The "9 Nines"

As much as I try, I can no longer deny winter has arrived here in Choibalsan. Every morning Bambuul wakes me up at between 5 and 6am for breakfast and to do her morning business. This morning, for the heck of it, I looked up the temperature. Bad idea.



Yeah, "Feels Like -28°" is pretty dang cold for November 20th. Brrrr! And it's only gonna get colder...

In traditional Mongolian belief there are 81 days of winter based on the lunar calendar and starting on Winter Solstice. Those 81 days are broken down into the "9 Nines," a set of markers to know what stage of winter you're currently in:

First Nine – Airag (fermented mare's milk) freezes
Second Nine – Vodka freezes (meaning Russian vodka freezes)
Third Nine – Tail of a three-year-old yak freezes
Fourth Nine – Horns of a four-year-old yak freeze
Fifth Nine – Boiled rice does not congeal anymore
Sixth Nine – Roads blacken (meaning snow melts on paved roads)
Seventh Nine – Hillsides blacken (meaning snow melts on the hillsides)
Eighth Nine - Ground becomes damp (meaning snow melts on the grass)
Ninth Nine – Warm days set in

I knew it would be cold here, and I wasn't too worried since Minnesota has more than its fair share of sub-zero temps and bitterly cold wind chills. But I forgot one key cultural difference: In the states, you DRIVE everywhere, spending mere moments outside in the arctic air. In Mongolia, you WALK everywhere. To say I'm dreading the 15-20 minute one-way walk to work in the frigid depths of January is an understatement. Luckily, there's a cab stand just a couple "blocks" from my apartment. I have a feeling I'll be patronizing them frequently this winter. Winter: Oh yanna!