Wednesday morning, we were loaded into our bus and driven away from the idillic Hotel Moonlight. We drove along Ring Road, a large circular road that is the closest thing to a Nepal 6 lane highway - except there aren't really lanes, road signs, or lights, and there are lots of pedestrians. We drove about 20 minutes and arrived in Samakhusi. It's a small suburb with quite a few little shops and a very friendly vibe. We unloaded ourselves from the van, luggage and all and walked down a little side street. We walked to the third house on the right....what we found was unlike anything any of us had ever expected. There in front of us was a gorgeous 3 storey house, 2 bathrooms (with flush toilets), and many little balconies. The rooms each have 3 beds, we have a sitting room complete with a tv, and a wonderful rooftop to do our laundry on. Our neighbours live in similar style homes, but I believe that they are multi family homes. We have a cook and a cook's helper Shondra and Prakesh, they speak little english, but make amazing food! I'm sharing a room with Isha and Tina. We are the quieter room that goes to bed earlier than most.
The first day we settled in, had wonderful daal bhat for lunch and then hung out for a while relaxing. That evening Mann took us to the Self Help Nepal Children's Home run by one of the men that Cecile supported. They live in a very large house, full of very cute and friendly children. It is quite clean and rent is about $704 CAD a month. Wow. We then went to the house that Mann runs. It is nicer and a bit newer, the only downside is that it's on top of a huge hill. Quite a trek. We were served tea by one of the house didis. Didi means sister and is a term that many children use with their caregivers. We then took the city bus home, that is quite an experience. A boy leans out the window trying to attract customers, and they cram as many people as possible in the vehicle. When you get out you bargain with the helper as to how much you pay for the ride. We had spaghetti for dinner that night, weird.
The next day we were taken to our practicum sites via hired bus. I am working at the Himalyan School for Helpless Children. There are 215 students at the school, and about half of them are orphans or come from the terai region and live in the hostel on campus. The school is funded by a German NGO and the chairman of the school owns a carpet factory next door. I think that the school was built around 10 years ago. It was built to teach the kids of the carpet factory workers. Many of the students live in shacks right beside the school, as well. The school system is quite different from ours. They have different teachers for every subject, and nearly everything is taught in English and Nepali is only used to explain concepts. There is a lot of repetition and memorizing. No games, or creativity. These students though are incredibly intelligent. By the end of Class 1 they can count to 100 in english and nepali, as well as read words most canadian students couldn't read until a few years later. I visited a class 5 and they were doing algebra that I didn't see until grade 8 or 9. They are pushed to learn a lot, so that by the time they graduate they are mostly bilingual and intelligent in many subject areas. I'm not sure quite yet as to what my role in the school will be, but I hope next week will bring more clarity to this matter. Friday after school, Gerrit and I hung out in the "playground". It's just a rectangular fenced in piece of concrete. We played for about 1 1/2 hours! All we had was a hacky sack and a ball, but the kids were having so much fun (as were we). We played anything and everything that we or the kids wanted to play. They were super disappointed when we had to leave. Seeing these kids play with so little reminded me that you don't need a lot to have a lot of fun. These kids are some of the happiest kids I have ever met, and most of them have little more than a school provided uniform, and a mattress to sleep on.
One thing I found really interesting at the school, was that the students were wary of me coming out to play with them.They were super receptive to Gerrit, but less so to me. I think this is because men are usually the ones who play with children, while women do not. Especially at the school, men are the playground supervisors generally, while the women stay inside. This is the first blatant example of gender roles that I have witnessed so far.
We have started to take Nepali language lessons from a friend of Gocool's who is a teacher. We've learned lots of words and phrases already and have started to use them. Most of them so far are about food, so we use them at dinner and breakfast. I'm remembering a lot, which is nice. Hopefully, we'll be able to use it in the local markets soon and be more accepted and less stared down.
On Thursday night, we went to the largest supermarket in Kathmandu. It is like the Walmart of Nepal. It's along ring road, so we took a bus there. We got essentials like peanut butter, tea to take home, chocolate, and fanta. We didn't go to the other levels, but apparently they sell everything you need. The nice thing is that it is all at a fixed price so you don't need to bargain with people. On the way home we took a bus as well. This time it was even more crowded!!! The best part is while we're sitting on a bus surrounded by Nepali people, seeing goats, chickens, and cows roadside as we drive past, what cues up on the driver's cd but.....Ke$ha. Hilarious! Who could've guessed that I'd be having sensory overload of all the things that are so different about a bus ride in Nepal and a bus ride in Canada, and Ke$ha would come on the radio.
Today, we are going to the English Boarding School where some of the students are working. They are having parent's day. It's a big deal, and the kids have been rehearsing for months in preparation for today. It should be a really neat experience. I'm excited! I think I may also buy an umbrella today as monsoon season has started a bit earlier than expected. Last night, our teacher Gopi and Gocool were riding Gopi's motorcycle to our house, and they said that they were quite deep in water the whole way. The other steph got an umbrella for 150 rupees, so like $2.00 canadian. I think I'll splurge especially because it's a half hour walk to school and a twenty minute walk home everyday.
I can't believe I've only been gone a week, it feels like much much longer.
