Nadaam (the largest summer holiday in Mongolia) - my family and I celebrated Nadaam in U.B. We packed bags full of presents, candies, and dairy products to give to relatives. We managed to cram a live goat with a bag over his head and 7 or 8 family members into a small car headed to UB. After 2 hours of bahhhhhing and an uncomfortable amount of bumps, we arrived at my Emee's oldest son’s ger in the outskirts of U.B. Tables were set with potato salad, egg salad, candies, cookies, and meat and meat galore. It is Mongolian tradition for an appointed man to kill a goat (the poor little goat that ventured to U.B. with me) by slitting a small gash into the throat and reaching his bare hand into the wound to crush the heart. Once the goat is killed, the man blowtorches and scrapes away the fur until all that remains is burnt flesh. After the skin is crisp, the women and men begin preparing the goat to be cooked.
Over 50 family members attended the Nadaam celebration. It was nice to see the whole family together- even my Emee was able to attend for a couple hours. No matter what happens to her this summer, it was so nice to see her celebrating Nadaam with her entire family one last time.
Once the whole family was stuffed and many (although not my host family) drunk, we went to mount zsian, which offers beautiful views of U.B. The next day, my family sat around eating fried eggs, ham, and cucumbers, and watched on TV the traditional Nadaam competitions: archery, horseback riding, and wrestling. The women, including myself, had a photo session wearing tradiational Mongolian dels. We swapped and tried on at least 6 different styles and colors of dels. Although different in obvious ways, Nadaam reminded me of Thanksgiving, but instead of watching the Macy’s parade, I watched men wrestle in rather tiny outfits…LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!
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