Right, post number 1!
Chris and I have now been in Nepal for nearly two weeks! In that time I have filled up 49 diary pages so it may be hard to condense that into one post. I'll title and summarise our first day in Kathmandu with the words: 'curries and their consequences' and leave it at that.
24 hours of straight travel, minibus then hair-raising jeep ride, got us to Burtiban where we met 4 of the 12 month volunteers in the neighbouring valley. They filled us with comforting stories of the world we were about to be plunged into before waving goodbye the following morning.
We headed off soon after and, another traumatic jeep ride later, we were at our project in Bobang (or is it Boban, that seems to be a contentious issue). We were welcomed with the traditional coloured powder on the forehead (tika) and garland of marigolds and were introduced to the school staff. At this point all eyes in the village were on us. They have since not left us as the staring continues where ever we go. I'm sure they'll get used to us soon...
We were soon left with our host family and the jeep headed off back to civilisation. Getting to know our new family has been a real joy. Briefly, we have Yam as headmaster of the school and house patriarch. He is obsessed with dancing and we have recently, to his delight, introduced him to Chase and Status. Hypest Hype is his particular favourite. He and his wife have, we think, 5 children, two of which are educated outside the valley. We have got to know particularly well the youngest son, Ashan, and daughter, Manju who have taken great pleasure in examining every wonderful item we brought from England, before settling upon the bouncy ball as their favourite. These two are proving very helpful in our efforts to learn Nepali.
Teaching began two days after arrival and has been mad and yet enjoyable. We found ourselves pushed into a class of expectant faced Nepali kids and told to teach. I have now secured a timetable and am getting to know classes 3 and 4 well. I have found that whatever I say will be repeated, annoying when teaching, but potentially hilarious... After about 5 days worth of teaching I feel like we are at last settling into a routine and maybe, just maybe, these children might learn something. For the moment though, it is predominantly carnage.
Foodwise- dhal baat (lentils and rice). Every meal. Genuinely. Every meal. We are getting quite good though, this may be the only dish I ever truly master in my whole life.
I have to be careful not to ramble on here, nobody wants to read a long blog post, no matter how fascinating. I'll end with a selection of my favourite moments from the trip so far:
1/ Sitting cross legged on the floor of a villager's house eating potatoes so spicy my tongue went numb for a day.
2/ Washing clothes by the river in front of 15 local women, all laughing.
3/ Teaching Manju and Ashan the words to 500 Miles.
4/ Witnessing the kukri decapitation and instant butchery of: a goat, a chicken and a buffalo.
5/ Trying and failing to convince a child that 'green' is not pronounced 'dwoin'. He can say 'ga', he can say 'reen', why not 'green'??
6/ Uproarious discussions with the teachers at break time.
7/ Every night dancing with our host family. We look forward to many more of the same over the next 7 months!
It has been a bizarre and intense 2 weeks, filled with strange events and hard work. I can only say that I can't wait for the next 28!
Till next time (probably in 3 weeks), Namaste!
Chris and I have now been in Nepal for nearly two weeks! In that time I have filled up 49 diary pages so it may be hard to condense that into one post. I'll title and summarise our first day in Kathmandu with the words: 'curries and their consequences' and leave it at that.
24 hours of straight travel, minibus then hair-raising jeep ride, got us to Burtiban where we met 4 of the 12 month volunteers in the neighbouring valley. They filled us with comforting stories of the world we were about to be plunged into before waving goodbye the following morning.We headed off soon after and, another traumatic jeep ride later, we were at our project in Bobang (or is it Boban, that seems to be a contentious issue). We were welcomed with the traditional coloured powder on the forehead (tika) and garland of marigolds and were introduced to the school staff. At this point all eyes in the village were on us. They have since not left us as the staring continues where ever we go. I'm sure they'll get used to us soon...
We were soon left with our host family and the jeep headed off back to civilisation. Getting to know our new family has been a real joy. Briefly, we have Yam as headmaster of the school and house patriarch. He is obsessed with dancing and we have recently, to his delight, introduced him to Chase and Status. Hypest Hype is his particular favourite. He and his wife have, we think, 5 children, two of which are educated outside the valley. We have got to know particularly well the youngest son, Ashan, and daughter, Manju who have taken great pleasure in examining every wonderful item we brought from England, before settling upon the bouncy ball as their favourite. These two are proving very helpful in our efforts to learn Nepali.Teaching began two days after arrival and has been mad and yet enjoyable. We found ourselves pushed into a class of expectant faced Nepali kids and told to teach. I have now secured a timetable and am getting to know classes 3 and 4 well. I have found that whatever I say will be repeated, annoying when teaching, but potentially hilarious... After about 5 days worth of teaching I feel like we are at last settling into a routine and maybe, just maybe, these children might learn something. For the moment though, it is predominantly carnage.Foodwise- dhal baat (lentils and rice). Every meal. Genuinely. Every meal. We are getting quite good though, this may be the only dish I ever truly master in my whole life.
I have to be careful not to ramble on here, nobody wants to read a long blog post, no matter how fascinating. I'll end with a selection of my favourite moments from the trip so far:
1/ Sitting cross legged on the floor of a villager's house eating potatoes so spicy my tongue went numb for a day.2/ Washing clothes by the river in front of 15 local women, all laughing.
3/ Teaching Manju and Ashan the words to 500 Miles.
4/ Witnessing the kukri decapitation and instant butchery of: a goat, a chicken and a buffalo.
5/ Trying and failing to convince a child that 'green' is not pronounced 'dwoin'. He can say 'ga', he can say 'reen', why not 'green'??
6/ Uproarious discussions with the teachers at break time.
7/ Every night dancing with our host family. We look forward to many more of the same over the next 7 months!
It has been a bizarre and intense 2 weeks, filled with strange events and hard work. I can only say that I can't wait for the next 28!
Till next time (probably in 3 weeks), Namaste!
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