Calling all Nepal K-1/K-3/AOS filers

[Putali 0]

Maya! Welcome back from Nepal! I so envy you! Good to hear you are doing well... As far as the topic goes, I love Nepali songs! Mero Raj is somewhat of a minstrel of the mountains. He sang and sang to me during trek and one particular song stuck with me. I am learning this song now to sing at our wedding... Ritu Haruma Timi by Arun Thapa. Amazing lyrics... nothing in English can compare. My biggest concern with Rajan is that he will assimilate too fast and too completely. At work I keep pictures of his humble farmhouse and his three buff to bring me back to earth once and a while.

Edited August 7, 2007 by Putali

[Imua 0]

Maya! Welcome back from Nepal! I so envy you! Good to hear you are doing well... As far as the topic goes, I love Nepali songs! Mero Raj is somewhat of a minstrel of the mountains. He sang and sang to me during trek and one particular song stuck with me. I am learning this song now to sing at our wedding... Ritu Haruma Timi by Arun Thapa. Amazing lyrics... nothing in English can compare. My biggest concern with Rajan is that he will assimilate too fast and too completely. At work I keep pictures of his humble farmhouse and his three buff to bring me back to earth once and a while.

I have to ask Govinda if he this song, sounds beautiful - maybe we can sing it when we have our wedding in NY... I have the same concern with him - we had a lot of talks and he has said he would never forget his family values, his Nepali ways... There are a lot of Indian and Nepali people here who somehow assimilate enough to get by but definitely do not become 'typical American guys'. I am not assimilated - I wear salwar kameez every day to work, eat desi food almost daily and go to mandir at least once a week and G has said he loves this about me...

He loved to sing to me all the time too, I miss it, so sweet... Does Rajan also like to dance? I call Govinda 'the dohori king of Jayabageshwori' because I have never met a guy who loves to dance as much as he does - there is a song about a woman named Dolma who goes to Pokhara - he would always request it at dohori clubs when we would go dancing. I put a photo of the view of Pashupatinath from his apartment terrace as my computer wallpaper so when he comes he will always feel like he is home.

[maya62 7]

OMG I am feeling SOOO technologically challenged right now. But after MANY attempts, I finally uploaded a few photos to my profile.

If it makes you guys feel any better, mero maya is holding on to his culture and sweetness just fine. We still sing in Nepali and dance around the house and eat lots of dal bhat and speak in a strange mixture of Nepali and English. We have pictures up and a little Buddhist shrine in the living room, and prayer flags and marigolds on the porch. Feels like home. I'm sure you'll all be fine. In fact, there are probably a lot more cultural "touchstones" available to your SO's in your more urban settings than there are here.

I am so excited about both of your visajourneys... I'm re-living the whole thing through you guys! Pattu Rani, hurry up and send in your paperwork!! Not to add any pressure...

There's a video of that song Ritu Haru Ma Timi on YouTube (typed the title into google). Very pretty!

Stay cool (it's hotter 'n blue blazes here in VA right now!)

Maya

[Imua 0]

OMG I am feeling SOOO technologically challenged right now. But after MANY attempts, I finally uploaded a few photos to my profile.

If it makes you guys feel any better, mero maya is holding on to his culture and sweetness just fine. We still sing in Nepali and dance around the house and eat lots of dal bhat and speak in a strange mixture of Nepali and English. We have pictures up and a little Buddhist shrine in the living room, and prayer flags and marigolds on the porch. Feels like home. I'm sure you'll all be fine. In fact, there are probably a lot more cultural "touchstones" available to your SO's in your more urban settings than there are here.

I am so excited about both of your visajourneys... I'm re-living the whole thing through you guys! Pattu Rani, hurry up and send in your paperwork!! Not to add any pressure...

There's a video of that song Ritu Haru Ma Timi on YouTube (typed the title into google). Very pretty!

Stay cool (it's hotter 'n blue blazes here in VA right now!)

Maya

It feels like Chitwan here in NYC - hot and muggy!!!

Your photos are gorgeous, thank you so much for sharing them! I can relate to speaking 'Neplish' with G Do you know how to make chili momos? See - I was not kidding about the recipe part - I've been craving them like mad and I've seen recipes for momos but not for chili sauce - I think Tabasco or something like that would be too thin. If I could get some yak cheese I would be in heaven - yak cheese 'C' momos are now my favorite food!!! I can make pretty decent dal but not like G's mom - gotta work on that.

I was just telling G this morning that he needs to send me his PP photos so I can get the ball rolling -

[Imua 0]

You may have to wait until you have your own personal translator in residence to figure out the words to some Nepali songs. There's still one verse of Resham Firiri that has me stumped! But I'm learning. That was the first Nepali song I learned... S wrote it out for me in Nepali and English when we were first getting to know one another.

'Resham Firiri' - *sigh* that brings back memories... When G and I were staying at the Boudhanath Guest House there was a house or store nearby that used to play a beautiful flute music CD every morning - 'Resham Firiri' was the first song... I remember those mornings, just G and I together, cuddling, talking, drinking masala chiyaa, listening to the birds and the music... Please tell me we will have more mornings like that???

