I have a great deal of catching up to do, but as some of you know, I will be moving out to Kathmandu, Nepal in July 2013. This will be my first tour in the U.S. Foreign Service, and although I have never been to Nepal, I agree with the frequent chorus of voices that gush about how lucky I am to be heading to Nepal! Currently I am intensively studying the Nepali language and learning about South Asia's rich cultural and religious diversity.
In this picture I am wearing a bakhu, a traditional silk wrap dress worn in the Himalayas. Here are some more photos of the enriching educational journey that I embarked on last summer...
We recently visited a Hindu temple in Maryland, and were warmly received by Hindu community leaders and members. I also learn about Buddhism: Siddhartha Gautama was born in present-day Nepal, and the religion plays a distinctly important role in the country. On another prior field trip, we visited Washington's Islamic Center and also learned about Islam. These three religions are all represented in Nepal (according to a 2001 census and the U.S. Government's World Factbook, Nepal's population is 80.6% Hindu, 10.7% Buddhist and 4.2% Muslim). I have heard that Hindu and Buddhist traditions often intertwine in Nepal, and they play an important role in everyday life.
My classmates, teachers and I designed this display to share information about Nepal's Tihar festivities. Dashain and Tihar are two Hindu festivals that fall each year in Nepal in September or October. Dashain is a 15-day long ceremony in Nepal, and the country's largest and most auspicious holiday. Tihar, or Deepawali, is a five-day long ceremony in Nepal that falls shortly after Dashain. Each day of Tihar has special significance: crows are worhsipped on day one, dogs on day two, cows on day three, prosperity on day four, and the brother-sister relationship on day five. Each day of Tihar is marked with unique celebrations, which I will have the opportunity to witness first-hand later this year!
It has been a delight to learn to speak Nepali, since it is such a rich language and my teachers are excellent. I devote eight hours daily to my language studies. Back in September we started off learning to read and write the Devenagari script, which I admit at first was a challenge! Now we are at a level where we can discuss and read a wide variety of work-related topics, pertaining to diplomacy, development, education, tourism and...you guessed it...mountain-climbing! One of my favorite linguistic discoveries so far is that the literal translation for adventure tourism in Nepali, साहसिक पर्यटन, is courageous tourism!
No kidding!
Learning my seventh language, fortunately, is not as perilous as this trekking photo atop Everest appears to be (brought to us by Brad Jackson, My Shot, and National Geographic).
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