Festival Day!
Last Sunday was Shivaratri, a major Hindu festival dedicated to the lord Shiva. While mainly celebrated at night, the traditions begin early in the morning. Lena and Bishwo explained that every year the young kids use a rope to block roads until they receive a 5 or 10 rupee fee. The revenue is used to purchase candy and also wood to burn for the celebration at night. We watched this unfold time and time again from our vantage point on the farm. Some drivers were more obliging than others. After the day of farming and some rest, the celebration began to unfold. A key part of Shivaratri is burning fires in temples and out in the street. And also apparently smoking weed - it's the one day of the year where smoking marijuana is legal. Lena and Bishwo kindly offered to drive us into Kathmandu to see the activities in full force. By this point our volunteer numbers had grown. I went with (from left to right) Tifen (French), Ewen (French), and Pau (Spanish). With Lena and Bishwo at the he...