The great Naadam weekend has come and gone. We've celebrated the national sports of Mongolia: horsemanship, archery and wrestling. Now we ride out what's left of the sticky-hot summer.
I'm teaching two courses here as a "visiting fellow" (in quotes because I'm not sure I deserve the title) at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. The first course is an exhausting, yet interesting policy analysis workshop. The second course we've entitled "English for Academics." I use it as my personal sounding board to discuss social issues, poverty, migration, culture, etc. Today we'll read the NY Times article for new vocabulary. Then we'll discuss the interesting issues it raises regarding the rise of the wealthy urban middle class, urban Mongolians returning to the steppes to "find their roots," and changing traditions in a predominately patriarchal society.
My favorite changing Naadam tradition is that, for the first time ever, this year's festival featured female horse jockeys. Not bad, considering Chinggis Khan himself declared Naadam a nationwide celebration of the "manliest" activities on earth.
2 comments:
I see your liberal, feminist ideals have survived the time and turmoil in Mongolia, Molly!
Keep up the good work! We're proud of you!
aea
Yup - you can take the girl out the Women's Studies classes, but you can't take the Women's Studies out of the girl. Thanks for reading. xoxo!
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