When in Mongolia...Drink the Fermented Mare's Milk! (Once)

We made it safely back to Mongolia and were pleasantly surprised to discover that the hot (or at least lukewarm) water was back on! What we weren’t expecting was the color of that "hot" water—let’s just say it looked more like tea than something you'd want to bathe in. Thankfully, after running it several times over a few days, it cleared up and now seems perfectly normal.

On Thursday, we jumped right into zone conference with our new mission leaders, President and Sister Kunz. It was a full day of inspiration and connection. These gatherings are always something we look forward to—it’s a joy to meet together and feel renewed in our purpose.

We also arrived just in time for Mongolia’s biggest celebration of the year: Naadam. Rooted in Mongolia’s nomadic and military traditions, Naadam is a national festival that highlights the "three manly sports": wrestling, archery, and horse racing. These ancient competitions were once training for warriors and, over time, have transformed into a celebration of Mongolian independence and cultural identity. Officially established as a national holiday in 1921, it's now a cherished annual event.

We were lucky to get tickets to the opening ceremony, which felt like a miniature Olympic spectacle—complete with fire, water, fireworks, dance performances, horses, camels, and more! 

We wore our traditional deels, and J.D. was a star. People stared, pointed, and even asked for photos with him. One little boy—his perfect mini-me—especially caught our attention, and of course, we had to get a picture together.

We enjoyed the festivities with other senior missionaries, the Roses and the Saunders.

And in honor of Naadam, here is a picture of the tsampts (traditional shirt clothing) that we brought to our grandkids when we went to Arizona for the funeral!

Everyone told us that no Naadam experience is complete without some traditional khuushuur (deep-fried meat pies). Judging by the lines, this is serious business! The cooks were cranking out dumplings faster than we could count, and they absolutely lived up to the hype—Delicious!

The next day, we were invited to the horse races and to visit the gers of several government officials. We never quite made it to the races, but the journey there might have been even more entertaining—cars driving wildly across open fields, driving through ditches, and creating total (but glorious) chaos.  At the "ditch crossing" we were trying to cross one way but all these cars were crossing the other way...we eventually got across, after watching 3 bumpers fall off of cars, one small car get stuck, 7 people unload from said car, and many pitching in to push it through the ditch, we were finally able to get across! We loved every second of it.

Once we made it to our destination, we discovered that each district (similar to a NYC Borough) had its own set of gers set up. We visited three, each hosted by local officials. In every one, the welcoming ritual was the same: first, hot milk tea, followed by айраг (airag)—fermented mare’s milk. Everyone’s been asking us if we’ve tried it. Well… now we have. And we’ve decided we don’t need to try it again! After the airag came more khuushuur, and then—capping off the experience—Mongolian vodka. Since we don’t drink alcohol, we were shown a respectful alternative: men dip their right ring finger into the drink and flick it into the air; women wipe their foreheads with it. A beautiful gesture of inclusion and respect.  We also learned about хөөрөг (snuff bottles) which are exchanged during greetings, a sign of respect, friendship, and honor.  Although we had none to exchange, we were offered the greeting tradition.  

        Us with the Saunders (Area Medical Missionaries), Odmaa (Church Government Affairs), and 

       Mendsaikhan (chairman of the Bayanzurkh District Council of Citizens). 

Us with Uchral, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development in Mongolia, and his wife.  In this ger, in addition to all of the things I mentioned, they brought us Хорхог (pronounced khorkhog).  This is a traditional Mongolian dish made by cooking chunks of lamb or goat meat with hot stones inside a sealed metal container. It’s a very special dish prepared for honored guests.

The Khuurshuur and airag.

This was a performance in one of the gers. 

They had horses to ride and archery....fine form from J.D.!

Although we didn't see any actual races, we did run across this participant, an 8 year old boy who wasn't pleased with his finish.  They have young kids ride so the horses carry less weight for their 15-20 kilometer race.

On the way home, our driver pulled off the road to buy some fresh airag. No sign, no storefront—just a ger with horses out front, the universal symbol that airag is available. “If the door is open,” he explained, “you’re welcome to walk in and share a drink.”

They put the mare's milk in this cow hide pouch along with some other ingredients (they didn't know English words for them), to ferment, and then every two hours they swish it with this paddle.  They had done this overnight to produce this "fresh" fermented airag.  

She filled the container with airag straight from the cow hide.  

It was two full days immersed in Mongolian traditions, hospitality, and culture—and we loved every bit of it...well, except for the fermented mare's milk!