RYI STUDENT BLOG

Living in Boudha, the Tibetan neighborhood of Kathmandu, and studying at RYI, a very international community, one can sometimes become a little disconnected from the greater context of this unique country of Nepal. Kathmandu is a big city that attracts people from everywhere who want and need to make a fortune, people live in big houses in small expensive apartments, just like in all the big cities around the world. And of course there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes I feel like I am living in some kind of parallel society, a bubble of RYI students from around the world, including Nepal, and some loose contacts to the shop keepers, restaurant owners, monks and beggars with whom I’ve been sharing the neighborhood for the last couple of years. That’s why I like to spend at least my reading weeks (a one week holiday that we get once every semester) in the countryside. Be it trekking in one of the many valleys in the region, or be it just hanging out in one of the little towns ...

From water fights on Holi to door to door music performances on Tihar, one thing that Nepal does not suffer a shortage of is festivals. The rich culture of the diverse ethnic groups can be observed during these festivals, during which all kinds of activities are engaged in. This semester I was lucky enough to be able to accompany some friends to their Deusi re performance during Tihar, which involves boys/ young men performing traditional and/or modern songs at different houses in exchange for gifts of money, food, sweets and blessings. As for the girls, dressed in colourful dresses and adornments, they perform Bhailo . Boys and girls alike practise for months in preparation for their performances, with some spending the majority of their month long holiday (for Dashain, yet another festival) in practice.  Traditional swings made out of bamboo referred to as ping also sprang up around the city during the Dashain festival. Needless to say, I enjoyed a swing or two, m...