Mongolian Diary

Ger visit

What a wonderful evening!

We were taken to meet the grandmother and family of a research contact. Her grandmother has always lived in a ger and currently shares her home with our friend's uncle, his wife and four children: two teenage boys, a young girl of about 8 years old and a boy of three. We arrived by taxi at about 7.30pm. The site is a cleared building plot and just a few gers in habit this area of about the size of a football pitch. We were greeted by the uncle who showed us in. The interior was much bigger than I thought it would be with plenty of headroom and it was very, very warm. We greeting the grandmother with open hands and were kissed and welcomed by the whole family. Shani, as senior woman, was given a gift of a scarf and we shared a ceremonial drink of hot milk with the grandmother. We then gave the gifts that we had taken - a sewing kit for the grandmother, a calendar with photographs of horses for the uncle and a bag of lollipops for the children. The grandmother was dressed in a beautiful azure silk robe, which she later discarded to reveal an even more beautiful purple der (traditional dress).

We then sat on very low stools at a table laden with food by a huge cast iron stove which cooked food and provided heating for the ger. This single room dwelling had beds, a wardrobe, display cabinet, sink - all arranged around the outside of the room with us, the table the stove in the middle. There was also a TV which remained on with the sound turned low.

We were offered a delicacy of a type of sour milk fudge and given drinks of warm milk. Then the main course was served. This was large pieces of boiled mutton. Shani was given the sharp knife to cut the meat and serve me with pieces. She was also presented with the honoured guest speciality of a large slab of sheep fat - about 6 inches square and 2 inches thick. We were also offered 'buuz' a traditional steamed dumpling of boiled mutton. It is traditional for just the guests to eat but the family also joined us in this feast. There was also fruit, sweets and later we were given tiny glasses of a delicious Mongolian fruit wine.

Our hosts spoke no English but fortunately our friend translated all their questions, which were very tentative to begin with but became more probing as we all relaxed with each other. They asked which other countries we had visited and what our husbands did for a living. Uncle was most impressed with David's job! We then took photographs and much arranging of seating positions was undertaken before we could start! This really broke the ice, particularly with the digital camera because they enjoyed seeing themselves in the display on the back of the camera. We also showed them our passports and they were very interested in our Mongolian visas. Uncle explained that people he knew had been swindled out of their homes with the promise of UK visas. They would love to visit the UK and America. Uncle likes Tony Blair's political policies. The calendar of horses was very well received and there were many questions asked about horses in the UK. They were surprised at how large UK horses are and they asked if children took part in horse races in the UK. When we replied that children did not but that jockeys were usually small men, they found this very funny indeed.

We were shown certain traditions and fortune telling bone casting was explained. I mentioned that some people in the UK tell fortunes from hands and then we spent about 15 minutes examining everyones hands for signs of long life, number of loves and number of children - oops, I think we might have started a new trend in Mongolia!

I really can't begin to express what a huge priviledge it was to have experienced this. We had a wonderful evening. When we left, we shook hands in the 'British tradition' and also exchanged kisses - this time just one kiss on the cheek, this idea being that you have to return in the future to get the second kiss - a lovely tradition.

I'm not sure that we can top this - but we will continue to keep you posted. Keep your messages coming - we really appreciate them. Helen & Shani.

posted by Helen J @ 9:28 AM