Visit to Satoi (II)

When we arrived in Satoi, it became clear that our little 'sightseeing' trip would involve a little more than sightseeing. It was the 50th anniversary of the local pastor's appointment in the village and the occasion was in away a retirement party for him. I think it was also meant to commemorate his 75th birthday. Arriving with the reverend meant more VIP treatment - this time we got chappatis and avi kighinoli (mithun innards) and more cups of milk and black tea.

We were then led into the church, where the service was held.




I was a little embarrassed because they first ushered me right to the front to sit on the couches in the front row, when even the pastor was sitting on a plastic chair. At least we managed to give our seats to the pastor and his wife, but I ended up sitting in front of other guests of honour. During the service, I also had to stand and give a little wave while Ab. introduced me to the whole congregation - being a foreigner, having an MA and having worked on Sumi is apparently enough to attract this kind of attention. At the end of the service, I was presented, along with the other VIPs, with a bag containing a book about the pastor's life.

Then there was the feast following the service. To be fair, I could've taken a little less food without offending anyone, but I counted no less than four kinds of meat: pork, chicken, beef and mithun, cooked in a whole host of ways. And a lot more fat... but at least there were fresh vegetables. I only had one serving, which was more than enough...


On our way back from Satoi, we managed to stop a few times to take photos of the valley. You can see Zunheboto town on the ridge just off to the right.


We also stopped again in Ghokhüvi to look at some of the Baptist conference preparations. I really liked the traditional wind chimes that adorned the entrance to the main venue.



A view of Ghokhüvi from the bottom of the village


Leaving the village, we had to drive again down to the base of the valley and up again. This time we had a bit more time, so we stopped for photos at the bridge right near the confluence of the Tizü and Tsütha Rivers. It's a very pretty valley.



The Tsütha River just before it joins the Tizü




I had a great day, despite the initial embarrassment and over-eating. Looking forward to visiting other villages and having more feasts!

Visit to Satoi (I)

Two days ago, I went with Ab. and her father, the Rev. Yev., to the village of Satoi in the southern part of the Zunheboto district. Given that he's the head of all the district churches he often travels out of Zunheboto town. I've read that Satoi was really beautiful, and when we heard he was going, Ab. asked if we could tag along to do some sightseeing (we wouldn't get in the way).

So on Saturday, we got up bright and early to head south towards Satoi. The road wasn't great, and I've heard they're doing reparation work on it, mainly because one of the ministers in the State Government is from Satoi (although now that he flies there by helicopter, who knows how the road will turn out).

The worst bit was a little landslide where we all got out to walk, except for poor Subu our driver who had to get the car across.





Our first stop was for breakfast in the village of Ghokhüvi (pronounced quite close to 'Rock-a-vee', and if you pronounce your 'r's like in French). The 'ü' is a high central vowel that is often produced as a schwa in this position.

The church in Ghoküvi.


Arriving with the reverend, we were ushered to the outside area of the house of who I'm assuming is the local pastor and given delicious Sumi sho or 'Sumi bread' made with rice flour and lightly fried - a lighter version of the shel roti I was fed in Nepal during Tihar. Then there was dried innards (mostly liver and some intestines) which I was told are made by boiling them, then drying them, then frying them. Very nice.



The village was busy preparing for this big conference of all the Sumi Baptist churches starting on the 9th of this month. In the outside area of most houses, people were setting up large wooden structures to house all the people set to visit later in the week.



And after breakfast, we were off to Satoi, a little bit further up the hill.