you will be in trouble, as will those who work or live with you.
Patience, flexibility, and self-reliance. Although the Peace Corps staff will work hard to support you in your service, resolving the many challenges you will face will often depend on your own ability, determination, and strength of commitment to Peace Corps service.
If you have all or most of these characteristics, you are likely to do well. However, there will be other adjustments for you to make. People who thrive on an urban lifestyle of restaurants, bars, plays, movies, concerts, and shopping will likely find the calm and quiet of Kiribati life somewhat difficult.
The pre-service training staff, composed of I-Kiribati language and cultural instructors and some American staff, will give you a detailed picture of what to expect once you move to your permanent assignment. You will also meet former and current Volunteers who have worked in both the education and health projects in Kiribati. Following are some of the issues that may arise once you have settled in.
Isolation. The name "Peace Corps" is somewhat misleading. It implies a coherent company of Americans who work together when, in fact, most Volunteers work with citizens of the host country rather than other Volunteers. A Volunteer's work is often solitary, without the support one gets from working with people who share a common background. There will be times when you will feel very much alone, especially in contrast with the intense togetherness of most training programs.
Constant scrutiny. Paradoxically, although you will often feel alone, you might also feel that you are never alone—that you are always under scrutiny, and that there is never a moment when you are not representing the "image" of the Peace Corps. In the United States, we work at a job, and then we go home and take off our shoes and relax. But from the moment you begin Peace Corps training, it may seem as if you live in a fishbowl. Even those who initially find this exhilarating eventually can find it irritating and burdensome.
Privacy vs. intimacy. While some Volunteers live in the same village as other Volunteers, all Volunteers are assigned a Kiribati host family. Such an arrangement has the advantages of companionship and support, but it also places you in intense relationships with people not entirely of your own choosing. You may have had a similar experience with a college roommate, but then you were able to get away from each other for periods of time. This will not be possible in Kiribati, and the enforced intimacy, even with a compatible colleague, could wear on both of you.
Homesickness. If you have formed warm attachments to other people, you may react to separation from family and friends by becoming sad and lonely. This feeling is not unique to the Peace Corps. One may have gotten homesick after going away to college or joining the military. And because you are so far away, any trouble at home—such as the illness of a parent or the dissolution of a romance—can become magnified and distorted. Sometimes the opposite occurs. Disturbing news from home may be minimized as a Volunteer attributes feelings of tension to problems in the immediate environment, when the real source of the distress is thousands of miles away.
Unfamiliar customs. Ideally, meals are a time of relaxation, but in a new country they may be a perpetually unsettling challenge. The available food may not only be strange in type and appearance but it may be unpalatable. Yet since eating is a significant social function and a vehicle to personal relations, you may feel obligated to demonstrate your friendliness and willingness to accept local customs by eating food that you don't want. What you decide in each case will be the result of balancing several factors—the requirement for courtesy, the limits of your own tolerance for new foods, and realistic concerns for your health.
Procedures for washing, sleeping, and elimination may also differ dramatically from what you are used to. Sexual customs and accepted dress may appear excessively strict in some respects or embarrassingly free in others. You might find your tolerance of noise and dirt different from what you imagined it to be.
In all these aspects of daily life, you may feel yourself pulled in opposite directions between your accustomed life and that of your hosts. At times, your life may seem to consist of a series of minor nagging frustrations. Such frustrations can accumulate, and you might finish a long day of hard work feeling exhilarated and happy and yet be inexplicably exasperated because you don't have a paper napkin to wipe your mouth.
Culture shock. Your initial reaction to Kiribati is likely to be one of delight and curiosity, similar to how a tourist would react. But working in a foreign country is another matter. The differences that strike you as fascinating at first will become commonplace and invisible, and you might become aware of more profound differences between you and the people with whom you work. For example, when talking to an I-Kiribati in English or the local tongue, you might suddenly realize that although you are using the same language, you do not understand each other. Words like "democratic" or "clean" or "soon" may have different meanings for each of you. You might be mystified to find that local people who consider themselves democratic and who talk with sincerity about their struggle for freedom and independence can, at the same time, treat subordinates, women, children, or other people in what strikes you as a harshly authoritarian manner.
Such a breakdown in communication may be heightened by misperceptions you and your host may have of each other. You may feel that the host is not talking to you but to a fantasy of what Americans are like. Similarly, you may be addressing a preconceived image of your host derived from cross-cultural area studies. In either case, the result is a failure to understand each other and a consequent sense of frustration.
At times it is difficult to remember that all people have a common humanity, and that merely knowing a person's nationality does not tell you whether the person is skillful or inept, constant or mercurial, honest or dishonest, industrious or lazy. There is a temptation to fall back on glib cultural stereotypes, but much of the success or failure of a Volunteer's work depends on his or her ability to understand the language and culture sufficiently well to make an accurate assessment of individuals. It is not an exaggeration to state that every successful Peace Corps project begins by identifying a particular host country national who is competent, reliable, understanding, and dedicated. A deep conviction that you share a common humanity with your host that transcends any cultural differences will be a big help.


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Through the ages many books, some now celebrated as literary works of art, have been challenged and even banned. While banned is self explanatory, a definition of "challenged" is worth better understanding. According to the American Library Association, a challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. A few of the more well know books to either be banned or challenged follow.
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, 1939
A classic novel now frequently assigned as required reading for students, Steinbeck's novel was first banned in 1939 in California. Objections to profanity and sexual references continued from then into the 1990s. It is a work with international banning appeal: the book was barred in Ireland in the 50s and a group of booksellers in Turkey were taken to court for "spreading propaganda" in 1973.
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, 1951
This novel is included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has also frequently been challenged in the United States and other countries for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality.
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway, 1940
The story follows Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. The U.S. Post Office, which purpose was in part to monitor and censor distribution of media and texts, declared the book non-mailable shortly after it was published.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1884
The American edition in 1885 was promptly banned by several libraries. The criticism was based in a perception of the books crudeness. The book has since been challenged several more time through the years.
The Call of the Wild, Jack London, 1903
This classic work of American literature is on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most-frequently challenged classics at #33. Sometimes misclassified as children's literature, the novel carries a dark tone, and the mature concepts explored in the story contain numerous scenes of cruelty and violence. Not only have objections been raised here, the book was banned in Italy, Yugoslavia and burned in bonfires in Nazi Germany in the late 1920s and early 30s because it was considered "too radical."
