The Tansen Challenge

There is a beautiful mountain just behind the hospital, called Srinigar.  A stairway was constructed many years ago that goes up this mountain.  There are more than 500 stairs to be climbed if you want to reach the scenic ridge.  The doctors like to sponsor a race going up and down these stairs each year.  It is an exhilarating event!  This year, the Beines and Ethan participated for the first time.  -

Dave completed the course once (that’s up and down, over 1000 stairs) and came in second in his category (medical anthropologists in Nepal, over 40, who know some Chepang).  I actually think that his competitor falsified his qualifications.   Kimberly did two rounds (over 2000 stairs) and felt very pleased even though she came in fourth out of four.  In the feminine category, half the competitors were half her age.  

Ethan did three rounds (over 3000 stairs!) and came in fourth (even with a swollen, twisted ankle) just behind the surgeon who went off the stairs and simply ran downhill during part of the race (I don’t think that was within regulations, but the mountainside judges were nowhere to be found).  Nick ran over 4000 stairs in just under 20 minutes, finishing second in the overall competition.  Nate made an amazing debut, keeping up with so many people bigger than him and came in just behind Ethan, in fifth place.  Very impressive!  Jake was the youngest competitor in the 3-rounds category, and finished very impressively in the middle of the pack.  Well done, Jake!  Joshua pushed himself in his category and did two rounds (over 2000 stairs) and took second place.  Most importantly, Joshua rejoiced with his 8-year-old friend who took first place.  YEA for Josh’s excellent show of character!  It was a fun day!

And now for another interesting little story that I like to call “Perspective:” When we were here last year, they put a lid on the concrete culvert next to our house and we soon discovered that it was the new sewage system for the neighborhood.  It is simply a porous cement culvert without airtight containment.  The sewage goes down the hill and the gases rise up.  So, our house is not always the nicest smelling place to visit, despite all the yummy baking I do.  Well, we are trying to get used toit, and the other day, this situation afforded us a good laugh.  We were having our usual morning tea time out on the porch (it was about 11am, a particularly smelly time, just after Nepalis eat their first meal of the day) and much to our surprise, a skunk wandered into the vicinity and made itself known by its distinctive smell.  Immediately, a couple of us exclaimed, “Oh, that smells nice compared to the regular smell.”  That was a first.

Until the next interesting event,
Kimberly, reporting from Tansen, Nepal

(P.S.  I have tried for hours to add pictures to this post, but alas, the Internet is not able to accommodate such adornments...maybe another time!)