Tsaagan Sar is the mother of all Mongolian holidays. Transliterated as the White Month or the White Moon, it is the Mongolian Lunar New Year in accordance to its own calendar. This year it fell on the 25th of February and ran for three days til the 27th. On the first day of Tsaagan Sar, it is customary for people with close familial ties to visit each other’s house and pay respect and welcome each other to a new and more prosperous year. People from all over the country would make the journey home; those in UB would go back to the Aimag center (provincial capital), those in the Aimag centers would make the journey to the countryside. On the second day of Tsaagan Sar, friends and co-workers would visit each other, and the third day is a continuance of the second.
The week leading up to Tsaagan Sar is probably the busiest days in the Mongolian calendar. There is much preparation to be done, but since Mongolians generally have a laid back attitude, they usually wait til the last minute to do things. You can imagine the chaos that can ensue when hundreds of people in the market are all looking for the same things to buy. And if you are stupid enough to wait til the first day of Tsaagan Sar to buy goods, you are out of luck. Everything shuts down on the three days of Tsaagan Sar; government offices, schools, banks, grocery stores, markets, everything! If you don’t have food, count on visiting Mongolian families on the days ahead to fill that belly of yours.
With that being said, I will now walk you through my three days of Tsaagan Sar. The first day was on a Wednesday, and I was told to get ready by 10 AM to start the festivities since my school director had arranged Dure, the school secretary to help Kristen and I navigate through the customs and rituals of Tsaagan Sar. Our first stop was Oyunchimeg’s house, who is a teacher at the school and my next door neighbor. We were welcomed with the customary greetings (Since I’m lazy and since so many PCV’s have already written about the proper greetings of Tsaagan Sar, I will now link you to another website if you are interested in the full details.) We sat, ate, drank, and chat for a bit and then visited the next house. There, at my training manager’s house, whom I love dearly we were treated to a feast of enormous proportions. There were your staples of salad, ham and pickles, milk tea, sweet rice, meat, and vodka. But along side these dishes, she served up some sweet stir fry, delicious home made fruit juice, a whole sheep on a platter, and even sake. While waiting for the buuz (steamed dumplings) to cook, her daughter-in-law who was an English teacher at my school years ago and currently working in UB explained to Kristen and I some of the significant traditions of the holiday. After bidding our farewell, we were given our gifts (a phone card and key chain for me), we headed on to our next house. We followed Dure to her home which is a Mongolian ger. Had the same types of food, chat, drank vodka, a general good time with a hospitable family. Next we visited another teacher who lives in the Aimag center (7km from my house), rinse and repeat the same steps as the other houses… eat, drink, chat, and get gifts. The last house of the day was my director’s house. When we arrived at her home, there was a good company of 12 or so people there already. We performed the greetings, got ourselves seated, and prepared to eat and drink the night away. And as with any other Mongolian gatherings in groups, songs were sung and fun was had. My first day of Tsaagan Sar ended with Kristen and I passing out at 7 and waking up the next day to start all over again. This time visiting 7 houses; eating a lot more food, drank a lot more alcohol, and feeling a lot more tired the next day.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Don't Worry, I'm Still Alive
Sorry for the absence and irregularity of postings. Nothing new really from this side of the world. The weather is still cold, but surprisingly we have had sun shine and a lack of winds for the last 2 or 3 weeks. We have passed the coldest part of the Mongolian winter and much to my delight, it was not nearly as devastating as I thought it would be. The snow is beginning to melt, and I'm not falling on my ass every time I walk on dangerously un-shoveled ice.
Work is good as usual. Social life is good. I'm happy... And now, a list of things of interest because I'm too lazy to write coherent and thoughtful sentences anymore.
- 1 Week off in January: Elaine (Sukhbaatar PCV) and Lindsay came to the aimag. We ate out, cooked, watched innumerable episodes of "The Office." Good times!
- Teacher's Day: a 2 or 3 day celebration where students get to play the role of teacher, director, or administrator of the school and culminates in yet another drunken party (without the students).
- Life Skills Seminar: Alex and Travis (Sukhbaatar PCVs) came to Dornod with health specialists from PC. Had a seminar, took them out to get pizza and goboroo! In return, I got 110+ gigabytes of movies and tv shows! Life is sweet.
- Access: I've been administering an aimag-wide test for 8th graders that wants to join an exclusive English class that is taught by PCVs and Mongolian teachers at our aimag library. Started with 83 applications. Picked out the best 40 students judging by their grades, personal statement, and reccomendation. 40 students take a test, best 20 then goes on to an oral exam. Then from the 20, we pick 10 based on their test scores and financial burden.
