The fourth day is bit different. Today the things you worship depend on your specific cultural background. Normally most of the people perform ‘Guru puja’, ox worshiping. The ox is worshiped with tika, garland and then a delicious meal is fed to it. On the other hand people who follow lord Krishna perform ‘Gobhardan puja’. These people build a small hill made out of cow dung and put some grass on it then do puja on it. This puja symbolises the act of lord Krishna when he lifted the gobhardan hill and saved millions of people and cows from floodwater. If you belong to the Newar community, you perform ‘Mha puja’ which literally means worshiping yourself. The Newar community people are worshiping life by doing puja on themselves. On this very day the Newar New Year also starts. Nepal has many minor community calendars and Newar calendar is one of them but the nation follows the Bikram Sambat calendar.
This was a break through morning. I realized I could boil water for tea myself, before anyone else was awake. It is blissful, sitting with a cup of tea, watching the sun come up. After another wonderful yoga class and breakfast, we headed off to Dadagaun Village for our second day. We were a little late and Bhulla (one of the teachers in the school) had been eagerly waiting for us at the gate for 30 minutes.
Children in the orphanage
We started the day with a visit at the orphanage. These children a attend the school in the village. Their school is kindergarten to 8th grade. They were thrilled that we came to see them! We were welcomed with marigold necklaces and red powder for our foreheads. They enjoyed the simple gifts we brought them and interacting with us. I had a lovely exchange with 3 teenage girls who were shyly standing to the side of the yard.Everyone is anxious to practice their English and enjoyed our attention. We wished we could have stayed longer. Today, Bhulla translated for Michelle and me. Neeru went with Mozella and Carolyn. Again, it was a fascinating, deeply rewarding experience. We enjoyed comparing notes and stimulating each other’s thinking. More information and videos of our interviewing are available by writing to to sydneyfrymire@thetrekofyourlife.com
Neeru did a great job translating
Steve met us for lunch before we headed back for another quiet afternoon before dinner. Carolyn worked on setting up an excel spread sheet for us to enter our data. In the evening we joined the other quests and family members for a particularly festive evening. Steve had fireworks that he bought in China. The children and adults were delighted. The merriment lasted until the morning all over town. We went to bed relatively early.
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