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X and Alex Haley, 1965
Since being published, this autobiography has been attacked by censors for the portrayal of Malcolm X's criminal life prior to his work as a Civil Rights leader and for the black nationalist rhetoric that criticized white society. Municipal and education authorities worked to ban the book throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Ulysses, James Joyce, 1918
In 1922, the U.S. Department of the Post Office burned 500 copies of the novel when an attempt was made to import the book and court decisions ruled against the book. In 1932, U.S. customs seized a copy and declared it "obscene," resulting in a court battle. Ultimately, the judge decided Ulysses was not "pornographic."
Beloved, Toni Morrison, 1987
This Pulitzer-prize winning novel, by one of the most influential African-American writer of all time, has regularly come come under fire from parental complaints because of its violence, sexual content and discussion of bestiality.
Catch-22, Joseph Heller, 1961
A school board in Strongsville, OH refused to allow the book to be taught in high school English classrooms in 1972. It also refused to consider Cat's Cradle as a substitute text and removed both books from the school library. The issue eventually led to a 1976 District Court ruling overturning the ban in Minarcini v. Strongsville.
Moby-Dick, Herman Melville,1851
A Texas school district banned the book from its Advanced English class lists because it "conflicted with their community values" in 1996. "Community values" are a common refrain for those attempting to censor books.
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, 1953
Venado Middle school in Irvine, CA, rather than ban the book outright utilized, the school used a version of the text in which all the "hells" and "damns" were blacked out. Other complaints have said the book went against objectors religious beliefs.
Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, 1936
The Pulitzer-prize winning novel, perhaps better know as an Academy-Award winning film, was alternatively challenged and banned for its realistic depiction of post Civil War life in the South.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
Perhaps one of the better known "great American novel", this book chronicles the decadent lives of East Hampton socialites. It was challenged at the Baptist College in South Carolina because of the book's language and mere references to sex.
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair, 1906
This novel provides students with a view of muckraking and yellow journalism during the industrial revolution. While used as an education source to this day, the perceived socialist views expressed in the book lead to bans in Yugoslavia, East Germany and South Korea.
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850
Morale outrage about the behavior of the main character Hester Prynne, a name known to anyone who passed English Literature in high school, has lead to bans of this novel virtually since it was published. Parents in one school district called the book "pornographic and obscene" in 1977.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
For some educators, the Pulitzer-prize winning book is one of the greatest texts teens can study in an American literature class. Others have called it a degrading, profane and racist work that "promotes white supremacy." A local school district in Louisiana recently began enforcing a decade old ban on the book.
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, 1952
This children's classic, the 78th on the best selling hardcover list, has been a staple of homes across the world for years. Somehow it made its way onto the American Library Association's frequently challenged list. The reason, some parents in a Kansas school district in 2006 decided that talking animals are blasphemous and unnatural. Elements from the story about the spider dying were also criticized as being 'inappropriate subject matter for a children's book.'
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, 1963
Psychologists Bruno Bettelheim condemn it as 'too dark and frightening' for young children in a March, 1969 column for Ladies' Home Journal. He thought the idea that a mother would deprive a child of food was an inappropriate form of punishment, and that it would traumatize young readers. Thus, it was banned heavily in the American South, and by libraries nationwide in the first years of its release.
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, 1945
The series has been banned, challenged, or otherwise censured by groups or organizations since publication. As recently as 2001 in Alamagordo, NM, outside Christ Community Church, the novel was burned as satanic.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852
In the South, in the context of the current times, the book was met with outrage and branded an irresponsible book of distortions and overstatements.
The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane, 1895
Crane's book was among many on a list compiled by the Florida Bay District School board in 1986 after parents began lodging informal complaints about books in a classroom library.
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 1966
Banned for a short time in Savanna, Georgia, after a parent complained about sex, violence, and profanity.
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, 1937
The novel appears on the American Library Association's "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000. Most of the complaints have to do with the "offensive" and "obscene language.
The Prince of Tides, Pat Conroy, 1991
The Prince of Tides was challenged by a student in an advanced placement literature class. She found the book "offensive", mentioning a graphic rape scene as just one of the things she objected to.
Animal Farm, George Orwell, 1945
In 1963 the John Birch Society had challenged the novel's use on the grounds that it objected to the words "masses will revolt." In 1968, the New York State English Council's Committee on Defense Against Censorship identified the novel on its list of "problem books", stating that "Orwell was a communist."
Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H. Lawrence, 1928
In 1929 the United States government declared the novel "obscene" and the post office barred the novel from being mailed.
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut, 1969
Slaughterhouse-Five is the sixty-seventh entry to the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–1999. The subject of many attempts at censorship, due to its irreverent tone and purportedly obscene content, a circuit judge banned it in 1972. The ban has since been reversed.
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« Back
Belfer Center Newsletter Spring 2011
Newsletter, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Spring 2011
Editor: Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
Belfer Center Programs or Projects: Agricultural Innovation in Africa; Energy Technology Innovation Policy; Environment and Natural Resources; Harvard Project on Climate Agreements; International Security; Managing the Atom; Middle East Initiative; Quarterly Journal: International Security; Religion in International Affairs; Science, Technology, and Globalization; Science, Technology, and Public Policy; Dubai Initiative; Future of Diplomacy Project; US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
The Spring 2011 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights the Belfer Centers continuing efforts to build bridges between the United States and Russia to prevent nuclear catastrophe an effort that began in the 1950s. Today, the Centers U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism is working with Russian counterparts to intensify action against nuclear terrorism and to safeguard the next wave of global nuclear energy expansion. This issue also features three new books by Center faculty that sharpen debate on critical global issues. The books are Gods Century, by Monica Duffy Toft, The New Harvest, by Calestous Juma, and The Future of Power, by Joseph S. Nye. Also adding to global discussions are Richard Clarke's Cyber War and Nelly Lahoud's The Jihadi's Path to Self-Destruction.
In this issue, we spotlight Henry Lee, director of the Belfer Centers Environment and Natural Resources Program (ENRP) who was recently promoted to senior lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School. William Clark, faculty chair of ENRP, said Lee is the key reason we are more than the sum of the parts. Lee, he said, has worked ceaselessly to build the connections among the faculty, from faculty to potential sources of support, from the work we do to the work of policy and practice, and to our students. We also highlight Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, senior fellow with the Center who previously was the primary person in government whose job was to track al Qaedas efforts to secure nuclear weapons. In our Q&A feature, Mowatt-Larssen offers his views on al Qaedas intention to attack the U.S. as well as his thoughts regarding the role of intelligence in todays world and how it can be improved.
