A few days before Christmas, I met another Fulbrighter for a "Bethanys" night out. Oddly enough, in a fairly small group of Fulbrighters, we have two Bethanys and we both have ties to Delaware - It's a small world! Anyway, we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and decided to get dessert after catching up and enjoying our dinner. The menu said that they had "fried bananas". Being our spoiled selves, we figured that meant we'd be eating sauteed fried bananas, friend bananas with chocolate sauce, or something fancy like that. Nope. We got deep friend bananas. Ha :)
Fortunately the threat of a valley wide bandh (strike) on Christmas Eve failed to materialize and I was able to attend Christmas Mass with friends (Marissa, Alex, Alex, Magda & Luke) at the Catholic Church of the Assumption. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I was in for a surprise when we came to a HUGE Catholic Church, decorated to the nines and filled to the rafters with people. The service was very nice and done in both English and Nepali. I'm SO glad that I was able to go.
Here's one of the outside shots of the church. I'm sure it's extremely impressive at any given time, but it was amazing with all the lights and decorations for Christmas.
After church I wandered out to the manger scene outside the church and was thrilled to see that apparently Jesus, Mary and Joseph are of the Newari caste! :) The outfit on the baby Jesus is a traditional Newari baby outfit (my youngest host nephew often wears similar outfits), and the shirt Mary is wearing is traditionally a Newari top as well. I always love to see how people fit the story into their own culture, and was not disappointed on Christmas Eve!
After the service, we found a really nice restaurant near the church to have some dinner. Given that many of us had just met each other before the church service or in the last few days, we all got along fabulously and had a great time. Dinner was made even better when a group of children came in and serenaded us with Christmas carols! It was a wonderful night.
The next afternoon, some of us went to a lodge on the edge of the Kathmandu Valley for some R&R. Unfortunately the R&R couldn't start til we got to the place - adventure ruled the journey! Our first leg to the lodge was an hour-long cab ride. Sounds relaxing, but the streets of Kathmandu are anything but, plus we were trying to squeeze 5 adults into a car that comfortably fits 3 (plus driver). The second leg was when the excitement really came though - we caught the last bus to the village, but there was no room except for the roof! Here, Alex, Alex & Magda are trying to stay warm and secure on top of the bus. Definitely the first time I've had a Christmas day quite like that one!
Marissa and I trying to stay warm on the bus. Sorry about the blurriness, it's hard to take pictures when you're trying to stay on top of a moving bus! :)
View from the top of the bus and of the powerlines we would soon be dodging! 45 minutes on top of a packed local bus going up a mountain on dirt roads is a pretty long ride. All in all, it took an hour cab ride, 45 minutes on top of the bus, and an hour walk up the hill in the dark(that felt like a mountain!) to get to the lodge. Fortunately we had a fabulous time and it was all worth it :)
I know it's difficult to see, but this is me dodging one of the many powerlines that kept hitting the top of the bus! My mom was less than thrilled when I told her I'd ridden on top of a local bus and had to duck under powerlines - particularly when she misheard me and thought we were JUMPING over powerlines! My friends all got to know mom's voice that night - they were across the room but could hear her enthusiastic response quite clearly. Fortunately though, she opened her pashmina shortly after, so I earned back some brownie points.
Here's the lodge where we stayed. It consisted of a number of buildings including a kitchen, bathroom, main lodge with beds in a loft, etc. Very cozy place, and the food was as homemade as it comes and absolutely delicious! Most of us bought jams and homemade pickles to bring home since they were so incredible. We had a blast hanging out, talking, getting to know each other and just joking around. Our group was great - 3 of us from America, living in Nepal; one American who teaches Spanish in Singapore; and a Greek lawyer :) Turns out we all get along famously!
Here's a picture the inside of the the building where a couple of us stayed - there were two beds in a loft above the main room as well. You can tell we'd been there for a bit, but you can still get an idea of what everything looked like. I'd be perfectly happy in a house like that someday!
The view from the lodge. Unfortunately, the day we were there was overcast so we couldn't see the snow caps, but it was still a beautiful place. I was finally able to go for a run without worrying about smog-induced asthma or getting hit by cars and motorbikes. It was wonderful!
And finally, a picture of all of us before we left. Great time.
I hope you all had a joyful Christmas full of friends and family! For those of you in the blizzard-y areas, have some fun in the snow for me!
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