While I'm in the process of fixing my blog/finally updating it, here are a few pictures that give a good snapshot of my time in Nepal. It's a beautiful, underdeveloped, and poor country, but the people are among the nicest, most caring, and family-focused people I've ever met. My host family really made me feel like part of the family, and it was incredibly hard to leave.
So here is a snapshot (or several) of Nepal: natural beauty, cute kids, and goats
Taken on a walk, 30 minutes from my home
My host sister, Kanchan
My aunty Muna helping me try on her sari
Goat (picture taken by my six year old Nepali brother)
Probably the cutest baby ever
Tree climbin' in the front yard
Lil' brother getting ready for school. We called him angry boy or silly boy depending on his mood
Neighbor walking to school
My host family and I
Susmita reading to her brother
Host mother, Laxmi, sitting outside
Daal bhat pokaunu - cooking lentils and rice with my host family
I had the opportunity to attend a Nepali marriage ceremony, or junta, about two weeks ago. Three of the teachers at the school were going and they invited me to join them. The night before the wedding I stayed at one of the teachers' homes and instantly became friends with his daughter (18) and daughter in law (21), both of whom are married. They of course asked me, "are you married or single?" a question that i am constantly asked here. People are very martiage-focused here, at least in the village. We visited the bridegroom's home, where lots of music, dancing, and feasting was taking place. The next morning we walked uphill for about thirty minutes to reach the main road, where two buses were waiting to take friends and relatives to the bride's house for the wedding. Let me just say that taking buses in Nepal is much scarier than taking buses in India, because they are just as crowded but the roads are not at all paved, and the bus has to go up and down hills on narrow roads for the whole journey. During the two and a half hour bus ride: -Everyone was singing and clapping, and musicians played their instruments in the crowded bus -The bus crossed three rivers, and by that I mean there wasn't a bridge so the bus just drove through the water -It was so crowded that someone placed a bench in the aisle for people to sit on, but there were still people who had to sit on the roof -At one point the bus couldn't make it up a steep hill, so people got off the bus and walked for some time -We stopped for a snack break - people like to eat instant noodles dry from the package here But finally, we reached the bride's home and everyone got off the bus. A huge meal was prepared for everyone, and afterwards the wedding ceremony began. It was fun seeing how different weddings are celebrated in Nepal, and being the only foreigner at the village wedding, people were very happy to see me and kept making me dance with them (not that I minded!). After four hours or so, we got back on the bus. The journey back to Parawadanda, the village I stayed in, was like the journey there, full of narrow, windy roads, music, and singing. Whenever we went through a forested area - they call it the jungle here, which makes sense because tigers live there- boys would tell, "whooooo, jungle!"
I was supposed to volunteer at a small community hospital in Lamhjung, Nepal but because I couldn't speak English and there were only 5-10 patients a day, I spent my time sitting all day. Also, the walk there was a one hr trek by myself each way and involved forging rivers and wandering past endless corn fields. So, I began teaching at a nearby secondary school that is government-funded which means they have English language cassettes but no cassette player, and have to keep the chalk in a small bucket in the office as there is not much to begin with.
On my first day I met the principal, other teachers, and students. I was then thrown into teaching - in one class the teacher simply handed me the textbook and left! What?! I teach three classes: English (year 9), grammar (year 8), and health/population (year 7, the subjects are on alternating days). During breaks, I chat with the teachers who want to improve their English - they don't always understand me so I am never sure how much the kids can follow me!
Teaching is fun but terrifying. The kids are so sweet -outside of class, ha!- and like to teach me simple Nepali phrases. I can now name the animals on the farm and the foods we eat -dhal baht- and I'm working on basic conversational phrases. I like the kids and the environment at the school but I'm never sure if what I'm doing is getting through to them or not. It's quite an experience.
Also I'm the only volunteer/white person in the village so if I walk somewhere people are constantly telling me namaste, or hello.