Advancing Dialogue on U.S. Russia Relationship, Preventing Nuclear Terrorism
Power & Policy: Debating Positions of Power
- Belfer Center Launches Virtual Forum: Power & Policy
- Views on Egypt: Whats Next?
- Recent Events Call Attention to Nyes New Book: The Future of Power
- Toft: Why Religion Wields More Political Influence Today
- U.S. and China Should Avoid Thucydides Trap
Informing Discussions on Energy and Climate, Innovation and Collaboration
- Workshop Aims to Hasten Transformation of Energy System
- Stavins Notes Successes of Cancun Climate Meetings
- Study Finds Emerging Countries to be Large Players in Global Energy R&D
- Juma: Africa Can Feed Itself in a Generation
Highlights and Spotlights
- Spotlight: Henry Lee, Environment and Natural Resources Program
- Q&A: Rolf Mowatt-Larssen
- Middle East Initiative Celebrates 10-Year Partnership with Kuwait Foundation
Featured Fellows
- Jacqueline (Jill) Hazelton: Does Counterinsurgency as State-building Work?
- Diana Buttu Explores Dynamics of Palestinian Life under Occupation
- Michael Sechrist Researches Vulnerabilities of Information Networks
- Fellows at Work and on the Move
News and Notes
- From the Director: Graham Allison on JFKs inaugural challenge
- Marc Grossman Named to Succeed Holbrooke
- Newsmakers
- Belfer in Brief
- Center Books Sharpen Global Debate on Critical Issues
- Hot Off the Presses: Richard Clarke's Cyber War and Nelly Lahoud's Jihadi's Path to Self-Destruction
- International Security: Journal Highlights
- Spring 2011 Newsletter PDF.pdf (897K PDF)
For more information about this publication please contact the Belfer Center Communications Office at 617-495-9858.
For Academic Citation:


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The concert is funded by a grant from the Coastal Bend Community Foundation's Janet Harte Memorial Endowment Fund.
Since last fall, Blackburn has been the organist and choirmaster at St. Philip's and an adjunct professor of music at Coastal Bend College.
This concert was scheduled to be given by Su-Ryeon Ji, doctoral organ student at the University of Southern California, but her organ performances are presently on hold while she recuperates from complications of carpal tunnel syndrome. The BCA board has invited her to reschedule her concert for the 2011-2012 season.
Ji came to Beeville from Korea to study at A.C. Jones High in 1992 and took organ lessons from local music teacher Patricia Powers.
Blackburn has a bachelor's degree in church music with organ emphasis and a master's degree in church music, both from Baylor University.
He is currently preparing a series of concerts for the dedication of the new organ at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in South Ogden, Utah, and kindly agreed to perform for the BCA on Feb. 4.
The concert is free to all students through high school age and to all CBC students with their photo ID's. Adults who do not hold BCA season tickets will pay $10 at the door.


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Main Page Risk Factors Symptoms Diagnosis Treatment Screening Reducing Your Risk Talking to Your Doctor Living With Cataracts Resource Guide
Surgery is the only way to cure cataracts. Lifestyle changes and medications may help manage symptoms.
Treatment involves the following:Lifestyle changesMedicationSurgery
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Michael Woods, MD
- Review Date: 12/2015 -
- Update Date: 12/20/2014 -


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Runners are raving about these shoes – and so is Runner's World! The Brooks Pure Connect Running Shoe for men was named "Best Debut" in Runner's World's Winter 2012 Shoe Guide in the December issue. The editors said the Pure Connect "strikes a balance between barefoot-inspired minimalism and cushioning-required training. It has a lightweight, barely-there-feel yet is substantive enough to handle long tempo runs."
You'll feel your run from head to big toe with the radically lightweight and flexible Pure Connect. Neutral runners who crave less shoe and more freedom will love the maximum breathability of an open mesh upper built on a slim and nimble underfoot. A split toe groove extends through the forefoot allowing the runner to really engage the foot and get a greater sense of connection to the ground. This is a shoe for those who want as little as possible between them and the road.
Just like their core line, Brooks' holds PureProject to the industry's highest wear test and durability standards. Because of their lightweight construction and fewer materials, runners should generally expect shoes from the PureProject line to last approximately 250-300 miles.
Have a question and don't see it here? During business hours talk directly with TriVillage Multi-Sports experts using the Live Chat and have your question answered immediately.


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Casella tops chamber winnersJune 17,2013Casella tops chamber winners
KILLINGTON The Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce has announced the winners of its 28th annual Golf Classic fundraiser held recently at the Green Mountain National Golf Course in Killington.
Trophies and awards were presented to the following teams:
First Place Gross: Casella Waste Systems Matt Albertazzi, Peter Mitendorf, Andy Mayer, Randy Dapron; First Place Net: Brileyas Chrysler Jeep Scott Brileya, Dave Fucci, Fred Cyr, Brian Wortman; Second Place Gross: Rutland Regional Medical Center Team 1 Mike Dorian, Eric Marsh, Jim Russell, Dan Cole; Second Place Net: Rutland Regional Medical Center Team 2 Dale White, Dick White, Will Gormly, Paul Laramie; Third Place Gross: Sport Clips Bob Scarcello, Lefty Lopez, Ivonne Lopez, Vic Shappy; Third Place Net: Downtown Rutland Partnership Mike Coppinger, Colin Fingon, EJay Bishop, Tom Hart. Mens Longest Drive: Adam Calvin; Womens Longest Drive: Aimee Trombly; Perfect Drive: EJay Bishop; Closest to the Pin 2nd shot: Dale White; Closest to the Pin: Scott Brileya; Putting Contest: Joe Rodolfy. First Place Bank was VSECU.MORE IN This Just InMONTPELIER A new report from a commission that studied the cost, availability and quality of... Full StoryVermont fish hatchery changes focus, looks inland
BETHEL, Vt. Full StoryHONOLULU (AP) A group of Hawaii musicians and a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant provided... Full Story
- Most Popular
- Most Emailed


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The Olympic torch usually takes quite a trek before each Olympics. But ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the torch relay was out of this world.
