This past week I've been learning about the effects of Soviet Russian influence over Mongolia in the past 100 years. I'm going to visit Ulaanbaatar this week, where a new Mongolian movie about the story of a horse and a boy set in the 1920s or 30s just came out. I'm interested in learning more about this difficult period in Mongolian history, so I've been reading about it.
This week I played a shagai (ankle bone) fortune telling game. You need four sheep anklebones (cleaned, of course) for the game. Each of the bones has four sides: a camel side, a horse side, a goat side and a sheep side. Your fortune is determined based on what mixture of bones you get after you shake them in your hands and drop them like dice. Four of a kind, or one of each animal bone, offers the best luck, whereas mixtures of bones offer luck varying from good to bad.
People in Mongolia also love celebrating Shine Jil (New Years). Most people throw big parties, including my university in Mongolia! While the majority of parties are finished now, it's a great way to finish the old year and invite the new one in. These parties include lots of fireworks and dancing with friends.
