Happy Shivaratri!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
I am leaving this afternoon for Delhi. I fly out of Delhi the day after tomorrow and should be with Juntara and my sister by late Wednesday evening. I have a bag packed with all of J's favorite things... Nepali lemons, chow chow noodles, and walnuts straight from her village. Juntara's father came all the way down here to visit and talked with Juntara by computer... her singing brought us all to tears. He's feeling regretful about leaving and guilty that he can't be with her for this operation but like I said, "what's done is done."
The children are all thrilled because today is a huge Nepali festival called Shivaratri. There is a big Shiva Temple in Surkhet and we're going to walk over and do a pooja blessing. After the ceremony, everyone eats this bong prassad... a sweet made from marijuana that supposedly gives you strength from Lord Shiva. I told the kids I'd be happy to go to the temple but that we would have to lay off the dessert. This opened up a discussion about marijuana and what it is... very interesting conversation to have with a group of seven-year-olds.
Happy Shivaratri! I'm off to Delhi today and will be in touch from LONDON with the one and only J!