On Saturday, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky brought the torch along on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, spending some time posing and waving with the Olympic symbol (which was also tethered to the space station to keep it secure) at the beginning of the walk, according to Reuters.
The torch remained unlit the entire time it was in space, although this particular torch will be the one used to light the cauldron at the start of the Sochi Games, according to The Los Angeles Times.
This wasn't the first Olympic torch to leave the planet – torches orbited the Earth in 1996 and 2000 -- but it was the first to be taken outside a vessel into space, according to Reuters.
The torch safely arrived back on Earth Monday.


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Bad to worse
City Attorney contemplates charges as lawyer adds Carrillo Gonzalez to McDade wrongful death lawsuit
By André Coleman 01/01/2013
Pasadena City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris said she has not yet decided whether to file criminal charges against Oscar Carrillo Gonzalez, an undocumented worker who supplied false information to a 911 operator that set in motion a chain of events leading to police killing unarmed 19-year-old Kendrec McDade.
"We are still reviewing the case," Bagneris told the Weekly. "No decision has been made."
Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit filed by McDade's father, Kenneth, against the city of Pasadena, Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez and Officers Matthew Griffin and Jeffrey Newlen, the two officers who fired eight shots at Kendrec McDade on March 24, was amended on Dec. 7 to include Carrillo Gonzalez, whose whereabouts are currently being monitored by an ankle bracelet.
Shortly after 11 p.m. on the night of the shooting, Carrillo Gonzalez mentioned the word "gun" to dispatch operators eight times in five minutes, claiming he had been threatened at gunpoint by two African Americans, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Police said Officers Griffin and Newlen rushed to the scene on Orange Grove Boulevard on heightened alert based on Carrillo Gonzalez's description and began pursuing McDade, who was running away from the scene. That pursuit ended on nearby Sunset Avenue, where the officers, believing the teen was about to open fire, shot and killed McDade. Officers learned later that the teen was not armed. The scene of the shooting is a short distance from Kenneth McDade's home, where Kendrec was staying that night.
Carrillo Gonzalez was later arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter after he admitted to lying about the gun. His arrest raised a red flag for officials with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, which had deported him to Mexico in 2006 for being in the country without proper documentation.
However, due to multiple investigations of the shooting, Carrillo Gonzalez was fitted with an ankle bracelet and remains in the country, prepared to provide authorities with information or testify.
While not ruling out filing charges at a later date, in October the District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute him and turned the case over to the City Attorney's Office.
"We don't know how long it will be before we make a determination on the case," Bagneris said.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT
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"We don't know how long it will be before we make a determination on the case," Bagneris said. Yea, we understand. It's only been about one year. Take your time.


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Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia
|Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in [[{{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |6}} {{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |7}} {{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |8}}]]
|As a Peace Corps Volunteers, you will have to adapt to conditions that may be dramatically different than you have ever experienced and modify lifestyle practices that you now take for granted. Even the most basic practices— talking, eating, using the bathroom, and sleeping — may take significantly different forms in the context of the host country. If you successfully adapt and integrate, you will in return be rewarded with a deep understanding of a new culture, the establishment of new and potentially lifelong relationships, and a profound sense of humanity.
| See also:
Living Conditions and Volunteer Lifestyles by Country
Pre-Departure Checklist
For information see Welcomebooks
|[[Image:Flag_of_{{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |6}}{{#if:{{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |7}}|_{{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |7}}|}}{{#if:{{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |8}}|_{{#explode:Living conditions and volunteer lifestyles in Mongolia| |8}}|}}.svg|100px|none]]
Few developing countries in the world offer the level of service considered normal in the United States. Mail to Mongolia generally takes two to four weeks to arrive, and some mail may never arrive. Occasionally, letters may arrive with clipped edges because someone has tried to see if any money was inside; also, some boxes may be opened by customs officials to ensure nothing illegal is being shipped. Advise your family and friends to number their letters and to include the word "Airmail" on their envelopes.
Check with your local post office for information on weight and size limitations for packages. Packages sent by surface mail normally take two to three months. Volunteers have found that letters and packages have a better chance of arriving if correspondents do not use a variety of interesting stamps; write the address (with the exception of "Mongolia") in the Cyrillic alphabet; use sturdy, well-taped boxes for packages (to discourage tampering); write "via China" on mail; and use padding for breakable items (including cassette and CD cases).
Mailing Address
Your address while you are in training is listed below in English and in the Cyrillic alphabet. Peace Corps staff regularly bring trainees' mail to the training site.
"Your Name," PCT
Post Office Box 1036
Central Post Office
Ulaanbaatar 13
Mongolia (via China)
Once you learn the location of your site, you will need to send your new address to friends and family. Mail postmarked during your first four months in Mongolia (including pre-service training) and sent to the Peace Corps office in Ulaanbaatar will be forwarded to you along with the weekly Peace Corps mailing. Packages sent to the office and postmarked during your first four months in Mongolia will either be forwarded to you at your request (in which case the charge is deducted from your living allowance) or held at the office for you to pick up. Any mail sent to the Peace Corps office that is postmarked after your first four months in Mongolia will be returned to sender.
Be aware that you may incur customs charges on your personal mail, especially packages. How packages are labeled in the United States can influence these charges. For example, if someone sends you a package containing both printed matter and "luxury" items such as music cassettes, the customs charges calculated by the post office in Mongolia will generally be less if the printed matter is emphasized and the luxury items are not.
Long-distance calling to the U.S. from landlines is available from every soum (small city or town) throughout Mongolia, although the system is not foolproof. International direct-dial service exists in Mongolia, but only select phone numbers have this option. One way to make a long-distance call is to go to the communications office and book the call (i.e., arrange for the call to be made at a certain time and then pay at the time of call). These calls are for a pre-determined length of time, and may be cut off when time is up. The second option is to use prepaid phone cards that can be purchased at telecom branches and specified service agents. You can then make a call from any pay phone by following the instructions on the phone cards. Difficulty in making a connection and interference are common, so patience is the key when telephoning to and from Mongolia. Several hotels in Ulaanbaatar (e.g., Bayangol, Flower Hotel, and Chinggis Khan) offer direct service to the United States using a calling card or by calling collect via AT&T. However, collect calls can be very expensive! Contact an international carrier before you leave the U.S. to find out if you qualify for a savings plan for such calls.
