Dinner with the Ambassador, Road Trip, Tsagaan Sar and a Hair Cutting Ceremony

1/17/2014

         Yesterday, was the opening ceremonies for National Mothers' and Childrens' Mortality Awareness Year in Mongolia. 2014 will be focused on decreasing childrens' mortality as well as pregnant womens'. Last year, no women died during childbirth which was a very big deal for the country and this year they hope to have the same success and decrease child mortality. The Health Department put on an opening ceremony to kick of the year's new goal. The first part of the ceremony was giving out awards to the soums hospital directors and governors who had improved mortality rates. Each governor whose mortality rates decreased significantly won a new 32 inch flat screen HD TV for their government building. The hospitals were given monetary prizes as well as a new TV. The top three hospitals received 5 million, 4 million and 3 millions Tukgriks for their hospital. After all the awards were given out, it was time to officially begin the ceremony. School #1 children preformed a song to begin it and then a speech was made by my director and various other people of importance in the field of pediatrics and gynecology. Each soum's governor, head pediatrician, head gynecologist, hospital director and accountant were invited to the even. I sat in the front row next to my director and her assistant. I even got a special pin signifying I was someone of importance at the event. HAHA. The only other people who received the pins were the hospital directors and governors. I now introduce myself as a doctor because no one understands why I am working at the Health Department if I am not a doctor. I was advised by my coworkers to just tell people I am one, because they will be more likely to listen and help me. So from here on out I am a “doctor”. =)

        After the ceremony, I went back to work to meet up with Will to teach our English classes for the hospital doctors. Since the ceremony was today, they decided to hold meetings with the doctors while they were in town, so our training rooms were not available to use for classes. We had to cancel our classes, but we stayed for the three people who had already showed up at the HD for lessons. We went to the kitchen at used that room to just practice conversations with the three women. I practiced speaking with two women who are ambulatory OBGYNs. They were so much fun and so sweet. I think they will be my new best friends. Their English is not bad either, which helps because we can actually have conversations. One of the woman's father died on Christmas so she was telling me how hard it has been and how sad she was feeling. I then told her that my Uncle had passed away while I was here and it is very hard on me too. We shared our feelings and stories and it was such a great experience. She made the wise point that “people will never understand how you feel when a family member dies because they did not have the same connection you did with that person, even another family member”, which really resonated with me. It is so true, we each have our own special connections with people and although we may have all felt their love, we all mourn in a different way and for a different reason. When someone passes away, you lose a little part of yourself that was attached to that person, which I think is why the idea of death is so hard to grasp/overcome. But that is also the beauty in relationships, having those special moments with people that only you understand/feel; that is what I believe relationships are formed on, those little moments that no one else has with that person, those special times are what makes it so hard to lose someone you love. It was amazing to hear that out of someone who is so different than me and lives in a culture that is the exact opposite of the United States is most ways. The emotions attached to love and death remain the same in all cultures and is something everyone can understand. It was really an overwhelming experience that quickly ended with hugs and a quick “I'm so sorry” to each other. In Mongolia, if someone passes away the family does not celebrate any holidays that year. They said it is in respect of the people who have lost their loved ones, it is a time for mourning and to be able to show your emotions, whatever you are feeling. She said that this is especially true when an elderly person dies, losing that figure in your family is very hard on the families, especially during the holidays. Which I am sure anyone who has ever lost a loved one, knows what the first view holidays are like. What I think is interesting is that instead of celebrating that person's life or being happy for the other families you have around you, they are fully consumed with grief and mourning for that year, and then move on. It is something that I am still thinking about and not sure what my opinion is on it.

         After our conversation, the doctor invited me to go to fitness with her. Here they call going to the gym or working out, going to fitness or fitnessing. I tried to teach her the proper way to say it, but deep down its fun to say I am going to fitness. I think I will forever use this term now. First of all, when she said their was a gym here, I literally squealed with joy. Where has this place been hiding?!?!? She told me that it is only open during the days so that is why I have never seen it. I am working while it is open. But she is good friends with the owner who gave her a key to work out after she is done working at the hospital at night. I learned for about $12 dollars I can have a gym membership for a month there. So we went to my apartment so I could change and headed over to the gym. I walked in and immediately was jumping for joy when I saw there were two treadmills, an elliptical, bike, and a ton of weight machines! We ended up working out for about 2 hours with a couple of her friends who were worked at the police station (2 were officers, 1 was a lawyer and 1 was a driver). The men were so funny and said that they would like me to teach the English (although they did know some, enough to be able to get their points across) and said that they would teach me Mongolian. We decided that on our lunch breaks three times a week we will meet at the gym and workout and teach each other. They are all fitness buffs and were teaching me exercises and giving me pointers. I can't wait to start our lessons at the gym next week. So at about 930pm I was back home and sore. I was is such a great mood, I did some yoga, ate a little yogurt, took a shower and went to bed.