[ELW 5]

You will have a lifetime of mornings like that!

When are you planning to file for K3?

[Imua 0]

You will have a lifetime of mornings like that!

When are you planning to file for K3?

I am waiting for Mero Raja to send me his passport photos and his mailing address written in Devanagari - I have everything else ready to go, except I have some concern about the 'evidence of bonafide marriage' - I think some newlyweds skipped this part and didn't get RFEs, but I am a little confused. I am sending some photos of us with G's family, at our wedding, honeymoon, engagement, etc. If I need to submit affadavits from G's family that will slow things down even more. I want to get it started now!!!

[Putali 0]

Today I went ape-wild at the Indian market and bought everything from Chana Besan (chickpea flour) to asefetida. Don't know exactly what I'm going to do with it all but I'll figure it out. I can make a mean veg momo and the tomato achar to go with it. Gotta be a good Nepali wife you know. The other dishes I'm missing from Nepal are the curried pumpkin leaves, the spring rolls at the tea lodges during trek, those super-sweet suntalas on the way to Ghorepani, and caramelized buf milk. I second the yak cheese comment! I LOVE YAK CHEESE! Did anyone go to BK fries in Kathmandu?

It's a funny thing about Nepali love songs. Rajan translated a few of them to me and I found them to be so tragic! There was one lyric by a male vocalist singing something to the effect of "I went to your wedding and saw another man put the sindoor in your hair". I forget that a society of arranged marriages would of course produce music with another set of problems unknown to us westerners used to love marriages. So sad.

Anyways, here's my favorite picture I took of my mother-in-law-to-be and mero prem in their home in Chitwan:

Edited August 12, 2007 by Putali

[Imua 0]

Today I went ape-wild at the Indian market and bought everything from Chana Besan (chickpea flour) to asefetida. Don't know exactly what I'm going to do with it all but I'll figure it out. I can make a mean veg momo and the tomato achar to go with it. Gotta be a good Nepali wife you know. The other dishes I'm missing from Nepal are the curried pumpkin leaves, the spring rolls at the tea lodges during trek, those super-sweet suntalas on the way to Ghorepani, and caramelized buf milk. I second the yak cheese comment! I LOVE YAK CHEESE! Did anyone go to BK fries in Kathmandu?

It's a funny thing about Nepali love songs. Rajan translated a few of them to me and I found them to be so tragic! There was one lyric by a male vocalist singing something to the effect of "I went to your wedding and saw another man put the sindoor in your hair". I forget that a society of arranged marriages would of course produce music with another set of problems unknown to us westerners used to love marriages. So sad.

Anyways, here's my favorite picture I took of my mother-in-law-to-be and mero prem in their home in Chitwan:

Putali didi,

Do you have 'The Nepal Cookbook'? I've made a few things from there - it has a good basic dal recipe and i think a pumpkin leaf tarkaari recipe. I want to learn to make our favorite dessert, sikarni - of course you cannot find that heavenly Bhaktapur dahi here, but I will try my best with the 'Desi Dahi' from the Indian store. Basically it's sweetened yogurt with ground cardamom, haldi and cinnamon - you drain some of the water from the yogurt so it has more of a custard-like consistency. Some recipes call for almonds and/or raisins. It's very addicting stuff and not served at most restaurants in Nepal - G and I tried it at a fast food place in Jamal and both loved it.

I think Nepali spring rolls would be pretty easy to make - basically you make some veg chow mein, roll it up in the wrapper and fry it... I want to try to make some cheese and spinach momo - can't get yak cheese here of course but I am going to try paneer crumbled and see how it comes out - any tips on making tomato achaar? We both love chili momo so I need to figure out how to make a nice chili sauce.

BK fries - that is my favorite place in Thamel!!! Now I am craving some frites with tandoori mayo...

So your sweetie is from the Terai as well? Maybe he and G are distant cousins?? I love the photo - so cute!!!

Edited August 12, 2007 by Pattu Rani

[maya62 7]

Check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Tibetan-Yak-Cheese-O...m/dp/B0000D9N9O

Haven't tried it (I'll be darned if I'm paying $20/lb for ANY cheese), but it's here...

I've tried several things from the Nepali Cookbook. I've also taken liberties with one or two of their recipes... they came out well even so. Our favorite, and an easy dinner, is a kind of fried rice with whatever veggies you have on hand, or chicken if you eat chicken. Yum.

Never ate at BK Fries. We've gone to Thakali Kitchen the past few times, which is good, imo, especially if you are treating numerous relatives!

Cute pic, Putali!

Y'all bhainis have a good Monday, y'hear? (that's southern Neplish)

Maya

[Imua 0]

Check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Tibetan-Yak-Cheese-O...m/dp/B0000D9N9O

Haven't tried it (I'll be darned if I'm paying $20/lb for ANY cheese), but it's here...

I've tried several things from the Nepali Cookbook. I've also taken liberties with one or two of their recipes... they came out well even so. Our favorite, and an easy dinner, is a kind of fried rice with whatever veggies you have on hand, or chicken if you eat chicken. Yum.

