Naadam Festival

Today was the kick-off of the National Festival Naadam (pronounced Nodum). There are three main events; Horse Racing, Wrestling and Archery.  Today we attended the Opening Concert with singing and native dancing. It was beautiful with vibrant colors, amazing dancing and singing. 

There are three main tribes or cultures here; the Mongols, Kazak and Buriad. The concert theme included song, dance and costumes of all three cultures and how they are all now one Mongolia, all in harmony.  The colors and costumes were brilliant.

The music was all played on traditional Mongolian instruments. The Morin Khuur is the long necked guitar like string instrument, the Youchin a dulcimer like string instrument hit with a hammer, and Bishgurr a wind instrument like a trumpet and a number of others.









Of course a lot of the event includes honoring the National Hero, Ghenggis Khan (pronounced "Jengis Han"). The finale included the Army of Ghenggis Khan marching down the aisle to the stage while the audience stood and clapped and cheered. He is greatly revered here in Mongolia.









After the concert we met with wonderful old couple in traditional dress that a lot of people wear during Naadam.  He is 78 and she is 73.  We had great conversation and they wanted to know why we were in Mongolia.  They invited us to call them after the Festival is over which ends Sunday. They said they have a big house and all the kids are gone and wanted us to come and live with them. They were so sweet.  Their names are Namsrai and Badam. A note of interest: You don't see many people their age as the life expectancy in Mongolia is 64!

The large building behind us is the theater where the performance was held. It is about two blocks from our apartment.

We met about a half-dozen strangers today who just came up to us and were curious about why we are in Mongolia. We tell them our Church has assigned us as volunteers and we are here to teach English. Many of them are interested and want to come attend our classes. We'll see if they come! It is fun to meet and learn about the many people we meet. Our translator was amazed and had fun also.