       I woke up today in such a great and energized mood! It's funny how a little exercise and running can really just bounce you back into positivity. I am so excited to start running again everyday and lifting weights! Wahoooo!! I will still be doing yoga every morning because it really does put me in a great mindset for the whole day. Things are getting better and better here!

1/18/2013

         Last night, Jen, Will and I had dinner with the Ambassador and another staff member of the Embassy. We went to a Mongolian restaurant and chatted about what is going on in Mongolia currently and what she is working on now. We also talked about her time working at the Embassy in Iraq and what a typical day at the Embassy is like. We learned about the food in the cafeterias, what she does in her spare time (runs marathons and experiments in the kitchen). We shared stories about how different cooking in Mongolia is and how the Peace Corps has changed us and what we are looking to do in the future. It was a lot of fun. She made us homemade chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies and gingerbread cookies. We each got two dozen. The other staff member (he is in charge of budgets and PR for the Embassy) made us lemon bars for dessert. They were so delicious. He also brought me the latest Adirondack 46ers Hiking magazine. His family has a house in Lake Luzerne. It was so funny to hear where it was, because I have spent many a summer days laying out on the beach his family's home is on. They also brought us magazines, books, planners, pencils and other office supplies to use! =)

 

1/29/2014

       This past weekend, Will and I went on a road trip to visit our friend Ryan (he was in my health training group over the summer). Our trip started with a 7 hour meeker ride to the capital, where we then had to find a cab to get us to the other bus station where we could get a meeker to Ryan's town. We ended up finding a cab, which because we were American over charged us and took us on the longest route ever 1.5 hours, it should have only been 30-45 minutes. But he was trying to run up the kilometers on his meter so we would have to pay more. It ended up costing us $40 USD, which is 4 times how much it usually costs, but we couldn't get out of it, no matter how hard we tried to talk to him about jipping us. So in the end we handed over the money, happy that we were finally out of the taxi and ran into the bus station to buy tickets for the next meeker out to Baganuur. Luckily for us, a meeker was leaving as soon as we got there, so we pushed our way through the line for tickets, which is always a pleasant experience. Mongolians don't understand the concept of lines, there will be what appears to be a line, but all of a sudden people push in, come from all sides and it quickly becomes a mosh pit. So I stood outside of the pile of people with our bags, as Will pushed through the line to buy the tickets. We jumped into the meeker outside and were on our way. About 2.5 hours later we were arriving at Ryan's apartment, looking forward to a fun weekend. We had a blast, hanging out in his apartment playing card games and catching up on all the latest PC gossip. I made brunch every morning, mimosas included.

          The first night we made tacos for dinner, which were delicious. His town is right outside of the capital, so he has so many food options available to him. There was bacon and salmon in his supermarket! In Tsetserleg we are over joyed when chicken shows up randomly in our market. The second night, we were invited over to his land lord's house to help make buuz. Buuz are like Mongolian steamed dumplings. We were horrible at it, and were only allowed to make buuz that we would be eating ourselves. Once we made buuz for ourselves, our job was done and we just sat and chatted with the family, while they made the buuz that would be eaten during Tsagaan Sar. All the families have been making buuz like crazy because of Tsagaan Sar. Tsagaan Sar is the White Month, which is the lunar new year (Chinese New Year). It is their biggest holiday, and each family makes thousands of buuz. Thousands. They will make buuz for days, in preparation of the holiday. Tsagaan Sar is set according to the lunar calendar, in connection with the Tibetan Losar, usually in January or February. Tsagaan Sar means "White Month", which begins with the new moon rising. The night before the day of Tsagaan Sar is called Bituun, the Mongolian name of the new moon and is a sort of “rebirth”. The new moon, giving birth to a new year.

