Every table at Tsagaan Sar has a center piece something like this, this was a colorful one. There is always an odd number of layers, representing "happy - not happy - happy" always ending with "happy". These stay on the table until the last 2-3 days and then they are eaten with hot milk, to soak the pieces in. We grew up with hot milk and toast! It is a staple here. You could eat the candy or sugar lumps or the curds from them, but not the bread itself. They are very pretty. Some are all white and some very large and some small. The layers have to do with the age of the people, the higher the bread, the older you are. I saw some 7 layers high.
Some tables were very simple and some very elaborate. This table was very nice, but simple. The food tasted very good. Their rice is very good, with butter and raisins. The buuz are in the front, they always had buuz, some very interesting, with all parts of the sheep, all parts!
This is Shinnbaatar, he is the Elders Quorum President in the Branch. He has a daughter in Australia, very nice people! He invited all the Branch youth and the missionaries over for the afternoon. They love coming here, he is very kind. There is a nice center piece and he is carving a piece of meat, it may have been antelope. Custom says that everyone has a piece of the meat and the oldest one first - yep, us!
This is the meat he was carving. They like every bit of the meat, there will be nothing but bones, when they are done! After everyone has had the meat then they serve the salads and relish and Salomone and rice. Their salads and rice are very good. I had a hard time with Salomone at home.
This is a picture of Damdanjorg and his family. They all dressed up in their deels and notice the little boys hat, it is a traditional Mongolian wrestling hat. There are some very fancy hats and deels! I have been very impressed!
Some tables were very simple and some very elaborate. This table was very nice, but simple. The food tasted very good. Their rice is very good, with butter and raisins. The buuz are in the front, they always had buuz, some very interesting, with all parts of the sheep, all parts!
This is Shinnbaatar, he is the Elders Quorum President in the Branch. He has a daughter in Australia, very nice people! He invited all the Branch youth and the missionaries over for the afternoon. They love coming here, he is very kind. There is a nice center piece and he is carving a piece of meat, it may have been antelope. Custom says that everyone has a piece of the meat and the oldest one first - yep, us!
This is the meat he was carving. They like every bit of the meat, there will be nothing but bones, when they are done! After everyone has had the meat then they serve the salads and relish and Salomone and rice. Their salads and rice are very good. I had a hard time with Salomone at home.
This is a picture of Damdanjorg and his family. They all dressed up in their deels and notice the little boys hat, it is a traditional Mongolian wrestling hat. There are some very fancy hats and deels! I have been very impressed! Most of the homes we were in are very small - as big as our living room and kitchen - that is the whole house. This family live all together in that kind of house. One corner is the kitchen with a metal stove and an outhouse and they roll out their beds at night. They have no privacy or other rooms. But this house was neat and clean.
We love all of you and I sure appreciate America and our home and our family! I have truly been spoiled and we have so much to be grateful for!
Right now we are in Korea, waiting for our visa's. It will be another few days, we went and bought some groceries. We think of you often and love you all!
4 comments:
you have some wonderful photos! How do you pronounce Tsagaan-sar? The food actually looks delicious. Isn't it amazing how other cultures don't waste anything? We'll all be looking forward to some homemade sheep kidney stew when you get home. Be safe. We love you!
Wow! What an adventure you are having! We love your blog. Hope you are soon back in Mongolia. What are you doing to keep busy in Korea and where are you staying? Put that in your next blog :)
We are so glad that you made it safely to Korea. We miss you and think of you often. We love you.
I guess that food is food when it is limited but MAN I sure would not want to eat that meat! I hope you are doing well!
Love ya lots!
Marla
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