Mongolia- Land of Manly Skill

There were a few other Western girls on the dig, and one constant topic of conversation was how "manly" the Mongolian men were. They worked, worked worked, all day only to spend the evenings and breaks with more activity--- soccer, volleyball, and contests of all sorts. Who can lift the heaviest rocks? Who can throw them further? Wrestling match anyone? It was all very amusing.

Now, this "manliness" thing is not something we made up, it is emphasized in their culture--- although I wouldn't compare it with the machismo of Latin America. in Mongolia there are three skills that are considered the pinnacle of manliness- wrestling, archery, and horse racing. These skills are celebrated in naadam festivals, the large national naadam being held in Ulaan Baatar every summer. Local naadams are held throughout the year and people of all ages can participate. These days, women participate as well-- although not in wrestling.

We were fortunate that a local naadam was held at Baga Gazaryn Chuluu (our region) while we were there and we all got to join in the fun.

Gathering for the BGC naadam. (click for a larger view)

It was a whole day affair, starting with a knuckle bone shooting game (sheep or goat bones?). I only saw men playing this game, first the older men but then others got to try, including some guys from our camp.

Our guys are on the left end, Byambaa (shooting), with Dashka and then Galdan to his right.

A little later the horse races began. In this case it was all children riding! We were really lucky because the owners of the tourist ger camp took us in their car along the whole route of the race. We drove behind the horses as they went to the start point and then sped alongside them as they raced back to the finish line. It was an exciting way to watch.

Walking their horses to the start line.

The guy we were cheering for (a relative of the owners of the ger camp).

Rider in the distance.

After that we observed a Buddhist ceremony and ate some fresh yogurt and hard Mongolian cheese and socialized a bit. I took some photos for people and sent them the prints later.

Lovely older ladies looking at the picture Saadia took of them.

Having fun at naaadam.

A traditional blessing, flicking the milk (or yogurt?) to the ground, the wind, and the sky.

Next, was wrestling! This is a sport Mongolia is famous for so I'm glad I got to see it. Two of our guys, Byambaa and Ishee participated which made it even more exciting! The competitions started with little kids and moved up to older and experienced wrestlers. They do an "eagle dance" at the beginning and when they win. Their outfits may look funny to us, but its old traditional gear. The shirt leaves the chest open so that no women can disguise themselves and participate-- humiliating the men!

Although our guys didn't win the top spot, they did well--- it was a fantastic day!

Ishee (orange belt).

Byambaa (orange belt).

Enjoying the show.

Next Post---- dinner at Ishee's house (I mean, ger)!!!

Desert Disco

I did not expect to do a lot of singing and dancing while in Mongolia-- but it turned out to be one of my favorite parts!

We had two parties at the tourist ger camp, which was a few miles away. It consisted of a few lovely rows of gers, a restaurant ger, and a bathhouse. The well we got our water from was nearby.

Baga Gazaryn Chuluu Tourist Ger Camp


Restaurant and bathhouse.


Inside the restaurant.

For our parties the whole camp piled on top of each other in our five vans and poured into the restaurant ger. The tables were moved to the side and Bill (our director) was kind enough to get the first round of beers and vodka. The lights were dimmed, track lighting was flipped on, and then a bizarre mix of five year old American pop, random Europop, and Mongolian hits were played while we all danced our butts off. I loved it.

Cheers!

The ger camp closed us down by midnight so we took the party back to our camp --- again, piled on top of each other in the jeeps, except this time driving off road in the dark! Back at camp the vans would park in a circle, turn on their blinkers for "disco lights" and blare the music. Then we'd continue the party, dancing in the sand.


After returning to UB (the capital of Mongolia, Ulaan Baatar) we had a few after-parties. Karaoke night was the most fun. I normally hate karaoke but our group is such a bunch of fun loving people its hard to be self conscious and not get into it! I never would have guessed the building we went to for karaoke was even in use-- it looked abandoned from the outside. They took us up some dark and uneven stairs into a hallway that surprisingly held a dimly lit bar. Rooms shooting off from the hall were private karaoke rooms with couches and everything else you would expect. Great night! Seeing a bunch of manly Mongolian men singing "It's Raining Men" is quite a sight and I never thought I'd have the opportunity to sing the one and only Russian song I know!

