Picnic Adventure in search of Goats

As we waited for lunch to be ready, some enterprising goats came 'round and were consequently the sole focus of many of the younger ones...so I followed the monks as they followed the goats!

Picnic!

I must apologize for the delay in posting these pictures, but I have been internet-poor lately and as such will present them without much commentary. Enjoy!

Building our shelter from the wind (and some rain)

So many more, I will post them on Facebook as soon as possible!

MoMo Gallery, part 2

Tofu, spinach and spices (if I'm not mistaken); I was instructed to eat 20, I think I made it to 12.

But I would gladly eat these every day, and work my way up to the dozens/hundreds they offered.

From the kitchen of Jonang Monastery, on the occasion of the best picnic ever:

MoMo Gallery, part 1

It occurred to me that I have as yet given no photographic proof of the many, many momos I ingest; I will attempt to remedy this.

From Regency, Cheese Potato MoMos:

Quite delicious.

The Stupa

Boudha, the area of Kathmandu in which I live and work, is known as a center of Tibetan Buddhist culture. There are dozens of monasteries (and nunneries) and at the center of this gathering is the Boudha stupa, or chorten. On my first Friday in Kathmandu, I accompanied Jeremy and his SIT study abroad students on a walk around the kora (circumambulatory path) and up onto the stupa itself.

Images of the stupa are often used when talking about Nepal and Kathmandu, and here are a few of my own to add to the mix -

Class photos

A few more pictures from the classroom...

The morning class working on noun exercises in their work books -

A sample of their daily schedule (for those of you who read Tibetan!); they work hard at their lessons, but they also have weekly holidays for play and relaxation -

The empty classroom, before the young monks arrive -

A last "travel nouns" photo, I didn't want Nyidon to be left out! -

Shiva Ratri

Though I don't have classes this week because of Tibetan Buddhist Losar, one of the largest Hindu festivals in the world also happens to coincide this year. Yesterday Jeremy and I headed down to Pashupatinath temple to see what we could see of Shiva Ratri, a huge gathering of Shaivite pilgrims. Though I loved the one Hinduism class I had at William & Mary (thanks Prof. Gupta!), I must direct you to further reading for any approximation of the meaning of the things I saw. The one thing I did observe/had heard about was the proliferation of Indian sadhus, or tantric ascetics. My guide book says that Shiva Ratri is generally followed by the last few days of winter, in order to "encourage the Indian sadhus to go home" (approximation there of the great Lonely Planet Nepal guide!).

In any event, enjoy!

More pictures!

As promised, and because each one is really phenomenal.