Friday. Feb 8. 2008. Tsaagan Sar begins.

We drove about 20 kilometers to the “countryside;” unlike the drive to Berkh there wasn’t a smooth, pure blanket of snow but it was instead soiled by splotches of brown earth. I saw a tiny shape in the distance and the driver, my host Batdelgerekh, pointed to it and told me through Munkhzul, who came along as my translator, that it was our destination. We came upon two small gers, fronted by a satellite dish on the left and a solar panel on the right, facing the opposite direction like two friends refusing to talk to each other.
Everyone files out to meet their visitors but it is not until we go inside that the formal, holiday greetings begin. Munkhzul tells me to take off my coat but leave on my hat and hands me a long, blue silky scarf. She folds it into thirds, laying it across my palms which are facing up, the opening fold is facing away from me and towards the recipient. I greet the oldest of the home by saying “amorainuu,” placing my palms under her elbows, and sniff-kissing each cheek. We went down the line until I was older than some of the kids and so I put my arms on top of theirs. Thankfully Munkhzul was there to coach me through the whole thing and the host family was gracious to me as a foreigner.
After the formalities I am led to a seat by the table and am offered tea and commanded to eat. The introductions begin and really I can only remember one name—the grandmother, Natasha which they inform me is a Russian name. She tells me later that a Russian nurse picked out the name for her. I had been curious because her eyes had a greenish-gray hue to them, exotic as they peered from her Asian frame.
A slice of meat is handed to me that is very tough to chew. Munkhzul instructs me to put it in my milk tea so that it will soften. After nibbling here and there on the variety of ‘slaw salads the buuz are brought to the table, steam rises off them and fills my nostrils with their tasty aroma. Do you ever light a candle and dip your fingers into the melted wax and let it harden? In a way, that’s what eating buuz is like. A few times I took a bite and the juice—fat—spilled out on my fingers. With nowhere to wipe them off I noticed later that it had hardened and turned white on my cold hands.
Somewhere in the meal Natasha holds a small bottle and tries to hand it to me. I can tell its snuff but I don’t exactly know how to use it. She shows me by taking the lid off and sniffing with each nostril from it. I try to do the same but I heard the kids giggling as I awkwardly sniff.
When I am handed tea or anything I must put my left hand under my left elbow to respectfully receive it. I had read about this but didn’t remember until I noticed that Natasha would do that when proffering me tea.
Again vodka was busted out, fortunately this time they were content with me pretending to take a sip and setting it down on the table. Not long after that a group of relatives stopped by for a few hours and I had to formally greet them as well.
Later they took me outside to see their livestock consisting of goats and wooly calves. They joke that I shouldn’t get worried if the goats fall over when they see me. They scattered the ground in thin brush and they joked that it was buuz for the animals as they frantically ate. I look all around me on the horizon, not a single tree or bush is visible. I ask where they get that from, they say by the river there are all sorts of small plants. One of the walls of the pen is a container, stacked high with dried-out dung. Munkhzul points to it and says they use that for fire fuel because, well, there aren’t any trees around.
Later in the afternoon we played games using the small vertebrae from some kind of animal, probably cow or goat. There are four sides to the vertebrae to which are given animal names—the smooth side is the horse; the opposite side which looks like a tooth is the camel; perpendicular to that the shape is like that of half of an 8 which is the cow; opposite of that there is J shape which is the goat. Over 20 are put in a U shape, horse-side up and we pick out our piece. 4 vertebrae are used as dice as the object is to get to the end of the U first. If the dice land horse-side up then you get to move your horse that many spaces forward.
The second game took longer for me to get the hang of it. They would take a big handful of the pieces and throw them on the floor. You then had to flick matching pieces at each other without hitting any other pieces. You then removed one piece, depending on what was more strategic for your next move. Your turn was over when you either failed to make contact or hit more than one. The remainder was handed on to the next person until they were all gone. You of course got to keep what you removed. When the person won everyone had to contribute 3 to the pile and again it started until some of us ran out. Sometimes I flicked the pieces at ones that weren’t the same and they laughed so they would all coach me on what to do.
I should also mention the gift giving. Everyone gives gifts to the host and the host gives everyone a gift as well. I received an orange stuffed animal with two long ears—one pink and the other blue—along with a handful of candy and a Mitsubishi keychain. Some of it was candy from the US because one of their relatives lives there and sent it over to them. I was receiving candy from my own country as the honored guest because it was special. I felt bad that they had to waste it on me. I gave a small bag of chocolates and felt stingy.
I enjoyed observing how they celebrate New Year here with all of its customs and formalities. What better way to learn about the culture? I am so thankful that Munkhzul came along to make sure I didn’t commit any major faux pas (that I am aware of…) and was able to help me along. The hospitality and warmth is amazing.
Happy Tsaagan Sar!
P.S. I forgot a few things. I tried airag which is the fermented mare’s milk that I had heard so much about. Well, actually this one was made with yoghurt instead of mare’s milk—I’m not sure the difference. I was nervous because the sound of it just isn’t that appealing and I had been told what to do if I don’t like it. Anyway, it tasted like Calpico, which is that yoghurt soda which they sell in Thailand, with a strong aftertaste. Somewhere between that and milky, tangy beer. It actually wasn’t too bad so I had seconds.
Also had gelatin made from the hooves of livestock. Interesting, didn’t have much flavor but is kind of considered a dessert even though it’s not sweet.
I was wrong about the bones I was playing games with. I thought they were vertebrae but actually they were the ankle bones of sheep and goats. There are only two per animal, on the rear legs.
Another thing that should be noted about this holiday is that everyone is supposed to wear the traditional del which is a thick, silky robe that can come in almost any color. They then also tie a shiny, silky sash around their waist as a belt. Most people are supposed to wear a new one for the occasion so everyone looks really nice in their festive getup.
Husband and wife are not supposed to greet each other in the traditional way that I mentioned before. This is because when man and woman marry they become one, therefore it is “impossible” to greet each other.