Counting Down the Days

The school year has ended and I have now completed my AP summer institute. So, I can give my full attention to getting ready for my great adventure of 2015.  I completed my visa application on line and it's been approved. It's time to double check my to-do list and start packing my backpack. 

Jesse, the director of GEEO, posted this link on FaceBook today. 

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/thank-you-culture-india-america/395069/ 

It's an excellent example of how two different cultures interpret the same expression and why learning a new language is more than just vocabulary and grammar. 

Man's Best Friend All Around the World

If you know me, you know I love my dogs. That's one thing my Hindu brothers and sister in Nepal and I have in common. 

On the Hindu calendar, Diwali is a time of gift-giving, storytelling, and recognition of the relationships humans have with all things.  In Nepal, Diwali is called Tihar. Similar to other Diwali observances, lamps are lit at night during Tihar. The festival of lights celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of knowledge over ignorance, and the dissolution of barriers that separate humans from authentic experience of the world. Nepalese Hinduism is unique in dedicating the second day of Tihar, Kukur Tihar, to the worship of dogs.