by Mark
December 22 is the longest day of the year in Mongolia. (I’m not sure why its not the 21st- if its something to do with date lines or what). This is when winter begins. The Mongolians say that winter is made up of Nine Nines or Nine periods of nine days each. The nines build in coldness and then taper off. The end of the Nine Nines, and winter, is Tsagaan Tsar (White Month) a combination that equals Christmas, New Year and every other holiday rolled into one. The date of Tsagaan Tsar is set by the Llams according to the (lunar?) calendar (I’m not sure about how which date gets the nod and apparently there was some disagreement this year.) Tsagaan Tsar will begin on February 21 and run for 3 days. Meanwhile we are working on the 3rd Nine. Its gotten cold a few days but not really bad- I’m still bracing for the -30 F that is probably lurking around the corner and hoping the nines go quickly.
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January 13, 2009 at 5:35 am
Sharon
Perhaps breaking the days into nines helps everyone to bear the extreme cold. Only 6 more 9’s to go! Stay warm, Mom.
January 13, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Linda
With temperature on my ‘Worry’ list as concerns were divided, I am most interested in this. Weatherbug states it is minus 16.6 in Darhan, actually Ulanbataar. But be encouraged they also say it is going to be up to 12 .3 within the next few days. If weather is like the Chicago area, stick your head outside for the most accurate reading. And keep counting the nines. Grandma
January 20, 2009 at 10:55 pm
George and Pam
Hope you meant shortest day rather than longest…..? hoping that you’ll stay warm in this really frigid weather. Whenever we are tempted to complain we have only to think of you and the family and we are stopped in our tracks. Thanks for the blogs.. love the story about chicken hunting. Will have to look under a few manhole covers ourselves!
January 21, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Brian T
Hey Mark, this is Brian Teborek. It was tough tracking you down but thanks to the Facebook I was able to contact your dad and he pointed me to this blog. I hope you are doing well. I read some of your blog and it is awesome to see you so dedicated to serving the Lord and living life to the fullest.
I am living in the Chicago area and am married with 3 kids. Life is busy but good. Not sure if you prefer to communicate via the blog or email. If email is better you can reach me at briteb@sbcglobal.net.
Regards,
Brian