Oh, and one more thing. Gocool told me that there are no spiders here.....yay! Except that the first night we went to bed what did we find on the wall? A substantial spider!!! So there are spiders, and I do sleep in my bug net for fear of the 8 legged monster. It's great you can tell all of the people who have spider fears because they have bug nets up now.
I think that concludes everything that there is to update. Everything is so different, new, and exciting. I feel like I could write a book just on the past week alone. (No mom, I'm not writing a book.)
Hope all is well in the homeland, namaste...or because it's nighttime there....shubaraatri (soo-bah-rah-tree)
The first day we settled in, had wonderful daal bhat for lunch and then hung out for a while relaxing. That evening Mann took us to the Self Help Nepal Children's Home run by one of the men that Cecile supported. They live in a very large house, full of very cute and friendly children. It is quite clean and rent is about $704 CAD a month. Wow. We then went to the house that Mann runs. It is nicer and a bit newer, the only downside is that it's on top of a huge hill. Quite a trek. We were served tea by one of the house didis. Didi means sister and is a term that many children use with their caregivers. We then took the city bus home, that is quite an experience. A boy leans out the window trying to attract customers, and they cram as many people as possible in the vehicle. When you get out you bargain with the helper as to how much you pay for the ride. We had spaghetti for dinner that night, weird.
The next day we were taken to our practicum sites via hired bus. I am working at the Himalyan School for Helpless Children. There are 215 students at the school, and about half of them are orphans or come from the terai region and live in the hostel on campus. The school is funded by a German NGO and the chairman of the school owns a carpet factory next door. I think that the school was built around 10 years ago. It was built to teach the kids of the carpet factory workers. Many of the students live in shacks right beside the school, as well. The school system is quite different from ours. They have different teachers for every subject, and nearly everything is taught in English and Nepali is only used to explain concepts. There is a lot of repetition and memorizing. No games, or creativity. These students though are incredibly intelligent. By the end of Class 1 they can count to 100 in english and nepali, as well as read words most canadian students couldn't read until a few years later. I visited a class 5 and they were doing algebra that I didn't see until grade 8 or 9. They are pushed to learn a lot, so that by the time they graduate they are mostly bilingual and intelligent in many subject areas. I'm not sure quite yet as to what my role in the school will be, but I hope next week will bring more clarity to this matter. Friday after school, Gerrit and I hung out in the "playground". It's just a rectangular fenced in piece of concrete. We played for about 1 1/2 hours! All we had was a hacky sack and a ball, but the kids were having so much fun (as were we). We played anything and everything that we or the kids wanted to play. They were super disappointed when we had to leave. Seeing these kids play with so little reminded me that you don't need a lot to have a lot of fun. These kids are some of the happiest kids I have ever met, and most of them have little more than a school provided uniform, and a mattress to sleep on.
One thing I found really interesting at the school, was that the students were wary of me coming out to play with them.They were super receptive to Gerrit, but less so to me. I think this is because men are usually the ones who play with children, while women do not. Especially at the school, men are the playground supervisors generally, while the women stay inside. This is the first blatant example of gender roles that I have witnessed so far.
We have started to take Nepali language lessons from a friend of Gocool's who is a teacher. We've learned lots of words and phrases already and have started to use them. Most of them so far are about food, so we use them at dinner and breakfast. I'm remembering a lot, which is nice. Hopefully, we'll be able to use it in the local markets soon and be more accepted and less stared down.
On Thursday night, we went to the largest supermarket in Kathmandu. It is like the Walmart of Nepal. It's along ring road, so we took a bus there. We got essentials like peanut butter, tea to take home, chocolate, and fanta. We didn't go to the other levels, but apparently they sell everything you need. The nice thing is that it is all at a fixed price so you don't need to bargain with people. On the way home we took a bus as well. This time it was even more crowded!!! The best part is while we're sitting on a bus surrounded by Nepali people, seeing goats, chickens, and cows roadside as we drive past, what cues up on the driver's cd but.....Ke$ha. Hilarious! Who could've guessed that I'd be having sensory overload of all the things that are so different about a bus ride in Nepal and a bus ride in Canada, and Ke$ha would come on the radio.
Today, we are going to the English Boarding School where some of the students are working. They are having parent's day. It's a big deal, and the kids have been rehearsing for months in preparation for today. It should be a really neat experience. I'm excited! I think I may also buy an umbrella today as monsoon season has started a bit earlier than expected. Last night, our teacher Gopi and Gocool were riding Gopi's motorcycle to our house, and they said that they were quite deep in water the whole way. The other steph got an umbrella for 150 rupees, so like $2.00 canadian. I think I'll splurge especially because it's a half hour walk to school and a twenty minute walk home everyday.
I can't believe I've only been gone a week, it feels like much much longer.
Oh, and one more thing. Gocool told me that there are no spiders here.....yay! Except that the first night we went to bed what did we find on the wall? A substantial spider!!! So there are spiders, and I do sleep in my bug net for fear of the 8 legged monster. It's great you can tell all of the people who have spider fears because they have bug nets up now.
I think that concludes everything that there is to update. Everything is so different, new, and exciting. I feel like I could write a book just on the past week alone. (No mom, I'm not writing a book.)
Hope all is well in the homeland, namaste...or because it's nighttime there....shubaraatri (soo-bah-rah-tree)
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