Mongolia Observations:
- Mongolian made boots are really warm! best 40,000T that I've spent thus far.
- Mongolian students go to school on Saturdays. Why you ask? Extra classes, meet up with friends, what else is there to do?
- Mongolians love medals and certificates. Maybe a remnant of Soviet influence, but every formal event has a portion that is dedicated to the handing out of medals and awards.
- Mongolians love 80s and 90s music. Examples; Last Christmas, anything ABBA, Westlife... the list goes on.
- When gum is not being chewed, it is put into ears as a reserve for another time.
- Makeup is not only for girls.
-
Work is good as usual. Social life is good. I'm happy... And now, a list of things of interest because I'm too lazy to write coherent and thoughtful sentences anymore.
- 1 Week off in January: Elaine (Sukhbaatar PCV) and Lindsay came to the aimag. We ate out, cooked, watched innumerable episodes of "The Office." Good times!
- Teacher's Day: a 2 or 3 day celebration where students get to play the role of teacher, director, or administrator of the school and culminates in yet another drunken party (without the students).
- Life Skills Seminar: Alex and Travis (Sukhbaatar PCVs) came to Dornod with health specialists from PC. Had a seminar, took them out to get pizza and goboroo! In return, I got 110+ gigabytes of movies and tv shows! Life is sweet.
- Access: I've been administering an aimag-wide test for 8th graders that wants to join an exclusive English class that is taught by PCVs and Mongolian teachers at our aimag library. Started with 83 applications. Picked out the best 40 students judging by their grades, personal statement, and reccomendation. 40 students take a test, best 20 then goes on to an oral exam. Then from the 20, we pick 10 based on their test scores and financial burden.
Mongolia Observations:
- Mongolian made boots are really warm! best 40,000T that I've spent thus far.
- Mongolian students go to school on Saturdays. Why you ask? Extra classes, meet up with friends, what else is there to do?
- Mongolians love medals and certificates. Maybe a remnant of Soviet influence, but every formal event has a portion that is dedicated to the handing out of medals and awards.
- Mongolians love 80s and 90s music. Examples; Last Christmas, anything ABBA, Westlife... the list goes on.
- When gum is not being chewed, it is put into ears as a reserve for another time.
- Makeup is not only for girls.
-
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Shin Jiliin Bayariin Mend Hurgeye
Shin Jil: (noun) - A week long celebration in Mongolia that gives joy to all the tinsel manufacturers, vodka distillers, and George Michael's record company.
Car Trouble:
My Shin Jil (New Year) actually began the weekend before the appointed date. It was on a Saturday and boy was it a trip getting to the restaurant. After the school concert that featured a clown as an MC, Grandfather Winter and his Snow Girl, and a troupe of kindergartners dressed in panda, lion, and bear costumes, the teachers and I headed for the mikro (bus). At first there were 6 or 7 of us that were in the bus, which in a vehicle that is designed to fit 15 or 16 people is quite the luxury. As time passed, more and more teachers came, first a group of 3, and then 1 or 2 came to comfortably fill the seats. The engine started so I thought that we were making our way for the restaurant, boy was I wrong. For the next 30 or so minutes we drove from one apartment to the next picking up other groups of teachers. So they came and sat in 3s and 4s. Now there are at least 20 teachers meshed together and under the dreadfully cold circumstances it made for a much more toasty ride. After picking the teachers from the apartments and their homes, we should be on our way right? No, no, no… There are of course teachers still waiting at the school. We drove to the school, 1 teacher filed in, and then another, and another, and another. To make room, the four men in the back row each had a female teacher on his lap, me included. The other seats probably had to do the same in order to make room for all the teachers. So after all of this we finally made our way, driving along the bumpy, icy, and quite dangerous dirt road. When we made it to the paved road, the bus under tons of pressure gave way and broke down, which was no surprise to anybody there. We filed out of the bus one by one, and when I did a head count, there were 30+ people in the mikro, which is my personal record now. To complete the journey, we called for taxis and in a flash we were at the restaurant.
The school party was at a Chinese restaurant that was decked out with a Christmas tree (they don’t celebrate Christmas here), tinsel strands that are individually taped on to the ceilings, and booming renditions of “Last Christmas.” On the tables waiting for us were fruit bowls, salads, and bottles of vodka and juice to quench our thirst. Throughout the night we ate well, sang Mongolian songs, made speeches, presented gifts, and danced the night away. More bottles of vodka came out the woodwork as the night progressed, and like the vodka, the champagne was also flowing well that night. The party ended at 12 and we made our way back to our town. Once there, a group of teachers wanted to extend the party longer, they asked me to stay but as I was sick, my excuse worked and I was able to dodge a very dangerous bullet.