I’m spending the next few weeks in a small (2,000 people
small) town about 3-4 hours from Pokhara, Nepal. While in the village of
Pawedanda, I’m volunteering – teaching English, Grammar, and Health/Population
at a middle school as well as volunteering/observing the goings on at a rural
hospital about an hour’s walk (or should I say trek) from my home, where I am staying
with a host family. The family is very nice, and though the mother can’t speak
English, we are beginning to learn to communicate without words. There is also
a daughter, Susmita (12) who speaks English and understands me most of the time,
and her brother Kshitize (sa-tease) age 6, who is like a baby monkey and goes
through my things looking for ‘candy’ (tic-tacs). There are several children
who live nearby, and if I leave my door open, suddenly there will be three of
them sitting on my bed looking at me.
The house is very basic – concrete walls, dirt floors, etc.
but I have my own room which is nice. It consists of a mosquito net, a bed, and
two windows that don’t have windowpanes - so spiders, cockroaches, and mice
(!!!) sometimes keep me company at night. Outside of my window, three goats
sleep, eat, and make goat noises (let’s be real, they fart a lot and try to eat
the bars of my window). Behind them there are two water buffalo, and if you
keep walking around the side of the house you’ll get to the back which features
an outhouse (squatting toilet), some vegetable crops (corn, rice, cucumber,
tomatoes) and a back porch, where we eat meals together of dal bhat (lentils
and white rice) in the morning and evening.
Also, I’ve only taken one shower in the past week, because
taking a shower is done out in the open here! People usually go bathe in the
river, but I chose to shower behind some trees outside of my program
coordinator’s house. Cool. So yes I have goat neighbors and I’ve stopped taking
regular showers. I’m livin’ the life, let me tell ya.
The house where I live with my host family (right) and their neighbors, also family
My Nepali sisters - Susmita and Kanchan
Proof of goat neighbors (this was taken outside of my window)
Another view of the house as well as the neighbors' homes
My host mother Laxmi (left), Ashika, me, and Susmita
For the next 2 months I'll have limited internet access because I'm only using internet cafes, so this is a brief update on my travels in Northern India. I'm currently in Darjeeling; I'll be here until May 7, when I will go to Kolcutta for two days with Liz and Jackie before flying to Kathmandu, Nepal.
On my trip so far I...
-Had food poisoning so bad on my birthday that I spent the whole night throwing up. Happy 21st birthday to me!
-Saw 6 palaces/forts: Agra Fort, Taj Mahal, Amber Fort, City Palace, Water Palace, and Fateeb Sigfreed
-Visited 6 temples: Sikkh, Muslim, Buddhist (two), Hindu (two)
-Saw the Gandhi memorial and museum in New Delhi
-Checked out a 15th century observatory/astronomy center with crazy curvy, spiraling architecture
-Drank many, many cups of chai (remember, I'm in Darjeeling, land of tea)
-Had my first "of age" drink, as it is legal to drink when you're 18 in India. I got a Mai Tai. At a Chili's. At a mall in New Delhi that was nicer than malls I've been to in the U.S. -and just as expensive.
-Went on a tour of an organic tea factory, a nerve-wracking 3.5 hour journey up narrow mountain roads in the back of a shared jeep, saw a view of Mount Everest at Sunrise on Tiger Hill
I had one week at the university before I left to travel up North, and in that time I had to take 6 tests, pack, say goodbye, etc. So it was a bit of a stressful time, not to mention I had to run all over Pondicherry (the town) because on Wednesday (left Friday night) I realized I'd lost my important 'certificate of residency' form that I needed to leave India. Also it had expired so I needed the date changed.
Getting a new form with the new date was not simple - it never is here. The extent that Indian bureacracy is so...bureaucratic blows my mind. Everything needs an official signature and stamp, but to get one it takes time because if things get done too quickly - dare I say efficiently - it looks like whoever did it took a bribe. Awesome. So I had two days to get a new form and long story short it was a terrible time spent running from university registrar to visa office to police station then back to the police station then again to the visa office...then finally to the visa office one last time (and all they did to change my form was sign and stamp the back of it with a new date!). There were some tears of stress shed on my part, Indians around me telling me not to worry (which was frustrating to say the least, I need to leave the country!) but I got the form and that's what matters.
