Mongolian Grassland Wedding

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kcanuck

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Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« on: July 07, 2007, 03:49:16 PM »
Vegemite, myself and our two children were honoured to attend the wedding of one of our local friends.  The wedding was held in a village of about 100 people located on the grassland.  The houses were made of straw/mud, many of the guests were Buryat and the wind and dust kept us company during the festivities.  We arrived to find the sheep being gutted for the wedding meal, and watched as the intestines and organs were collected and 'washed.' The meat was prepared and cooked over an outdoor wood stove and milk tea was the main beverage.  It was an event to remember. Here are a few pics, Vegemite will contribute more.

turbines in the village


lunch


food prep area


cook stove


more food fixins'

milk tea


grandma and child


some of the men


master of ceremonies dressing


bride and groom (on ends) with guests
« Last Edit: July 07, 2007, 03:55:00 PM by kcanuck »
I am still learning. Michelangelo

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Ruth

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Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2007, 07:10:05 PM »
Awesome photos of an awesome experience. Color me green.  What a great adventure for your son.  Hope you have a summer full of wonderful adventures with him.
If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.

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Raoul F. Duke

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Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2007, 04:40:16 AM »
I hate to digress, but the pleasant-looking woman at the "cook stove"...isn't that Dobbie, the house-elf from the Harry Potter  stories?
"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)

"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)

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Vegemite

Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2007, 05:46:53 AM »
I hate to digress, but the pleasant-looking woman at the "cook stove"...isn't that Dobbie, the house-elf from the Harry Potter  stories?

Never read the book but when I looked at the pic, it did cross my mind that she could have been someone from LoTR...

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Vegemite

Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2007, 06:38:36 AM »
Well, at last, here are my pics from the wedding. I'll start off with some of the kitchen workers:


And then here's one of the men out the back of the kitchen preparing the sheep for the wedding lunch:


And then a woman cleaning the internal organs:


Now, here is the food getting ready to be served at the wedding. We sat in a huge semi-circle, similar to a Pacifica arrangement, with men on one side and women on the other:


Women in the semi-circle:


The more elderly, plus the bride's parents and the laowei sat at tables. The groom's family were not present:




Some of the men seated at a table, lunch is served:


The bride and groom in the middle of the circle, getting married:


More people in the semi-circle:






Before and after the meal we all mingled:




And whilst we were eating the dogs wandered around the back of the semi-circle in the hope of getting some sheep chucked their way. Note the toilet in the background, I didn't intentionally mean to snap a shot of it...but it was very public:

« Last Edit: August 21, 2008, 12:16:04 PM by Raoul Duke »

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Mimi

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Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2007, 06:26:19 PM »
Beautiful ceremony, but poor sheep! :(

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Raoul F. Duke

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Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2008, 12:03:31 PM »
Naw...sheeps is tasty! Why, they LIKE to be eaten! bfbfbfbfbf
"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)

"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)

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Lotus Eater

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Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2008, 03:01:20 PM »
I'm jealous - that would have been a wonderful experience.  Love the 'blues' photo - blue dresses, blue shed.

Glad to see you back!!

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Raoul F. Duke

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Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2008, 10:37:17 PM »
Sadly, she isn't. I'm just moving photos from Upstairs...
"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)

"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)

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DaDan

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Re: Mongolian Grassland Wedding
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2008, 01:01:42 PM »
cool shots!  bfbfbfbfbf
such a different life people have around the world...

curious...
did you see what kinds of wedding gifts were given by the different people?

Where were the grooms family &/or is there a traditional reason they weren't present?

100 people in that village... do you know how many different families & how they keep track of bloodlines?

How far was the village from nearby towns?

Rarely see a lot of green vegetables in food pics from that area, do you know the average life span, or bout how old are the real old folks?

ya know which god they prey to?
me pappy sayd... 
Once ya get past the smell... ...:P ... `You got it licked...