Hi All, This was meant to be written before the last post but... About a month ago a colleague of mine's wife gave birth and I asked what the baby's name is. His reply, "The baby has no name. That will be decided in a couple of weeks." My blank look must have spurred the conversation on. My friend, Bold, explained that his mother and mother-in-law needed to be at the house and he would invite family to the naming moment. He also said that the naming responsibility use to lie with the father but a change was in the wind and other family members could have the honor of giving baby "no-name" a moniker.
My further questions must have prompted the invitation that Pam and I received to be at the baby naming event. We checked in with Mongolian staff to find out what was appropriate to take as a gift and found that the gifts were really no different than in the States. Baby clothes, money, disposable diapers and toys were some of the suggestions.
Baby naming day came and we found ourselves in an old Russian-built apartment filled with wonderful smells, both grandmothers, Bold's immediate family and some brothers and sisters. We sat in a small living room trying out our Mongolian on the new grandmothers while drinking milk tea and eating sweets. Fortunately a few family members spoke some English so we all developed a sweat trying to communicate. After some more family arrived it was time to name the nameless.
Each family member in Bold's immediate family who wanted to submitted a name on a piece of paper that was then buried in a bowl of rice. Bold then sifted through the rice and pulled out baby nameless's name. We think Bold's choice of names was drawn. He then whispered the baby's name to the baby along with well wishes and a kiss and then announced to everyone the baby's name which I can't remember. Besides the aging process making remembering more difficult Mongolian full names add another 3 difficulty levels to the recall game. The baby was then passed around to the grandmothers first who repeated the whispering of the baby's name to the baby followed by well wishes and then gifts were placed on top of the kid. Fortunately there were no plastic bags.
As the pile of gifts mounted and the baby disappeared from sight the baby's brother cleared the sightline and the whispering of the name, kissing, well wishes and gift piling continued. Pam and I felt very honored when the baby was handed to each of us. We whispered away in English and considered it the child's first English lesson. After the baby was held by everyone he was obviously worn out and was retired to the bedroom to contemplate all the well wishes in dreamland.
Next, the food was brought out. It was wonderfully prepared by their Philippine chef who works at their ger camp during the summer. There was traditional Mongolian soup with mutton and a chicken soup along with baked chickens, chicken fingers, potato chips, soda and salads topped off with an assorted bowl of candies. We were encouraged to continue attempting the various Mongolian words of the things we were eating. Needless to say I am going to need many more meals before I have these words down. As more family came and the space got tighter Pam and I decided to leave realizing we had just shared in a very special event.
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