I came back with a plan
I succeeded
Made the kids put on mini "plays" for me
Scenario one:
mom/dad/son/son's girlfriend . . . mom and dad are nepali, son's girlfriend is AMERICAN!! i each gave them one line to say, and the rest they had to some up with on their own
Dad: "How can you marry a girl who is not a hindu!"
Mom: "This girl cannot even cook a proper curry" (i know this sounds so aweful and sexist, but trust me, it was TOTALLY normal and okay)
Son: " It doesnt matter where she is from or what she looks like, I love her"
Son's girlfriend: "I dont care what you guys say i am staying with your son"
These were age 10-13 boys/girls, it was hysterical
In one class, the boy said to his girlfriend "I am siding with my parents i am dumping you" and went and hugged his father, this may not seem so hysterical to read, but let me assure you, it was the last thing i was expecting!
Scenario two: Two backpacking guides, two tourist friends
Backpacking guide 1: "this is the best trek we offer, that's the reason it is so expensive"
Guide 2: "if you want a cheaper trek you can sleep in a cardboard box in the woods"
Friend 1: I cannot afford this trek, i have three hungry children at home (always caused a roaring laughter from the rest of the class audience.
Friend 2: Will the trek be cheaper if we only take one guide?
Nothing too ridiculous happened in this one
Scenario 3: car accident, driver, cyclist, bystander, and policeman.
driver: You ran straight into my car
cyclist: "my leg is broken, i am a runner, this is going to ruin my career" (to which one kid started hopping around)
Bystander: I saw the whole thing, it was the driver's fault
Policeman/woman: i suggest you solve this in 5 minuets or i am taking you all to jail
the compromise between the driver and cyclist always involed one gicving the other money . . . one class the girl said she had no money, to which the cyclist boy replied
"if you dont pay me my 5000 rupees i am going to fight you" . . . and they proceeded to wrestle . . . im some great sub huh?
Subash:
its really easy to assume he doesnt know what your saying, because his english isnt that great, but he is secretly a mastermind
Last night he slept only in his underwear and wouldnt tell anyone why, me thinking he was just being a cute silly kid said ehh whatever . . . the next morning, when i mentioned this to rajendra, he immediately said "yea you told him that you were never washing his pee clothes ever again yesterday" (i have been washing his cvlothes a few times because if i dont do it, they sit there and he has no clean clothes to change into the next night. I TOTALLY didnt connect the dots. . . at all. . . because i just figured that when i told him that he didn't really understand
color festival tomorrow, trek coming soon, excited!
oh and photos from a while ago are up on facebook, getting more up soon
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Curry and School
Curry first:
A word on eating the same thing for breakfast and dinner every single day . . . its not as bad as i thought. Given my twice daily rice, lentil soup, and curried vegetables, i am learning to appreciate the smaller things about a meal that make it savory and delicious. The excitement of my days has now turned to questions such as:
Is there pickle (kind of like a spicy chili sauce made with tomatoes) at this meal?
Is it chicken curry night?
Is it spinach curry this morning?
Is it bean curry this morning?
yea its pretty pathetic, but i am really starting to identify with the truth of not having the concept of always eating different things if that was not how you were brought up. A few weeks ago Richard, another volunteer, made a curry for the kids and although i thought it was delicious, half of the kids didn't eat it because although it was "good" . . . it wasn't "right" . . . whatever that means. God knows what would happen if we took them to America and had them eating every ethnicity of food all the time like we do.
Schoool:
yesterday when i went to pick the kids up from school the principal saw me and asked me if i would come to school today, and after i realized i had absolutely NO plans i said surely. I was kind of prepared from what previous volunteers had told me: you are put in a room with the kids with no teacher . .. BAM teach them english. The principal likes the volunteers to converse with the students to have them practice . . . only one problem . . . NONE OF THEM TALK . . . it was painstaking, torturous,
okay i kind of didnt have anything prepared, so it was kind of my fault, but i just dont know how much i can plainly "converse" with students with no sort of lesson plan, i really wish i could teach whatever the kids were learning in school, which would be so much easier. With the older kids i tried doing an overview of how research works and why we should test drugs on animals like rats and monkeys rather than ants and butterflies, but that took all of 5 minutes, and in my teacherly panic, i ended up playing hangman during the last 10 minutes of class . . . i find myself typing the word "whoops" a lot on this blog.
im going to go back tomorrow with more of a plan, and see what happens, but i duno i don't think i can keep up this "just have a conversation" kind of teaching without actually getting across any material that is on their exams or will help them. gaah.
SUBASH, the 5 year old, keeps pissing the damn bed, and im tired of it. Every morning we have to find clean clothes for him (he has none), put his sleeping bag outside to dry (and yes i said dry, not wash), and i have to shower him (and that has now changed from hot showers to cold showers, as punishment). I would feel kind of bad for the kid under normal circumstances, BUT. . . and this is a big BUT . . . almost everyone in the house is convinced that the reason he pees himself is because he is TOO GOD DAMN LAZY TO GET OUT OF BED DURING THE NIGHT AND USE THE PEE BUCKET THAT IS RIGHT NEXT TO HIS BED. We were told that when there are no volunteers here (aka no one to shower him, wash his clothes, and pamper him), he doesnt pee the bed, and that he didnt pee the bed before he came to the house here. WTF? Who is that lazy??? It doesnt help that he happens to be the most adorable, cutest kid there, but i just cant let that win me over anymore, please post ideas as comments if you know what to do!!!!!!! I feel aweful for the four other boys that sleep in the room that smells like a urinal minus that wonderfully smelling urinal cake.
