School Picnic

Recently we had our school picnic to celebrate the end of the term, the second trimester.  We have only about three months of school left (one more term) and the new year will start again in April, when the Nepali New Year begins.  (It will be the year 2068!)  There's no "summer vacation" like we're used to in the States.  Instead there are breaks of various sizes between the trimesters, as well as numerous vacation days for festivals and holidays.  (I've written about some of the festivals.  Check the archives if you're interested and you missed the posts.  Sorry--I don't know how to hyperlink yet!) 

Well, we had a beautiful day with an amazing sky! 

Into the bus we climbed

and we were off to Dhulikhel, a neighboring town with parks and hotels because of the views!  (The picture of Ramon and me in our profile was taken there.  We must go back now that the "real" mountains are visible, since the rainy season is over and take another pic!)

The town itself looks just like Banepa (only smaller).

As we drove on, I noticed the children were chanting.  I thought they were just singing, and then I noticed they were saying, MOUN--TAIN!  MOUN--TAIN!  MOUN--TAIN!  I looked over and here is what I saw:

AWESOME!!!

We arrived at the park, jumped out of the bus,

and headed to "our" section.

We made friends with the dogs hanging about.  They were all so cute and friendly!

 

I could have taken this dog home.  He was an angel!  I'm wearing a kurta, which is what women usually wear here (as well as saris) and my Harry Potter shoes, which are surprisingly comfortable!  (Check out the post "Big Foot" in the September archives if you haven't read it yet about when I bought those shoes!)

Hey--look over there!

Let me zoom in:

Again--awesome!!!

OK, so let's play already!

Story anyone?

When are we going to eat?

SOON!

Line up everyone!

Yes, we rewarded this little guy's patience with some leftovers!

We had some neighbors.  On one side there was another school (I presume).  Some of the kids begged me to take their picture and give them chocolate.  Since I didn't have any chocolate, I took their picture!  They were very happy.

I wish I had a picture of their smiles as they looked at themselves in my camera!

On the other side, there was a wedding reception.

They were playing music and when one American song came on, one of the girls said, "Oh, I love this song!"  I said, "Did you hear it on the radio?"  "No!  MTV!"  :)

Right past the wedding reception, there was an army camp of some kind.  Even they were enjoying the views.

At one point, two girls pulled me over to the other side from where we were sitting.  "Look at the 'thing!' "  they kept saying.  (I'm writing 'thing' because I never did understand the word they used!)  "Come Kathy Miss, you've got to see the 'thing!' "  They pointed here.

Do you see something, way in the distance, on the hillside?  Here's a close-up:

(Remember you can enlarge by double clicking.)

It's pretty interesting to see!  I then heard that there are a thousand steps on the walk to see it.  Not sure when we'll be doing that!

Well, all too soon it was time to go back home!  Our principal gave instructions about cleaning up.

As we were leaving, I noticed this little store by the entrance.  Next time, we'll take a look and see what's inside!  (WHAT IF they have Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips?!)

Goodbye Dhulikhel!  Hope to see you again soon!