New Year with a Mongolian Family:
On the actual New Year’s Eve, I celebrated the night with Tumee (my teaching counterpart) and her family. She invited me over for hooshor, my favorite Mongolian dish. At that time I didn’t even realize that it was the day before the New Year. I brought over some beer, soda, and borsik (Mongolian sweet bread.) We ate, drank, and talked until 11:45 when the fireworks began bursting in the air. From our town, which is 7 kilometers away from the Aimag center, we saw the sky lit up with yellow, red, blue, and a variety of other colors and shapes. We also had our store of fireworks, so we joined in the celebration and lit the dark sky with a myriad of colors. After the pyrotechnics, we came back in for a typical Mongolian New Year celebration meal; buuz (steamed dumplings), cake, and champagne. It was a good end to a good night.
PCV and VSO parties:
The next day I went to the Aimag center to celebrate the New Year with PCVs, VSOs and a group of Mongolians. All of us were invited to Raj’s house, a health VSO member from India. The bachelor pad was bumping with music, and we celebrated once more with beer, vodka, champagne, and chocolate. Everybody had a great time, so much that we decided to do it again the next day at Jim and Julie’s house.
Jim and Julie had a beast of fish (at least 15lbs) that they didn’t know what to do with. That day I was staying over their place so I became the third host of the party. While J&J was away on errands, Julie had me bake apple bread. It was my first time baking, yikes! Julie knew this, so of course she left me unsupervised with a recipe book and all the ingredients for me to play around with. I peeled and then diced the apples, mixed the sugar, oil, lemon juice and all the other necessary items. Then I carefully poured out the flour, salt, and added 4 tbsp of baking powder in another bowl. If you are a baker, you would have caught my mistake already… yes, 4 tbsp of baking powder, ahahah. I thought that the tbsp scooper was the tsp, honest mistake since the damn thing was labeled. Luckily I hadn’t mixed and was able to scoop out the extra baking powder. Then I added the three mixes together and baked, desperately hoping that it wasn’t ruin by the mistake.
While the apple bread was in the oven, Jim and I worked on the ginormous fish. Jim gutted the beast and we decided to cut it into four portions. Each part would be seasoned differently. One of Jim’s two pieces was dedicated to curry fish, the other one was doused in butter and garlic, lemon juice and assortment of Italian spices. As for my part, I had one piece in a mixture of olive oil, salt, garlic salt, vegetable flakes, some Italian seasoning. After we took out the apple bread which was still un-tasted, we broiled the 3 portions. The last piece was left to the frying pan and with a little salt, garlic butter, and oil it was fried to perfection. While doing all of this, we were also preparing mashed potatoes and vegetables as a side, Jim the main chef, and I his sous chef. As the guests began to arrive we finished up the preparations and had them test out our experiment. They tasted, marveled, and then had seconds, thirds, and fourths. Tremendous triumph! Considering that this was the first time that we handled fish. Though Jim’s test was over, my apple bread was still under review. After gorging on fish and wine, the crowd moved on to dessert. Judy, another health VSO member was the first one to try my apple bread. She cut herself a piece; put it in her mouth, and from watching the expression on her face, 2 for 2! Twas a success. Not bad for a day of firsts. As the night rolled along, Julie got out her guitar and played for us. We sang, we drank, we had a good time! One of my favorite nights in Mongolia thus far.
-
Car Trouble:
My Shin Jil (New Year) actually began the weekend before the appointed date. It was on a Saturday and boy was it a trip getting to the restaurant. After the school concert that featured a clown as an MC, Grandfather Winter and his Snow Girl, and a troupe of kindergartners dressed in panda, lion, and bear costumes, the teachers and I headed for the mikro (bus). At first there were 6 or 7 of us that were in the bus, which in a vehicle that is designed to fit 15 or 16 people is quite the luxury. As time passed, more and more teachers came, first a group of 3, and then 1 or 2 came to comfortably fill the seats. The engine started so I thought that we were making our way for the restaurant, boy was I wrong. For the next 30 or so minutes we drove from one apartment to the next picking up other groups of teachers. So they came and sat in 3s and 4s. Now there are at least 20 teachers meshed together and under the dreadfully cold circumstances it made for a much more toasty ride. After picking the teachers from the apartments and their homes, we should be on our way right? No, no, no… There are of course teachers still waiting at the school. We drove to the school, 1 teacher filed in, and then another, and another, and another. To make room, the four men in the back row each had a female teacher on his lap, me included. The other seats probably had to do the same in order to make room for all the teachers. So after all of this we finally made our way, driving along the bumpy, icy, and quite dangerous dirt road. When we made it to the paved road, the bus under tons of pressure gave way and broke down, which was no surprise to anybody there. We filed out of the bus one by one, and when I did a head count, there were 30+ people in the mikro, which is my personal record now. To complete the journey, we called for taxis and in a flash we were at the restaurant.