Next week going on a 3ish day trek with views of Mount Everest!!!!!!!!
okay before you get too excited, i get to see the TOP of mount everest IF its clear out :) . . . i could have done a 14 day trek to basecamp, but i decided against it.
thats all for now
A word on eating the same thing for breakfast and dinner every single day . . . its not as bad as i thought. Given my twice daily rice, lentil soup, and curried vegetables, i am learning to appreciate the smaller things about a meal that make it savory and delicious. The excitement of my days has now turned to questions such as:
Is there pickle (kind of like a spicy chili sauce made with tomatoes) at this meal?
Is it chicken curry night?
Is it spinach curry this morning?
Is it bean curry this morning?
yea its pretty pathetic, but i am really starting to identify with the truth of not having the concept of always eating different things if that was not how you were brought up. A few weeks ago Richard, another volunteer, made a curry for the kids and although i thought it was delicious, half of the kids didn't eat it because although it was "good" . . . it wasn't "right" . . . whatever that means. God knows what would happen if we took them to America and had them eating every ethnicity of food all the time like we do.
Schoool:
yesterday when i went to pick the kids up from school the principal saw me and asked me if i would come to school today, and after i realized i had absolutely NO plans i said surely. I was kind of prepared from what previous volunteers had told me: you are put in a room with the kids with no teacher . .. BAM teach them english. The principal likes the volunteers to converse with the students to have them practice . . . only one problem . . . NONE OF THEM TALK . . . it was painstaking, torturous,
okay i kind of didnt have anything prepared, so it was kind of my fault, but i just dont know how much i can plainly "converse" with students with no sort of lesson plan, i really wish i could teach whatever the kids were learning in school, which would be so much easier. With the older kids i tried doing an overview of how research works and why we should test drugs on animals like rats and monkeys rather than ants and butterflies, but that took all of 5 minutes, and in my teacherly panic, i ended up playing hangman during the last 10 minutes of class . . . i find myself typing the word "whoops" a lot on this blog.
im going to go back tomorrow with more of a plan, and see what happens, but i duno i don't think i can keep up this "just have a conversation" kind of teaching without actually getting across any material that is on their exams or will help them. gaah.
SUBASH, the 5 year old, keeps pissing the damn bed, and im tired of it. Every morning we have to find clean clothes for him (he has none), put his sleeping bag outside to dry (and yes i said dry, not wash), and i have to shower him (and that has now changed from hot showers to cold showers, as punishment). I would feel kind of bad for the kid under normal circumstances, BUT. . . and this is a big BUT . . . almost everyone in the house is convinced that the reason he pees himself is because he is TOO GOD DAMN LAZY TO GET OUT OF BED DURING THE NIGHT AND USE THE PEE BUCKET THAT IS RIGHT NEXT TO HIS BED. We were told that when there are no volunteers here (aka no one to shower him, wash his clothes, and pamper him), he doesnt pee the bed, and that he didnt pee the bed before he came to the house here. WTF? Who is that lazy??? It doesnt help that he happens to be the most adorable, cutest kid there, but i just cant let that win me over anymore, please post ideas as comments if you know what to do!!!!!!! I feel aweful for the four other boys that sleep in the room that smells like a urinal minus that wonderfully smelling urinal cake.
Next week going on a 3ish day trek with views of Mount Everest!!!!!!!!
okay before you get too excited, i get to see the TOP of mount everest IF its clear out :) . . . i could have done a 14 day trek to basecamp, but i decided against it.
thats all for now
Monday, February 22, 2010
Lets Learn Nepali!
PHEW!!! sorry for the delay . . .such a ridiculous few days and this has been my first time at the computer without impending breakfast to miss!
My Nepali language skills so far!
