Family

Family

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Field Trip!

A few weekends ago, we took a field trip just a few hours away to an area called Jaldapara National Park.  This park is known for elephant jungle rides…so we had to check it out.  The ride was awesome as the elephant made its own path through the jungle…across streams, through brush, and across grasslands.  On our jungle ride, we encountered wild bison, peacocks, and deer.  We also came face-to-face with a rhino!  As part of school last week, each of the kids had to write about their field trip and then give an oral report to the rest of the family.  It’s great to live so close to a jungle where we can enjoy riding elephants for a nominal fee.  If you ever come visit us, we will certainly put this place on the list of sites to see. 


Of course, part of any adventure here is just getting from place to place…you just never know what you are going to encounter.  Some of my favorite sites along the way are captured below for you…the fire extinguishing system at the local gas station, monkeys begging for food on the side of the road, an interestingly decorated bridge, and our favorite…vehicles with more people riding on top of them than inside.  A possible solution to school busing issues…









Saturday, February 14, 2015

Making Momos

Today we had a great time making momos with a friend of ours.  We have posted previously about our spring roll making. Unfortunately, we are unable to find spring roll wraps here and I’m not quite ready to try to make them.  While their origins are in Tibet and Nepal, momos are a popular street food here, which should be no surprise since we are quite near the Nepal border.

The process is actually not terribly difficult but only time consuming.  There are only a few ingredients in momos.  Chicken momos contain: ground chicken, onion, fresh ginger root, and salt.  Veg momos contain: cabbage, onions, fresh ginger root, and salt.  The wraps are pretty easy to make as they consist of flour, baking powder and water.

We have by no means mastered the art of momo folding but we had a wonderful time in the kitchen today and we made some pretty fantastic steamed momos! Be impressed…









Saturday, February 7, 2015

Cultural Celebration

Today we were invited to a celebration of one of the many cultures of this country: Nagaland.  Several of our friends in the area are from Nagaland.  The afternoon brought many interesting events…cultural dancing, a food eating contest, shopping, games for the kids, arm wrestling, and much more.  We had a wonderful time sharing the afternoon with our friends.


Pictured above is the prize for the raffle at the event.  One can only imagine all the wonderful things you can do with this!

 I am confident that one of Delaney's favorite things about living our new culture is that it is more culturally appropriate to eat with your fingers than with silverware.

Delaney with one of her friends in her Nagaland dress.

Tony drew quite a crowd when he stepped up to the arm wrestling table!


Dylan enjoyed the challenge of walking with bamboo stilts.