It may be the last day of Septmeber, but my socially
unacceptable habits of breaking out the Christmas carols well before the last
Thanksgiving turkey drumstick has been picked clean have made me acutely aware
of the festive atmosphere that’s spreading through the bazaar.
This can only mean one thing –Dashain!
The shopkeepers have dusted off their finest wares and are
displaying them from hanging wires, on front steps, and even on their heads!
With it being such an important time in the year for business (Black Friday,
anyone?), I was honored to be promoted to “head shopkeeper” in my family’s shop
this morning before school while everyone ran errands. And when I say sole
shopkeeper, I mean that if anyone lingered outside looking even remotely
interested, I pitched them my rehearsed speech in Nepali: “Hello! How are you?
What are you looking for?” More often than not they were shocked that a
foreigner was 1.) keeping shop and 2.) speaking Nepali. However, they then
proceeded to reply with a list of items I don’t know the names of and/or where
to find them between the stacks of buckets, bowls, and bottles of cleaner and I
had to scurry upstairs to find someone to take care of the business
transaction.
But Dashain is more than just the “SALE!” advertisements in
the local paper. Like Christmas, it’s a time for visiting family, relaxing, and
of course eating. I will be traveling with my family to visit extended family in Chitwan, learning how to cook Nepali dishes, wearing a langi, and trying not to get in the way of all the animal sacrifices right outside my front door...
Stay tuned for festival updates!
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