In Nepal These Days

Hi!
We hope everyone is fine, despite all the depressing news in the world.

We're praying for everyone!!!

Here in Nepal we're in the midst of one of the many festivals they have and it's called Dashain. Many people travel to visit their families, like we do to visit our families during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is a common scene these days:

That picture is from this post http://himalayanhappenings.blogspot.com/2010/10/dashain-festival.html which I wrote during our first Dashain festival. The buses are super crowded,
and so are the roads!

Those of you who've been following this blog, will have seen other festival posts. If you missed them, click "Festivals" in the Labels section on the right side of this blog.

Here is an excerpt from one of those posts, soon after we arrived, and is the conversation

I had with some of the school kids:

...the kids told me about the upcoming holiday.  Here is an approximation of the conversation:

Kids:  Kathy Ma'am (names are first and then the title), tomorrow is a holiday! 
Kathy Ma'am:  Oh!  How nice!  What holiday is it? 
Kids:  Janai Purnima! 
Kathy Ma'am:  How interesting!  What is that? 
Kids:  It's a festival. 
Kathy Ma'am:  What kind of festival? 
Kids:  A festival!!!! 
Kathy Ma'am:  But what is it exactly? 
Kids:  It's a festival!!!! 
Kathy Ma'am:  But what happens during this festival? 
Kids:  Oh, they're going to have the festival. 
Kathy Ma'am:  What kind of things will they do at the festival? 
Kids:  Just festival things!!!
Kathy Ma'am:  What are the festival things?
Kids:  The things you do at the festival!!!

(They shake their heads.  I just don't get it.)

😊

If you're curious to find out more about Nepal's festivals, check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_festivals_in_Nepal

The best way to let you know about what's happening these days is to let you read newspaper articles.

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-30/various-leaders-offer-receive-dashain-tika-blessings-in-photos.html
Sneak peak from that article:

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-29/kathmandu-streets-wear-a-deserted-look-during-dashain-in-pictures.html
Sneak peak from that article:

This picture really is unusual, because the traffic is usually quite heavy!

...and just a couple of days ago:
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-25/festival-rush.html
Sneak peak from that article:

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-29/linge-ping-on-verge-of-disappearance.html
Sneak peak from that article:

If you looked up my Dashain post, you'll have seen my picture of this linge ping
which I took right down the road from here:

More festivities--http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-27/fulpati-being-observed-nationwide-today.html
Sneak peak from that article:

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-29/traditional-santhal-dance-during-dashain.html
Sneak peak from that article:

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-29/mahanawami-being-observed-today-20170929073618.html
Sneak peak from that article:

Also in the news this week--
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-09-28/new-kumari-trishna-shakya-takes-reign-as-living-goddess-in-photos.html
Sneak peak from that article:

To read more about the Kumari tradition, read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumari_(goddess)

OK, that's all for now. Just Google for more information if you're interested.

We wish everyone all the best! Have a nice day, take care, and God bless!
Thanks for your prayers!

On the Way to Kathmandu

Hi!

Hope all reading this are having a lovely day!

We're fine and just working as usual! Ramon's hours are very long, and so we head out
to Kathmandu on our day off.

Many times we have to leave late, or come back early, because of Ramon's schedule, 

and sometimes we can't even go, but we always enjoy getting away if only for a short time! 😍

Today, I'll show you what we've been seeing lately as we drive the 17 miles, which can 

take anywhere from one and a half - two hours!

Now and then we see remnants of an accident. This was very recently.

There was so much traffic that I couldn't get a good picture, but if you can tell,
the bus is being held up by a tree!!! Yes, that one lone tree saved the lives of all the people who were on that bus! Even as the people were climbing out, the tree held and all the people got out safely!
MAN! Someone's angel was working!

This area of the "highway" is on the edge of a steep cliff. In this picture of the truck stop near the place of the accident you can see it's perched right on the edge.

Now one interesting thing about this truck stop is that usually I don't see people going in and out of the restroom.

However, I always see men standing beside it and going over the edge of the mountain!
Either the restroom is a little smelly and they won't go inside,
or it's just too much fun to go over the edge!  😌

Now here is a common sight all over Nepal and we see it every day.

It never ceases to amaze me. This is one reason there is a high incidence of uterine prolapse here.
Once I saw one of these baskets filled with grass like this sitting unattended by the school.
No one was around, so I thought I'd see how heavy it was. Not only could I not pick it up,
it was so heavy that I couldn't even push it!

 Very rarely do you see men carrying heavy loads, although once in awhile you do.
Yes, this is at the truck stop.

Now, as we travel down the mountain, we pass by this little store, which as you can see,
does a brisk business. There's not much of a parking lot, but they make it work!
 Sorry it's a little blurry, but, well, I was in a car on a bumpy road!

Continuing on, we pass this store with a roof, supplemented by an umbrella! Hey, whatever works!

Yes, we often see families who are still living in a temporary shelter, and some are able to watch TV.
Do you see the satellite dish?

Yes, even before the earthquake, we saw folks at the outdoor community water spigots.
If you look closely, you can see the darling toddler this mother is washing!

Right near there is the fire station!

Now there's a lot of rebuilding going on, so you always see scenes like this,

...and this:

The brick companies are doing really well and are very busy.