Ramro- good
Ramro china- no good
Sundaree- beautiful
Sundar- Handsome
MAHANGO CHA- THATS TOO EFFING EXPENSIVE
Ke Cha- whats up
Teek cha- im fine (also the ONLY answer anyone ever gives you when you ask whats up)
Hajjur- What/I didnt Understand you/ what did you say/the second word ANYONE says after hello when picking up the cell phone
Bhat- Rice
Dal- Lentil soup
Meeto- Delicious
Bhuk cha- I'm full
Dui manche- Two men (is what i repetatively said to Dewaki when i tried explaining that just because she has an alcoholic husband in Dhading, doesnt mean she cannot ALSO have a boyfriend in Kathmandu . . . she totally understood this, and i am convinced her boyfriend is the man she sees when she goes "shopping" for food)
Namaste- Hello/goodbye (kinda like shalom)
cant think of any more right now, maybe by the time im done with this post there will be more
Some more facts of life before the three stories ive been meaning to tell
A note on cleanliness:
Doesnt Smell = Clean
Dry = Clean enough
Wet = Not so clean
There is no electrical outlet in my room
I thought my room had a substantial ceiling . . . but that was a facade. . . in actuality it is a tin roof, and a pretty gigantic cheese cloth pulled tight under that to catch rain droplets that fall through
I got extremely proud of the Jews, because almost EVERY school here has a jewish star somewhere in its logo, so i naturally thought all the rich philanthropic jews came here, almost threw up at the poverty they saw, and then ran back to america and poured money into opening schools here . . . until i learned that the jewish star has significance in the hindu religion, and has absolutely nothing to do with judaism here . . . oh well
The Movie Love Actually:
Remember the scenes where the man stays in the country house in somewhereville and falls in love with the portugese maid without speaking a word of the same language to her . . . well take out the whole falling in love part and that is my life with Dewaki, the house mom. . . . the words above are ALL i hve to communicate with her, and we constantly squalk at each other in our respective languages, and i imagine we are talking about the same thing :). Its great, she loves me because i help out with a lot of the housework, and in return she is warming up to me a lot, pinching my side and smiling all the time at me. . . and i get to yell and lightly curse at her all the time without her having any idea what im saying, i love this
The biking story:
4k aint got nothing on this, little time before power cuts out so i will try to be brief:
rent bikes, bike guy tells us bikes have to be back by 6, sends us out 17 km away up 700 meters (do the math) out of the valley with the intructions "ask the local people" to get to the trail
we EXHAUST ourselves getting up there, SO MUCH uphill, finally find the tr4ail, no signs, no one speaks english, everyone nods their head yes to what you say regardless of if they understand
"are there signs to show us where the point is that we want to get off" = = = yes
"is it easy for us to get lost and not know where there are signs" - - - yes
" are there not signs on the trail" = = = yes
FRUSTRATING
trail starts off nice, then ENDS on a dirt road, get some shoddy directions from the nepali trekkers and ride 45 minutes DOWN AN UNPAVED ROCKY DIRT ROAD . . . only to learn that we had to walk our bikes 2.5 hours bACK up everything we just rode down because we went the wrong way, by which point it was dark, and we finally convinced a truck to take us back to kathmandu, and promised to pay them, although they didnt accept the money after we got there
Nepali nightlife:
Babylon discoteque- where the nepalis go, the place to go outside the tourist district, the real taste of nepali nightlife . . . we were told'
Actuality: half empty dance floor playing aweful music with a 70:30 guys to girls ratio. . . and among the girls a 2:1 transgender:actual girl ratio . . . .the place was shut down after 45 minutes of us being there due to the 13 year olds that were in there. thank god/
bijendra(brotther of rajendra, owner of orphanage) takes us back to thamel and asks every nepali he can find something that we cant understand . . . then. out of no where, a metal garage door half opens and we are ushered into the underground club that is the ONLY club that stays open, illegally, after 12pm in kathmandu, . . . kinda same thing as babylon club minus the transgendered women and plus more tourists because it was in Thamel . . . a ridiculous night
Hiking:
hiked up to one of the peaks that overlooks the kathmandu valley yesterday with 5 of the kids and eefge (pronounced ayfeeya, a volunteer from amsterdam), , , surprisingly there were no fatalities and NOt one kid cried, lathough the view at the top sucked because of the cloudiness, the hike was great, through the forest, and there were SO many monkeys at the temple at the top, one of which stole grapes and a package of noodles out of my bag after i walked away from it for ONE second!
phew, i think thats all, sorry for the bad grammar so much to say so little time to say it, thanks for the comments more coming up soon!
still being hit with water by the devil neighborhood children, color festival coming up soon!
yea ill get to the school eventually
My Nepali language skills so far!
Ramro- good
Ramro china- no good
Sundaree- beautiful
Sundar- Handsome
MAHANGO CHA- THATS TOO EFFING EXPENSIVE
Ke Cha- whats up
Teek cha- im fine (also the ONLY answer anyone ever gives you when you ask whats up)
Hajjur- What/I didnt Understand you/ what did you say/the second word ANYONE says after hello when picking up the cell phone
Bhat- Rice
Dal- Lentil soup
Meeto- Delicious
Bhuk cha- I'm full
Dui manche- Two men (is what i repetatively said to Dewaki when i tried explaining that just because she has an alcoholic husband in Dhading, doesnt mean she cannot ALSO have a boyfriend in Kathmandu . . . she totally understood this, and i am convinced her boyfriend is the man she sees when she goes "shopping" for food)
Namaste- Hello/goodbye (kinda like shalom)
cant think of any more right now, maybe by the time im done with this post there will be more
Some more facts of life before the three stories ive been meaning to tell
A note on cleanliness:
Doesnt Smell = Clean
Dry = Clean enough
Wet = Not so clean
There is no electrical outlet in my room
I thought my room had a substantial ceiling . . . but that was a facade. . . in actuality it is a tin roof, and a pretty gigantic cheese cloth pulled tight under that to catch rain droplets that fall through
