Hello India!

So Nepal ends and India begins! After four months in Nepal I'm headed for two months in India, together with Julia and Magnus.
Getting out of Nepal proved a bit more complicated than we had originally envisioned. Thank-you Maoists. The strike was non-violent in the Kathmandu Valley, but there were reports of violence in other parts of the country. With the country essentially shut down local buses were out of the question, and no private operator was willing to take the risk of driving outside the valley.
The strike began on the 2nd, and out train tickets were booked for the 6th, so another way to the border was needed, and fast. The only option left was to fly, so accordingly, we booked a flight. The only problem was that everyone headed to India anytime in the near future was pushing up their dates, so everyone wanted to get to the border. In the end we pushed the train by a day, and left Kathmandu on the 6th.
The flight was on time, for Nepal (so it left within a half hour of when it was supposed to), uneventful, and very short. We flew to Simara, about 25km from the border. There were no taxis (damn strike again), so we took a horse-drawn cart to Birganj, the border town. It took about 90 minutes to get there, along a road that had almost no vehicles (the occasional passing police van). It felt more like 1900 than 2010, trundling along behind the horse.
For a tiny horse pulling 5 people, 3 large backpacks and 3 daysacks, it went impressively fast. At some points it was going at a full-on run. We changed carts in Birganj and headed across the border to Raxaul Bazaar, the Indian border town. It took two tries to actually get there, as we missed both border control offices the first time round. So technically I've been to Nepal twice and this is my second time in India. Only one officially counts though.
Raxaul is everything the Lonely Planet (aka 'the book') bills it as; a grim, dirty and crowded border town. It's really not all that bad excepting the total lack of restaurants. By this point it was over 48 hours since we'd had a proper meal though, so a restaurant would have been nice. The hotel provided food to the rooms though, and it was one of the best dal bhats I've had. Mostly cause it was real food though, in reality it wasn't that good.
The hotel in Raxaul was pretty grim - there was a constant lake on the bathroom floor, which flooded into the rest of the room when the shower was running - but we were out the next morning. The train to Kolkata left at 10am, not a moment too soon!
The train was scheduled to take 18 hours (in reality it took 20, not too bad), so it was essentially a lost day, but it didn't feel that way. I'm now an expert at entertaining myself, so it didn't feel too long, and there was tons to look at out the window. Plus, the feeling of being on the way somewhere, doing something with purpose, was great.
Despite there being 8 people sharing a roughly 2x3.5m space, it didn't feel at all cramped. There were two stacks of 3 beds each, perpendicular to the side of the train, and two along the opposite wall. Maybe 60 or so beds in the entire car, with AC. In fact, I woke up cold in the middle of the night, something I didn't expect to happen in India.
The train arrived around 6am, so we got a pretty good night's sleep. And now it's time to explore the city!

May

So my itinerary for May. Just like April, I'll post in more detail about everywhere.

1-6: Kathmandu
6: fly to Simara, pony cart to Birganj, cross the border to Raxaul Bazaar
7: train to Kolkata
8-11: Kolkata, train to Puri overnight on the 11th
12-16: Puri
16: Bhubaneshwar, night train to Visakphatanam (Vizag)
17-18: Vizag, night bus to Chennai
19: bus Chennai to Mamallapuram
19-22: Mamallapuram, back to Chennai and overnight bus to Bangalore on the 22nd
23-24: Bangalore, night bus to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)
25: bus Trivandrum to Varkala
25-28: Varkala
28: bus to Kollam
29-31: Houseboat on the backwaters around Kollam

The month saw us go from Nepal, down the east coast of India, across to the west coast, and begin our journey northwards!

You Know You've Been in Nepal when...

