here "ho" means yes... so the "ho ho ho" of good ol' saint nick almost makes it an orgasmic exclamation ("yes yes yes!") ... it's what i think of anyhow; perhaps because i sometimes have a dirty mind.
the weather in Kathmandu this time of year is my favorite: sunshine and clear skies, sweater weather, cool nights, chilly mornings. warm enough for flowers to flourish, cool enough to not need deoderant. spending every november and december of my entire life in cleveland, ohio, this is quite a contrast. no wonder i have forgotten (a true relief!) about snow and christmas. at lunch today, however: i was sipping milk tea at a rooftop cafe (sun warming me, stupa eyes staring at me, familiar waiters chatting with me), when a monk's robe began singing with the loud melody of "jingle bells." he reached into his robe to pull out his cell phone and promptly answer "tashideleg!" and i couldn't help but to laugh out loud -perhaps
too out loud...i couldn't help it. it just seemed so bizarre and random and i took so much pleasure in the oddness and humor of the moment.
you all probably have lights and christmas trees, and bags of wrapping paper and scotch tape lurking around your home... scanning through christmas tunes on your car radios... but here i feel so disconnected from the phenomenon of christmas. -and suddenly, it is all so funny to me. not in a "i'm going to make fun of this" way, but rather in the same way that old tibetan women laugh when i try to explain some curious piece of American culture to them... or the same way one might giggle while watching children play make-believe. one might think "oh it doesn't make any sense but its cute and, hell, they're havin' a good time so who cares!"
one of my fondest christmas memories is of my grandpa muttering "merry kiss-my-ass!" ... and now i see it not as cynicism, but as just plain fun. if we can't laugh, we aren't living.
you probably think i'm loony. but try to keep in mind that here, everyone laughs at everything. it's beautiful and free and ego-less. i love it!
