Celebrations: Naadam, Awards, Library…and proverbs

Muron’s own Naadam

A five-year-old boy won the prize for riding the fastest horse in Muron’s Naadam recently. Really! If you’ve been reading my blog, you might be asking, “Didn’t you already celebrate Naadam in July?”  The answer is yes, but…

Approaching the finish of the horse race

Naadam is the big summer holiday in Mongolia celebrating the three manly sports: horse racing, wresting Mongolian style, and archery.  I live in Muron, the aimag center (like the state capital) and so our Naadam is always for the whole state of Khuvsgul.  This year Muron wanted its own city Naadam just like the rest of the other towns have in the aimag.

Even though school had already started, at the end of September we had 3 days of celebration.  I spent the last day with a friend watching the horse racing, the wrestling, and the presentation of awards (always a big deal).  I am always impressed watching the horses with their small riders come flying in from 10-17 miles away—many without saddles and riding as if glued to the animal’s back.

The wrestler in the center is a national champion and proved it easily. Check out youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o21UWYy-5IQ

There are different races for ages of horses from 2 to 7.  An interesting sidebar: The horse that finishes last in the Daaga race (two-year-old horses’ race) is called bayan khodood (meaning “full stomach”—don’t ask why). And along with songs sung to the winners, a song is sung to the bayan khodood wishing him luck to be next year’s winner.

Sara’s father is honored

Sara, Jamsren, Tsermaa, Bold (Sara's brother and the couple whose home I share) at ceremony celebrating Jamscren's long career

As I say, Mongolians love to celebrate.  Last week, my boss’s father (Jamsren) was honored along with three other men at a special ceremony complete with medals, plaques, speeches, music and of course a sip of vodka for all.  About 100 people were present. I was the official photographer for Janscren and am posting a family photo.

Bookbridge arrives

I also witnessed the arrival of 15,000 English books for the local library, courtesy of Bookbridge (see www.bookbridge.org for details).  A joint effort of Kuehne + Nagel, www.kn-portal.com/ and the Bookbridge team, the group spent months preparing for this effort which also includes a provision for teaching English and many activities for children.  A team of 12 spent a week setting up shelves, painting, sorting the books (all donated—most from America) and then, of course, had a grand opening with balloons and music performances and speeches.

English corner

One of our ongoing activities will now take place in the library instead of the local hotel.  It’s called English Corner (Mondays, 7 to 7 pm) and anyone is welcome to come who wants to practice speaking English. Last Monday I talked with a small group of adults about proverbs such as “too many cooks spoil the broth”.  I have long been interested in Mongolian proverbs and when I was in UB a while ago I found a book filled with Mongolian proverbs in English and Mongolian, along with an explanation of their meanings and even their frequency of use.

 “Outside glitters, inside ignorance”: Mongolian proverb

I might compare that to the English “You can’t tell a book by its cover.”  I have a list of English proverbs too and we are having a good time discussing and comparing them.  Mongolian proverbs often include a reference to animals or to family members.  What’s your favorite proverb?

Do you have a favorite—is there one your mom or dad or grandparent always used?  Send it to me, either by sending me a comment (click below on “send a comment”)  or email me directly.

Bayartai, daraa ulzii  (goodbye, see you later)

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