where the buffalo roam

Oh, give me a home

where the buffalo roam

where the deer and the antelope play...

 where seldom is heard

 a discouraging word

 and the skies are not cloudy all day.

For whatever reason, that was the song that kept running through my head in Nepal. Maybe, it was because of all of the buffalo roaming around on the streets! (They looked more like cows to me, but nobody asked me, really.) The two most-practiced religions in Nepal are Hinduism and a type of Buddhism, so naturally, the peoples' care for living creatures lends them to allow animals free reign over the streets. We saw many other little critters scampering around, but stray dogs and water buffalo were the ones predominantly seen in the city streets. We had a few friendly encounters with these guys, but we still ate some tasty buffalo "mo-mos," a local steamed dumpling of sorts, in a few different locations. I don't understand the whole we-love-them-but-some-of-us-eat-them thing, but I guess I don't have to.

More to come on the amazing country of Nepal...