Invited for Tea – a special and treasured experience

Sarita and Heather approaching our hosts' house

A particular delight in visiting another country is the possibility of receiving an invitation to visit someone in their own home. It’s such a personal thing and something which is a rare occurrence in a standard holiday. Two of our young people, Gemma and Leona, spent time at the Kathmandu home of trek nurse Sarita and her husband Ian. Apparently the three girls engaged in the very Nepali pastime of…watching Mamma Mia on DVD!

A few days’ earlier, Graham and Heather (Hatten), along with Sarita, received a spontaneous invitation to have tea with a family whose home sat close to the path, just beyond the mountain village of Phurano Duwar.

Heather recalls how the invitation came about.

Some school children joined us on their way home. One of the girls ran ahead and asked her mother if she might invite myself and Graham in for tea. It was brilliant we were able to accept as our Nepalese nurse, Sarita, happened to be with us and was glad to take us in. This was without a doubt the highlight of my trip.

We entered the main room of the house which had a stone floor, and circular fire pit over which was a rack for drying maize.  There was a shelf with utensils. We had to stoop to get inside through the low entrance. One tiny window allowed miniscule light to filter through from the cattle bed on the porch. There was no other light apart from the embers of the fire upon which the young host boiled a kettle to make our tea. We were given straw mats to sit on. Our young friend sat proudly grinding sugar beet between two stones. This thrilled me as we had been doing that very thing back in Kennoway school recently. Wow! Along with the very splendid tea we were given popcorn and a fiery chilli dip.

Our tea being prepared

For Graham, too, this was an experience to cherish.

The house reminded me of the black houses (or taigh dubh in Gaelic) that were common on crofts in the highlands and islands of Scotland and in Ireland but which were virtually uninhabited after the 1970s. I’d seen restored examples in Perthshire and at Gearrannan village in Lewis. But here we were being invited inside a real family home of a similar kind, in 2009. There was clearly no electricity and water must have been drawn from the village stand-pipe.

Before I left for Nepal my friends and family were sure I would not cope well without my regular ‘fix’ of espresso. Although I’m enjoying it again, I didn’t really miss it while in Nepal. Why would I with such wonderful teas and herbal concoctions to try? The tea the girls made for us was an infusion of ginger, chard and a herb which Sarita told me later was ‘badmachal’, though I haven’t been able to find the word in a search on Google. I was very happy to accept a second brew, made from freshly ground ingredients, and no doubt with a variation in the recipe as I could detect a subtle difference in taste.

Some of the family: preparing popcorn for their guests

Heather again:

We were made so welcome and with Sarita’s help translating we asked all sorts of questions and laughed lots. The time passed and another flavour of tea was presented. It was lovely. Word appeared to get out and soon the wee house filled with relatives and friends apparently eager to see us foreigners. The teenage girls could not get close enough to me and were desperate to touch me. They warmed – almost burnt – their hands in order to press them on my skin to warm my arms and legs. I suspect they have eyesight problems as they kept saying, ‘you beautiful’!

Heather's willing masseuses

Graham again:

This was an enchanting and humbling experience, something so special that we will never forget it. Even now, writing this some weeks later, I get goosebumps recalling it. Our hosts had little in the way of material goods, but they were so pleased that they could share their home with us for a short while and provide travellers with refreshments. We were only sorry that our young people, anxious to get to camp, had pushed on ahead and had missed out on the special tea party.

Namaste.x