I got extremely proud of the Jews, because almost EVERY school here has a jewish star somewhere in its logo, so i naturally thought all the rich philanthropic jews came here, almost threw up at the poverty they saw, and then ran back to america and poured money into opening schools here . . . until i learned that the jewish star has significance in the hindu religion, and has absolutely nothing to do with judaism here . . . oh well
The Movie Love Actually:
Remember the scenes where the man stays in the country house in somewhereville and falls in love with the portugese maid without speaking a word of the same language to her . . . well take out the whole falling in love part and that is my life with Dewaki, the house mom. . . . the words above are ALL i hve to communicate with her, and we constantly squalk at each other in our respective languages, and i imagine we are talking about the same thing :). Its great, she loves me because i help out with a lot of the housework, and in return she is warming up to me a lot, pinching my side and smiling all the time at me. . . and i get to yell and lightly curse at her all the time without her having any idea what im saying, i love this
The biking story:
4k aint got nothing on this, little time before power cuts out so i will try to be brief:
rent bikes, bike guy tells us bikes have to be back by 6, sends us out 17 km away up 700 meters (do the math) out of the valley with the intructions "ask the local people" to get to the trail
we EXHAUST ourselves getting up there, SO MUCH uphill, finally find the tr4ail, no signs, no one speaks english, everyone nods their head yes to what you say regardless of if they understand
"are there signs to show us where the point is that we want to get off" = = = yes
"is it easy for us to get lost and not know where there are signs" - - - yes
" are there not signs on the trail" = = = yes
FRUSTRATING
trail starts off nice, then ENDS on a dirt road, get some shoddy directions from the nepali trekkers and ride 45 minutes DOWN AN UNPAVED ROCKY DIRT ROAD . . . only to learn that we had to walk our bikes 2.5 hours bACK up everything we just rode down because we went the wrong way, by which point it was dark, and we finally convinced a truck to take us back to kathmandu, and promised to pay them, although they didnt accept the money after we got there
Nepali nightlife:
Babylon discoteque- where the nepalis go, the place to go outside the tourist district, the real taste of nepali nightlife . . . we were told'
Actuality: half empty dance floor playing aweful music with a 70:30 guys to girls ratio. . . and among the girls a 2:1 transgender:actual girl ratio . . . .the place was shut down after 45 minutes of us being there due to the 13 year olds that were in there. thank god/
bijendra(brotther of rajendra, owner of orphanage) takes us back to thamel and asks every nepali he can find something that we cant understand . . . then. out of no where, a metal garage door half opens and we are ushered into the underground club that is the ONLY club that stays open, illegally, after 12pm in kathmandu, . . . kinda same thing as babylon club minus the transgendered women and plus more tourists because it was in Thamel . . . a ridiculous night
Hiking:
hiked up to one of the peaks that overlooks the kathmandu valley yesterday with 5 of the kids and eefge (pronounced ayfeeya, a volunteer from amsterdam), , , surprisingly there were no fatalities and NOt one kid cried, lathough the view at the top sucked because of the cloudiness, the hike was great, through the forest, and there were SO many monkeys at the temple at the top, one of which stole grapes and a package of noodles out of my bag after i walked away from it for ONE second!
phew, i think thats all, sorry for the bad grammar so much to say so little time to say it, thanks for the comments more coming up soon!
still being hit with water by the devil neighborhood children, color festival coming up soon!
yea ill get to the school eventually
Saturday, February 20, 2010
been busy kids off from school since friday and there are strikes tomorrow and monday, so wont get to have a long post until tues probably, much to tell . . .
some quick updates:
dishes this morning done without running water, no power, pour water from a jug = sink
did laundry by hand this morning as well :)
longest day of my life two days ago (longer story something soon, 4k got nothing on this one
Nepali night life last night (enough said. . . okay maybe not still longer story coming soon)
]oh also, in this entire country, the largest bill that EXISTS. . . is 1,000 rupees . . . which is about 12.5 american dollars . . . yea. . .
color festival coming soon, everyone throws bags of pigmented color on everyone they see. . . days leading up to the festival kids start throwing just water . . .ive been hit a few times now by the local kids, our kids are engaged in a 24 hour full on waterfight with the neighborhood, its awesome
BRUNCH AT THE HYATT TOMORROW!!!!!! 15ish US dollars for all you can eat WESTERN FOOD. . . i cannot wait
volunteering at the school sometime . . . eventually . . . when i get around to it. . .
some quick updates:
dishes this morning done without running water, no power, pour water from a jug = sink
did laundry by hand this morning as well :)
longest day of my life two days ago (longer story something soon, 4k got nothing on this one
Nepali night life last night (enough said. . . okay maybe not still longer story coming soon)
]oh also, in this entire country, the largest bill that EXISTS. . . is 1,000 rupees . . . which is about 12.5 american dollars . . . yea. . .
color festival coming soon, everyone throws bags of pigmented color on everyone they see. . . days leading up to the festival kids start throwing just water . . .ive been hit a few times now by the local kids, our kids are engaged in a 24 hour full on waterfight with the neighborhood, its awesome
BRUNCH AT THE HYATT TOMORROW!!!!!! 15ish US dollars for all you can eat WESTERN FOOD. . . i cannot wait
volunteering at the school sometime . . . eventually . . . when i get around to it. . .
Monday, February 15, 2010
Few more facts of life:
grapefruits grow outside my door :) (no im not eating them)
had chicken curry for the first time at the house two nights ago, DELICIOUS!! thank god rajendra orders the chicken sans organs, so its just bones meat and skin, and the kids eat all the skin.
Learning slowly how to cook at the house and am helping the house mom whenever i can to prepare meals
Yesterday Bhabishya and Ashmita came home with their homework, which is to copy english words about 20 times into their copy book.
Next to a picture of a hot pepper was the word "chilly" . . . seriously!? the kids had never heard of the word chilly to mean cold, so when i explained it to them they thought it was hysterical that it could be chilly outside . . . i tried writing whatever retarded teacher a note but who knows where it will go.
