Here’s another example of how time and traditions are mixed up here: I think not that long ago I wrote, that we were writing 2070 here. Well, according to this calendar, the New Year starts on 14th April in our time, meaning that now it’s already 2071! It turned out that celebrating New Years here is a little bit different than at home. On one side, it can be thanked to the fact that in Nepal, there are so many different nations and cultures that they actually have at least 3-4 New Years in a year! On the other side, for Nepali people this day is not as much about going out or partying, but they are more likely to spend the day with family and friends over a delicious lunch or dinner. Despite all this, there were still a few places in Kathmandu where they organized special parties or concerts for New Years. For example, on Durbar Square of Kathmandu, we got to listen a bit of a concert of a Nepali band, who was performing on a stage set among the famous monuments, while the square itself and other buildings of the square was crowded with the audience.
Only one week after Nepalese New Years, just to
totally mix cultures and traditions, we celebrated Easter, as a part of
European and Christian tradition. It was a really interesting experience to try
to bring our traditions to Nepalese context: we painted eggs, cooked European
food just so that after, we could invite our Nepali friends and have a great
dinner with them while sitting on the floor, drinking good Nepali tea and
talking about some important issues of the Nepalese society and the culture
itself... I think these are what you can call multicultural experiences! :)
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