- bal bhat just isn't the same if not served on a prison plate

- 'yes' is wobbling your head from side to side, not nodding

- a price is quoted, you immediatly offer half

- a bus stopping for 10 mins for no reason doesn't even register on your radar

- you answer when complete strangers call you sister

- $1.50 for breakfast and $3.00 for dinner is normal

- you expect to wait at least an hour at the restaurant for dinner to arrive. When it's faster than that it's cause for comment

- being offered pot in Thamel five times a day is normal

- you're happy to find a squat toilet because they're almost always cleaner than a western

- bring stared at and laughed at is part of life

- you haven't had pre-packaged food in four months

- 9am is sleeping in, 6:30-7am is normal to get up, and 11pm is late

- car horns are just part of the background noise

- not walking on the road is a luxury

- a hot shower is a rarity and a luxury

Maoists and Strikes - May 4, 2010

Ok, so here's the situation: I'm bored. And I don't mean year everyday garden variety bored, I mean BORED!!

Today is the third day of an indefinite strike. The Maoists were elected into government a few years ago. They were unable to write a constitution, so a transition government was set up. This government also promised to write a new constitution, and set a deadline. However, Constitution Day, as it has come to be called, is less than a month away and there's no way they'll finish on time. Needless to say, the Maoists are pissed. They want the government to resign.
For several weeks party members from around the country have been heading to Kathmandu. On May 1 they held a protest in the valley, asking the government to step down. Unsuccessful in this, they enforced an indefinite nationwide strike, to last until the current government resigns.
The country has been brought to a standstill. No shops are open, nobody's going to work. All transportation has been shut down and school is closed. Students taking their SLC exams (equivalent to British A levels) have been stuck at home as well. The streets, normally congested with cars all over the place and ceaseless honking, are quiet. The entire city has become an almost vehicle free zone - no cabs!
Three days in and the newspaper is carrying reports that those living in the rally camps are starting to get ill from lack of sanitation. Hospitals are apparently treating lots of heatstroke and water-born diseases. Emergency vehicles are among the few allowed on the road (vehicles with tourist plates, press vehicles and essential services as well) and today's paper carried an article on the prevention and treatment of heatstroke.
The streets are the most noticeable difference, with no cars or motorcycles. The only civilian vehicles you see are bicycles, and there are fewer of those. All the streets have become pedestrian walkways, and impromptu cricket and soccer games have broken out everywhere.
Today we went for a wander around this part of the city. The main streets are filled with people, but the side streets, where the shops are, are much quieter than usual. Durbar square, usually hopping with people, is almost empty.
Even during a strike the people have to live. So the shops and restaurants are open for two hours each evening, so people can shop for food. These two hours are especially important in Thamel, as the only option for cooked food is from a restaurant. There's time to get any errands done, and I have lots before leaving for India.
The restaurants have been operating on limited menus, and prices have been increasing as ingredients are increasingly difficult to come by. The bakeries, unable to get the usualy delivery of fresh goods, haven't been open at all. The first two nights we were able to get a good evening meal, but tonight we couldn't find a single open restaurant; they can't get food.
For breakfasts we've been finding the hotels that have restaurants. Some have opened a side door half or all the way, allowing us to find an open one. With 2 decent meals per day, the first two days weren't too bad. With the restaurants closed tonight though, I'm prepared for breakfast here.
The supermarkets have been doing fantastic custom these past few days. The first two days it felt like every tourist here was buying enough food to last a day, and tonight it was even busier. With no kitchen, it's been meals of snacks; instant noodles, cooked and raw, crackers and jam, biscuits and candies have become my meals.
There's nothing to do, as everything is closed, so I've become an expert at being bored. I've read a ton, and gone through all the settings on my camera. Julia with dark skin, and five seconds later, Julia with pale skin. Fuck, I'm bored.

May 27: A quick update on the strike. It ended May 7, one day after I left Nepal.

Headfirst off a Bridge

I jumped headfirst off a bridge. 160m above a river. Freefell for about 3 seconds.

I should probably mention the elastic tied around my ankles, because April 29 was bungee day!

All six of us decided to do Asia's highest bungee jump, 160m above a river. So accordingly at 6am we were on a bus heading out of Kathmandu. 2 hours later, we arrived at the resort that runs the bungee, and relaxed with some mango juice while listening to the instructions. The most important things to remember: leave your brain behind, and walk like a penguin, fly like a bird.

I was in the second group to go, so I headed to the viewing area to watch Caitlin, Julia and the rest of that group. Both had huge smiles on their faces when they had hiked back up the hill. One woman was clearly not sure, she was fully flailing when she bounced up again!

