Naadam, Mongolia's national holiday, was July 11-13. Most towns have their own celebration and there is one huge 3-day celebration in Ulaanbaatar. There are competitions in the three national sports--wrestling, horse racing, and archery. There is also a fourth sport, shagai, that is becoming more important at Naadam. Shagai is a game played with sheep ankle bones. There are several different versions but they usually involve some combination of flicking a bone into another bone and/or rolling the bones. I've played shagai with my host family. I am not a very accurate flicker, so I'm not very good at it.
In my town, there was a one day celebration. It was kind of like a town fair. There were vendors set up selling drinks and khooshur (fried meat pies). Different groups (like the school, the hospital, political parties) have tents set up and offer airag (fermented mare's milk--the traditional alcohol) and food. There was wrestling, and they had a stage set up for singing and dancing. Mongolians are all about the singing and dancing. In fact, as part of our cultural training we are learning a couple Mongolian songs so we can sing along at parties. There was also horse racing but it was out in the khodoo (countryside) so I didn't get to see it. Most people dress up in their best traditional clothing, so it's very colorful. I tasted airag, fermented mare's milk. It tastes like watered down, bubbly sour cream. I thought it was ok, but some of sitemates really hated it. Airag is supposed to be "good" for your stomach, which I think means it cleans you out. I didn't have any trouble because I didn't drink that much, but a couple of my sitemates spent quite a bit of the next day in the outhouse.
The wrestling is fascinating. When the wrestlers first come out in the arena (a field) they do this eagle dance, waving their arms and then they slap their thighs and butt. They are showing their power, or something like that. I took a video of some of the wrestlers coming out. I'm trying to attach it, but it's taking over an hour to upload. The winner also does a little eagle dance after the match. There are some wrestlers who clearly wrestle frequently, but they also take competitors from the crowd. There is a military base in my town, so there were a few military guys who took up the challenge. There are very few rules in Mongolian wrestling. You just have to get the other guy to hit the ground with some part of his body between his knees and shoulders. And apparently, you can do that anyway you can. The wrestling outfits originated many years ago when a woman entered the wrestling matches and beat a bunch of men. After that, all competitors have to wear the speedo-like bottoms and the sleeves that reveal the chest. No women allowed.
I went to Ulaanbaatar with my host family for the 3rd day of Naadam. We went to Sukhbaatar Square (which is the center of the city and where the parliament building is) and there was a parade of people wearing traditional Mongolian costumes. Each region/tribe has their own style. It was very interesting. The couple in the top left picture are Kazakh.
I didn't get to see any archery. I guess I'll have to try and catch that next year.
We only have a couple weeks left in training. I'll find out where my permanent site is about August 16. We have a big graduation ceremony in UB where we meet our site counterparts (our supervisors and people we work with at site). A lot of trainees are having traditional clothes made for them for our swearing in ceremony. My host mom is a seamstress, so I'm having her make me a jacket that will be really cool. I'll be sure to post pictures when it's done.
Naadam, Mongolia's national holiday, was July 11-13. Most towns have their own celebration and there is one huge 3-day celebration in Ulaanbaatar. There are competitions in the three national sports--wrestling, horse racing, and archery. There is also a fourth sport, shagai, that is becoming more important at Naadam. Shagai is a game played with sheep ankle bones. There are several different versions but they usually involve some combination of flicking a bone into another bone and/or rolling the bones. I've played shagai with my host family. I am not a very accurate flicker, so I'm not very good at it.
In my town, there was a one day celebration. It was kind of like a town fair. There were vendors set up selling drinks and khooshur (fried meat pies). Different groups (like the school, the hospital, political parties) have tents set up and offer airag (fermented mare's milk--the traditional alcohol) and food. There was wrestling, and they had a stage set up for singing and dancing. Mongolians are all about the singing and dancing. In fact, as part of our cultural training we are learning a couple Mongolian songs so we can sing along at parties. There was also horse racing but it was out in the khodoo (countryside) so I didn't get to see it. Most people dress up in their best traditional clothing, so it's very colorful. I tasted airag, fermented mare's milk. It tastes like watered down, bubbly sour cream. I thought it was ok, but some of sitemates really hated it. Airag is supposed to be "good" for your stomach, which I think means it cleans you out. I didn't have any trouble because I didn't drink that much, but a couple of my sitemates spent quite a bit of the next day in the outhouse.
The wrestling is fascinating. When the wrestlers first come out in the arena (a field) they do this eagle dance, waving their arms and then they slap their thighs and butt. They are showing their power, or something like that. I took a video of some of the wrestlers coming out. I'm trying to attach it, but it's taking over an hour to upload. The winner also does a little eagle dance after the match. There are some wrestlers who clearly wrestle frequently, but they also take competitors from the crowd. There is a military base in my town, so there were a few military guys who took up the challenge. There are very few rules in Mongolian wrestling. You just have to get the other guy to hit the ground with some part of his body between his knees and shoulders. And apparently, you can do that anyway you can. The wrestling outfits originated many years ago when a woman entered the wrestling matches and beat a bunch of men. After that, all competitors have to wear the speedo-like bottoms and the sleeves that reveal the chest. No women allowed.
I went to Ulaanbaatar with my host family for the 3rd day of Naadam. We went to Sukhbaatar Square (which is the center of the city and where the parliament building is) and there was a parade of people wearing traditional Mongolian costumes. Each region/tribe has their own style. It was very interesting. The couple in the top left picture are Kazakh.
I didn't get to see any archery. I guess I'll have to try and catch that next year.
We only have a couple weeks left in training. I'll find out where my permanent site is about August 16. We have a big graduation ceremony in UB where we meet our site counterparts (our supervisors and people we work with at site). A lot of trainees are having traditional clothes made for them for our swearing in ceremony. My host mom is a seamstress, so I'm having her make me a jacket that will be really cool. I'll be sure to post pictures when it's done.
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