My last day at the university was Friday, April 26, and thank goodness all the visa issues were sorted out by then. I took a final in the morning, had lunch, packed everything, and then went to the Rock Beach with Arun. Later, we met up with my friends at Nalla, a popular bar/hangout...between 22-24 friends were there, French, Canadian, Indian, American...we just talked and took silly pictures, it was nice but sad as well, the feeling of leaving hanging over us. Arun and Ravi left for a bit, and when they returned Arun took me aside, saying he had a friend he wanted me to meet...but then we were "looking for a cute dog he saw" at which point I'd become suspicious - are we looking for a friend or a dog, and why did we leave my friends? Then we walked back to Nalla where I was surprised by a birthday cake and my friends all singing happy birthday! It was wonderful, I'd never had a surprise birthday before, and sharing it with friends right before I left was great. It's an Indian tradition to feed everyone your cake, so I walked around the table, giving everyone bites of cake, getting icing smeared on me by friends in the process (thanks, guys). Basically, it was the perfect way to end my time in Pondi, with friends and with icing all over my face. At one am that night, we left for the Chennai airport to fly to Delhi.
The sociology department held a farewell party for the
graduating seniors, so Marie, Claire, and I dressed up in sarees for the
occasion. The master’s first-year students (my classmates) put it on, so they
did all the decorations, arranged for food, put together a slideshow and music,
and performed during the party. It was really nice, especially because it was
clear how much work they had put into it.
The next weekend Pondicherry University held a talent show,
which was supposed to start at 5:30, so according to Indian time that means
7:15. People performed dances, yoga demonstrations, songs, etc. It was awesome!
However, it went on too long, and some people didn’t get to perform – including
Arun, who was going to dance. At ten p.m., the talent show was still going on,
but they made an announcement that women should return to their hostels (but
men could stay). So I stayed! Ha. Such a rebel, I know. They ended the talent
show soon after, though, because no one had had dinner…it just frustrates me
that women are supposed to go back early all the time and yet men can do
whatever they want. But enough of that, I rant about it enough to my friends
here.
On Saturday, a group of us got dressed in sarees and took
the local bus (oy vey, so many people stared at us) into Pondicherry, where we
had lunch at a fancy buffet to celebrate my birthday and Kara’s birthday. Lunch
(and getting there and back) lasted from 11:30am to 5pm, when we got back to
our hostel. Around 6 or 7, we got ready to go back out- we were going to a friend’s house,
then salsa dancing in Pondicherry! We rented a 14 seater van for the night
because it was cheaper than renting autos ($4 per person for 4.5 hours, cool
eh?). I think about 16 people were there, total. Salsa dancing was fantastic! I
had never done it before, but I had a blast. The party was put on by a group of
European expatriates, so it felt like going dancing at home a little bit. It
was really fun.
Other things of interest…the power has been cutting on and
off – though not for very long – because of the heat, I think. I was cooking
dinner (a rare occurrence here because it’s harder to get groceries, adequate
cooking supplies, and we have a cafeteria to go to) for me and Arun and the
power went out right as I put the vegetables into the oven to roast. Thankfully
the power came back on a few minutes later, but you never know…also, the
internet hasn’t been working well (well being a relative term) which is hard
b/c I have to email people, figure out classes, and book plane tickets. Yikes!
It’s okay though, I’m used to it by now so it’s not a problem.
I leave Pondicherry University early in the morning on April
27, and I’m ready but not ready at the same time. Leaving will be hard. I’m in
the process of packing and studying for finals and saying goodbye and it’s just
a lot to take in all at once. Study abroad is hard, for a number of reasons.
It’s also the best time I’ve ever had in my life, though…it’s just like India –
everything is an extreme, great or terrible, rarely any in between, and often
it’s both. So you just have to accept it.
On April 27, I’ll be traveling to Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur on
a guided tour before traveling to Darjeeling and Kolcutta with Liz and Jackie.
From there, I’ll fly to Nepal to start my Odyssey project on May 9 – I’m going
to be volunteering at a small hospital in Pokhara teaching health education and
living with a Nepali host family for six weeks. I’ll keep my blog going until I
go back to the United States in the end of June.
From left to right: me, Arun, Claire, and Marie at the Sociology Farewell Party
Noella, Liz and I wearing sarees on our way to fancy lunch in Pondicherry
Friends! Taken in the van before salsa dancing. Leon, Matt, Kara, Liz, Charlotte, Natasha, Marie, Claire, Najeeb, Me, Arun, Jackie, Ravi, Eugenie.