The jump is done from a suspension bridge, by far the most secure one I've been on in Nepal. It did have steel cables attached to both sides of each end though. The whole group went out onto the bridge, and one by one were given the harness and strapped in. The elastic is attached at both ankles and waist; ankles for weight-bearing, waist as a back-up. Hence walk like a penguin. And then it's time to jump!

There's a little platform jutting off the side of the bridge, from which you jump. So when it was my turn I stepped out onto it, and immediatly felt the weight of the cable. It's a lot heavier than it looks! Then a countdown from 3 and it was really time to launch myself off. This is where leaving your brain behind is a good idea. I didn't want to think too hard about what I was about to do.

I leapt off, and immediatly began freefalling headfirst. My immediate though was 'shit, why did I decide to do that', but then the view and adrenaline kicked in, and the rest of the fall was amazing. Seeing the cliff faces on either side fly by, and the river coming closer. And all so fast! It was over too quickly though; 3 seconds falling and about 20-30 bouncing around before you're lowered down to the ground. It was completely worth it, but I wouldn't do a shorter one, and I think once may be enough. Paragliding was a ton more fun; lasted longer. I did enjoy the feeling of freefalling though. Maybe skydiving next?

Everest Base Camp

I'll write more here eventually, but not right now. For now, I trekked to base camp. It took 7 days up, 2 down. Tons of fun, some really beautiful scenery (better than Annapurna!), big hills, and high altitude that made it difficult to climb those big hills.

More later.

Kathmandu Traffic Jam

The traffic in the Kathmandu Valley is crazy. There is only one main highway heading west out of the city towards Pokhara, and it's only two lanes wide. As is one in each direction, along a twisty, windy, ill-maintained mountain road. The roads in the city aren't too good, so everyday hundreds of trucks bring repair supplies into the valley and city. The trucks are overloaded and in dubious condition to begin with (we saw one that had no front, the pedals were literally hanging in mid-air), and on a road that can't support that volume or weight of vehicles, so it's super slow going getting into the city on the best of days. This is a traffic jam where you park. There is even a guy selling ice-cream along the side of the highway.
All the little vehicles (ours included) are weaving around the bigger ones whenever possible, but nothing can go fast. Even the emergency vehicles are hampered by the gridlock. This road sees it's share of cars and trucks going over the edge too. Right now I'm looking across the valley to the road on the other side (which we still need to get to, and then some more) where a truck is pointing straight down the side of the ridge. It's been winched up from where it fell to, but it doesn't look good!
The day after finishing ABC, I headed from Pokhara to Kathmandu with Caitlin and everyone from Gorkha. Just our luck, it was the day before a strike. And just like that first week trying to get from Shivapuri to the Riverside Inn, everyone and his brother was trying to get into the city that day, as they wouldn't be able to the next. Caitlin, Hari and Ed were supposed to have another day in Pokhara, but had to change their plans and come to Kathmandu a day early. So here I am sitting in a parked microbus that has every window open but is stull really hot, writing this because there's nothing else to do. Luckily the six of us, together with a few of our ABC guides, rented a private bus, so it's not as bad as it could be. Still hot and boring though. We even managed to play a few hands of rummy while the bus was stopped.
You can tell that the monsoon is getting closer. It's still a couple of months away, but already it's far far dustier in the valley than it was even a month ago when Caitlin and I came down for the weekend. It's gotten hotter too. Trucks, buses, cars and microbuses all have doors and windows wide open. It might just be because 4 days ago I was in the middle of a circle of mountains where it frosted overnight, but it's definitely gotten hotter. I'm having the same feeling as Lumbini, where I could handle the heat because I knew I was going somewhere cooler in just a few days. In this case it's Everest Base Camp, and it's looming; we're leaving in just 3 days. For once in my life I can't wait for cold weather. I don't even want to think about how hot it's going to be in India. It's already too hot to be hungry here. It's too hot to do anything.

Annapurna Base Camp - Too Much Rest is Bad for the Health!

