7th February Today is a Thursday and is the first New Year Holiday for ADRA. Here it is the Year of the Mouse (in contrast to the Year of the Rat in China). This time is the lunar new year, which is also celebrated in China. There have been lots of reports on the news about how the bad cold weather in China is preventing families getting together for the Lunar New Year. Here the festival is called Tsagaan Sar. According to my Lonely Planet “A full belly during Tsagaan Sar represents prosperity in the year ahead. Likewise, the central meal of the holiday must be the biggest sheep a family can afford to buy – pride is at stake in how much fat will appear at the table.”
Not having to pick up a sheep carcass at the market we walked to the Natural History Museum instead. This building may be the closest thing UB has to a zoo – as it is full of stuffed animals and birds. Alesia was impressed by the bears, the snow leopards, and the big dinosaur skeleton. Referring to the Lonely Planet again – “Impressive is the Palaeontology Hall and its array of complete dinosaur skeletons, including a 3m-tall, five-ton, flesh-eating tarbosaurus. For a bird’s-eye view, clamber up the stairs outside the hall to a gallery on the 3rd floor.” We were unable to go into the hall itself, and were restricted to the 3rd floor gallery. The balcony on this gallery was made of the kind of columns you see on Greek-style houses in the Western suburbs of Melbourne – kindly set far enough apart that Alesia could almost squeeze through until Chris saw her and yanked her back.
As usual, Alesia and I walked too fast for Chris – as he wanted to read all the captions (and they are in Mongolian and English). We basically had the place to ourselves, except for a Mongolian army officer and his two daughters who seemed to be walking at the same pace we were so shared many exhibits with us. Cost – girls were free and $2.50 for each adult, plus an additional $5 to take photos of the dinosaurs. I am very happy with what I am learning about the camera - as the picture below shows just how dim the lights really were in the dinosaur hall, but the picture above shows what I managed to achieve leaning on the railing and playing with the shutter speed and exposure settings.
On the way home we passed the German café, so of course we had to go in. Bella was glad to see us, the girls both got free doughnuts and we spent $16 on hot drinks and apple strudel. We must walk another way next time.
9th February
The city is still in New Year mode. Lot’s of people at church were wearing traditional dress and there was an extensive traditional New Year’s greeting time after the service. I managed to escape with Keira, but Alesia got plenty of kisses and hugs. I overheard the Mission President (an Australian) talking about how many homes he had to visit this afternoon. We have not been here long enough to be part of the New Year visits. We spent Friday inside our apartment, watching families traipse between apartments, all carrying plastic bags (food or grog I guess). Lots of babies were out and lots of families were walking together. UB’s characteristic crowded traffic was non-existent, and the square outside our window that is usually the scene of cars crossing at strange angles became a car park. Below is a picture of the normal peak hour from our balcony (taken at about 7pm). We live on a side street and none of these cars are moving....imagine all of them sounding their horns at once and you get a good idea of the atmosphere.
With everyone around us doing the done thing for this time of year I was reminded that there are always those that are on the outer. When we are busy with events such as Christmas there are always those living among us who don’t celebrate Christmas and see the day as just the same as any other, with a few headaches because the shops are closed. I don’t mind being on the outer this year (and after reading about the traditional Tsagaan Sar meal I am glad not to have to face a big sheep loaded with fat). Will we mind if we are still on the outer at this time next year?
