We began our 2nd trek of the month around 5 pm – a blanket of darkness descending quickly upon us. Headlamps in place, packs strapped tightly on our backs, and bundled up for the cold weather, we filed out the door and onto the well-worn trail that led to the top of the mountain.
With the stars as our faithful companions and a never-ending uphill trail, we trekked to reach our friends on the mountaintop for Christmas caroling. I mean, what’s Christmas without a little caroling?
We danced our way up the mountain, jamming out to music and laughing at the moves we were unequipped to produce. Maybe the elevation was getting to us…
After an hour and a half of trekking, we arrived at our friends house and were welcomed with big smiles and the traditional Christian greeting, “Jemasi,” which means “Praise God.”
We happily entered the house, unsure of what the night would bring and how this Christmas caroling thing would work. Do we sing songs in English with all these Nepali’s or do we pretend to sing Nepalese carols alongside them? We had no clue.
We were brought to an upstairs room where they served us VERY sweet coffee (probably more sugar than there was coffee), with an assortment of Nepalese food. We sat and ate for maybe an hour, sang some English Christmas carols for our sake just in case we didn’t get to sing any, and then we heard some sort of party happening outside.
We weren’t sure what was going on, which is pretty usual on the race, so we peered out the window to see a crowd of people dancing to music around a large fire. Intrigued, we asked if we could go down and join the fun. Our host happily brought us down to the party and literally pushed us into the middle of the crowd – instantly surrounded by smiling Nepali men and women. They grabbed our hands, interlaced (which never fails to freak me out for a second before I realize it’s normal) and spun us around into their circle; teaching us how to dance Nepali-style.
Let me tell you – Nepali’s LOVE their circles!
I think just about every dance involved a circle with interlaced hands. I don’t know why they find that fun because I just kept getting really dizzy. Obviously they are more well-versed in circle-dancing.
As we danced the night away, I kept wondering when we were going to carol? Three hours later, I come to realize we weren’t going to carol in the way I first thought.
Nepali caroling and American caroling is completely different:
They dance, we sing.
They invite neighbors over, we go house to house.
They build a huge bonfire, we carry little lights.
At the end of the night they have a huge meal, we usually go to bed.
I guess we had been caroling all along.
A huge dance party for Jesus.
Friends, family, and neighbors gathered together, freely dancing with an unexplainable joy bursting from them with every dance move, every laugh, every smile…totally indescribable. All I know is that it was awesome!
When the dance party ended, we thought it was bedtime – I mean, it was 10:45pm. So we started making our way to our room but were stopped before we even made it to the front door. They told us to sit down and wait for dinner. Dinner? It’s so late for dinner – I wasn’t even hungry…my body was so tired, first from our trek and then from all the dancing. I couldn’t even think about eating – my body was screaming for sleep. But even still, we sat there and waited as we we told.
When the food was all ready, we were called to the front to get our dinner first. They gave us each a plate and told us to walk down the line of food so they could serve us. They gave us a huge plate full of rice (I have yet to finish a plate portioned by Nepali’s), with a curry sauce, chicken, chopped radishes, steamed potatoes, and some greens. My plate was heaping with food – definitely bigger than my face and probably 3 meals worth for my tummy.
I just stared at my plate for the longest time, wondering how in the world I was going to finish such a feast! Regardless, I put all worries aside and dug into my food – with fingers, not utensils. And I ate as much as I could – praying it was enough to not offend them. And thankfully it was.
The night came to a close around midnight and we all, with full bellies and sleepy eyes, made our way to our sleeping bags. Immediately after snuggling into our close quarters we fell asleep – happy to sleep anywhere at that point.
A night we will never forget.
Christmas caroling with a twist: dancing for Jesus with Nepali’s into all hours of the night.
