Holiday as a family guest

Posting the pictures was more difficult than I expected last time. There was a scare that I put a virus on my memory card from the public computer. Any way, since the last post, I traveled to Lhatzok (sp) through Pokahara. From KTM to Pokahara it was a 7 hour trip by bus. The bus was packed with people returning home for the holiday Dassain. From Pokahara we took a short taxi to the end of the road, then walked 1.5 hours to Bhuvan's family's house. The last bit is possible by jeep, but its expensive, 1500 rupees, or about $20.
When we arrived, preparations for the holiday were well under way. The goat was already killed and cleaned. Bhuvan's job was to butcher it. He worked till past dark cutting up all the pieces, saving the 4 legs for the next day. There was nothing wasted. Some was stewed for that night. the rest was cut up in strips and hung up to dry.

We ate after dark. Men sat at the table and the mother prepared the meal and ate sitting on the floor. Curry goat, dahl bhat (lentils & rice), curry vegetable was the menu. and were in bed by 9:00. I was given a spare bedroom.
Dassain holiday revolved around sharing blessings from older to younger. This was marked by receiving Tika, a mixture of rice and red coloring, stuck in a blob on the forehead. Once this was complete with the family we ate. Then we (myself & a visiting englishman, Tim) were taken around to the rest of the houses in the village to recieve tika. The blessings was for health and prosperity and was slightly different everywhere. After Tika, a bit of light eating was required. Possible finger food was curry goat, rice, fried raddish, curry potatoe, curry vegetable, roti (fried rice batter) and peanuts. Curd was given to drink, which was buttermilk/yougart.

Morning starts at dawn, with the rooster and milking the family buffalo. Tea was made (homegrown black tea, buffalo milk, sugar). Then the fresh buffalo milk was boiled and cooled. Warm milk was drinken. Breakfast was around 10:30. Curry goat, dahl bhat (lentils & rice), curry vegetable was the menu. During the day we would visti, go hiking, play cards, etc. Dinner after dark. Curry goat, dahl bhat (lentils & rice), curry vegetable was the menu.
got to go.
more later