Boldoo, Saadia, Me, Alyson, and Emma.

Well, obviously, I had a great time with the BGC crew!

Next post... Mongolia: the Land of Manly Skill....

One more....

Another Mongolian song I really like. This video has some cool ger scenes too. (Ger= Mongolian house, rhymes with "bear").

Traditional Music

I loved the traditional music that was played in the vans sometimes on the way from camp to site. Listening to this music and watching Mongolia's incredible landscape go by gave me that tingly, alive feeling --- "wow, I'm really in Mongolia".

Here's a good representative of the music. A sad song! The ruined temple, (called Sum Khok Burd), the singer is sitting in, was a few hours from our site. We visited there one weekend and took showers in the nearby town.

Listen to how she rolls her "R's". I cannot for the life of me reproduce this which makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to learn Mongolian!





Me at Sum Khok Burd

Mongolia -- The Basics

On site, three meals a day were provided for us by the lovely Jagaa and Zola, the only two Mongolian women present on this project. (There are female Mongolian archaeologists on other projects)

Breakfast alternated between rice porridge and cream of wheat. Gomber was also always present--- sort of like a funnel cake without the powdered sugar. Instant coffee and tea rounded it out.



Gomber frying. Fresh gomber with honey is fantastic! (photo by Ian Nelson)

Lunches and dinners were always a goat dish. Goat dumplings, goat soup, goat and fried noodles, goat and veggies, goat and macaroni salad...... you get the picture.

On two occasions we had mutton which was a welcome break--- so tasty!

Veggies are not so easy to come by in the Gobi so they relied on things that were easy to store and supplemented it with whatever passing nomads were selling or what could be found in the nearest town on the weekends. (which wasn't much) Usually we had potatoes, carrots, cabbage, red and green peppers, and pickles. I would have killed for a tomato.

I really didn't mind the food, in fact some of the dishes were delicious! The problem was the tremendous portion size. I could never clear my plate and the cooks were quite unhappy with you if they saw you dump it. Many plans were devised to avoid their disdain. Asking for a smaller portion had no effect whatsoever, if you were brave enough to try.

A goat was brought in almost daily, purchased from one of the nomad families nearby. Ishee, one of the archaeologists who was from our region, had the task of dispatching it. Traditionally, Mongolians slaughter an animal by cutting a small slit in its chest, reaching in, and stopping its heart with his hand. I'm not kidding you. Ishee, impressively, did this for the camp. Most of the goat was used, although the Mongolians eat a lot of parts the Westerners weren't too keen on. The cooks cooked meals based on Western tastes and made separate dishes with the intestines, etc, that just the Mongolians ate. Worked for me.

For snacks, I quickly learned it was essential to have a hoard of candy and sodas in your tent. Not just for you, but also to bring out and share and/or bribe people with. Trips to town and tourist camps were an opportunity to replenish. If you had vodka, your popularity would increase for sure.

Vodka. I thought I knew things about Mongolia before I came, but I didn't know about the prominence of vodka in their culture. Any occasion could potentially call for vodka. When one of the vans broke down a bottle of vodka was pulled out and a blinker used as a glass while they waited for help. All of our "parties" involved copious amounts of vodka. When I told one of the guys that back home I drink, but not vodka, he incredulously asked "but then, what do you drink?" Hahaha.

Luckily, the way they distribute it allows you to take a decent break between drinks. One person pours into a cup (I loved the antique cups that we saw at Ishee's ger-- more on that later), he then passes that cup to you with his right hand. You accept with your right hand and shoot it or sip it, your choice (at least, they didn't harass us if we couldn't shoot it). You then hand it back and he does the same with everyone in the group. Then it all starts again-- the larger the group, the longer the break. If you don't want to drink, dip your pinky in and flick it three times (to the earth, the wind, and the sky?) and then return the cup. I really enjoyed this, it made drinking seem more intimate and social.

Well... vodka leads to dancing, which will be the theme of my next post! Stay tuned!



Jagaa, Ishee, and Zola