June 08, 2010

by Tom Dorwart in Washington DC

Lots has been happening lately as we’ve been preparing for Mongol Rally, which is now less than 50 days from kick-off. Over the weekend, the team held a fundraiser for both Doctors Without Borders and Team MMT, Inc. funds at Hot Yoga in D.C. Hot Yoga went swimmingly as plenty of us were sweating, doing painful stretches, and meditating - taking a break from the stress of work, law school classes and papers and the many phone calls and e-mails involved with promoting the Rally.

Judy and Tom recently met an acquaintance at a bar who did the Mongol Rally last year. He will hopefully enlighten us on the nuances and potential difficulties of the Great Silk Route.

T-shirts have arrived and selling begun. Order yours now! And certainly, if you enjoy going shirtless to get a summer tan or show off your ripped beach bod, you can always go the postcard route and order one from the country of your choice on the official MMT website.

Stephen, Judy, and Tom will all at least be going to Kazakhstan. The visas are in! and they look gorgeous. Tonight, Judy and Tom are fed-ex-ing their passports and Russia visa applications to Stephen in New York, and the team shall soon have their Russian visas. The man at the Kazakh consul in D.C. taught Tom how to say ‘thank you’ in Kazakh, but Tom already forgot the correct pronunciation. We received two giant books on tourism in Kazakhstan, and it appears the Kazakh people are highly enthusiastic about white-water rafting, sailboats, and their foreign policy.

In other news:

Stephen has been promoting like a champion and has brought in numerous other corporate sponsors and donations. The ambulance name is tentatively “George” - in theme with the Magical Mongolian Mystery Tour - and because George is an awesome name. We may also refer to the ambulance as “Jorge” with an “h” sounding “J” to be more culturally inclusive.

It will be easy to call the ambulance back if it runs away or perhaps if we get angry at it when it is acting up in the desert, we may yell “George Harrison” or “Hari Georgeson” or even “L’Angelo Misterioso!” and “work George, work.” Stephen is a certified mechanic and should know how to fix up Jorge, and Tom got some quick car lessons from several of his Omaha friends who are experts on car-fixing.

Lillie has been getting the ambulance paperwork set and working hard to get her visas - including most recently Mongolia’s. She is doing many other things in Germany to get ready for the Rally, but the author of this post is attempting to learn more German to better communicate.

Judy has her official driver’s test tomorrow night and has been practicing rigorously in the D.C. oppressive heat and humdity with a driving instructor from Africa - Ghana or Cameroun, something like that. She is now an expert driver and can parallel park in the city and drive on the inter-state at night. Judy has been promoting and raising funds. Recently, Team MMT was featured in a wonderful Smith College article entitled “Mongolia or (more likely) Bust” : http://www.smith.edu/news/2009-10/mongolrally-202.php .

Tom has a box of shirts ready to sell in Omaha when he returns to his mother city later in June. Tom and Judy have recently received permission to drive an ambulance across Kazakhstan, and have filled out the Russia visa app. The Reese’s man is attempting to raise funds - trying to reign in some companies such as UPS, Hershey’s and a few other Omaha companies. He has also been vastly improving his violin game and will for sure bring his ‘A game’ on this voyage. Tom also recently purchased language-learning books in Czech, Azerbaijani and Uzbek, and now knows how to ask “which way,” “what is that smell,” and “where is food”.

A lot is going on over here in the States as we approach the Rally. Team MMT is looking incredibly forward to continuing to share its great adventure with you - our loyal followers. We humbly ask you to spread the word and check out the shirts. They are top quality material and have an inspirational quote on the back.

Next steps include continued fundraising, promotion, getting celebrities on our side, eating exotic foods (perhaps goats, bugs, or raw animals) to prepare our stomachs, learning un-pronouncable (to us) languages, getting more visas, and making sure we have the proper health insurance and shots to travel through 17 countries.

That’s all for now. Enjoy your evenings.