What does Nepal mean to you?

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Dear Nemaste,

Although Nepal is about 11 000 km away, Nepal will always be near us, in our hearts. Nepal cannot mean the same for everyone, as the experience is different for everyone.

"But when we returned to Nepal after 6 years in the summer of 2017, we finally realized what was missing all these years, the warmth of our motherland."

After eating bread and cereal every morning in Canada, each breakfast in our trip in Nepal consisted of savory pastries such as sweets such as haluwa, malpua and jeri as well as salty pastries such as gawl mori, swari, and samosas. I swear, the cereals we would eat in Canada would take endless minutes to finish, but as soon as we laid our eyes on the breakfast pastries in Nepal, they would vanish within seconds. These were the foods that we grew up with, but ended up forgetting about them within the 8 years we were in Canada.

And Nepal’s cuisine isn’t only what defines itself. The entire atmosphere was different in Nepal, especially the stores. There would be endless bargaining, not only from our mom, but also from our grandma(I guess the bargaining runs deep in our family!). The stores in Nepal were different, ranging from carpet shops to beautiful paintings.

And there’s more! The scenery in Nepal is breathtaking! No literally, once, I went on a motorcycle trip with my cousin, oh boy was it scary! There were no railings, just a small pathway to top of a little mountain(very petite in comparison to Mount Everest, BUT very gigantic in comparison to the hills in Ontario), literally breathtaking. Was it worth it? Yes, that kind of view can only to experienced in Nepal.

But you don’t need to IN Nepal, to feel the warmth of the country. We know that it might’ve been years since you’ve been there, OR you might’ve never been there, and that’s completely fine too. We hope that through Nemaste, not only will you be able to learn the language of Nepal, but to also feel a connection to the Nepali Culture. In this website, we want everyone to feel the warmth we did, through making yummy foods(which we will post), Nepali songs and the different cultures that reside in Nepal.

“Our main goal in Nemaste: For you to feel the warmth of Nepal."

So here's a question: What does Nepal mean to you?

Sincerely,

Arnima Shrestha