Im pretty sure for Sarita's (the oldest) vocabulary words, they pick random words out of the dictionary, as the word "fornicate" was on her list once . . .
Nevertheless i am going to try to help out in the school sometime next week
Monkey temple and mounain biking to be done soon!
Story of the week:
Two days ago was tibetan new year. . . so we tried to go to the buddhist temple to join the festivities . . . on the way we see a smaller tibetan gathering and decided to go on in, assuming it was for the new year
saw that it was mostly just people sitting around, tried to leave
was presented with LARGE shopping bags FULL of bisquits, fruit, snacks, so we felt bad leaving after that
turned around went back inside
Found chairs in shade
sat down
tibetans rush over with a table
more tibetans rush over with tea
more tibetans rush over with cups and a bottle of coke
more tibetans rush over and usher us to the food. . . gigantic buffet of veggies, tofu, MEAT, yogurt, and lots of other stuff. .. one of the best meals
we eat like kings, all the time thanking everyone
no one spoke a word of english to us this whole time
as we got up to give back our plates, we found the one man who spoke decent english, and thanked him for the food and said happy new year
to which he replied:
"this is not for the new year, this is a funeral reception"
WHOOPS :)
oh well, i still love tibetans .. . nothing too special was going on at the actual temple, so we walked back and made a pit stop at the Hyatt. . . which im pretty sure is the ONE and only western luxurious hotel in all of kathmandu (i mean im probably wrong but it seems that way)
the hyatt was like steping into another country, it was incredible, met some crazy german world traveler who initially told us he was from khazakstan and had two wives and 10 children . . . the end
grapefruits grow outside my door :) (no im not eating them)
had chicken curry for the first time at the house two nights ago, DELICIOUS!! thank god rajendra orders the chicken sans organs, so its just bones meat and skin, and the kids eat all the skin.
Learning slowly how to cook at the house and am helping the house mom whenever i can to prepare meals
Yesterday Bhabishya and Ashmita came home with their homework, which is to copy english words about 20 times into their copy book.
Next to a picture of a hot pepper was the word "chilly" . . . seriously!? the kids had never heard of the word chilly to mean cold, so when i explained it to them they thought it was hysterical that it could be chilly outside . . . i tried writing whatever retarded teacher a note but who knows where it will go.
Im pretty sure for Sarita's (the oldest) vocabulary words, they pick random words out of the dictionary, as the word "fornicate" was on her list once . . .
Nevertheless i am going to try to help out in the school sometime next week
Monkey temple and mounain biking to be done soon!
Story of the week:
Two days ago was tibetan new year. . . so we tried to go to the buddhist temple to join the festivities . . . on the way we see a smaller tibetan gathering and decided to go on in, assuming it was for the new year
saw that it was mostly just people sitting around, tried to leave
was presented with LARGE shopping bags FULL of bisquits, fruit, snacks, so we felt bad leaving after that
turned around went back inside
Found chairs in shade
sat down
tibetans rush over with a table
more tibetans rush over with tea
more tibetans rush over with cups and a bottle of coke
more tibetans rush over and usher us to the food. . . gigantic buffet of veggies, tofu, MEAT, yogurt, and lots of other stuff. .. one of the best meals
we eat like kings, all the time thanking everyone
no one spoke a word of english to us this whole time
as we got up to give back our plates, we found the one man who spoke decent english, and thanked him for the food and said happy new year
to which he replied:
"this is not for the new year, this is a funeral reception"
WHOOPS :)
oh well, i still love tibetans .. . nothing too special was going on at the actual temple, so we walked back and made a pit stop at the Hyatt. . . which im pretty sure is the ONE and only western luxurious hotel in all of kathmandu (i mean im probably wrong but it seems that way)
the hyatt was like steping into another country, it was incredible, met some crazy german world traveler who initially told us he was from khazakstan and had two wives and 10 children . . . the end
Friday, February 12, 2010
Facts of Life/ shiva festival
Life in Boharatar (spelling probably awefully wrong)
about 80% of the shops in my neighborhood do not accept 1000 rupee bills (about 12.5 us dollars) because they do not carry that much change
The kids in the orphanage have zero concept of going to hang out with a friend after school . . . it just doesn't exist for them
Laundry is done in a bucket
Teeth are brushed using water from a faucet in the shower . . . toothpaste is spat onto the shower floor, along with extra rice/curry when lots of people are washing plates and the outside faucet is occupied
Butchers kill their meat on the side of the road . . . i watched a goat get beheaded, de-haired, and chopped up . . .
it is FREEZING in the morning, i am warm under my blankets, but it must be close to 35 degrees in the morning . . . once the sun comes out it warms up
Power outages cause there to be times where there is no light in the toilet late at night . . .there is a bucket in the boys room for night peeing
Now about the Shiva festival:
meh, it was pretty cool, a lot more secular than i had imagined. Since we were tourists we shot past all of the lines of locals waiting to enter the main area, and it was just a huge mosh of people smoking a lot of weed and hanging out with sadhu men (holy men). These are men who have given up all of their possessions and basically everything in their lives to live a life of . . . im not really sure what, that includes wearing a sheet, smoking a lot of pot, and sharing the secrets of life with people. They are pretty awesome, but kind of pathetic at the same time. Three of the six volunteers "hung out" with a sadhu for a little and attracted a huge Nepali crowd. Other than that we just walked around, got smashed by a literal human mob of people, and ate lunch . . . with some deliciously "special" desserts. All in all it was alright . . . the Tibetan new year is coming up tomorrow so we are heading back to a Tibetan part of town to see what that's all about
thanks again for all the comments! more updates soon, going to plan some fun activities like rafting/hiking
about 80% of the shops in my neighborhood do not accept 1000 rupee bills (about 12.5 us dollars) because they do not carry that much change
The kids in the orphanage have zero concept of going to hang out with a friend after school . . . it just doesn't exist for them
Laundry is done in a bucket
Teeth are brushed using water from a faucet in the shower . . . toothpaste is spat onto the shower floor, along with extra rice/curry when lots of people are washing plates and the outside faucet is occupied
Butchers kill their meat on the side of the road . . . i watched a goat get beheaded, de-haired, and chopped up . . .