         Mongolians cook three important dishes for the event. Families make hundreds of buuz (steamed dumplings made of beef, onion and fat). Buuz are kept frozen until they are steamed for the guests. Boov – biscuits made of flour – is the second main dish to be on the table. The biscuits are about thirty centimetres long and four centimetres thick, and they are stacked on a plate with each level laid out in a triangle or square shape. Layers have to be odd numbers – three, five, etc – as the odd numbers represent happiness. The older the family members, the higher the stack of boov. During the summer months families would have already prepared many dairy products such as cheeses and hard curds (these are white foods, to match the White Month) which would decorate the stack of boov, interspersed with small sweets. Lastly, almost a whole sheep’s back, particularly with a big fatty tail – uuts – would be cooked for the Tsagaan Sar. Mongolians try to cook a sheep with as big a tail as possible, wishing the family wealth and prosperity. However, sheep with bigger tails cost more at this time, which somewhat contradicts the prosperity idea. Many Mongolian families go into debt throwing these parties.
         Before eating buuz and uuts, Mongolians first offer them to the God, the sky, the land, and mountains. In a small family circle the celebration starts and they play special Tsagaan Sar games with sheep or goats’ knucklebones, and tell long tales and sing songs. The celebration starts when younger people visit older ones to pay their respects. Usually children visit their parents first and then other older people. The younger ones greet their elders by putting their hands out, palms upward, under the other's forearms. Another greeting custom is that the people exchange their snuff bottles, offering them with open right hand while touching under the right elbow with the open left hand. Men have quite large bottles made of expensive stone, women’s are smaller. After receiving a snuff bottle a man will normally open it and take a pinch of snuff, sneeze appreciatively, then return it, but a woman should not open the bottle, she should just sniff the part-open cap and give it back.
          After the greetings, visitors are given a cup of milk tea. It is a custom that guests are first served with a cup of tea without being asked. The family steams buuz for the visitors, and guests try some meat and dairy products but no one touches the boov. Mongolian shimiin arkhi (vodka made of cows milk) and airag (fermented mare’s milk or kumiss) is served. Tsagaan Sar lasts for about a month in total. In the first three days of Tsagaan Sar people should visit the primary members of their family or important people among their friends. Through out the rest of the month people visit their friends homes eating more buuz. This Tsagaan Sar is the year of the horse, (which happens to be my birth year symbol), more specifically the year of the wooden horse. This means that with year's zodiac sign the same as the year's designated animal, it is believed those born under the wooden horse zodiac will have a mixed year. People born in the year of the horse are said to be a bit like horses: animated, active and energetic – they love being in a crowd. They are quick to learn independence – foals can walk minutes after birth – and they have a straightforward and positive attitude towards life. They are known for their communication skills and are exceedingly witty. After some researching about that meant I found that the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan was born in the year of the horse and “While they are said to be stable, adventurous and extremely energetic, this year will present some difficulties for those who claim the horse. According to Chinese philosophy, the Year of the Horse deals with fire, wood and energy elements promising a year of success for fire element industries, such as oil and gas, airlines and restaurants, but also predicts a year of conflict, market fluctuations and natural disasters. Years of the wooden horse are associated with warfare.” So not really sure how this year is going to play out now that I know all that. Haha. I still don't understand what this means to all other people who were not born in the year of the horse. I will make sure to ask my coworkers what this all means for the world at a whole.

          On Monday we headed back to the Ulaanbaatar to do some shopping. Will and I stayed at a guesthouse for the night and met up with two of the other Health volunteers for breakfast at our favorite cafe. It was great to catch up with them and exchange more stories. I love when I get to see the other volunteers. We grew so close over the summer and then were all put in different provinces all across Mongolia, so whenever we have the chance to meet up, we do. Tuesday afternoon, I got back in a meeker to go back to Tsetserleg. The driver knew who I was (I had no idea who he was) and kept introducing me to everyone who would get in the meeker. He was so sweet. He bought and ate dinner with me at the rest stop.

1/31/2014

       Today is the official start to Tsagaan Sar. Today is the day where everyone will visit their families houses and then tomorrow they visit their friends. Most of my coworkers went to the countryside to visit their families, so they will not be around this weekend. I am going to go around with Jen's hasha family this afternoon to visit their family members. We are supposed to wear our dells for the holiday. Today I practiced and went over the different greetings I am supposed to do when visiting peoples' houses. There are so many rituals, I hope I remember them all and don't offend anyone at the parties!

