When the monsoon rains
begin to fall on Nepal in the summer every year, the rice season commences.
Rice is not only a major dietary staple for Nepali people; it is also an
essential means of livelihood for many farmers across the country. Traditionally,
the last Saturday in June is the first official day of the rice-planting
season, and the famers celebrate the return of the new season by planting, and
playing in the mud. Unfortunately, we learned that the tradition of playing is
dying out now, but we did our best to keep its spirit alive.
When we first arrived three
busloads full of foreigners sidled up to the edge of the empty paddy, all
wondering what we were supposed to now. As we all tentatively made our way
through the muck, local women tried to instruct us on how to turn up the “soil”
by scooping up bits of debris dropping them in a pile and stomping them deep
beneath the mud.
Seriously?
Based on the fact that
what appeared to be the entire population of the small village had gathered on
nearby rooftops to gawk at us, it seemed equally likely that this “weeding”
technique was usefully as it did that they were screwing with us. However, this
didn’t last long, because it was only a matter of minutes before the first of
the mud started to fly. This quickly gave way to all out mud wrestling matches.
Once I was dirty I became fully committed to the cause of ensuring every other
participant became equally mud-covered. In my mission, I suffered an especially
amusing defeat against Tanya’s husband Micah, as immortalized on video by Sean,
here:
I felt a bit guilty
about getting side tracked from the “weeding” at first, but when I started to
notice just how smooth the mud was getting I realized that it might have been
part of the master plan for turning up the soil after all.

But it was definitely
fun!
After the mud wrestling had run its course as we had all managed to “shower” under village water taps and streams we loaded back onto the buses and went to a local restaurant for a traditional Newari (the native people to the Kathmandu Valley) meal, followed by a relaxing stroll through the hills before arriving, exhausted, back in the city a few hours later. That might have been the deepest sleep I have had since arriving.
Tanya – Hey, did anyone else notice that as we got
closer to the edge of the paddy it started to smell like poo?
Micah – Yeah, I went to use the public washroom at
the end of the day and it was basically just on the edge of the paddy.
Bronwyn – WHAT? Oh my god! I got it in my MOUTH!!!
Other fun weekend
activities that we have kept ourselves busy with have included a great hike up
part of one of the local mountains, a Canada Day barbeque and (of course) flip
cup tournament and some regular Saturday brunches at a beautiful oasis like
restaurant and organic farmer’s market.
1905, our new regular Saturday morning brunch spot |

Inside Nagi Gumba |

Beer Pong Team Russel(l) |
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POUTINE!!! |
JPCs overlooking the valley from Nagi Gumba when the skies were clear, and a random man claimnig shelter under Jess and Sean's umbrella.
On “Canada Day” (actually June 30th because it was a Sunday and no one had Monday off) we took a cab across town to the home of two Canadian girls who are in Kathmandu for an internship with Mines Action, and did they ever put on a good, authentic Canada Day celebration! It was so nice to see their patio full of red and white outfits (worn not just by our Canadian friends, but the Aussies, Germans and Americans as well). With all the changes in my life recently, I hadn’t given Canada Day a second thought. Dressing in red and white and walking around downtown Ottawa on July 1st seemed like another world, another life. But I’m so glad these girls reminded me of it, because it was a really fun time, and two great seeds were planted here. One has to do with a conversation Tanya and I had about potentially collaborating to write an article about the ways in which our two units (disaster risk management for her and poverty alleviation for me) could both benefit more deeply from collaborating on a few key aspects of programming, and another was with a new friend who works at a school for children who have been rescued from forced labour in carpet factories. Unsurprisingly these children have very few belongings (perhaps two outfits each) and no toys. I think this is the kind of place that could use a teddy bear or two! Stay tuned for breaking news on both these fronts, coming to you soon!
A few Canadians enjoying some shade on "Canada Day" |
Quite a good turnout for a Canadian national celebration in Nepal |
After reading your postings,I feel like I've been along for the ride (or walk or mud sling)without the poo. "No more poo for you"! And the colours of the walls in the monastery at Nagi Gumba make my wanabe artist heart swooooon. Hope you had a wonderful Canada Day. What is more Canadian than red Solo cups, lol.
ReplyDeleteI love you,
Aunt Lynn xxxooo