The Nine Nines of Winter

Here in Mongolia, winter is traditionally thought of as nine periods of nine days each, or the “Nine Nines of Winter.” Obviously winter in Mongolia lasts longer than 81 days, but the Nines represent the coldest part of winter. The Nines start on the winter solstice (so they started on December 22 in 2015), and each of the Nines is associated with an event related to how cold it supposedly is:

1st Nine: Mongolian vodka (made from milk) freezes

2nd Nine: Regular vodka freezes

3rd Nine: The horns of 3-year-old bulls freeze and fall off

4th Nine: The horns of 4-year-old bulls freeze and fall off

5th Nine: Boiled rice no longer freezes

6th Nine: Roads start to become visible through the snow

7th Nine: Snow on hill tops begins to melt

8th Nine: The ground becomes damp

9th Nine: Warmer days have arrived

Yes, I know most of you can’t read this, but it basically says what I just talked about, and I thought the pictures were cute (from http://news.gogo.mn/r/176271)

Today is the first day of the 6th Nine, and I can say the roads are still very much covered in ice and snow, and likely will be for quite some time. Maybe this system was developed by Mongolians in the Gobi or somewhere else warmer than Zavkhan (okay, everywhere in Mongolia is warmer than Zavkhan, but still…). The idea that “warmer” days will have arrived by the end of the Nines (which will be March 12 this year) is laughable. But I guess it’s all relative, and considering the past few weeks we had, it wouldn’t take much to make it “warmer.”

The 4th and 5th Nines are thought to be the coldest, and that was definitely true this year. There were a couple weeks in mid to late January when it was well into the -30s F (-35 to -40 C) every single night, and never even got close to breaking 0 degrees F (-18 C) during the day.

Different hemispheres and all, but still (photo credit to Saruul Sora on Facebook)

I’ve been chopping so much wood recently to keep the fire in my stove burning that I was really worried for a bit that I had injured my shoulder (it’s better now because I got a little wood-chopping break thanks to my sitemate).

I spend the first hour or so after I get home from work huddling next to my stove, then slowly start taking the layers off as my ger warms up. Even the nights when it got close to -40, I couldn’t keep a fire going all night because that would have required me to wake up several times during the night (I don’t know if it’s the kind of stove I have or just the fact that my ger is relatively large and therefor has more air to heat, but it is impossible to keep it warm without tending to the fire every hour or so, even when I use coal). So instead of keeping warm that way, I go to bed wearing two layers plus my winter deel, sleep in my Peace Corps-issued sleeping bag (rated to -20 degrees F/-29C!), under my down comforter, along with a winter hat and gloves. Then I wake up in the morning, quickly start a fire, then run back under the covers for another 30-40 minutes until my ger is bearable. Even then, I can still see my breath while getting ready in the morning, and all my toiletries (toothpaste, face wash, moisturizer, etc.) are pretty much frozen (but ice crystals are exfoliating, right?). It’s really cold is what I’m saying.

This was predicted to be a particularly harsh winter, and I can say that it’s definitely much colder than last winter. I can’t even escape the cold at work, since the radiators we have at the health department only provide so much heat unless you’re sitting right next to them. So, most of the time I’m wearing my jacket (and sometimes even gloves) in my office at work.

But, the Nines are over half-way through, and even though what I perceive as winter will continue for 3 or 4 more months, the coming above-zero days will feel like a sauna by comparison!