Tihar and the Rasks

Fall Festivities

Having been here for almost two months, I have seen many things! The end of October brought Tihar, the festival of lights to the goddess Laxmi. The Hindus fill their houses with lit candles- I remember this from when I was little. Since then, people have used electric lights instead of candles, but what happens when the power goes out? I found this quite interesting and a little amusing, when the celebration of lights are extinguished by a power outage. Seeing all the houses decorated with lights reminded me of Christmas, and some houses keep their lights up until Christmas.

One evening, I was invited to attend our former landlord’s puja Tihar ceremony. Insisting that I only wanted to observe their ceremony. All the family had come together to celebrate- and their were lights, candles, fruit, drinks, and dye and flowers to decorate the heads of all those who participated. I found their family time very unique and special. The only sad thing was that they were worshiping themselves- instead of the true Father of Lights.

Tihar Electric Lights, Candle, and Oil Lamp

Tihar Festival Puja

Fruit, Candles, Dye

Everyday I get to see two little girls Ellie and Hope.

Ellie is three (almost four) and LOVES the color purple. She also loves to draw and we’ve spent hours drawing all the Disney princesses and many characters from Mary Poppins. She also loves to put on temporary tattoos, and wear pig tails with green and purple hair ties and clips. Ellie’s favorite food for lunch is Bhat (rice) and Dahi (yogurt). 

Ellie

Hope is almost one. She is walking, and can somewhat talk. Everyday she loves to wear her shoes and walk around the house. Somedays she finds didi’s shoes and tries to walk in them but only succeeds in falling. Bumping her head is a daily affair. Hope is following in her sister’s footsteps and ‘pretends’ to draw pictures, with colored pencils (that are dull or broken) and books. Hopefully (someday soon) she will learn that there is paper that you can draw on and paper that you cannot- like books. Hope loves to eat practically anything- and whenever she sees food- she wants to share. 

Hope and her baby doll.

Namaste from Nepal

A gateway into Lalitpur

Namaste from the land of the Himalayas! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been here and wow how different from Laos this is J Upon arriving I was met with traffic-piled, smog-filled, and people-packed. I remember thinking “is this how it was 13 years ago?”. This question will not cease to crossed my mind for the next few months of my stay here. I arrived during the Nepali festival of Dasain. This festival is where family gatherings are important, and “puja” worship to the goddess Durga- is conducted decorating cars, buses, windows, and foreheads with red paint and rice.

One childhood memory was the Ping a swing made from bamboo, resurrected at every corner of streets, towns and villages. Children, young men and women flocked to these swings taking turns to dangle and swing from these precarious structures! Having never been on one, I decided that it was now or never. Praying that the swing would stay in tact, I rode on a Ping- enjoying it very much.

A local Ping

Me on a Ping

Playing flute at church has also been a part of my activities. Going to a Nepali church where the service is all in Nepali,where shoes are left outside, and seats are on the floor was quite a different from my church back home, but the small-community and hospitality is the same.

I can catch a few words in Nepali, but other than playing my flute, and singing a few of the familiar songs, I am an observer. I never will forget the night that the church held a BBQ. I was told that only the chicken meat was “safe” to eat; pork being iffy on how clean it had been cooked. After being dished up rice, chicken, a broth, and some Achar (spicy!) I sat with a group of girls my age. Half-way through the meal- I bit through the most piro (super spicy) pepper. I thought red fire ants were boring into my gums. Unfortunately I only had a small Dixie cup of water which by no means cooled the volcano of fire billowing from my mouth. I quickly ate the rest of my rice and meat hoping to staunch the sting of the pepper. I lived through that meal, and somehow I think I am on the path to eating spicier things!

Me playing flute for special music

My piro pepper experience

It was also a special time to have Dale and Bethsaba’s oldest daughter Shova come home on holiday. She goes to a school in India and from the minute I met her, we hit it off. She was a great translator and introduced me to her friends, her favorite snacks, and her favorite TV shows. I accompanied her with my flute when she sang a solo in church- she has a lovely voice. I am looking forward to when she comes again at Christmas. She was the perfect blessing to help me adjust into Nepal life.

Shove and I 

A girls outing with lunch at the Himalaya

So Far in Laos

Before I left for Laos, I knew I was going to Asia, I was going to a warm place, I was going to see Jeffrey and Kaarina, and I was going to a place where brown skin and black hair was the majority. After waving goodbye to mom and dad at the airport- before going through security, I was hit with a wave of overwhelming emotion. Thankfully the security guard had to re-scan my bag- due to an unopened Jell-O and joked about my horde of Pringles I had packed as a choice for plane snacks, therefore distracting me from tears that threatened to flow. The plane rides were fun; I made small talk with my seat-mates, those who spoke English. Making it all the way to Thailand was easy, but then I did the ONE thing in the whole trip I was NOT supposed to: Going through Thai customs, getting a stamp on my passport- which cost me a night in the airport instead of a night inside a day-room.  I had seven hours to watch over my bags, and hang out. So I bought two Cokes, and parked my baggage cart between the passport check officials and the tourist police. Then next morning I was able to re-check my bags, and hang out in the Bangkok airport before my final flight to Laos.

Bangkok Airport

 My first week in Laos was spent in the capital city of Vientiane. Kaarina had some fun activities planned. One of my favorites was the Lao photo shoot. We went to a photo shop, chose traditional Lao outfits, and had our hair, make-up done. Then came time for photos: Kaarina and I felt like we were models, posing this way and that. The photographer didn’t speak English and had a hard time “showing” ways he wanted us to hold our hands, and “tilt” our heads.  It was really fun to dress up and experience a little of girly-Lao culture! Another activity we did was go bowling. But this bowling alley had a twist- some of the lanes were uneven and had bumps on them, which had an interesting twist on the game.

Lao Models

Traditional Lao Getup

Bowling

 In Laos I have experienced many ways of transportation:

One mode of transportation was a scooter- many people rode these, and it was very interesting to see women in very A-line skirts riding mopeds.  Some ladies rode side-ways which is actually easier. You’d see families of four on one scooter, and people toting large hardware pieces.  I experienced a bumpy ride on a scooter and the best way to ride was pretending I was on a horse by anticipating all the bumps.  Another crazy ride was on an army truck, through roads, that weren’t even roads! They were muddy trenches, and ruts! It was a 10 hour trip and Jeffrey calculated that we traveled an average of 8 miles per hour! Many a time the bus “crew” got out the winch and “pulled” us out of the mud. I remember looking at the next curve and wondering if there was a smooth road after it, most times there weren’t.  One stretch in the middle, the road turned to a darker mud, different than the usually red clay-sludge.  At this point we went a little faster and therefore caught a little breeze, that normally creeping at an ant’s pace, we wouldn’t normally feel. What seemingly was an endless trip, finally ended when we reached our destination, Tha Thom, Jeffrey and Kaarina’s village.

Scootering

Mud...Mud Everywhere

Biking Home

It’s pretty amazing thinking that it’s been three…almost four weeks that I’ve been here in Laos. It’s been fun seeing Jeffrey and Kaarina, spending time in their village, and meeting the people they work with. I’ve also gotten to see a LOT of wildlife- When I first got to Jeffrey and Kaarina’s house I felt like I was at the zoo- with chickens, roosters, geese, ducks, turkeys, dogs, cats, and cows ambling through the yard.

Staff Game Night/Welcome Party

At the Plain of Jars