the New Year

This weekend, I've gotten to experience a little of Sagaansar (the Chinese New Year) and the biggest celebration of the year. People clean their houses feverishly and make boatz, meat dumplings, by the hundreds. Then Friday kicks off the celebration with a day of visiting family members to eat sheep, various salads, of course boatz, and to drink salty milk tea, fermented mare's milk, and of course, vodka. After Friday, people continue to visit friends and family over the weekend and into the next week.

My mongolian language helper, Oyuna, had me over on Friday night for an informal meal of boatz with her daughter, Oyunga. Oyuna helped me study during my official "Survival Course" and now I'm visiting her to continue learning. She's there in the middle picture, holding a bowl of her boatz.

On Saturday, I drove about an hour out of town with a new Mongolian friend, Toya, who studies at University here, and a couple of other people to visit her school friend and his family. Her friend lives in UB during the week, and commutes out to stay with his family when he can. This time, we had a real traditional visiting experience. We made sure to bring small gifts, and were given gifts in return at the end of the meal. There were a large group of family and friends gathered, and Toya helped me go through the proper greeting procedures and eating etiquette during the meal. It was the first time I'd had arag, the fermented mare's milk, and I'm happy to report it tastes like a thin, plain yogurt. Three of the children of the family are Japanese teachers and were a boisterous, interesting group of people to talk with.

The family lives in Terelsh, in part of a well-known national park; their house is part of the settlement you can see in the bottom picture, as we drive up. A couple of people went out on a horse ride after the meal, and the grandmother brought out a ten-day-old baby goat for me to hold. It was tiny and had immensely soft, thick curly hair. (I also got to try out a real, pit-toilet. You can ask me for details if you're really interested.)

I joined in on visits to a couple of other families as well, and was blessed by their hospitality. I've learned a bit more etiquette, the best way, first-hand. And finally, I have to say that if I was going to live in Mongolia, it wouldn't be in the "big city" of UB. Maybe I am a country girl after all.