July 29-30: A bit of something new

July 29^th

In the morning I went into the city to try and arrange flights and cars for my dad.  It took a bit of running around, but we got everything figured out. I also came to find that one plan on the itinerary was stupid, because I didn’t understand the direction of the places we were going, so I changed that and re arranged our hotel booking to reflect it.

I went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for Momo (Tibetan dumplings) and came home to cook for the family. M was shamanizing again, so I waited outside for him to finish.  Then, with U and Hulan’s help, we made about 80 momo for the family. They really enjoyed it. Even Enkhule came over to eat.

S told me that they would be going to the country side tomorrow, which I couldn’t do because I had some meetings I couldn’t miss. I asked how long. They said a week. This was a bit of a problem.  I said I could stay with friends in UB so it wouldn’t be an issue. The extended family will go out to the country on the weekend, and I will join them for that, but otherwise, I will stay in the city. I have some meetings to prepare stuff for my dad, as well as some interviews that I don’t want to miss.

The momos came out delicious and went over very well!

July 30^th

At 8 AM Enkhule came by to pick me up. I brought my bags over to ACMS, where we were informed that the electricity would be killed for the entire region at around 10 AM, internet included of course.  But Clinton and I had a mission: We would improve the bear!

Outside the ACMS office is a lovely playground, but it had the most depressing, crumbling concrete bear, covered in graffiti. It looked kind of terrifying. Clinton had the idea that we repaint the bear and went out and bought paint and brushes. When he told me the idea, I jumped!

So, at around 10:45 in the morning, Clinton said “Amalia, it’s time to wash the bear!” I changed into my messy clothes and we went outside with a bucket of water, soap, sponges and rags and proceeded to wash the bear.  We got more than a few weird looks from passersby.

We went back in, got paintbrushes and started painting the bear a chocolate brown.  ACMS office people came out to take photos and video and crack a lot of jokes about the crazy foreigners painting the sad, concrete bear.

I met someone to arrange a car for my dad’s trip, which was my last major concern for dad’s trip.  Then ML called and asked if I could come over that night and play with the kittens.  I, of course, agreed.  Kittens!!

After painting the base coat on the bear, Clinton and I came back inside and I met Augusta, a very nice student from the USA who had recently done research at Kailash and just returned from a research trip about nomadic women in the Gobi.  We talked about each other’s research, and she was quite fascinatied with all of the shaman stuff. She asked me if it would be possible to see a shaman.  At first, I thought no. M was out of town, as was T. But then I remember ML.  I gave ML a call and asked if he would be shamanizing tonight, he said yes, so I asked if I could bring friends, he also said yes.  I told Augusta, no problem, so she called her research partner, Lara, and their research partner and translator Gundegmaa to come.

We rushed over to Tolgoit and of course found that we would have to wait for ML to actually get there. A middle aged Mongolian woman was also trying to come, I explained that ML would be coming soon. She seemed very wary of us. Later we found out that she thought we might be missionaries.

ML arrived not long after and we went into the ger where I introduced him to my friends and also played with the kittens. I noticed a lot more people were coming in, so I told Lara and Augusta that the ceremony would probably go longer than the 1 hour I initially anticipated, but that if we needed to leave, there would be times when we could.

ML then told me that TWO shamans would be shamanizing, and that his Morin Huur (horse head fiddle) playing friends would also be coming.  This would be both amazing and long.

When the first spirit came, we noticed that the middle aged woman was being shockingly controlling.  For example, ML’s sister and attendant would say that we could go, and the woman would say men had to go first and stop us.  It turned out she was the other shaman’s mother.  We quickly declared that, despite the other shaman being gorgeous, he would have to stay single because he had the ultimate nightmare mother in law.

I went in front of the first spirit, who did a very good job.  Gundegmaa was very impressed with his mannerisms and advice.

Before the next spirit came, 3 morin huur players arrived. The shaman is a member of a rather large traditional Mongolian music band. They played a bit while ML did throat singing with them.  It was AWESOME.  When the shaman started drumming, they played Morin huur as the shaman was drumming to accompany the spirits coming and going. I had never seen anything like this.  It was intense and beautiful.

The next spirit was another male spirit and Lara and Augusta got a chance to meet him.  He gave us a talk about the difficulties of life and the ups and downs and how we needed to move past our challenges by reflecting on challenges we had already surpassed. Kind general advice.

The morin huur players played again as the spirit left. This time we were told that the spirit coming would not meet anyone. He would not interact with any women (so another shaman had to replace the sister in the role of attendant) and would not meet people. He would take a drink and leave. 

The shaman changed into a black robe with red ropes (symbolic snakes) on it, and switched to a triangular drum, as opposed to his usual circular ones.  The lights were all turned out and the curtain covering the altar was raised away.  The Ger was near pitch black, only illuminated by the three butter lamps.  The Morin Huur players started playing and the shaman began drumming, and a fierce male spirit arrived.  The music continued throughout as he shook and demanded a drink, took his drink, and left, all over a period of about 10 minutes.  It’s hard to describe or put into words, but it was a bit scary, very intense, and amazing.

After he left, the lights were turned back on, the altar covered again.  The shaman was given a few minutes to rest.  His attendant helped him change back into his previous costume and pulled off the female mask of his grandmother spirit. 

When she came, the morin huur players were playing an upbeat song, and Grandmother started dancing a traditional Mongolian dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAfUZ81E42I . She interrupted them and told them to stop and demanded they play a traditional Mongolian dance song. Before anything could start, she wanted to dance.  We watched as she danced for at least 5 or so minutes.

We had been told that this grandmother was an exceptional healer, and so if we had any health questions, we should ask her.  Several people, including the students I was with, had questions. Obviously, considering the content and privacy, I will not discuss any details or anything identifying.

At one point all the men were kicked out except for a woman’s husband, this was done for an issue involving fertility.  Although at no point in the ceremony was any anatomy seen, it was touching that the shaman recognized the need for privacy and kicked out all the men.

I went forwards to ask about a stomach issue and was given a traditional herbal remedy. I also asked grandmother to look at my ankle. She intensely massaged it and at one point braced my foot so that the heel was on the floor, toe towards the sky, gripped my toes together and then punched directly downward, sending a shock through the foot.  She asked me to move my ankle. All of a sudden, I had full, painless mobility in a direction that was still causing me problems. The bonesetters here are GOOD.  She discussed the issue with my ankle and tied a red string above my ankle to promote healing. 

She helped heal a few more people. As this was going on, the other shaman was preparing.  Even at one point beginning shamanizing while grandmother was still there.  It was very strange to me to see one shaman going into trance while another shaman was already in trance. The morin huur players were going at it very strong. 

When ML came out of trance, he joined in with the Morin Huur players, adding percussion by hand drumming and joining in the throat singing with great enthusiasm. He promised to teach me more Mongolian songs and introduced me to his Morin huur players.

ML got out of his overrobe and walked us to the door. We told him we were looking for a taxi, but he refused and volunteered one of his friends to drive us back.  The friend did not seem enthusiastic, but was very nice about it. And clearly felt like it was his duty.  He was one of the Morin Huur players, so after we dropped off the students, we discussed Morin Huur as I headed back to my place for bed.  My only regret was that we couldn’t film the evening.