Pre-paid international calling cards are now available from certain kiosks in Ulaanbaatar and can be used when calling the U.S. from landlines in the capital. The cost for the call is very affordable if you buy the right card. Peace Corps/ Mongolia can offer you advice on which cards are the best to purchase while in Ulaanbaatar.
Your host family during pre-service training may have a phone; if so, family and friends can call you directly there. (Note that the time in Mongolia is 13 hours later than Eastern Standard Time.) Some Volunteers call home using an Internet phone service; the cost is generally whatever the charge is for the Internet connection.
Cellphone service is very common in Mongolia. Upon swearing-in as a Volunteer, you will receive a Peace Corps-issued cell phone. This phone is the property of Peace Corps/ Mongolia and should be returned upon completion of service. While trainees are not prohibited from purchasing a personal cellphone prior to swearing-in, Peace Corps/Mongolia will not reimburse the cost of a personally purchased phone.
Cellphones purchased in the U.S. will not work in Mongolia.
Computer, Internet, and E-mail Access
Although computers can be bought locally, they generally do not come with virus protection software or system software backup disks. If you bring your own computer, remember that the weather in Mongolia can be hard on LCD screens and electronic equipment may be damaged by power surges. You should also consider insuring your computer. Some host organizations provide limited access to computers, but they often contain contaminated files and may not have the necessary backup disks or software to fix a problem.
Internet connections are rare but increasing in smaller towns and communities. Most provincial centers now have access to the Internet, usually at the local post office or telecom center. In Ulaanbaatar, Internet cafes are plentiful, and the rates there—800 to 1,500 tugriks (67 cents to $1.25) per hour—are cheaper than elsewhere. Though connections can be unstable and frustratingly slow, and power outages occur, it is still nice to communicate so quickly with family and friends.
L''I'''B'''B'''B'''Bold text'''old text'''old text'''old text'''talic text''ink titleMedia:Example.ogg--220.127.116.11 10:46, 14 November 2011 (EST)=<math>Insert formula here</math>=Housing and Site Location ==
During pre-service training you will live with a host family. Housing at your future assigned site is inspected and approved by Peace Corps staff before your arrival at the site, and the cost of housing is usually paid for or shared by the host organization. During your two years of service, Volunteers live in small family compounds or in separate apartments, depending on what is available at their site. Most sites are located either in a provincial town center (aimag in Mongolian) anywhere from 50 to almost 2,000 kilometers (31 to 1,240 miles) by road from the capital, or in provincial villages (soums) that are up to four hours by car from an aimag. A few Volunteers are assigned to Ulaanbaatar.
Peace Corps' minimum housing standards stipulate that housing must provide Volunteers with some private space, personal security, adequate heat and water, and, in most cases, a reliable source of electricity. It is Volunteers' responsibility to work with staff to ensure that their housing conforms to these standards. Programming, safety and security, and medical staff visit Volunteers at their sites early in their service to reconfirm that housing is safe and secure.
If you are assigned to a larger city, you may live in a one-room or two-room apartment by yourself. If you are assigned to a rural area, you might be the only non-Mongolian in town, and you may live in your own apartment in a building with other Mongolian families, in your own ger (the traditional tent used by nomads), or in a small wooden house in a compound with a Mongolian family.
Apartments typically consist of either one room with a separate kitchen or a bedroom and living room with a separate kitchen. Each apartment has a toilet and, usually, a bathtub or shower. The quality of the plumbing and the reliability of the water supply may not be up to American standards (all Volunteers are given water distillers that work with or without electricity). Hot water may not be continuously available, and bathing may have to be accomplished by heating water on the stove or going to a community bathhouse.
Heat is supplied by a central municipal system and is impossible to control, although some apartments have a supplementary wood stove. In the winter, apartment temperatures (in Fahrenheit) range from the high 70s to around 50 degrees. Apartments are furnished to Peace Corps' standards with basic furniture and appliances, which are often used and not necessarily aesthetically pleasing.
A ger is a round tent of about 20 feet in diameter, made of a wooden lattice covered with thick felt. The inside consists of one room with furniture around the circumference and a wood stove in the center. Headroom varies from about 4.5 feet at the edge to 10 feet in the middle. Most gers have electricity for lighting and appliances, but water is delivered by truck or fetched from the local water source. Cooking is done using a wood, coal, or dung stove (which also provides heat) or, if you are lucky, on an electric hotplate. Communities with gers have bathhouses with hot- and cold-shower facilities.«» Areas where wood is more common may have more wood cabins than gers. These are typically small structures of about 300 square feet, with two rooms and the same heating, electricity, and plumbing facilities as gers.
Increasingly, Volunteers in Mongolia live in either gers or wooden houses, sharing a compound with a Mongolian family. Enhanced cultural interaction, improved language skills, and greater Volunteer safety have all resulted from this living arrangement.
--22.214.171.124 10:46, 14 November 2011 (EST)
Living Allowance and Money Management
You will receive a monthly living allowance, paid in tugriks, to cover your day-to-day expenses at a standard of living similar to that of your Mongolian co-workers. While this monthly allowance (currently 123,000 tugriks, or about $105 [U.S.] for Volunteers serving in the countryside; and 172,400 tugriks, or about $147 [U.S.] for Volunteers serving in Ulaanbaatar) is sufficient, keep in mind that several items are excluded as necessary expenses in the calculation of the living allowance. These include alcoholic beverages, tobacco, clothing (other than replacement clothing), non-official travel, church offerings, gifts, personal phone calls, and Internet and e-mail access. The current exchange rate is 1,170 Mongolian tugriks to the dollar. U.S. dollars can be exchanged at various places in Ulaanbaatar, including hotels, the Trade and Development Bank, post offices, and legal money exchange facilities. Depending upon the size of your community, you may be able to change money there as well.
You are likely to spend roughly 60 percent of your living allowance on food, and you probably will not be able to maintain the lifestyle, including diet, to which you are accustomed in the United States. For one thing, it is difficult to find the wide variety of foods available in the United States. It is also important that you live at the same economic level as the people in your community.
After you are sworn-in as a Volunteer, accounts in both tugriks and dollars will be set up for you at the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar. Once at site, you will establish a tugrik bank account at a local bank. Your living allowance will be deposited in either account at the beginning of every month. After being sworn-in at the end of training, the $24-per-month vacation allowance will be deposited monthly in your dollar account in Ulaanbaatar.