Teaching done, all 15 of us met up in Pokhara on March 31 to prepare for a then go on the safari portion of the trip. The year it's a trek up to Annapurna Base Camp.
The Annapurna range is comprised of four peaks; Annapurna I was the first peak above 8000m to be summitted, in 1950. The trek to base camp is known as the Annapurna Sanctuary, as the Annapurnas have a few other mountains around them so the only way there is to walk along a valley, up into the mountains.
Caitlin, Kirsten, Amy and I left Laxmi on the 6am bus that morning. We were ready to go by 5:30, and so had 20 mins to sit on the roof and reflect on the past 3 months. It was the perfect way to end our time there.
In Pokhara that night we celebrated Pippa's birthday, and the next day headed to the Immigration Office to extend our Nepali visas, which were set to expire on April 4. The pre-trekking brief was that evening, and we headed out the next morning, April 2.
As far as trekking goes we were a huge group. 16 people (15 volunteers plus Gaurav), plus three guides and seven porters. Everyday we ate lunch all together and slept at the same lodge. When walking we spread out into various smaller groups based on how fast you wanted to walk that day.
The days were all pretty much the same, with a few things that changed it up a little. The scenery changed too, going from green fields to being above the treeline with only rocks and mountain goats around. - on a side note, apparently Himalayan tar, or mountain goat, are fascinating to see. There were several times when about 6-8 men were standing in a group all pointing in the same direction, trying to show each other where the goat was. Quite amusing for those of us watching. Probably more amusing than the goat itself! - We were up for breakfast around 6:30, and headed out around 7:30-8. Lunch was usually around 11:30, and for me was always dal bhat - easier to make for a large group - There were some really good ones along this trek, among the best I've had.
Because the group spread so much, there was inevitably waiting involved at lunchtime so everyone could eat together. It provided a chance to really sit back a relax after walking all morning, although it did sometimes mean lunch breaks that were as long as the morning walk! The rest was always welcome though. Walking for the day was usually done by about 3:30, so we had the rest of the day to shower and relax. Mostly relax, cold showers aren't that welcome when it's already almost freezing outside.
In terms of walking the days felt mostly the same, but there were a few exceptions. The third morning we were close to a viewpoint called Poon Hill, so at 3:30 (!) am Magnus, Julia and I got up to walk up this hill by moonlight. It was super early, but well worth it once the sun came up. Together with a few of our guides we were the first ones there, and it was pretty magical, albeit cold. We had a perfect view of the Annapurnas, and were able to watch the first rays of sun hit each mountain. They were far enough away to get a good view of the whole range at once, but still close enough they felt like they were almost right there. The only negative thing about the morning was the huge throngs of people that showed up. I swear there must have been about 150 people by the end. It was funny to watch them walk up in full light with torches though, having come up by moonlight ourselves.
The way up to base camp is along a valley, with mountains on both sides, until you eventually reach the end of the valley, and that is base camp. There's a left turn just past Macchapuchhre Base Camp, so by the time you reach ABC the valley itself has been obscured and it feels like you're standing in the middle of a circle of mountains. Really awesome. There wasn't enough space for everyone to stay at either MBC or ABC, so Caitlin, Magnus, Julia and I opted to stay at ABC, while the rest of the group went back down to MBC (about an hour's difference). Staying there that night really made the whole trek worthwhile, as we were able to chat with some other trekkers and watch the sunrise. This one was even better than Poon Hill, as the mountains were so close. If I though I could touch them at Poon Hill it was nothing compared to ABC. They were RIGHT there. In fact, they were so close they almost didn't look real. Weird as that may be.
Fittingly, the sun hit Annapurna I first, and slowly crept over to the others before finally breaking into sight. It did have to rise high enough to be above Macchapucchre to be seen though.
On the way down we stopped at Jhinu, a town close to another river, where a hot springs has been constructed. It was our last full day, of nine, and basking in the warm water next to a raging river with lots of beautiful trees all around was wonderful. To get there we followed a few of the porters down; with no packs on their backs they're FAST, we were practically running to keep up!
The porters along the treks (Annapurna and Everest Base Camp, which I did next) were invaluable. Most are several inches shorter than I am, and small in stature, but are they ever strong. They carry huge heavy loads up and down the trails, and make it look easy. Mules were also used to about halfway to ABC, but from there it was either helicopter ($$$) or humans to get any and all supplies higher. Food, fuel, building materials, you name it, they carry it. On EBC it was yaks instead of mules, and again tons of people.
For us the porters were so invaluable as they carried our large bags. There were 8 porters for 16 people, so Caitlin and I put our stuff in one bag and just carried daysacks. It made a huge difference on the hills.
After 9 days of walking, six up and three down, we finished. A bus picked us up in Naya Pul and drove the hour to Pokhara. Once there everyone split to various guesthouses to prepare for dinner. I didn't realize how dirty I was until I saw Hari and Ed (Hari got acute gastroenteritis halfway up and had to come down early) who were clean. Then I realized just how much of my tan was actually dirt!
After a farewell dinner of dal bhat from the trekking company and some drinks at the bar afterwards (thanks Gaurav!) everyone split into our respective free travel groups and said the first (although we didn't know it at the time) of what would become several goodbyes. The AV planned potion of this trip is over, and now we're on our own!