These areas are like little villages. It's hard to get a picture of the action because of the trees.
I've heard that it's going to take at least four more years to make enough bricks to
rebuild the houses that were destroyed or damaged during the earthquake.

This week as we got closer to Kathmandu, we saw a bus whose driver must
have dated a Drama Queen!

OK, that's enough for now. Have a lovely day and enjoy the views out your windows
wherever you are!  😊
Take care and God bless!

Last Year and This Year

Hello!
Yes, it's February, but we can still wish you a
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow, another year has gone by!

Yes, it's true:  Time Flies When You're Having Fun!  I'm not sure we had fun every single solitary minute of every day, but I am dead certain that we were richly blessed every minute of every day!

We hope you were too!

So here's a comparison between last year at this time and now.

First of all, we're on our vacation right now!  Last year we took it at the end of March, but
this year we chose February.  We're so thankful to be able to spend time with our families
and friends and relax a little bit.  

This time last year in Nepal the roads looked like this...

 

...not many vehicles in the road, right?

We were in the middle of a very cold winter with a fuel crisis going on.  Did you hear about it?

Go to the Labels section, and click "Fuel Crisis" for information if you missed those posts.

You'll see pictures like this of vehicles waiting in line, sometimes for days,
yes, days, for fuel.

Now, we spend lots of time stuck in traffic since we have fuel, but we're happy to have fuel,
so...there you go!

Ramon said he's thinking of buying either a car or a motorcycle.
When he makes up his mind, I'll let you know!


 Last year was a difficult time for the country and especially those living in temporary housing

after the earthquake.  Some are still living in temporary housing, although
lots of construction is now in progress--YES!

It's so nice to see this these days

since these areas were empty last year!  Ugh!  

The restaurants, including our hospital's canteen, do not have to cook on an open fire anymore.

(This is not the canteen, it's a local restaurant.)

Did you notice the gray sky in the first picture?
This year we SOMETIMES have blue skies again like we used to before the earthquake:

I never get tired of seeing that!

  Hong Kong Adventist Hospital's ENT Team came for their annual trip for cochlear implant
and middle ear surgery.

They've actually been here already this year and Ramon worked with them again.

What a blessing they are to those in need!

This is the time of year that I start teaching the Kindergarten students how to use the library
and take care of books.  It's a fun time!

It's a new concept for most of them and they're so excited!  The new school year starts 

in April, soon after Nepal's new year, and once in first grade, they are able to check 

books out for a week like the "big kids."  They take it very seriously and besides being more than adorable, they are very responsible.  Our school has the only library in our district that allows children younger that Grade 4 to check out books!  I'm very proud of all of our students!

I don't have fines for overdue books.  Instead I give a cookie to the kids when they return their books.  It works!  Once when one of the new kids said to me, "See you tomorrow!" I said that he wouldn't see me until the day after tomorrow because I was going to go to Kathmandu the next day.  One of the kids who has been at the school for a number of years turned to him and with a voice of experience said very seriously, "Yes, she has to go to Kathmandu to get our cookies."  "Oh."  They solemnly nodded their heads.  Yes, the only reason Dr. Ramon and Kathy Ma'am go to Kathmandu is to buy them cookies!  😊

In town, then and now, and usually quite often in fact, we see Gurkha soldiers guarding buildings and in the winter they never wear coats.  At least this one has gloves on.  I do hope they can wear long underwear!  Everyone else is bundled up!

Here's a very interesting article about them:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/g2173/10-amazing-gurkha-stories/

After reading the article, I found out who this fellow was:

(photo credit:  the above article)

Lately this statue has been decorated:

Well, that's enough for now.  We trust you are having a nice year too and we thank everyone for your prayers!  Blessings to all!

December in Nepal

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

December 25 is just another day here, but now and then you spot something

"Christmasy!"

This December we have seen several demonstrations, which are not uncommon in Nepal.
This one was peaceful.

This one we stumbled upon, and had to turn around for, had potential to not be peaceful.
I even saw someone throw a rather large stone and you can see smoke in the distance.

While walking and driving around, you see people rebuilding their earthquake damaged buildings.

 

 

This is good news, because some people are still living and sleeping in unsatisfactory conditions.

While it's been a fairly mild winter so far, it's supposed to get cold soon.  Right now our indoor temp is a balmy 61 F. as opposed to 51 F. this time last year!  Read the photo credit to find out more.

(photo credit:  http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-12-25/colder-days-ahead-says-mfd.html)

The other day our elementary school had it's Annual Program,

and the nursing school put on a Christmas drama.

Read the photo credit under this pic to see other Christmas celebrations.

(photo credit:  http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-12-25/christmas-celebrations-bells-carols.html)

This time of year is one of the designated times for weddings.  At any time you can see this:

and hear this:

Usually you hear the procession before you see it!

Next come the bride and groom in a decorated car.  This couple had an escort by Little Brother.

Littlest Brother looked like he wished he could go and run and play!

He was so adorable!

Recently we went to a wedding reception.  The bride used to be a nurse in the operating room.

Now she works in a big hospital in Kathmandu.  She was so beautiful!

There was gift giving,

and lots of food!  Here is the snack table,

Hmmm?  What to get?

...and the cooking area.

You could sit here

...or here, which is where we sat.

Ramon made a new and adorable friend.

The kids had fun dancing.

  Enjoy a lovely holiday with your family!

(photo credit:  countryliving.com)