There are two options for getting cash transferred from the United States. First, the Trade and Development Bank has a reciprocal relationship with HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited), so money can be transferred from HSBC to a local account in a few days, at a fee ranging from $7 to $15. You can get cash advances on a credit card (call your credit card company for rates). While credit cards are of limited use in Mongolia, they are accepted by major hotels and shops and may come in handy when traveling outside the country. Traveler's checks can be purchased at the Trade and Development Bank in Ulaanbaatar and cashed there for a 2 percent fee. Although few retail outfits in Mongolia will accept them, they are useful for travel in other countries in the region. Personal checks are not accepted in Mongolia.
Food and Diet
Once a nation of nomadic herdsman, Mongolia is known as the Land of Five Animals — sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and camels. Traditionally, herdsmen got everything they needed to survive from these animals. Today's diet still relies heavily on meat and dairy products, including a hardened curd called aaruul. Fermented mare's milk is the traditional ceremonial drink. Dairy products are best in the fall, after the animals have fattened up on the green grasses of summer pastures.
The main meats are mutton and beef, but Mongolians also eat goat, horse, marmot, and camel. Some Mongolians buy a sheep carcass to put out on their balcony for the winter (a natural cold storage method). Shops in provincial centers sell beef, hamburger, smoked ham hocks, sausages, hot dogs, and chicken. (Mongolian chickens have been described as "very athletic" and are good for stewing.) Fish is sometimes sold at markets or door-to-door. Canned meat and seafood are also available. In soums (rural villages), only mutton, yak, horse, and beef (and sometimes camel) are available, so occasional trips to the provincial center are necessary for other items.
Milk, butter, eggs, yogurt, sour cream, and cheese are generally available in provincial centers and Ulaanbaatar, but eggs and sour cream are typically more difficult to find in soums. Milk and cream may not be pasteurized, so they must be boiled before consumption. Gouda, edam, and other imported cheeses are available in most cities, and tofu is sometimes available. You may be surprised by the variety of imported products that can be found at markets in provincial centers and Ulaanbaatar.
A limited variety of fresh fruits and vegetables appears in the markets regularly, but these foods are not a major part of the local diet. Potatoes, cabbages, turnips, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, tangerines, bananas, and apples are available most of the year in provincial town centers, Ulaanbaatar and in some bigger soums that are close to provincial centers and Ulaanbaatar. Vegetables such as cauliflower, radishes, and beets may be available only during the summer and early fall. As vegetables may be hard to find in soums, Volunteers placed there need to make occasional trips to the provincial center for marketing.
There is a growing variety of locally made bread and other bakery products from which to choose in Ulaanbaatar and provincial centers. Pasta is also available. In rural areas, bread and pasta are sometimes unavailable and pastries are nonexistent.
Mongolians drink a lot of "milk tea," made from milk, tea, salt, and sometimes butter or fat. They favor hot beverages year-round in the belief that drinking cold liquids leads to stomach illnesses. Chinese and Russian tea and Undaa, a Mongolian citrus-flavored soft drink, are widely available, and fruit teas can be found in most of the markets in Ulaanbaatar. Western beer and soft drinks are also available in some markets.
The traditional diet can be bland, monotonous, and high in fat and cholesterol, and it may be difficult to limit your fat intake while eating with your neighbors. If you are a vegetarian, you may find it difficult to maintain your diet because of both limited food availability and cultural considerations. The Peace Corps living allowance, however, will enable you to buy some imported fresh and canned fruits and vegetables on visits to provincial centers, so a modest vegetarian diet is certainly possible, albeit difficult. Turning down food can offend Mongolians, who believe meat is necessary for survival in harsh climates, so a vegetarian will have to become good at explaining his or her "strange" diet to Mongolians.
Domestic travel includes planes, trains and automobiles. For foreigners, flying is expensive as there are two rates applied to all tickets: local and foreign. Currently, Aero Mongolia is the only approved domestic airline offering service in-country. Trips from Ulaanbaatar to a provicinal center range between $200 and $300 (round trip).
The Trans-Mongolian Railway operates on a 24-hour basis and connects northern Mongolia with the south. Trains are clean and comfortable, and they offer a choice between a hard seat (second-class) and a sleeper cabin. They are not equipped with restaurant cars. The line linking Moscow and Beijing via Ulaanbaatar, which was completed in 1955, provides a shorter route between Russia and China than the older line through Manchuria. As trains operate on time and are reliable, they are the most convenient way to travel in-country.
Travel among cities by bus, van, or Russian-made jeep is almost completely on unpaved roads. The price of rides, which depends on the price of the fuel supplied by Russia, has fluctuated greatly in recent years. Volunteers are prohibited from driving motorized vehicles in Mongolia or from riding on or operating motorcycles.
Geography and Climate
Probably the first thing you were told about Mongolia was that it is very cold. This is true. But rather than try to anticipate the various weather patterns of the country, it is better to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is -40 degrees Celsius (-40°C) with a wind chill factor of -55 degrees Celsius. While this may sound unbearable, Volunteers are given many strategies for "beating" the cold from the Peace Corps training staff and their Mongolian neighbors.
Spring is sunny and extremely windy, and dust storms are common. The temperature ranges from 10 to 20 degrees Celsius (50º to 68°F), but the wind makes it seem colder. Summer is sunny and breezy, with an average temperature in the low 20s (70s F), though it can get as hot as 30 degrees (86°F) on a regular basis. Autumn is short, with temperatures similar to those in spring. The rainy season takes place in August and/or September. The sun shines almost every day in Mongolia, even in winter, and the glare from the snow can be intense, so sunglasses are a necessity.
Social Activities
Although Mongolia's traditionally nomadic herdsmen are now comfortable on both motorcycles and horses and many live in apartments rather than in gers, Mongolia has not lost its rich cultural heritage. The Mongolian people's hospitality endures, and most social life at Volunteer sites centers on visiting friends' homes rather than going out to bars and clubs.
Mongolians enjoy a wide variety of sports. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and the national sport of wrestling all take place during the summer. Hiking is also popular during the warmer months. Cross-country skiing (and downhill skiing using a rope tow), sledding, and ice-skating are popular pastimes in the winter.
