Happy Vijayaa Dashami

Happy Vijayaa Dashami

PST is very overwhelming, but luckily our group was fortunate enough to get a few days off for BaDa Dashian, the greatest Nepali festival. In one of our x-cultural trainings we learned that this festival is in honor of Durga Puja, meaning they worship Goddess Durga (the goddess of power). The festival lasts for ten days and during those days people will perform different kinds of puja (worship). The tenth day is the final puja day when the triumph of god over evil is celebrated. 

From what I have observed in my family is that nothing is different until the 8^th day, sacred flowers and leaves (Phulpaati). On this day, a he-goat is sacrificed to rid the mind of lustful thoughts. This day was pretty hard for me, as I have never seen anything killed in this way. I don’t think I’ll be watching any more sacrifices. However, the he-goat meat was delicious. The way it was cooked and marinated was phenomenal. However, I’m in need of some self -reflection concerning the sacrifice. I’ve always thought if I can’t kill an animal then I shouldn’t eat meat, and after this experience I really can’t imagine myself having the courage to kill any animal.

The next day started out rough too, as I wasn’t totally recovered from the sacrifice. Plus, I had an off day with language, and had not showered in four days because I was so busy with class and trying to do things I like (i.e. run), which btw did not help my stinky situation. Needless to say, I felt like $hit. Luckily because of the festival, we had the afternoon off from class. So I showered and returned to my normal, khusi self again. J My mood was further lifted by the full hour of internet time later that day, which allowed me to post my last blog. When I got home, Sam’s Dai had put up the ping (a giant swing). So we all pinged for a few hours. It’s so awesome and fun (see video). My good day didn’t stop there; it was topped with the arrival of my kurta-surwal, a gift from my Didi and Dai. It’s Soooo beautiful! My language teacher was with me when it came, and she was super jealous b/c it fits perfect and the fabric (kapadaa) is really nice.  I really needed the break from class, and lots of fun activities to lift my sprits.

The tenth day of Dashian was awesome and fun. This is the first day Nepal hasn’t felt so foreign. The way my Nepali family was preparing and goofing around reminded me of my American family during the holidays. Making yummy food, decorating the house, taking lots of pictures, etc. It almost felt like Christmas. In the morning (bihana) my Didi, Dai, and Ama were running around preparing the house. My Dai put tika (yellow and red paste with rice) and flowers by the door, they displayed this cow manure sprouted with barley stone thing, lots of flowers, incense, a tray with tika and flowers, and a tray with goodies (candy and fruit). My Didi then set the ‘table’ while extended family began to arrive. Before we ate, everyone received tika from Ama; she gave us money as well. During Dashian, women and guests are presented with money (I racked up over 300 rupiyaas), and the men give money to whomever is giving tika. After the tika ceremony, we ate and took tons of pictures. 

Later my friends came over, and we went around our village to receive what ultimately was an enormous amount of tika and goodies. I think I ate around 7 bananas (my GI track was so happy..NOT!), and my forehead was completely covered in red paste with bits of rice. Then we went into town to buy some fruit as a gift for our families, and went to our training center to wish the staff a happy Dashian (Vijyaa dishimiko haardik mangulmaiyaa subhakamaanaa).  There we received…guess….yep more tika and sweets! We danced and sang for a couple hours, which was a perfect ending to this day. It’s rare too goof around with the staff for this long.  I returned home and crawled into my ‘safe zone’ (my mosquito netted bed) to recover from my fruit and candy coma.