Views of a Nepali Village

Electrical Mess

I'm sure glad I don't work as an electrician in Nepal.

Lions Club Proud

With my father functioning as the current President of the Lions Club Holton, Kansas Chapter, I was filled with pride to see this sign for the Lions Club, Kathmandu Chapter. I thought about stopping by and telling them that my dad was the President, but thought they might treat me too much like a celebrity.

Holi Day

Holi Day. The Holi Day holiday might just be one of the greatest inventions of mankind. The main idea: in the name of celebrating good's victory over evil, you hold a day-long, nation-wide waterfight, throw in a few bright colors, and have a heck of a time. This was a highlight of my time in Nepal, leaving me with a desire to return annually for this water-color fest. The water flights are waged from strategic positions on walk-out housetops and balconies. Lucky are those whose housetop is 5 stories high while their neighbor's is only 3. No one is excluded... men, women, children, the elderly... they all take position to give and receive fire. The top picture shows a small child with his water gun, one of the least effective of weapons. The second pictures shows the culprit of a water balloon that came whizzing by as I tried to take pictures. She had quite an arm...

The agony of a direct hit. We were in the process of filling water balloons while trying to dodge artillery fire coming from about 5 different directions. There's something about wearing a white t-shirt and being the only white guy in the neighborhood that says, "Hit Me!"

The ground littered with broken balloons around me, I returned fire on a father and two children who were giving a volley of balloons up from a 3rd story rooftop toward my 4th story position. My military instincts told me that the bucket approach would work quite nicely, as it did.Part of the event is smearing colors all over your friends faces and in their hair. I'm not sure why, but with my back already stained by a direct hit from a color-laced water balloon, I figured I might as well add some other colors.In the process of standing in front of the house putting colors on each other faces, we were surprised by a neighbor's sneak attack with a bucket full of water. I chased after him with another bucket, only to run into an ambush where they threw red powder on my already soaked face. It was all in good fun, enough fun that we took a picture together while getting pelted by more water balloons. After several hours of fun in our community, we decided to walk around the city for a few hours and see what we could find. Nepalis lined their walk-out rooftops along the streets, waiting for passersby like us to dump water on. We did our best to fire back, but struggled from our lower and more vulnerable position. Jokingly, ever direct hit was replied to with, "Thank you, thank you! Happy Holi!"We stopped by this friend's house (the lady in the middle) and when she stepped out the door, my Nepali friends nailed her with the green powder. She in turn decorated us with some green. Before we left we made sure we hit her dog with some green powder as well. The End.
This actually wasn't the end. After literally having a "red neck" for a couple days, the powder/paint finally wore and washed off. The t-shirt, once bright white, was unsalvageable.

Peddlers of Produce

Traveling around Kathmandu, Nepal, I was intrigued by the road-side peddlers of fruits, vegetables, and various spices. To a horticulturalist the variety and colorfulness of plant produce was fascinating. As a people-watcher, the variety and colorfulness of buyers and sellers was fascinating as well.

Intro to Nepal

Another one of those "Sure not in Kansas anymore" moments. My trip to Nepal was great. Here's a few pics to give you a taste. I'll be posting more in the following days.

So which ones aren't true Nepalis?

Political campaigning is in full swing with critical elections coming up in just a few weeks. These elections determine who will write the constitution, shaping the future of this tumultuous country. From the last time I checked, the above party doesn't exactly hold to quite the same ideals as George Washington and John Hancock.

Some of My Favorite Things About Kansas

I recently made a short 9 day trip home to Kansas for my older brother's wedding. After being gone for 16 months, there were several things I really appreciated about Kansas. These are listed in no particular order.
Wide-open spaces.

My 3 siblings, as well as all the rest of my family.

Silos...feedlots... steers.... the smell of manure.

My new sister-in-law!

Snow... haybales... and hot-wire fences.

Grandpa.

My baby calves.

Friends... Beef... and Famous Dave's BBQ Sauces.