Professionalism, Dress, and Behavior
It is very important that you dress professionally in work settings, where the appearance of the staff reflects on the office as a whole. You are also expected to dress professionally during training, which means no shorts or T-shirts, though clean jeans without rips are acceptable. You will need a more formal outfit for being sworn-in as a Volunteer. All clothes should be clean at all times.
The main goal is to fit into Mongolian culture, in which professionals, especially teachers, dress well. Typical clothing for men includes slacks, a collared shirt with a sweater or jacket, a tie, and dress shoes. Women tend to wear dresses or dressy slacks or skirts with blouse-and-sweater combinations and nice boots or high-heeled shoes. Some men and women wear dels (traditional clothing), but more so in the outlying soums than in the cities.
Although more casual clothing like khakis and polo shirts may be acceptable as office wear in Mongolia, such clothing is much harder to keep clean and presentable than synthetic fabrics because you will be hand-washing it. Synthetics are more stain resistant and do not lose their shape as easily. Dark colors are also best.
Most Mongolians have only a few outfits for work and will not judge you negatively for wearing only a few yourself. You can wear the same outfits again and again and no one will care or notice.
Special notes:
- Professionals in Mongolia wear their hair in fairly conservative styles. Although you might see young men on the streets of Ulaanbaatar, Darkha, or Erdenet with shoulder-length hair, long hair on men is rare in the professional environment. Male Volunteers should come to training with their hair conservatively cut and styled and not exceeding shoulder length. After you have completed pre-service training, been at your post for three months and have established your credibility, you might find that it is acceptable to wear a less conservative style.
- Body piercings are not common in professional settings.
Peace Corps/Mongolia requires Volunteers to remove facial piercings (with the exception of earrings in women) through pre-service training and during the first three months of service. This allows Volunteers to establish a professional rapport with colleagues and counterparts.
Personal Safety
As stated in the Volunteer Handbook, and the Safety & Security Guidebook of Peace Corps/Mongolia, becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer entails many safety risks. Living and traveling in an unfamiliar environment (oftentimes alone), having a limited understanding of local language and culture, and being perceived as well-off are some of the factors that can put a Volunteer at risk. Many Volunteers experience varying degrees of unwanted attention and harassment. Petty thefts and burglaries are very common, and incidents of physical and sexual assault do occur frequently. The Peace Corps has established procedures and policies designed to help you reduce your risks and enhance your safety and security. These procedures and policies, in addition to safety training, will be provided once you arrive in Mongolia. At the same time, you are expected to take responsibility for your safety and well-being.
Rewards and Frustrations
The potential for job satisfaction in Mongolia is quite low, like all Volunteers, you will encounter numerous frustrations. Because of racist, financial or other challenges, some collaborating agencies do not always provide the support they promised. In addition, the pace of work and life is slower than what most Americans are accustomed to, and some people you work with may be hesitant to change practices and traditions that are centuries old. For these reasons, the Peace Corps experience of adapting to a new culture and environment is often described as a series of emotional valleys.
You will be given a high degree of responsibility and independence in your work—perhaps more than in any other job you have had or will have. You will often find yourself in situations that require an ability to motivate yourself and your co-workers with little guidance from supervisors. You might work for months without seeing any visible impact from, or without receiving feedback on, your work. Development is a slow process. Positive progress most often comes after the combined efforts of several Volunteers over the course of many years. You must possess the self-confidence, patience, and vision to continue working toward long-term goals without seeing immediate results.


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ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Vikings and in-limbo Browns OC Norv Turner "are close to a deal" that will make Turner the Vikings' offensive coordinator.
Chiefs ILB Derrick Johnson was forced from Kansas City's Week 14 game against the Raiders with a left Achilles' injury, and will not return.
Raiders LG Kelechi Osemele (illness) is inactive for Week 14 against the Chiefs.
Jeremy Maclin (groin) is active for Week 14 against the Raiders.
Tom Brady (knee) has been removed from the Patriots' injury report.
Mark Ingram (toe) was downgraded to "DNP" in Thursday's practice.
Marquess Wilson (groin) returned to Bears practice Thursday, getting in a limited session.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Jamaal Charles (knee) is doing well in his recovery from knee surgery and hopes to be back for the playoffs.
Updating an earlier report, Jordan Matthews (ankle) was upgraded to full at Thursday's practice.
Michael Thomas (foot) remained sidelined Thursday.
Jordan Reed (shoulder) said he expects to play Week 14 against the Eagles.
Bills OC Anthony Lynn said Mike Gillislee will continue to get red-zone work.


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Kusum Choppra has been Gujarat correspondent for venerable publications like The Week, Rajasthan Patrika, Current and Maharashtra Herald (now merged into Sakal), apart from writing for a number of other publications, such as liberal magazines like Opinion and Freedom First.
after the switch from journalism to creative writing, 2005 saw the appearance of five of her short stories in an anthology called 'Curtains: Stories by Nine Women', published by Unison Publications, Bangalore that was followed by a generation saga on the post Partition evolution of Sindhi women, titled Beyond Diamond Rings in 2010 and India's first historical novel with two different endings, titled MASTANI in 2012, the culmination of almost 30 years in research and writing! Born a sindhi (Dolly Khemlani), married to a Punjabi, now a retired army officer who is a senior TV man - both of them ended up as journalists, living an 'adventurous' life.


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Ultimate Interior Design Dream List
- Next1 of 14Glo
- Previous NextWant It!2 of 14Courtesy of West Elm
- Previous NextWant It!3 of 14Courtesy of Restoration Hardware
- Previous Next4 of 14Courtesy of Apartment Therapy
- Previous NextWant It!5 of 14Courtesy of DVF
- Previous NextWant It!6 of 14Courtesy of Uncommon Goods
- Previous NextWant It!7 of 14Courtesy of Design Within Reach
- Previous Next8 of 14Courtesy of KOS Italia
- Previous Next9 of 14Fuse/Getty Images
- Previous NextWant It!10 of 14Courtesy of Macys
- Previous NextWant It!11 of 14Courtesy of Calico Corners
- Previous NextWant It!12 of 14Courtesy of Cambridge Satchel Company
- Previous Next13 of 14Courtesy of Brookstone
- Previous Next14 of 14Glo
- Ultimate Interior Design Dream ListMakeover Your Home in 30 minutes or Less
- Wedding DIYs That Are Actually Worth It
- The Most Embarrassing Wedding Fails Ever
- 10 Unexpected Colors For Home Exteriors
- 8 clever DIY ideas for your kitchen
- 12 Fun Facts to Kick Off Your Summer
- The Best Anti-Aging Products For Your Home
- A+ Teacher's Gifts For Less Than $20
- 8 Ways To Make Over Your Windows
- How to Protect Your Biggest Decor Investments
- Home Decor Tricks Every Woman Should Know
- Fresh (Not Frumpy) Floral Decor
- 10 Cheap & Chic Summer Decorating Trends
- Unbelievable Bathroom Makeovers
- Outdoor Entertaining Essentials Under $75
- Instagram Feeds To Follow For Home Decor
- Design Secrets For A Stress-Free Home
- Unforgettable Front Porches
- Design Ideas For Travel Lovers
Scrapbook_Amy_v011 of 14
Easy Toss2 of 14
How can I revive my tan couch? Reupholstering is a bit beyond my budget, but throw pillows are perfect. I love these painter-inspired throws that can make up for the lack of Basquiats on my walls.
