getting down in the 'Du

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The partying continues! Yesterday my family spent the whole day cooking and cleaning…again. The Japanese trekking group Dinesh led to Everest Base Camp over the past couple weeks (the trek I missed) came at 5pm for dinner. Just in time for more singing and dancing. A group of about 20 kids showed up, many of the girls in costumes, and several of the boys banging on hand drums. They sang a long song announcing the arrival of Diwali, and then set up a CD player and speakers and danced to Nepali and Hindi songs. Everyone stood around the patio area in front of our house watching.

All of a sudden Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” came on and one young girl around age 13 started dancing in the middle while everyone watched. I started bopping a bit, so Kanchi (Dinesh’s sister) and Sangeeta motioned for me to go out and dance. I thought, what the hell? When in Nepal, do as the Nepalis. So I handed my camera to Hasta, walked onto the patio, and got down. Immediately everyone cheered and started clapping. A few minutes later I motioned to Renuka to come onto the dance floor, because I know she loves to dance. She did so without hesitation, followed by her friend Anita, other neighborhood friends, Anita’s husband and son. Soon everyone was dancing, including the Japanese group, who are these petit people in their 60s. Other neighbors started showing up because there was so much cheering and laughter, and when it was all said and done there was probably 60 or more people packed into the little patio area dancing and singing. And there I was, this tall foreigner in the middle of a crowd of Nepalis helping to celebrating their festival, holding hands while I danced with young Nepali girls, and trying to mimic the traditional Nepali dance moves by wiggling my hips, arms, and wrists. Dinesh was shocked that I took it upon myself to get the party started, but we ended up dancing for over an hour, and everyone had a blast.

Finally, Renuka decided it was time for us to eat, so she placed flowers, rice, a candle, and money onto a woven tray and placed it in the middle of the dance floor so that the entertainers would accept our donation. But apparently it wasn’t enough, so they ended up dancing around it for a good 20 minutes more until we gave them close to 5000 Rs.

When the group finally left, we went up to the sitting room with the Japanese group. Only one of the 5 spoke very limited English—the one who had summitted Everest back in the spring. So the conversation was limited—Renuka spoke to them a little bit in Japanese, I spoke to the one guy in short sentences in English, and Dinesh and I were able to talk, but that was it. Otherwise we made motions and gestures to indicate what we were saying. At one point the two women pointed to me and imitated my dancing, smiling and laughing. It was rather amusing!

Hasta made vegetable tempura, chicken stuffed with yak cheese, salad, and cooked veggies. I ate everything but the salad. We also polished off several bottles of San Miguel beer, and had curd with fruit for dessert. I was stuffed! The Japanese group looked wiped out, and they hurried out shortly afterwards, each of them bowing to me on their way out. This morning they come back for bai tikka, the day when brothers are honored (and sisters, if you come from a more progressive family).

In other news, I woke up this morning to an email informing me that I have my first job interview! Very exciting! This one will be by phone. At a later point if they still like me I’ll fly back to the U.S. to do one in person. But it’s so exciting to have prospective jobs showing interest!

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Photos

celebrating Diwali
girls dressed in costume who came to dance and sing

celebrating Diwali
getting the party started!