BOOM!!! The largest, loudest, most dangerous explosion erupted in our kitchen — the pressure cooker on the stove. I was standing nearby and darted away screaming. The kids and Prakash sat nearby in the living room, getting a board game ready to play – they sat shocked in silence. Within a few seconds the deafening noises and cloud of steam subsided and Sumanth’s loud, scared cry broke out. A thin layer of black-eyed-bean mush covered every visible surface in the entire kitchen — counters, floors, backsplash, stove, window, ceiling, cabinets, walls — EVERYTHING! It took a few minutes to quiet Sumanth down and assure him that we are all safe and that the mess will (somehow) get cleaned up…

Minutes later, help arrived in droves! Gordon, our next door neighbor stopped by. Since our meal was splattered all over the kitchen, he graciously offered to make lunch for us! Within minutes, Gordon and Marilyn whipped up a yummy lunch of pancakes and fruit — hadn’t eaten pancakes that delicious in months…

The nephew of our landlord along with their maid also arrived moments after the explosion — I think the whole block heard!! He inquired about our well being and ensured us that their staff will help with the mess. Within 10 minutes, six – yes 6!! – of their maids were over scrubbing, wiping and sweeping the food waste. It took this army of helpers about an hour to get the kitchen back in order…

Needless to say, we felt SO blessed that we escaped this horrible accident, relatively unscathed… I FORTUNATELY was far enough from the stove to only have a few small, minor burns ; the troop of maids completed our insurmountable, but unavoidable job ; even though our lunch was spoiled, a yummier one was kindly offered to us. Angels in disguise came to rescue us in our time of need… Sincere appreciation to the Rana family and staff, and Gordon and Marilyn…

Behind our dark cloud this Saturday afternoon was a bright, shining silver lining…

Had this incident happened in North Carolina, would our neighbors have heard the explosion? Likely not, as the distances between homes is much greater and windows are generally closed. Even if they had, would they know the boom came from our house? Would they have come to inquire? I’m not so sure… We likely would have grabbed take-out for lunch and started cleaning up the mess ourselves. Several hours later, perhaps, the kitchen might look somewhat like normal, our arms would be really sore and we’d be ready for a LONG nap. A testament to “village-style” life as opposed to the “nuclear-style” life we are used to in the USA. There are pluses and minuses to both. A lot depends on one’s perspective or preference — lack of privacy OR someone’s always there to help ; everyone knows my business OR there is always someone to keep an eye on the kids ; anonymity OR life as an open book…

This minor disaster left me grateful to live in Nepal :-). What would you prefer and why?