The Girl I've Been Looking For

I think I found the girl I’ve been looking for. She’s beautiful, hilarious, kind to everyone, gentle, tons of fun and up for doing anything. She laughs at all my jokes, is well known in the community, and loves my host family who loves her right back. She enjoys dressing in traditional Mongolian clothing when she wants to look nice and also enjoys wearing outfits that can get dirty when we play volleyball or frisbee outside. On top of all that, she is also one of the most patient and generous people I have met in Mongolia. She corrects my language with a sweet smile, teaches me new words all the time and never gives up when she is sharing something new with me. Also, she wants to be a doctor and I think she’ll make a great one.

When she comes over to my house, my plans change. Outings with my Peace Corps friends are postponed, homework is forgotten about and we laugh, play games and talk until the sun goes down. Sometimes she stays over and talks with my little sister late into the night, long after I have gone to sleep. She doesn’t come over often, which is a shame, but she makes it over as often as she can.

I say she is the girl I’ve been looking for because every moment she is around she shows me what kindness looks like, what fun laughter can be and what goodness there is in all of us. She reminds me of who I want to be and the kind of impact I make on others as a role model and as a friend. She is a very special girl and I am very lucky to know her.

I also say she is the girl I’ve been looking for because I am always looking for people like her in the world - people who give us hope, challenge us to be better people, and show us how to be responsible and caring human beings. Guys and girls like her, all throughout the world, are the friends I am glad I have, the people I am proud to say I know and the inspirations that encourage me to do what I know is right everyday.

Today, before heading home for the night, she put her hand to the top of her head and moved it toward me to compare her height to mine. Looking up she laughed and said she was much smaller. I picked her up and lifted her high above my head before giving her a hug. She can call me her big brother all she wants, but my eight years old cousin Mohnchimeg definitely isn’t smaller than I am. As I put her down, I smiled at her. “You’re much bigger than you think,” I said, “much bigger.”