Holi

Dear All,

Tomorrow is Holi, a huge day of celebration here in Nepal, but largely the fun has already begun. I’m fortunate enough toi be at Didi’s house today, which means I’m sitting at a desk facing a huge wall sized window with a mountain view. On the rooftops of the neighboring houses, the faces of young girls and boys are popping up over the railings like gophers in a carnival game. For a moment, a young girl’s face appears. She launches a small plastic bag filled with cold water over the edge of the roof. There’s a peel of laughter but I can’t say if it came from the girl or her intended victim. Either way, the girls already vanished, her long black pigtails chasing her back behind the railing and to safety. She hides there, protected from similar attacks from neighboring roofs. I’m told that in other parts of Nepal, Holi is only celebrated on the actual date of Holi and that friends and family chase each other around covering each other with colored powders. Here in Kathmandu, water balloons have been in flight for 2 days already. Sitting here and watching, outside the center of the city, the games seem sweet and playful, and since the little girls are joining in the fun, I’m enjoying the scene (even as I remain inside; safe, dry and hidden). But the holiday does leave me feeling a little critical. What right now seems to be innocent fun can easily turn to antagonism and bullying. Back in the city, many little boys were showing their worst side, picking on women of all ages without impunity. Ironically, today is international women’s day, and yet neither Didi nor I have been brave enough to venture out of the house unless forced. (And even when Didi did rush out, she dressed as though it had been pouring rain all day.) All the same, the giggles of that neighbor girl have put me in too good of a mood to be overally critical. Though I can’t give her all the credit. The sky is decidedly dark and gray today and the hope of rain gives me butterflies. It’s been months since I’ve seen rain and while the monsoons mean I’ll soon be leaving, I’m still waiting for them with the greatest anticipation. After all, the rains were one of the first things I fell in love with here and after enduring the heat of the summer, and the cold of the winter, I’m anxious for my season to start.



Of course there are a million other things I could tell you all, but I’ll finish only with this bit of news: I’ve started writing my paper. I’m not entirely caught up in it yet, so there are pages of letters and poems filling the spaces between thoughts but I’ve started all the same, and I’m content with where I am thus far. But that’s all for now.

All my love.