Just a couple of interesting things about Mongolia.
The first picture is of a young Mongolian boy. The Mongolians traditionally dress their sons to look like girls until about the age of five years. Folklore has it that doing so will help keep evil spirits away from them. We don't think very many of them still really believe that to be true, but the custom is still generally followed.
The second picture is a contrast between old and new. The monastery which can be seen at the bottom of the picture, is hundreds of years old, while the very tall building behind it (commonly referred to as the 'sail' building--from the side it does look like a sail from a small yacht) is obviously very modern (and is still, in fact, under construction). Such contrasts are fairly common here and are very fascinating.
4 comments:
My first thought was "Oh, what a cute little girl", OOPS!! I love the monastary. I love buildings like that. Have you had a chance to go into either one of the buildings?
I know here, people still confuse my little girl in a pink carseat for a boy! I can't even imagine trying to guess if a child is a boy or a girl there!
Amy,
We want to go back and go through the monastary, but we were pressed for time that day and we were with other people. As for the "sail" building, it is under still construction.
I don't think they dress them as girls for tradition. I think they just have big sisters, like my little boys do. Their sister dressed them up like girls until about the time they turned 5. Then they figured out that it wasn't cool and wouldn't go along with her anymore!
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