Mindy in Mongolia: Mongolian Wedding, Tsaagan Sar and my trip to Khovd

In February, Julia and I went to a Mongolian wedding. It was very nice! It was my student’s wedding -he is (I think) 21 and his wife is 4 months pregnant. Their names are Gantulga and Agiimaa. It was at a hotel and there were tables set up that looked like a normal wedding reception but there was no ceremony. They announced the couple and they walked in and she was wearing a normal wedding dress. Then they sat at their table and people sang, played Mongolian instruments and throat sang. Then they stood in the middle and people had to go greet them and give them their presents. Which I thought was strange because it took so long. After that, different guests started singing and they kept passing the microphone from table to table and people had to sing songs to the couple. I was at a table with Julia and my students and they asked me to sing a song in English but I didn’t. I had no idea what to sing! We don’t have traditional songs like that…what would you guys have done?! Julia sang a short Swiss song about a couple and it was nice. I felt bad that I didn’t but I didn’t know what to do. Then there was a lot of dancing and we had a great time. A bunch of his friends studied English in London so they were talking to us. It was weird to hear their British accents! We weren’t sure what to get them and there are no registries here so people just buy whatever. The Kempinski Hotel where the wedding was held is right by our school/home. On the last Sunday of each month, they have a huge brunch - it is about $30. So we got them gift certificates to go to that.

Me with my students - Moogi, Gantulga, his wife (not my student), Nandia and Anand

Tsagaan Sar is a Mongolian holiday that means “White month” or “white moon”. It is celebration of the Lunar New Year. Julia and I were invited to a student’s house. Her name was Anuka. She was really sweet. We went over to her house and had to greet her grandmother who I think was 98 years old! She was so cute! We gave her some candy. On the table they had a huge spread of mutton, candies, salads, buuz (Mongolian dumplings) and traditional cookies. It was beautiful. You have to eat white food first and then you can eat buuz. She also gave us presents and most Mongolians get presents when they visit different houses during Tsagaan Sar.

Silver bowl to drink fermented mare's milk out of

Our trip to Khovd in the western part of Mongolia was a lot of fun! Julia, her Swiss friend Jemima and I went on the trip. The bus ride there was not as bad as I thought. I had two seats to myself. My knees were bruised though from hitting the seat in front of me - it was a tight squeeze! We stopped regularly for bathroom breaks and twice to eat and actually got there in 41 hours instead of 50! One time we stopped to go the bathroom (which is just outside…) and I saw these tall rocks in the distance. I did my business and then turned around and Julia said, “Someone is watching us go to the bathroom!” I turned around and the rocks were actually camels and now they were standing up and staring at all of us. They were maybe 300 feet away. So cool! We arrived at 5:30 in the morning and Julia’s friend Lucian picked us up at the bus stop. We ate breakfast and then went to sleep until about 2 in the afternoon. Then we got ready and went to eat lunch and then to Lucian’s dance class. We learned a hip-hop routine and some bachata. It was a lot of fun. Later we went to Monglish - a meeting/dinner where Mongolians and Americans can talk and speak Mongolian or English and afterwards went to a discotech where we performed out hip-hop routine!

The next day, we went to Lucian’s class (he teaches German) and then to lunch. We went to buy our bus tickets but the bus we came in on was full and we had to take a meeker back. A meeker is like a small van - it is supposed to hold only 12 people but Mongolians pile in like it is a clown car! Later that night we went to karaoke but we were kicked out after only an hour! So the next day we went to the meeker at 2 and they were loading it up. We crammed 21 people in it and went on our way about 2 hours after we were supposed to leave. Just as we got to the outskirts of town, we were stopped by the police and they made us go back, where they put us in a lot and shut the gate so the meeker couldn’t leave. We then sat there for 3 hours while our driver was dealing with the police. I kept asking what was going on and the other driver said it was because we had too many things packages on top of our car. No, it was because we had too many people in the meeker. I may not speak Mongolian but I am not an idiot! The driver then came to get us and told us to go eat dinner and we would leave in 2 hours. 2 hours later, he told us to go home and we would leave in the morning at 9. So at 9, we got ready and waited for him to call us and he picked us up in another car at 11. We then went to the meeker (which was in a different spot) and let 2 hours later with the same amount of people - 21! I think that he left the police lot with 12 people and then picked everyone else up at another spot and stuffed us all in there again. Halfway through the trip, he let the 3 of us (me, Julia, and her friend Jemima) sit up front and the Mongolians sat in the back and played cards. I think they wanted us up front because we take up more space and can’t talk to them very well. But I’m sorry, I’m not going to let someone keep pushing me over and putting their arm in my side just so they will be comfortable and I will be miserable. You have to hold your spot (or your ground)! When we were getting closer to UB, we three would have to go in the back and hide from the police. None of the policemen even checked the meeker to see how many people we really had in the back until we got to UB. He opened it up and asked how many people there were and the driver said 16 which was a lie! He then said ok and shut the door. What an idiot! We got in at five o’clock in the morning and I still had to lesson plan and needed to make copies for my class. I was exhausted! I really wish we could have flown there but flying is so expensive here sometimes. When we were all in the back of the meeker, I had to close my eyes sometimes and take deep breaths because I felt claustrophobic. And then what if we got in a wreck?! It was definitely an experience!