Festivals and Feasts

Little boy dressed in costume for Gai Jatra. Father behind him in mourning whites holding a bag awaiting goodies from well wishers.

The Nepali festival season ended just in time for we expats to gear up for our own holiday season. Part of my goal in doing this blog over a year is to answer the question I get at home - So what is it like to live in Kathmandu? On the one hand it is like living anywhere else including home. You do the basics everyday like wake, eat, work, shop, cook, and harrass your kids - oops, I meant love on them:). The scenery however is dramatically different. Imagine being in a theatre production, doing the same show but the sets and stage hands are quite strange and unknown. I always say living in Kathmandu puts the Far in Foreign - it is quite literally on the other side of the world. It takes a couple of days and 3-4 flights to get here and when you do your body protests for a couple of weeks.

Enough about that. Back to Festivals and Feasts. This fall the photographer wanna-be in me went out to shoot all the major festivals at some of their major locales. I will attempt to post the photos here. Teej at Pashupati, Gai Jatra at Hanuman Dhoka, Indra Jatra in Durbar Square, Deshain in the mountains and Tihar in my own neighborhood.

Alas - I now turn my attention to the November cover Bird in Bon Appetit and other good recipes for the sumptuous Thanksgiving feast to come. Watch this space:)!