I seem to write posts during transition times. Today is my last day living with my homestay family. It is bitter sweet because I will be spending the final month of the program in Pokhara (a 8 hour bus ride west of Kathmandu) living on my own and conducting research for my Independent Study Project (ISP). I get the month-long stipend money tomorrow and then after a pujaa to the goddess of wealth (Laxmi) to remove all obstacles in our way, I am off. I am excited, but a bit nervous at the same time.
Transitions have always been difficult for me. The past week has definitely not helped. I don’t think that I have stopped moving or working or thinking since our flight two weeks ago from Kathmandu to Pokhara and then from Pokhara to Jomsom, Mustang. We were hiked from Jomsom to Marpha, the apple center of Nepal supposedly, and then from there headed to Tukuche where we stayed with families there for a week. My Nepali improved by leaps and bounds being in Tukuche, where English was sparsely heard, and I spent a lot of time interviewing villagers and learning from my family (my daai and his wife and their 8 month old daughter). They leave Tukuche during the winter because there is no farm work because it gets so cold, and head to Pokhara! So hopefully I will get to spend some time with them while we are both in Pokhara. Anyway, in Tukuche I got to visit an apple brandy distillery, talk to the locals about their views on development, drink 6 cups of ginger tea everyday, and wash my hands and brush my teeth under the Milky Way. Every night I would bundle up and climb up on the roof to watch the stars and look at the outlines of the Annapurna Mountains. Truly magical.
After leaving Tukuche with walnuts, apples, and brandy (presents from my family), we visited Muktinath (a sacred site in Nepal) and then jeeped down to Tatopani. I decided that the hot spring wasn’t worth it and went to bed around 9pm – my usual bedtime thanks to my sleep schedule in Tukuche. The following day was Halloween which no one really appreciated because we hiked straight uphill for 6 ½ hours to a place called Ghorepani having moved very little over the previous week. It was extremely difficult and by the end we were hiking between two groups (British and German) who had porters and we were in hysterix, laughing uncontrollable for the last 30 minutes carrying all of our stuff in our packs. Sleepy hahahas to the max! November 1st some of the group woke up to see the sunrise hit the Annapurnas, so we hiked 40 more minutes uphill in the dark with our headlamps. I am convinced that if we could have seen 5 feet in front of us we probably would not have gone to the lookout spot. Our poor legs. But wait… 8 more hours of trekking, this time straight downhill. One of the sections included over 9,400 stone steps. Needless to say my feet, ankles and knees were shot by the end and 5 days later I am still sore and recovering. Oh and don’t forget the 9 hour bus ride from Pokhara to Kathmandu the day after that. Talk about cramping our legs.
Dead tired by the time we got to Kathmandu and a week of exams to complete. I had a language final, international language exam, ISP proposal presentation, final proposal due and a take home exam for our seminar class, all in the span of 3 days. By Guy Fawkes Day on Friday, we were fried. In addition, the past four days have been a whirlwind of activities because of tihar – the Hindu festival of lights, known as diwali in India. Thursday was crow pujaa, Friday was dog pujaa, Saturday was cow pujaa, and today with brother pujaa. Yesterday I was invited to a Marxist-Leninist Party holiday party, saw an impromptu hip-hop street performance, and for 2 hours listened to the neighborhood kids sing the same carol over and over again. The groups of kids come into each home’s courtyard and stay until they are given money. At my house, my bahini (5 year old sister, Annapurna) shuttled money from her mom to the groups via her electric Barbie mobile. Today for brother pujaa I gave my daai Tikaa (colored powder wore on the forehead), malla (garland), and chocolate offerings. Tihar has been by far my favorite holiday here and I am sad that it is over already. The glittering lights and colorful mandalas everyway have made Kathmandu so beautiful. The atmosphere is wonderful – reminds me of Christmas – and the festive feeling is almost palpable. But all good things come to an end.
I send all my good wishes.
Meghan/Muna
“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push – in just the right place – it can be tipped.” – Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point
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