Never ate at BK Fries. We've gone to Thakali Kitchen the past few times, which is good, imo, especially if you are treating numerous relatives!

Cute pic, Putali!

Y'all bhainis have a good Monday, y'hear? (that's southern Neplish)

Maya

Mm, fried rice - sounds like biryani - nice to make with any leftover steamed rice you have around.

There's this guy on another board(YetiZone) who was always raving about Thakali Kitchen so I had to try it the last time I was in Thamel - went there with G one evening - very nice place, excellent for Newari food. The one complaint I have about Newari food is it's very hard to find veggie dishes. Sekuwa looks so delicious I wish there was a version made with paneer of tofu...

Are you observing Tij? I don't know if Buddhist Tamangs celebrate it or not, maye just a Hindu festival... G's family are fasting every Monday(until evening) until the full moon(I think) and then on the full moon day married women wear red and go to the temple to pray for their husband's long life and happiness - a nice custom I think. Raksha Bandhan is also coming up.

Hehe - southern Neplish pheri betaunla y'all...

[Putali 0]

I'm still dreaming of spring rolls. Spring rolls on trek are monstrousities... huge fried vegetable turnovers, as big as calzones! I think I must have ordered one of those at every lodge we stopped at. I've been getting my recipes from Rajan's older sister. She and the rest of the women in Rajan's family are amazing cooks. Granted, she can't give me amounts, only can tell me what's in the dish and what order to cook them in. Thanks for the yak cheese link Maya! I'm a huge cheese freak and I love yak cheese. I'm dreaming about grilled yak cheese and tomato sandwiches right now. I know it's expensive, but I swear I'm going to order some!

Rajan told me that the Thakalis are famous for their cooking, not that they cook very different foods from any other ethnic group in Nepal. I understood them to be masters of flavor and food preparation, the Thakalis in Nepal are what the French are to European cuisine. In Tatopani, I had the tastiest meal ever... best dahl bhat tarkari and grilled fish prepared by a Thakali cook. You know how they say the way to man's heart is through his stomach? I think Rajan's really marrying me because he says I look Thakali. Hehehehehe...

I didn't try sikarni, but it seems very similar to a yogurt dessert in India, so it goes for many dishes in Nepal.

Ok, so enough about food already! It's damn near midnight here and instead of raiding the fridge, I need to go to sleep. I have serious separation anxiety. I talk to Rajan everyday, sometimes twice a day and it's not enough. I heard that writing your congressperson helps the process along tremendously. I made a first draft to Senator Barbara Boxer. Do you think it'll work? What if I get my friends and family to sign a petition with the header "Please find below signatures of support from wedding guests and your constituents."

I'll go recite my mantra...

[maya62 7]

I believe Tij is Hindu... I haven't heard of it before so I searched it. It does sound like a nice idea...

The guy raving about Thakali Kitchen is probably Yakshaver (Daniel Ionita from Australia, but now living in Romania I believe). He actually had a role in how I met S!

Putali, I'm not sure if writing to your Congressperson will help at this stage... you might want to ask on the main K-1 forum. But here is a thought from our experience, with a little background first: S and I met in Sept 04. I went back to visit him in March 05, which, if you remember, was a month after King G declared sort of "martial law". We had lost touch for a week that first week of February, along with the rest of the world, when G cut the phone/internet/mail/everything. I was fairly freaked out about the situation, having lost touch (like everyone else in the world) with S for several days, so we attempted DCF. We failed, and when that happened, I spent an afternoon firing off emails to both US Senators and our Governor (what was I thinking... the Governor??). I wrote about how unstable the country was and how worried I was about S being there. Both Senators' immigration aides wrote to the Consulate in Kathmandu and received essentially the same reply, which was copied to me. Basically, it said I didn't meet the residency requirement to do DCF and we should file for a K-1. So that's what we did. And from there, our process was very fast.

All of this had nothing to do with USCIS, so I can't really comment on whether contacting a Congressperson will help you now at the petition stage, but I have a sneaking suspicion that our emails helped us get through the Consulate in Ktm lickety-split. But we'll never know!!

Gotta run and get to work! Hang in there, you guys...

Maya

[maya62 7]

FYI, in case you didn't know already, the US Embassy in Kathmandu is moving to a new location. Here's a quick link to the news, as well as info about the new Ambassador (link to her bio in the upper right hand corner, too).

http://nepal.usembassy.gov/

Cheers!

Maya

[Imua 0]

FYI, in case you didn't know already, the US Embassy in Kathmandu is moving to a new location. Here's a quick link to the news, as well as info about the new Ambassador (link to her bio in the upper right hand corner, too).

http://nepal.usembassy.gov/

Cheers!

Maya

Thanks for the info - G mentioned the move to me a few days ago but I didn't know there was a new Ambassador, interesting...

There was an interesting article in this week's Economist about economic inequality in Asia - I glanced at out of curiosity and guess which nation has the most unequal distribution of income? Sadly, Nepal, by a wide margin. China is #2. It certainly explains the popularity of the Maobadi movement. Kind of ironic though, that China is moving away from Mao's philosophy while many in Nepal are embracing it.

Edited August 16, 2007 by Pattu Rani