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!

Views From My Work Windows

Hi!
Hope you're having a nice day!
Would you like to see the beautiful views of the fields behind the hospital that I have
from the windows of the library where I'm working? Here are just a few of my current views.

Look! All day, day after day, these folks are bent over and working in the fields.

Yes, I do feel like my back starts to hurt just watching them!

OK, now the very next day, that little island was gone and everything was planted!

They moved over to work in the other field, as you can see on the left.

They work in family groups and alone.

Sometimes "friends" come along for the company!

They rarely stop for a break, so I like to see this!

Here is the view from the library's windows before I zoom in.

Usually the sky is not so blue, as the monsoon season is upon us, but when it's blue,

it's blue and so gorgeous!

We admire the hard work of these folks. Man.

Of course, as the rice grows, it gets quite tall! Here I am standing in a field a couple of years ago.

 
They do rotate their crops, so it's an ever changing landscape,
as you can see from this picture of the same field, also taken a couple of years ago.

For those who are interested, and who missed other posts about the fields,
just go to the Labels and click, "Rice Fields." All of the posts also have
other subjects, but there are pics of rice fields in them!

Also, the "Harvest" post has some good pictures!

Since Ramon is busy in the operating rooms, he only has views like these pictures.

Some of you may have seen this picture before, but here's a repeat for those who haven't.

What happened? Well, this little darling had swallowed a coin. After Ramon extracted it, and Mom and Grandmother were relaxed and happy again (although Little Darling wasn't happy yet!), Ramon told the mom and grandmother, "Please get her a purse so she has somewhere to carry her money!"
😀

Well, have a wonderful weekend and thanks for your prayers!

Bye!

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!

The Coin that Traveled the World

Greetings!

We're back in Nepal

(This is the hospital and school, with Banepa in the background.)

...after a wonderful family vacation!

This coin (showing it and the flip side here)

is the one in the title.

OK, the recap:

First we flew to  Doha

(photo credit:  hok.com)


(photo credit:  qatar.to)

and then to Miami.  Yes, it's a loooong flight!

(photo credit:  http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com)

Next we were on our way to Paraguay, via Sao Paulo.

(photo credit:  routesonline.com)


(photo credit:  stepmap.de)

For those who may recall, Ramon's mom is very ill, and that visit was very important.
However, visiting our family and friends there was fantastic and the time flew by too quickly!

As we waited to board in the airport in Asuncion, we enjoyed listening to this fellow,
who often is there in the departure lounge.

So we flew back to Miami, via Sao Paulo again, then on to Maryland,

(photo credit:  collegiate-empowerment.org)

where we got in more visits
with family and friends, and we wouldn't trade those visits for anything!

The snow was an added bonus!

Before we knew it, it was time to fly back to Nepal!

First we had to go back to Miami.
Then of course, backtracking, we flew to Doha, and then Kathmandu.
As I've mentioned before, to visit our families, there and back, it's over 29.000 miles.

Well, we FINALLY landed in Kathmandu, put our luggage on a luggage cart, and Ramon
threw his Scottevest jacket, yes, the one with 17 pockets, onto the luggage.
The flap that covers the zipper opened up.
There it was--a Paraguayan 1000 Guarani coin--sticking to the magnet!

Now, that is a REAL magnet!  That coin had to have been there since we were in Paraguay!
We certainly didn't use Paraguayan Guarani currency anywhere else!
He wore the jacket on every flight, and even put it up in the overhead compartment at least once.
OK, so that coin stayed stuck to that magnet from:
Asuncion to Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo to Miami
Miami to Baltimore
Baltimore to Miami
Miami to Doha
Doha to Kathmandu

MAN!  I'm not sure that Scottevest knows it has such strong magnets!

Yes, Ramon loves his jacket, and his only complaint is the same one others have--
with so many pockets, it's hard to remember where he put things!

Well, if you're in the market for a jacket with pockets and magnets,
we recommend checking out Scottevest's jackets!

Have a nice and blessed day!