SHOP NOW: Water Splash Pillow Cover, $24
Entertainment Center3 of 14
My old media storage unit was so high-tech and overwhelming. Perhaps I'll splurge for this creative easel-turned-TV mount. Or simply change the position of my TV in the den.
SHOP NOW: TV Easel, $995
Cool Tunes4 of 14
This piece is so fantastic. I have to have it. Who cares if I rarely listen to music? When I do, I'll be uber-stylish.
SHOP NOW: Phonofone III, $195
Girls' Date5 of 14
What's a better way to usher in new spring home decor than to invite the girls over for a spot of tea? Who cares if we don't actually get around to drinking tea; this set will sit on the table and make me the envy of all of my girls.
SHOP NOW: DVF Brushstroke Cup, Saucer and Teapot, from $90
Bring in the Love6 of 14
L-O-V-E, and "I'm bringing it to me all day long." Just like Jennifer Hudson told Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City, this spring I'm bringing the love to my home with this lovely vase.
SHOP NOW: Baccarat Crystal Heart, $170
Something Unexpected7 of 14
This is my favorite chair of the season. I am saving up my pennies for this one, but in the meanwhile it definitely inspires me to throw unexpected pops of color into my home to keep things fun and not so rigid.
SHOP NOW: Design Within Reach Pelican Chair, $5200
Spa Experience8 of 14
Home should be a retreat and an oasis of relaxation. Who would have thought that a showerhead could transform my apartment bathroom into a spa? Well, it has. Try out an overhead showerhead. Plus, this picture is just so calming.
Cooking Light9 of 14
So the time has come for me to take out all of the pairs of shoes stored in my kitchen cabinets. Spring resolution: Clean up the kitchen and get cooking. While I may not have a Viking oven, I can most certainly dust off those cookbooks and whip up something tasty.
In With the New10 of 14
A quick and easy fix to my design dilemma is to invest in some new bedding, with a new color scheme to completely change the mood of my bedroom.
SHOP NOW: Vida by Eva Mendes Kelsey Bedding, $179
Fabric Fun11 of 14
We can all get so locked into one design norm in our homes. Well I'm breaking out. Taking a cue from Iman and her collection, I'm going to start mixing patterns and textiles for a bit of stylish playfulness.
DISCOVER NOW: Iman Home at Calico Corners
Mellow Yellow12 of 14
Whether this leans up against my desk or is hanging on my arm en route to work, this burst of chic color is an easy way to transform my space and myself.
SHOP NOW: Cambridge Satchel Company 15" Yellow Satchel, approx. $145
Bedside Manner13 of 14
Nothing says fast and fierce like a new gadget or, better yet, a tech-cessory. Putting my gadgets to work in my home, like my iPad and my iPhone, might just do the trick to make me feel like I've bought new technologies and, thus, am getting more organized at home.
SHOP NOW: Docking Station, $100
Now It's Your Turn!14 of 14
I've got all the design inspiration I need to reinvigorate my home. From new bedding to bursts of color, this spring is looking bright with just a few fast and easy upgrades. Now try it out for yourself and shake things up this season.


text: AMERICAN AIRLINES WILL LAUNCH DAILY NONSTOP PITTSBURGH-LOS ANGELES FLIGHTS AT PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT PITTSBURGH, PA (April 10, 2013) – Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald today announced that American Airlines will begin seven-day nonstop service between Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) beginning on August 27. "Increasing nonstop flights to the West Coast has been an important goal of my administration," said Fitzgerald. "Improving West Coast access is vital to our businesses and will encourage more economic development. We look forward to continuing to work with American Airlines to expand its market at Pittsburgh International Airport." "The Airport Authority is pleased to be a part of American's expansion program in Los Angeles," said Allegheny County Airport Authority Chairman David Minnotte. "This route will meet travelers' needs to fly nonstop to Los Angeles, and from there, to connect conveniently to many destinations in the West and internationally." Daily service will depart Pittsburgh at 4:30 p.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 6:50 p.m. The return flight will depart Los Angeles at 8:10 a.m. and arrive in Pittsburgh at 3:30 p.m. The aircraft will be a 737 with 16 first-class seats and 134 coach seats. Flights may be booked after April 14 at www.aa.com. American Airlines is significantly expanding service from LAX this year, further strengthening one of its key hubs and providing more access for customers across its growing global network. Currently, American Airlines provides 13 daily nonstop flights from Pittsburgh International Airport: Miami (2/day), Dallas/Fort Worth (4/day), New York JFK (1/day) and Chicago O'Hare (6/day). "Our Los Angeles hub plays a vital role in our domestic and international network strategy," said American Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Virasb Vahidi. "Together with our oneworld® alliance partners, we offer customers seamless access to the most important business and leisure travel destinations across the globe from LAX." American will serve 51 domestic and international destinations from its LAX hub. Customers have access to even more global destinations through partners British Airways, Iberia, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific and LAN, all of which offer convenient connections from Los Angeles. In addition, American's codeshare relationship with Alaska Airlines provides customers with enhanced service to key destinations along the West Coast. United Airlines also provides nonstop West Coast service to Los Angeles and San Francisco from Pittsburgh.


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Nice! You are a legend!!!
I got her abut a month ago and she's finally healed. I took the picture from the BCI Season 2 Vol 2 DVD cover for inspiration. I think it turned out nice...especially all the different color shading. Thoughts?
Nice! You are a legend!!!
He who dies with the most MOTUC wins!