2/1/2014

           Yesterday afternoon, I met up with Jen and her hasha family. We ate buutz and other traditional mongolian food, including goat brain/head fat (or cow), potato salad, various meats and candies. The brain was surprisingly delicious. Jen and I went for seconds of the brain. When layered with the meat, it was a nice little sandwich. Of course there were vodka shots. We were expected to do 2-3 at every house. Luckily, there was a lot of eating in between. We visited four homes through out the afternoon. Each one served the same food and drinks. At her uncle's house, we watched a home video of him and his wife getting married in 1993. It was so cool, I hope to be invited to a Mongolian wedding sometime before I leave. Everyone looked so great in their dells and it was so much fun to travel from home to home. My Mongolian was on point for the day, thankfully, and I was able to have many mini conversations with the family. At one point, they were making fun of Jen and I. They thought the faces we made after drinking the Mongolian Vodka (much stronger tasting than American, its more of a rubbing alcohol taste) were funny and that Americans are weak when it comes to drinking. So I looked at the one man who kept talking about us and said “I understand Mongolian you know.” His face got beet red and he immediately stopped talking about us. It was a great moment. Through outh the course of the night, I was offered snuff bottle after snuff bottle. It is a sign of respect when someone offers you their snuff bottle to sniff. It is filled with different scented tobacco. Usually, you would give them your bottle as they gave you theirs in this handshake pass off, but since I do not have a snuff bottle we would do the pass off with one bottle. It was a very cool feeling. We had learned about this tradition during training, but this was the first time, I actually got to put into practice the pass off I learned during training. At every house, you also receive money and a gift, which was a surprise to me. Next year, Jen and I are going to prepare buutz at her Ger and invite people over to eat and celebrate with us. After the last house, we went back to Jen's Ger to play chess with her cousin and father. It was a nice relaxing way to end the night.

2/3/14

         On Sunday night, Jen and I were invited to her supervisor's house for another Tsagaan Sar celebration with her friends. Her supervisor Dashka, had known her friends since first grade. She had one of the couples at the party pick us up on their way to it. We hopped into this big SUV around 6pm to head over to Dashka's house. When we arrived we were shocked to see what looked like a giant cement Ger. We walked inside and were blown away. It was indeed a cement Ger and it was huge! A wood stove heated it and they had no running water, but the interior was gorgeous. There was a big bed on one side and a big HD TV along another side with a big sectional couches and dining room table filled with all types of Traditional Mongolian foods. At first we were offered the milk tea and then different salads. Then the butz and meats. As we ate, her husband began pouring the first of 6 rounds of vodka shots. Everyone was so happy and having so much fun. Jen and I led the group in a Mongolian song and then one couple took over and began singing another song. They asked us to sing “Happy New Year” by ABBA, a song that they think all Americans know, yet none of us had ever heard of it until we were here in Mongolia and they played it all through out December. Jen and I knew none of the words, so we just kept singing Happy New Year, Happy New Year, over and over, until they finally joined and and began singing the verses of the song.

         During the celebration, a hair cutting ceremony broke out. Jen and I had never been to one before, so we got so excited to be apart of it. The hair cutting ceremony, marks the point at which a child is considered to have survived the dangers of infancy – between ages two and five years. The transition from babyhood was and is so important in Mongolian traditional culture. Surviving babyhood, especially for children of herding families with little access to medical facilities, is an occasion to celebrate. Before this age, parents do not cut their children's hair. The ceremony is called Daah Urgeeh. Depending on the lunar calendar, boys receive their first hair cut in their even year and girls in an odd year. Buddhist lamas or monks advise the families on the best days and best years to do the ceremony for their child. The child's parents invite over relatives, neighbors and friends to help celebrate and take part in the hair cutting ceremony. The child is moved from guest to guest carrying a scissors and small bag. Each guest takes the child into his or her lap and cuts a small lock of hair with the scissors, and then stuffs the hair into a special bag. After you cut the hair, you offer the child a gift, usually money (a symbol of good fortune). The baby whose hair we cut would stick out her hand for the money and then shove it into her dell. It was adorable. She knew exactly what to do. There is no reason or right way to cut the child's hair, so by the end of the night the hair is all different lengths and there are bald patches. So at the end of the day, once the guests are gone, the child's head is then shaved bald and their new hair begins to grow out. From this point forward their hair will be kept fashionable and you will then be able to tell the difference between boy and girl toddlers. Before this point it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the two because they all have long hair and tend to wear pinks and reds. Just as quick as the ceremony happened, it was over. Another great memory made.