The Nepali Calendar is approximately 56 years and 8½ months ahead of the Gregorian calendar. The Nepalese New Year falls in the middle of April. Unlike Gregorian months, the lengths of Nepali months are not predetermined, and change from year to year, varying from 29 days to 32 days. That makes me 108 years old!!! It is really confusing at school because they use both calendar so I am never really sure what day it is or year!
Today I saw a man on a motorbike, a very common thing here, except this man was carrying a very special passenger behind him. It was a very large sow!! It was dead of course draped over the seat as he raced down the street. Wish I had my camera with me.
The kids are busy getting ready for exams which start next Friday. Then 2 weeks holiday don't forget they go to school year round with only about 3 weeks off the entire year, so this holiday is the biggest in the country.
I am still amazed how hard the kids of the orphanage work. They come home from school, do chores, study from 4 until 6pm, get up at 6am study until 8am then go to school. Crazy!! But they don't complain, it is the only life they know. It was so sad today I was in Sharan class, he is in grade 4 and in his class is a poster with all the kids birth dates, and parents birth dates. His was blank they are not exactly sure what his date of birth is. I asked the teacher why they just did not choose a date so he doesn't feel left out, she said they never thought about it. Because the birth dates of the kids at the orphanage are unclear they all celebrate their birthdays on the same day.
Another strange custom I became aware of last night was this. I actually notice Bikash and Ayaaz who are 7 and 8 had this long tuft of hair on the crowns of their heads. I thought someone did a bad job cutting their hair, but yesterday they got fresh hair cuts and still this tuft of hair is there. So I asked one of the older boys and he told me when a young boy's father has died he must wear this tuft until he is 10 years old. Talk about standing out in a crowd, but again it is the norm here so no one pays attention.
Attached are a few photos of the day.
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| Simply beautiful. |
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| old style house |
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| Rajendra and Kumar both 16 hand washing the school uniforms after school for all 10 kids. |
1 comment:
No worries about getting past the
Mayan 2012 date, then :-) Beautiful shot of the sky. Our fall colours are emerging here
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