It's Christmas (in January)! Let's Be Glad!

Yup, I know I said I'd post more frequently some time back, but Jason and I decided to ring in 2007 with a much needed vacation to Chitwan National Park, which kept me away from a computer for over a week. So much to update you on, and so precious little time and clarity of mind to devote to it all.

Seeing as how January is officially half over, at least on my half of the globe, what better time could I choose to rave about Christmas in Nepal? This may actually be a good thing, as some of you may still have your trees and lights up. Don't read that as a joke, as a few years back, I came home from Christmas break around the 20th of January to find that my roommates (Jason and Taylor Wood) still hadn't thrown away our 7 ft tall Alleuvian Fir/raccoon retirement community. I think nearly all the needles had fallen out, but the decorations and lights were all still on the tree. What centerpiece could better express the feeling of "We're all in our mid-20's and too busy to bother with trifles like fire hazards."

But I'm off on a tangent here, AGAIN, aren't I? Christmas...in Nepal...right?

Let me get straight to the point: Christmas in South Asia is both a blessing and a lament, and I loved it for both reasons. To those here who are Christians, it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, a day of joy spent in worship and feasting, untainted by the commercialism and Pokemonism that drives the holiday back in the west. Read that as: NO GIFT-GIVING. To everybody else on the continent, Christmas is....Monday. Go to work. Drink tea. Go home to your family. Eat rice. Go to bed. Etc...

So while it was a bit depressing to see so many people out and about, oblivious of what Christmas means to so many millions of others around the world, I had a blast at the celebration held at Calvary Church, the spiritual body which includes our children's home in its body. We sang songs all day, or at least the kids did -- Jason and I just hummed along and pretended we weren't confused. I was the proud winner some sort of pinata game: participants pay 5 rupees and then take a blindfolded swing at a clay pot filled with candies. Having woken up at 5 a.m. to exchange gifts with the kids, I spent a good portion of the afternoon sipping on milk tea and napping out on the church lawn. And during the evening service, Jason and I led the CWC kids in a performance of a couple Western Christmas carols for the congregation.

But the best part my friends? Not Christmas, though it was fun (and highlighted with a spiritual possession that I'll be more than freaked out to tell you about if you email me and ask). I'm honest and conceited enough to admit that the highlight of the holidays for me was the Christmas party we threw in partial celebration of my 25th birthday. I can say with certainty that my Nepali birthday was without a doubt the best that I've ever experienced, due mainly to the fact that having been born on December 23rd makes it near impossible to celebrate -- somewhat difficult to be a glory-hog when you have to share the spotlight with the Saviour of the universe.

So I had my first legit birthday party in about 7 or 8 years, and it was a blast, complete with buffet line, bonfires, wine-in-a-box, cultural dancing, and a boombox blaring the Vengaboys. I'll let the photos speak for themselves

(l-r) Sonu, Dipa, Sushil, Sabita, and Gita
Sushil and Ishor played some Nepali Christmas carols for us,
while the girls spent most of the night trying to hide from my camera.
They don't look too shy here.

Some of the younger children crowd around the birthday cake.
We had to make sure it fed all 100 guests, so I got one that weighed 17 lbs.
What can I say, I like my chocolate.

(l-r) The bear, Rina (my "boss"), Umesh (towering over us all), Rajesh, and Yubrats
That goofy kid I'm clutching in front is Moses, Rina's apdopted lil' bro.
My santa hat is standing straight up because I was clever enough to stuff
a cardboard birthday hat underneath it. Awww, I'm so cute...

Laxmi (in the middle) performs a dance number with many of the older
girls set to the tune of a Nepali Christmas song.

Nabin (middle) is honestly the best dancer I've ever seen in person.
He spent weeks choreographing a routine for the boys to a Nepali folk song,
then threw in a bit with all the canes at the last minute.
Really cool to watch, and really fun. Great job guys.
PS. Note that half the guys aren't wearing shoes.
The temp was close to 34 degrees. Ouch.