The school party was at a Chinese restaurant that was decked out with a Christmas tree (they don’t celebrate Christmas here), tinsel strands that are individually taped on to the ceilings, and booming renditions of “Last Christmas.” On the tables waiting for us were fruit bowls, salads, and bottles of vodka and juice to quench our thirst. Throughout the night we ate well, sang Mongolian songs, made speeches, presented gifts, and danced the night away. More bottles of vodka came out the woodwork as the night progressed, and like the vodka, the champagne was also flowing well that night. The party ended at 12 and we made our way back to our town. Once there, a group of teachers wanted to extend the party longer, they asked me to stay but as I was sick, my excuse worked and I was able to dodge a very dangerous bullet.
New Year with a Mongolian Family:
On the actual New Year’s Eve, I celebrated the night with Tumee (my teaching counterpart) and her family. She invited me over for hooshor, my favorite Mongolian dish. At that time I didn’t even realize that it was the day before the New Year. I brought over some beer, soda, and borsik (Mongolian sweet bread.) We ate, drank, and talked until 11:45 when the fireworks began bursting in the air. From our town, which is 7 kilometers away from the Aimag center, we saw the sky lit up with yellow, red, blue, and a variety of other colors and shapes. We also had our store of fireworks, so we joined in the celebration and lit the dark sky with a myriad of colors. After the pyrotechnics, we came back in for a typical Mongolian New Year celebration meal; buuz (steamed dumplings), cake, and champagne. It was a good end to a good night.
PCV and VSO parties:
The next day I went to the Aimag center to celebrate the New Year with PCVs, VSOs and a group of Mongolians. All of us were invited to Raj’s house, a health VSO member from India. The bachelor pad was bumping with music, and we celebrated once more with beer, vodka, champagne, and chocolate. Everybody had a great time, so much that we decided to do it again the next day at Jim and Julie’s house.
Jim and Julie had a beast of fish (at least 15lbs) that they didn’t know what to do with. That day I was staying over their place so I became the third host of the party. While J&J was away on errands, Julie had me bake apple bread. It was my first time baking, yikes! Julie knew this, so of course she left me unsupervised with a recipe book and all the ingredients for me to play around with. I peeled and then diced the apples, mixed the sugar, oil, lemon juice and all the other necessary items. Then I carefully poured out the flour, salt, and added 4 tbsp of baking powder in another bowl. If you are a baker, you would have caught my mistake already… yes, 4 tbsp of baking powder, ahahah. I thought that the tbsp scooper was the tsp, honest mistake since the damn thing was labeled. Luckily I hadn’t mixed and was able to scoop out the extra baking powder. Then I added the three mixes together and baked, desperately hoping that it wasn’t ruin by the mistake.
While the apple bread was in the oven, Jim and I worked on the ginormous fish. Jim gutted the beast and we decided to cut it into four portions. Each part would be seasoned differently. One of Jim’s two pieces was dedicated to curry fish, the other one was doused in butter and garlic, lemon juice and assortment of Italian spices. As for my part, I had one piece in a mixture of olive oil, salt, garlic salt, vegetable flakes, some Italian seasoning. After we took out the apple bread which was still un-tasted, we broiled the 3 portions. The last piece was left to the frying pan and with a little salt, garlic butter, and oil it was fried to perfection. While doing all of this, we were also preparing mashed potatoes and vegetables as a side, Jim the main chef, and I his sous chef. As the guests began to arrive we finished up the preparations and had them test out our experiment. They tasted, marveled, and then had seconds, thirds, and fourths. Tremendous triumph! Considering that this was the first time that we handled fish. Though Jim’s test was over, my apple bread was still under review. After gorging on fish and wine, the crowd moved on to dessert. Judy, another health VSO member was the first one to try my apple bread. She cut herself a piece; put it in her mouth, and from watching the expression on her face, 2 for 2! Twas a success. Not bad for a day of firsts. As the night rolled along, Julie got out her guitar and played for us. We sang, we drank, we had a good time! One of my favorite nights in Mongolia thus far.
-
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