I really had the intention of writing a post at least every other day while we traveled and performed around Nepal. But, to my surprise I barely had time to take photos! So now I will try and cram it all in to one post, a week after we’ve returned.

First of all, I knew nothing about Nepal before we arrived. It was like going to a movie that you hadn’t seen previews for or read reviews. All I knew was that it was between China and India, that Mt. Everest was there and I read an article once about the Kumari Devi. Kathmandu reminded me a little of other cities I had visited like Juarez, Guadalajara, and Naples. In a way, that seemed to fill me with nostalgia and comfort. I would never have thought that my visits to Juárez with my uncle would ever bring on a sense of comfort in another city half way across the world.

The textiles and jewelry are amazing and it would’ve been easy to spend way too much money. Luckily, we were pretty busy so there wasn’t too much time for shopping. Some people had entire outfits custom made for them for less than $20USD. Sometimes with less than a 24 hour turn around.

The people are beautiful in Nepal. So many different ethnic groups. I don’t know who is who, but I thought they were gorgeous. Especially the kids. So cute! And the women look fabulous even when they are out in the fields working. It made me feel like I dress like a slob. Well, I guess I am from the NW. They also seemed to be very honest, which is sometimes awkward and hilarious too. (My friend, Ken, would love it here. He could say whatever he wants.) People would just stare at us unabashedly, especially in the villages. Like we were aliens. Even when we were in our street clothes.

One thing I was not expecting to fall in love with is the Nepali music and dance. There are so many different kinds. I love the hand and arm movements and the way they use their hips. Even the guys. One of my favorite nights was not one of the big shows, but when some of the hosts had a party up on the roof of our hotel. They all sang and danced and played the drum. It was so beautiful, genuine and fun. They played for hours. I would have been voiceless if I sang like that for more than 30 minutes. Some of the have improvised lyrics, which makes them really funny and special. Thanks to my friend, Basudev, for translating for me. I hope that I will have a chance to go back and record more genuine, real, Nepali parties. I loved the Nepali folk dancing and music too. But I was completely fascinated by the party music and dance of the younger people. Click to view a clip of our roof top party I had a huge crush on the guy in the #9 jersey after watching him dance. I always get crushes on bboys and this was kind of similar, in a weird way.

As a performer I feel that I grew more in those 10 days than in the past 6 years. We were put in some stressful situations. Just the heat alone is something we’re not used to. Now everything seems easy : ) It was amazing performing for such HUGE crowds. And not just large, but very enthusiastic and appreciative. That is probably the hardest thing about coming back and performing here. People here don’t usually get that excited about folk dance : )

Another great thing was that every day I laughed until I was crying. At times our situations were sometimes frustrating, or we just wouldn’t know what was going on. But thanks to the humor of everyone things would just become funny. It would be so surreal at times. I was constantly thinking, “where am I?” or “what am I doing here?” or “is this real?” One of my favorite moments was when we were stopped on the side of the road for some reason. We had been traveling in the van for over 8 hours and then a spontaneous party broke out. Click here to see video clip of our side of the road party. And here’s one of us being served traditional Newari food. Click here to see clip of Newari meal.

We were traveling with groups from Sri Lanka, 2 from India (Punjabi and Rajasthani-my faves), 2 from Lativia, Israel, and a Costa Rican pianist. Nigeria, Ghana and Argentina didn’t make it. Below are some pictures of us in the Kathmandu newspapers. One is of me in my Bandari costume, the other is of our group in our Khalegi costumes and Helene in her Persian Qajari costume. If you want to see more of my video clips or pics from our trip visit http://gallery.mac.com/missjalene#100010 or my flickr group (hopefully more people will post photos here, I really didn’t get a chance to take many) http://www.flickr.com/groups/822816@N22/ and here’s my friend’s much more extensive collection of photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/gourmetdancer/sets/72157605654604967/