it is FREEZING in the morning, i am warm under my blankets, but it must be close to 35 degrees in the morning . . . once the sun comes out it warms up
Power outages cause there to be times where there is no light in the toilet late at night . . .there is a bucket in the boys room for night peeing
Now about the Shiva festival:
meh, it was pretty cool, a lot more secular than i had imagined. Since we were tourists we shot past all of the lines of locals waiting to enter the main area, and it was just a huge mosh of people smoking a lot of weed and hanging out with sadhu men (holy men). These are men who have given up all of their possessions and basically everything in their lives to live a life of . . . im not really sure what, that includes wearing a sheet, smoking a lot of pot, and sharing the secrets of life with people. They are pretty awesome, but kind of pathetic at the same time. Three of the six volunteers "hung out" with a sadhu for a little and attracted a huge Nepali crowd. Other than that we just walked around, got smashed by a literal human mob of people, and ate lunch . . . with some deliciously "special" desserts. All in all it was alright . . . the Tibetan new year is coming up tomorrow so we are heading back to a Tibetan part of town to see what that's all about
thanks again for all the comments! more updates soon, going to plan some fun activities like rafting/hiking
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Nepali Time
5 minute walk = at least 20 minute hike
1 hour bus ride = 3 hour bus ride through winding roads on the top of the bus
1 wedding = 6 days trapped in the mountains
a few hours in Thamel = all day spent in the office with no electricity
i am punctual . . nepali time has been a big adjustment
Tomorrow is Shiva Ratri (i think thats the spelling). . . a city wide festival to the god of destruction . . . should be fun! tried getting pics up on this blog but it has just been absolutely impossible! sorry everyone
its getting warmer, the tourist season is approaching (us at the house have deemed ourselves "volunteers" NOT tourists) . . . so things will change around here.
just handwashed my laundry today and took a much needed shower heated by a tank of gas sitting in the shower with me :)
There;s mountains just outside my backyard that i will be climbing next week, one has a temple at the top!
hopefully i will be posting more frequent updates now that things have started to settle!
1 hour bus ride = 3 hour bus ride through winding roads on the top of the bus
1 wedding = 6 days trapped in the mountains
a few hours in Thamel = all day spent in the office with no electricity
i am punctual . . nepali time has been a big adjustment
Tomorrow is Shiva Ratri (i think thats the spelling). . . a city wide festival to the god of destruction . . . should be fun! tried getting pics up on this blog but it has just been absolutely impossible! sorry everyone
its getting warmer, the tourist season is approaching (us at the house have deemed ourselves "volunteers" NOT tourists) . . . so things will change around here.
just handwashed my laundry today and took a much needed shower heated by a tank of gas sitting in the shower with me :)
There;s mountains just outside my backyard that i will be climbing next week, one has a temple at the top!
hopefully i will be posting more frequent updates now that things have started to settle!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Dhading
Sorry for the disappearance . . . I've been in a small village called Dhading attending a wedding!
Not too much time on the computer so here are the highlights:
2 hour bus ride smashed with nepalis through the winding himalayas . . . 1.5 hours in woman turns her head, pukes all over the seat in front of me, my bag, and another volunteer, and then turns her head back and doesnt look at us the entire rest of the time . . . the only thing to do was to laugh :)
the house we stayed at was actually in the mountains far from the actual town of Dhading (google map it!)so we walked up, it got dark, hitched a ride on a truck filled with sacks . . . of manuer . . . sat on the top of the truck.
House: hillside, kitchen cooking by FIRE only . . . goats, bulls, ox, chickens, rice, rice, rice, rice, fresh buffalo milk, curd, adorably cute grandma,
The Bar: Bijendra . . brother of man who owns orphanage, would not shut up about going to the bar to drink . . . the bar was someone;s house . . . we sat in their bedroom . . . on their bed . . . drinking aweful nepali wine called Roxy . . . which tasted like fermented toilet water . . . im not kidding
Wedding: Sat on top of a bus for 2 hours, walked up a mountain for another house (with a train of nepalis in suits getting ridiculously dirty) . . . it looked like a refugee train. . . we arrived with the groom so thats when the wedding started . . .
Dancing, rituals, lots of tikkas (indian dot above eyes). . . played the symbols for the band, ate curried goat (the nose was on my plate, didnt eat that)
Bride leaves her village with us after wedding to start her new life in Pokhara with her husband . . . arranged marraige ./ . . last time they had seen each othe was a month ago ./ . . younger brother was looking forward to marrying next year . . . . hes 19 . . . he doesnt know who he's marrying yet, or when he will find out . . .
