Naadam and such

So its been a busy week. This week was Naadam, Mongolia's biggest and most celebrated holiday. There was a lot going on, it was crazy fun! Naadam consists of three sports wrestling, archery, and horse racing, however contrary to what you may think i didnt participate in any of the activities, i only watched. However one of my fellow peace corps friends did manage to wrestle with a Mongolian, to say the least he didn't win, but i totally give him an A for effort. I celebrated Naadam with my friends and my host family, the first day of Naadam, i woke up to a fresh bowl of "airig" (fermented mares milk), and i figured "why not", it really wasnt that bad, most definitely an acquired taste, its kind of like drinking milk thats gone bad (i guess thats what it is anyway) because host mom kicks ass she also prepared me a whole bag of "hosher" (a traditional Mongolian food that is kinda like a hot pocket but only filled with meat) it was awesome, and its the most popular food during the Naadam holiday, I had like 30 hosher all to myself, I could not eat them all so i of course shared.
The most exciting part of Naadam for me was the opening ceremony, it was amazing it was like nothing i have ever seen before. The costumes are amazing and full of bright color, there were throat singers, and people singing traditional Mongolian music, luckily i still have the opportunity to witness two more Naadams while im here. After the opening ceremony the first round of wrestling took place, its not like wrestling that we are used to (duh im in mongolia) im not even really sure how to describe it maybe google it. Anyways there were 4 pairs of wrestlers going at the same time, and there is no weight class so there would be a really little person matched up against a really big wrestler, how unfair. Wrestling was the only event I made it to, after wrestling was over i gathered at my house were Naadam celebrations were still under way, there was much "airig" and beer to go around, i think this is by far my new favorite holiday. I cant wait until next year when i can experience it again, and think maybe next year i will be able to understand what everyone is saying.
Some of you have been asking me what my day is like. Well its really not that exciting but ill share with you anyway. Monday through Friday i have school. I wake up about 8 eat my standard breakfast of bread, butter, and jam drink my milk tea and head off to class. Language class starts at nine and we are there for four hours (i know its a long time), at 1 i go home for lunch, usually i have rice and nori (you know sea weed) but somtimes my mom mixes it up and i have bread thats dipped in eggs and scallions and then fried (kind of like french toast) its really good and i think its also my favorite. Those are really the two things i have for lunch. At 2:30 i have to go back to class, tuesday, wednesday, and friday i have technical training in the afternoon (230-5). technical training helps us prepare for when we move to our permanent site and start working with out designated organization. Thats what i do for class. When im not in class im usually hanging out with my host family, or other peace corps trainees. For fun we will all huddle around someones lab top and watch a movie, or we will go hiking and thats about it, to say the least is gets really exciting around here. However i do have alot of fun interacting with my host family, because i dont know much language im getting really good at "cherades" and im also getting good at using the mongolian dictionary and pointing. My host family is great they always make sure that i have enough to eat. We usually eat dinner at 830 or 9, dinner is usually always this Mongolian type stirfry pronounced "soyvan" it consists of flour noodle, potatoes, carrots, and meat, and sometimes soy sauce. I usually go to bed around 12 but my family stays up much later watching tv, and thats my usual day, i hope its everything you were expecting. Oh ya and sometimes i "shower" about once a week and i also do my laundry somewhere in there too.
I think thats all i have for this week, im sure something sweet will happen soon, i mean im in mongolia its bound to happen sooner or later. Until then keep sending questions..