This all comes about because the Nepali calendar is determined astrologically, and as a result, each month does not have a set number of days in it, and the number of days in a month can vary between 29 to 32, depending on what has been determined by the priests for that year (although the total number of days in the year does remain the same as our year). Likewise, major festivals move around in the year (like our Easter). As a result, you really can't make plans a long way in advance, since the Nepali schedule for the calendar for the next year isn't even determined until about 6 months before. It fits with the the Nepali attitude of not planning much ahead for things, though so I don't think they mind.
Roz and I learned about Nepali New Years and Chaitra Doshain from a neighbouring family who has befriended us, and invited us to have dinner with them last night. They had been making momos (meat filled dumplings) all afternoon for the New Years feast - so yummy. For them, and many Nepalis, today was spent going to visit family and get and give blessings to each other. We're a bit confused because this family was originally from the hill areas of Nepal, and thus are Buddhist (ie more like Tibetans than Indians). But Doshain is a Hindu festival. I guess in a primarily Hindu country, everyone celebrates the Hindu festivals, and also there is quite a bit of overlap between the two faiths that have coexisted together for centuries.
Today's festive atmosphere was further enhanced by the fact that the election went more peacefully than anyone expected. Nepalis got up early, and waited in line for 2-3 hours to vote (BBC pics here), and at the majority of polling stations, things were peaceful and considered fair by UN observers. In addition, early results show that the Maoist party is in the lead. Despite the fact the Maoists lead a insurgency that resulted in 10 years of conflict, Nepalis seem to feel that a change is better than the status quo, and are willing to give them a chance to rule officially. This may well result in a lull in protests, while everyone waits to see how they manage. Not to mention that they were the most likely to actively object to election results if they didn't go their way. It will be interesting to see how they make the transition from a rebel/opposition party, who points out problems with the government, to a group that has to deal with the realities of actually governing. More info on the election from BBC here and here if you are interested.
Being around town for a long weekend has made for some fun local activities. We're not yet fully into monsoon season, but most days we have some pretty impressive thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening. Wednesday night we had a beautiful sunset as a storm was brewing. Thursday we didn't go out due to the election, but Friday was busy.
I have been playing hockey (on a field with floor hockey sticks) with the local youth these past few weeks. They are all on school holidays right now, and it's being organized by a Nepali Christian Youth program run by a guy in our church. Everyone seems surprised that I know how to play hockey, at which point I have to explain that it is Canada's favourite sport, kind of like football (soccer) is here. Friday morning we had a tournament, which was good fun, as we got to play for longer. I hope to play a couple more times next week before the kids all head back to school.
Later on in the morning Roz and I went with Sushma, a young woman from the church who wanted to show us some of the sights of Pokhara. We went and explored a cave that contained a temple to an ugly 4 headed snake god formed out of a huge stalagmite. We couldn't take pictures of the temple, but could explore further into the cave to the point where it opened up at the bottom of a waterfall. It was quite neat, and good we saw it now, as the lower part of the cave floods in monsoon.
After this, Roz went home, and Sushma took me to see a lovely view of the river valley, and a wonderful swimming hole that the youth use regularly. In fact some of the boys from hockey earlier that morning were there! Too bad I hadn't been forewarned to bring my swimsuit, as it was blazing hot under the midday sun, and I would have appreciated a swim. I'll have to go again. The only disadvantage of this swimming hole is that it's at the bottom of the river valley, and requires going down some insanely steep stairs to get to it. 212 stairs claimed Sushma, I didn't bother to check. There are good railings, so it was not so bad going down, but coming up, I suspect all cooling advantage gained by swimming would be lost, as it's a long slog up. Still quite neat.
This weekend is Kim's last. She has been a nurse at Green Pastures for a year, and now heads back to Hamilton. It's hard to see her go. However, with the long weekend, we had time to celebrate her, and 3 other ex-pats who have birthdays around now (including two 40th birthdays). Friday night we had a cheese and chocolate fondue party (someone discovered you could buy powdered cheese fondue mix in the store, and there was much excitement), followed by games name games that require explanations or charades so people can guess the character. Kim included Wayne Gretzky as one of the names in the pot, to help with the international education of all the UK ex-pats on the team. I was certainly surprised to pull his name out of the pot! Today we all went out for lunch, funded by a friend of INF in the UK. They donated about $100, but I'm sure they couldn't have fed 20 people in the UK with that, and it was a great treat for everyone.
Last night Roz and went out for a new years dinner. After the storm (which had the power flickering on and off all evening), we came out to a clear sky and beautiful stars. The sky was still gloriously clear this morning to greet the new year, and I enjoyed the cool morning as I went cycling with Iain again. Our uphill riding was rewarded by wonderful views of the mountains and the valley below us was green with newly growing rice. Now that it's getting hot, I'm understanding the Nepali schedule of waking early. It's nice to have had a 2.5 hour bike ride and be home by 9:30 before it's really hot yet. And I'm even slowly learning to get to bed earlier too, to compensate.
I've posted some more pictures from my weekend here.
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