Bus ride back was miserable, top of the bus, dark, crowded, rails digging into backs . . but made it fun by obnoxiously singing songs that the nepalis couldnt understand :)
got stuck in the mountains for an extra day because it rained, so no buses were coming to bring people down to the main town to catch a bus back to kathmandu. rain cleared the air though, it's been extremely poor visability bc of the dust, but now its better and i saw the snowy peaks in the distance.
thats all for now, thanks so much for the comments!
Not too much time on the computer so here are the highlights:
2 hour bus ride smashed with nepalis through the winding himalayas . . . 1.5 hours in woman turns her head, pukes all over the seat in front of me, my bag, and another volunteer, and then turns her head back and doesnt look at us the entire rest of the time . . . the only thing to do was to laugh :)
the house we stayed at was actually in the mountains far from the actual town of Dhading (google map it!)so we walked up, it got dark, hitched a ride on a truck filled with sacks . . . of manuer . . . sat on the top of the truck.
House: hillside, kitchen cooking by FIRE only . . . goats, bulls, ox, chickens, rice, rice, rice, rice, fresh buffalo milk, curd, adorably cute grandma,
The Bar: Bijendra . . brother of man who owns orphanage, would not shut up about going to the bar to drink . . . the bar was someone;s house . . . we sat in their bedroom . . . on their bed . . . drinking aweful nepali wine called Roxy . . . which tasted like fermented toilet water . . . im not kidding
Wedding: Sat on top of a bus for 2 hours, walked up a mountain for another house (with a train of nepalis in suits getting ridiculously dirty) . . . it looked like a refugee train. . . we arrived with the groom so thats when the wedding started . . .
Dancing, rituals, lots of tikkas (indian dot above eyes). . . played the symbols for the band, ate curried goat (the nose was on my plate, didnt eat that)
Bride leaves her village with us after wedding to start her new life in Pokhara with her husband . . . arranged marraige ./ . . last time they had seen each othe was a month ago ./ . . younger brother was looking forward to marrying next year . . . . hes 19 . . . he doesnt know who he's marrying yet, or when he will find out . . .
Bus ride back was miserable, top of the bus, dark, crowded, rails digging into backs . . but made it fun by obnoxiously singing songs that the nepalis couldnt understand :)
got stuck in the mountains for an extra day because it rained, so no buses were coming to bring people down to the main town to catch a bus back to kathmandu. rain cleared the air though, it's been extremely poor visability bc of the dust, but now its better and i saw the snowy peaks in the distance.
thats all for now, thanks so much for the comments!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
hard
this is going to be a lot more difficult than i imagined to keep this current and include all the info i wanted to. The internet computers are extremely slow around where i am, and getting into Thamel to use the office computer is a journey in itself, and on top of that the blackouts cause me to not be able to use the computer at the orphanage, while although it doesnt have internet it would allow me to at least write up posts so that i could easily copy and post them when i do have internet, bear with me ,so much to say, and you would think i have so much time to say it
Sensory OVERLOAD
Hello everyone!
I have so much in my head I have no idea where to begin. I guess ill start where I left off. . . After I got to the orphanage my eyes were opened up to my new way of life here, which is so different that I will be able to describe you just have to come to see yourself. The orphanage is in a quiet village like “suburb” right next to the busy part of the city. The orphanage itself pretty much has four rooms for ten people: Kitchen(no refrigerator, one table not big enough to fit all the ppl in the house, gas powered stove that uses red gas tanks, sink), Boys room (5 boys one room bunk beds, multiple kids sleeping in each bed), Girls room (same thing, 5 girls), Play room (one TV, one table, shelves with books), I will get pictures up soon.
Dinner was served the night I got here, Dhal Bhat (curried vegetables, rice, and lentil soup), and will be the SAME MEAL TWICE A DAY FOR TWO MONTHS. The only thing that changes are the vegetables. In true Nepali style we ate with our hands. This made eating Ethiopian food look clean, since there was no bread to grab things with. Yes, this means you swirl the rice and veggies around with your hands and use a scooping technique to get it into your mouth. It’s freaking awesome. After dinner there are some angry games of rock paper scissors and eating competitions to see who will be doing the dishes. The bathroom/shower are outside and are used by everyone in the building, including the families upstairs from the orphanage. My room is in the “building” right next to the orphanage, and is basically the equivalent to a freshman single dorm but there are two people in it. There are two beds, one coat rack, and a desk.
Garbage lines the streets, and the stenches change every ten feet when we walk the kids to school. There is an extremely dangerous mix of people, bicycles, motor bikes, and cars even in the quiet neighborhood that I am in. Somehow though, no one really gets hurt and the constant honking, bumping, and shuffling just magically works. The chaos is indescribable. On my first full day we walked the kids to school, headed to Rajendra’s (owner of orphanage) tourist office, and played some cards while drinking tea. We essentially played old maid except you have three jacks in the deck and the last person to get the jack loses. I couldn’t believe how much fun such a simple game was providing us. We then went to take care of a few errands, fixing up my phone, exchanging money, and buying awesome wool knitted socks, before heading to lunch OUTSIDE of Thamel (the crowded overpriced tourist district.) A few minute’s walk away I paid the equivalent of one dollar and was served an extremely delicious meal of curry, chick peas, and some potato pie, as well as desserts. Let me repeat, ONE DOLLAR, I like Nepal . We then headed into the main local market of Kathmandu (as if there is anything BUT a local market), which was even more chaotic than Thamel. Old appliances, used clothing, sprawled out dead chickens, live chickens, anything you can imagine was clucking, mooing, or ready to be sold. Yes cows really do roam the streets here, along with monkeys, goats, dogs, chickens, and other things.
