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!