So I was more or less correct about the plan for tonight. I went to my didi's friend's house, and they had been cooking all day. It was rice, but mixed in with coconut and other yummy things, and then served with the usual vegetable curry, some fried chicken, hard-boiled eggs, beans, and some other things. I made it to her house after about 5 phone calls between her and the taxi driver, who got totally lost. Once I got there, she asked if I was hungry. I said, "A little bit," which was what she wanted to hear. I was thinking she might come out with a snack or something, but instead it was a HUGE plate of the above food. I laughed and said, "A little??" She laughed too, but didn't seem to think there was anything strange about it. So I ate it, and then, of course, she offered more rice, more veggies, more beans, and it would have been extremely rude to say no, so I said yes, and was given a heaping serving of more food, which I ate. It was all delicious, but a little too much for my stomach to handle. I ALMOST lost it right there, but didn't. Phew! I did think it was a bit strange that nobody else was eating, and that we hadn't sung any carols yet, but I figured maybe it was because I was the guest that they were letting me eat first.
Then people started arriving. That was a detail I had missed in our conversation yesterday. I was under the impression that this was a small gathering of 2 families, but it was much bigger than that. We were in this person's bedroom, and about 20 of us were crammed in there, sitting on the bed, on the floor, wherever there was space. They were all excited to meet me, and I got to practice the little bit of Nepali that I know. It seems that these were people from the nearby church. One had brought a hand-drum, and one had brought a guitar. We sang a bunch of Nepali Christmas carols. They were having a GREAT time of it, singing very rousing renditions of all these songs I didn't know. I was having a great time clapping and humming along as best I could. Then the dancing started, but it wasn't like a group dance. It was one person at a time dancing while the rest of the group sang. Again, lots of fun. They started trying to convince my didi to dance, and she kept refusing. Then they asked me to dance! I said I would only dance if my didi danced with me. That suggestion was met with lots of approval. So we both got up and danced away. Now, those of you who know me will know that you don't get me to dance very easily. But somehow in this context, even though in some ways it was MORE intimidating because I was dancing while everyone else was watching, I figured that if (when) I was really bad at it, they would just figure it was because bideshis don't know how to dance anyways, so it was alright. And we had fun. They all seemed thrilled that I would join in. And I was thrilled to be there.
Then came dinner time! It was less than an hour since the 2 large plates of food I'd already eaten. I figured I'd be excused from eating this time, since I already had eaten. But no! Despite my fairly vigorous protests (I really was still VERY full!) I was served another plate of food. This one was smaller, at my insistence, but still a pretty decent size. I did manage to finish it, but just barely. I refused seconds of anything. In Nepal food is very important, and if you don't eat the food that they serve you, AND ask for seconds (especially of rice), they get really hurt and think you didn't like it. In my brain it makes perfect sense to say that I really like the food, but I can't eat anymore. Those 2 statements don't seem to go together in Nepali brains. It makes it a bit difficult sometimes, and I haven't quite figured out how to navigate this situation yet. I might have offended them tonight - I'm not sure. But I really didn't know what else to do. Ke garne.
Overall, though, I had a great time. I enjoyed meeting people, and it certainly was a much more lively carol sing than I've ever experienced before. I'm trying to picture people singing, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" in a lively way and dancing to it, and it's not quite happening! I would have taken photos, but there was no electricity and it was dark. We only had 2 candles to light the room, so it wasn't light enough to take photos.
I do realize, however, that a blog post without photos is incomplete, so instead I'll show you some pics I took on the way to class this morning. One of my favourite things about going to other countries is looking at their signs and how they word things. Here are some signs that I have found so far. I particularly like the vegetarian ice cream sign! There is another shop where there is a sign for a "Human tailor." I've seen it a few times but can't remember where it is - otherwise that one would be here, too. There is also the "Lovely Dry Cleaners" near my home, and oh, so many more. But this is probably enough for now!
Okay, so that last photo isn't a sign. It's that bridge that I mentioned I have to cross on the way to class (and yes, that's my shadow). If you look closely in the bottom left corner, you can see a pile of garbage, which is EVERYWHERE in the water. Lovely! Maybe you should add prayer for protection from bridges collapsing under me to the list. I'm only sort of kidding!
Finally, I am proud to announce that I have now been in Nepal for one whole month. In some ways the time has gone really quickly, and in other ways it feels like I've been here MUCH longer than that (in a good way). But I didn't feel that I could let the day go by without announcing it. Congratulations to me!