Dinner tonight was MORE curried vegetables and rice. . . I’m lucky that I happen to love curry otherwise I don’t think it’s possible to survive here. After dinner I was handed a small glob of white paste from Diwaki (house mom) and told to try it. Thinking it was something that involved sugar, because t came out of a honey bottle, I popped it into my mouth and encountered what only could be described as . . . lard. Yes ladies and gentlemen I have eaten my first wad of Yak fat. I don’t know why they gave it to me to try, as it’s used like butter and really isn’t supposed to be eaten plain, but oh well it wasn’t terribly aweful. This week will be filled with tourist adventures, as Rajendra has waited until all of the volunteers were here (aka until I arrived) to take us around to the places here. Pictures to come soon!
OH WAIT, the busses! I took my first bus ride today which was the most awkward, friendly, and intimate experience I have had here. The “busses” are not busses, but larve vans that people PACK into. There were at least 15 people in the small van that took us to Thamel this morning. Strangers sit on each other’s laps, people hang off the sides of the van, it is absolutely CRAZY but for them just a fact of life that they think nothing of. I will try to post a video I made riding on the bus on facebook soon.
I have so much in my head I have no idea where to begin. I guess ill start where I left off. . . After I got to the orphanage my eyes were opened up to my new way of life here, which is so different that I will be able to describe you just have to come to see yourself. The orphanage is in a quiet village like “suburb” right next to the busy part of the city. The orphanage itself pretty much has four rooms for ten people: Kitchen(no refrigerator, one table not big enough to fit all the ppl in the house, gas powered stove that uses red gas tanks, sink), Boys room (5 boys one room bunk beds, multiple kids sleeping in each bed), Girls room (same thing, 5 girls), Play room (one TV, one table, shelves with books), I will get pictures up soon.
Dinner was served the night I got here, Dhal Bhat (curried vegetables, rice, and lentil soup), and will be the SAME MEAL TWICE A DAY FOR TWO MONTHS. The only thing that changes are the vegetables. In true Nepali style we ate with our hands. This made eating Ethiopian food look clean, since there was no bread to grab things with. Yes, this means you swirl the rice and veggies around with your hands and use a scooping technique to get it into your mouth. It’s freaking awesome. After dinner there are some angry games of rock paper scissors and eating competitions to see who will be doing the dishes. The bathroom/shower are outside and are used by everyone in the building, including the families upstairs from the orphanage. My room is in the “building” right next to the orphanage, and is basically the equivalent to a freshman single dorm but there are two people in it. There are two beds, one coat rack, and a desk.
Garbage lines the streets, and the stenches change every ten feet when we walk the kids to school. There is an extremely dangerous mix of people, bicycles, motor bikes, and cars even in the quiet neighborhood that I am in. Somehow though, no one really gets hurt and the constant honking, bumping, and shuffling just magically works. The chaos is indescribable. On my first full day we walked the kids to school, headed to Rajendra’s (owner of orphanage) tourist office, and played some cards while drinking tea. We essentially played old maid except you have three jacks in the deck and the last person to get the jack loses. I couldn’t believe how much fun such a simple game was providing us. We then went to take care of a few errands, fixing up my phone, exchanging money, and buying awesome wool knitted socks, before heading to lunch OUTSIDE of Thamel (the crowded overpriced tourist district.) A few minute’s walk away I paid the equivalent of one dollar and was served an extremely delicious meal of curry, chick peas, and some potato pie, as well as desserts. Let me repeat, ONE DOLLAR, I like Nepal . We then headed into the main local market of Kathmandu (as if there is anything BUT a local market), which was even more chaotic than Thamel. Old appliances, used clothing, sprawled out dead chickens, live chickens, anything you can imagine was clucking, mooing, or ready to be sold. Yes cows really do roam the streets here, along with monkeys, goats, dogs, chickens, and other things.
Dinner tonight was MORE curried vegetables and rice. . . I’m lucky that I happen to love curry otherwise I don’t think it’s possible to survive here. After dinner I was handed a small glob of white paste from Diwaki (house mom) and told to try it. Thinking it was something that involved sugar, because t came out of a honey bottle, I popped it into my mouth and encountered what only could be described as . . . lard. Yes ladies and gentlemen I have eaten my first wad of Yak fat. I don’t know why they gave it to me to try, as it’s used like butter and really isn’t supposed to be eaten plain, but oh well it wasn’t terribly aweful. This week will be filled with tourist adventures, as Rajendra has waited until all of the volunteers were here (aka until I arrived) to take us around to the places here. Pictures to come soon!
OH WAIT, the busses! I took my first bus ride today which was the most awkward, friendly, and intimate experience I have had here. The “busses” are not busses, but larve vans that people PACK into. There were at least 15 people in the small van that took us to Thamel this morning. Strangers sit on each other’s laps, people hang off the sides of the van, it is absolutely CRAZY but for them just a fact of life that they think nothing of. I will try to post a video I made riding on the bus on facebook soon.
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