Tsagaan Sar Part II

So where to start? I have already given you a brief taste as to how my Tsagaan Sar celebrations were….well celebrated. As you already know traveling in this country is always an adventure. However my travels over the holiday went rather smoothly. This is largely because we traveled in my counterpart’s car. It has been the only time I have traveled in this country without feeling like I was in a sardine can. In fact I had the entire backseat to myself…well excluding out luggage and the appropriate Tsagaan Sar gifts i.e. sheep carcass, candy, vodka (it may sound strange but these are all pretty standard holiday gifts).

The Tsagaan Sar “itinerary” was as follows; first visit the family of my counterpart’s wife and then continue on to visit the family of my counterpart, spending a total of five days in the countryside… at first exciting and then exhausting. As I have mentioned before my CP’s wife’s family are herders who live in the middle of nowhere. Which I thought was totally awesome, having the opportunity to spend Mongolia’s largest holiday with Mongolian herders! Saying it just sounds like it would be an experience of cultural inundation…which it was. It’s hard for me to gather my thoughts so that this doesn’t sound like complete gibberish. The first night and day of Tsagaan Sar was by far my favorite. This is because the traditions and ceremonies done on this first night and day would be repeated for the next four days (just at different places). Here’s a quick run down: Tsagaan Sar consists of visiting the homes of friends and family. At each house/ger you will exchange the traditional greeting, exchange snuff, eat byyts, drink vodka, small talk, and move on to your next destination. During my Tsagaan Sar I probably visited fifty to sixty house/gers, now can you see why I found it exhausting.

So it was the first night and we visited the three Ger’s that made up the “ranch” of my CP’s wife family. The first night of Tsagaan Sar always falls on a new moon and the stars were amazing this is because when your out in the middle of nowhere light pollution isn’t obscuring the view of thousands of stars. I was laughed at for just standing with my neck back gazing into the night sky. It was by far the clearest night I have ever seen. Besides the beautiful night sky the family couldn’t have been friendlier. Including me in all the traditions that make up Tsagaan Sar. I exchanges snuff with men, consumed many byyts, drank vodka, laughed and sang many songs. Being in the countryside brought a new light to my experience here in Mongolia and a whole new respect for the herder community. I had the opportunity to not only observe but experience how a herding family lives…as complete minimalists. Unlike most of the developed world who takes for granted the resources they have available (consumer whores). The herder uses solar power, and lives of the “fruits of their labor” i.e. livestock. I soon found out that living the life as a herder is no easy feat and requires much work from dawn till dusk (as I experienced this first hand). Even the children are hard workers and are expected to contribute to daily tasks.

Even though I live in a Ger I soon realized that living in a Ger by yourself and living in a Ger with a family of five are two completely different things. I soon realized that a family living in a Ger has no privacy…none at all. I started thinking to myself “if there’s no privacy when and where do parents procreate?” Luckily I have pretty good relationships with my counterpart it also helps that were close in age so I asked him. At first he laughed and then told me that couples/parents will just wait until the other children and grandparents fall asleep. Of course while laughing he said “they must be very quiet.” Anyways besides that when you live in a Ger with a family I noticed that once one person wakes up everyone wakes up, in my case it was six in the morning (The grandmother woke to start a fire and make tea).

This was the day when I had the opportunity to experience life as a herder (although short lived and lasting only a few hours it was still awesome). After we had our morning’s tea I was sent out with the children to collect dung from the corrals. Why does one collect dung? Well dung serves many purposes; the main is a source of fuel. That’s right it’s burned to keep the Ger warm. Following the collection which really isn’t that bad, my counterpart said it’s easier in the winter because it’s all frozen. Following the collection we mounted onto horses and herded the animals out for the days grazing. This was awesome because one; I got to ride a horse, two; I got to hold a long stick and yell SHOSH…SHOSH. Although I really had no idea what the hell to do or if I was even doing it right. I acted like I did and of course just did what the other herders were doing. Once the animals are out grazing they stay there all day and during the evening the same process is done that is done in the morning…just reversed. And that was the extent of my herding carrier. Although not a good resume builder it makes for a sweet story. While the animals were out grazing the Tsagaan Sar Festivities continued. I felt as though I was having dejavu. You guessed it more byyts, vodka, but oddly not singing. We stayed most of the morning and left in the early afternoon for Batdorj’s (counterparts) family.

The remainder of my Tsagaan Sar holiday was a repeat of the first night and day (as I said before). So really I don’t see any point in writing about the same thing over and over again. All in all it was another amazing Mongolian experience. However when it was time to come home I was ready. Spending five days with my CP and meeting his entire family was a little overwhelming. Not to mention that speaking and listening in nothing but Mongolian for that amount of time took a toll on my head, at least I came out of it with some new words and phrases. I think my favorite one is an idiom I learned that Mongolian men say when they have to go to the bathroom. The direct translation is “I have to see a man about a horse.” It just makes me laugh. In what ways does seeing a man about a horse and having to go to the bathroom connect?

I want to make one last comment. So when Tsagaan Sar was over I thinking to myself great, I won’t have to eat another byyt until next year. Well when I got back to my Ger and settling in (making a fire, tea, and thawing out water) my neighbor comes rushing over within the first hour that I’m home with a plate full of byyts…and all I could do was laugh and then ask myself, why?