Mongolian greetings

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Greetings from Mongolia...Some people from Chicago (the Windy City, you know) were trying to dig up Genghis Khan, but were stopped a few weeks ago because it's a touchy issue.  It would be a major find if his tomb is where they're digging.
   I'll be in the Gobi desert in yurts (gers) and probably will be off the internet for five days.
   I don't have time to check all this with the online OED, but I'll assume that it's the OED and has nearly completely ignored Mongolian words into English.

   From A GUIDE TO THE ZANABAZAR MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS:

Thanka is a portable icon painting, framed with brocade, easily rolled-up when transported from place to place.
(...)
...the annual Summer's end festival of Tsam in which Lamaist Buddhist rites were performed.  The main aim of Tsam ritual dance is to show the force and power of deities.


   From THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF MONGOLIA (Ulaanbaatar, 2001) by Eric Thrift, 92 pages, paperback:

Pg. 5:
..._ger_ (yurt)...
...the four seasons, referred to as _uvuljuu_ (winter pastruage), _khavarjaa_ (spring pasturage), _zuslan_ (summer pasturage), and _namarjaa_ (autumn pasturage).

Pg. 8:  Images of _gerlugs_, or mobile ger-carts, have been found in more than fifty rock paintings of the Bronze Age.
(I saw them in a museum today.  OED?--ed.)

Pg. 11:  The three mai ntypes of reception for an honoured guest are _tsailaga_, _budaalaga_, and _dailaga_: literally giving tea, giving rice, and giving dinner.

Pg. 13:
...fried biscuits (_boortsog_).
...boiled or steamed dumplings (_bansh_, _buuz_), chow-mein noodles (_tsuivan_), and fried meat pancakes (_huushuur_).

Pg. 14:
_Boodog_...
_Khorkhog_... (Both already described, but not in OED?--ed.)
   Other staple dairy products are cheese (_hyaslag_), dried curds (_aaruul_), cream (_zuukhit_), butter, and various forms of butterfat.

Pg. 15:  _Aaruul_, or dried milk curds, are oftne made at the end of summer and stored for use during the winter, when milk is less abundant.

Pg. 17:  The most symbolically rich game in Mongolian society is the _alag melkhii_, or "multicoloured turtle."
(...) ...and _Khorol_ (a game similar to dominoes, using the twelve animals of the zodiac and Buddhist symbols.

Pg. 31:  The principal "national instruments" associated the Mongolian folk repertoire of today are the _khuuchir_, _yochin_, _yatga_, _limbe_, _shanz_, and _morin khuur_.

Pg. 35:  A separate stream in Mongolian visual arts is the _thangka_, or Buddhist iconic painting.

Pg. 47:  One of the most ubiquitous ceremonial objects used in Mongolia is the _khadag_, a silk scarf used as a symbol of respect.

Pg. 52:  The _Soyombo_ is the national symbol of Mongolia, used on the Mongolian flag and on the state seal.
(OED?  Oh, for heaven's sake...--ed.)

Gotta go!