Bugs, Spiders and Other Small Animals

So, small critters of Nepal.
By far my favourite, and the one that is most visible, is the little green geckos that inhabit our living room. They're only a few inches long, including tail, and bright green. We first noticed them in the dining room, where these were at least half a dozen in the first week. They are always on the wall or ceiling, almost never the floor, hiding behind the curtain. Over time we found them in the kitchen, Amy and Kirsten's room, and eventually mine and Caitlin's room. Affectionately christened with various g names - we had no idea about male and female, and couldn't tell them apart, so first randomly assigned a name - they were the most constant animal presence in the house. The sound they make became quite reassuring after a while; I usually heard it in the evening or at night when getting ready for bed.
In addition to geckos, there are numerous spiders and little bugs with way too many legs. On average the spiders are larger than the ones at home, and these are two that have stuck in my memory. The first was about 2-3 inches wide (including legs), and had a face off with a gecko in our kitchen. For a few minutes they both advanced and retreated until the gecko backed down - yes, there is so little to do sometimes that this qualified as entertainment.
The second spider was found under the sink of the kitchen in Gorkha. With legs, it was easily as big as my hand. And the legs weren't very long. It looked like a dock spider on steroids. It was news for several weeks.
Like everywhere else in the world there are cockroaches. Our house managed to avoid them for over a month, and only found 3 or 4 in the course of 3 months. We didn't actually find any until Pip, in Besi, sent a text asking if we'd had any. We found the first two within five minutes of receiving it! They're fun to kill though - lots of Raid.
And bedbugs. I managed to avoid them for almost 3 months, but my luck ran out in Lumbini. The first night I slept under my sleeping bag, with my calves on the blanket at the bottom of the bed. In the morning it looked like I had chicken pox! Thankfully they didn't itch.
There's sometimes some sort of flying insect that also looks like it's on steroids, and is surprisingly heavy and a noisy flier. Caitlin killed one in our room one night - said the only way it would die was under a heavy book.
On the whole, the bugs and spiders aren't that different from those at home - they're just bigger. Interesting bugs are just part of the walls, sometimes fun to watch. Down in the Terai mosquito season has unfortunately begun, but what's spring with no mosquitoes?

April

April. Month 4, the first without any teaching. It was a huge change to go from school every day to travelling around all the time, but it's been tons of fun.
I arrived in Pokhara on March 31 to prepare for trekking, and left on April 2 for Annapurna Base Camp. The trek finished on April 10, and on the 11th I headed from Pokhara to Kathmandu with Caitlin, Julia, Hari, Magnus and Ed. It was a full day on a bus, but we got there eventually.
After 2 days in Kathmandu I left for Everest Base Camp with Magnus and Julia. That trek lasted 10 days, plus an extra day at the finishing town because there were no flights. So we returned to Kathmandu on the 25th and met up with Caitlin, Hari and Ed, the only 3 left in Nepal, as everyone else had gone to India. We spent the next nine days with them, until they went home on May 3.
And that was April in a nutshell. More detailed posts to come.

Fun Spellings/Pronunciations

Here are some of my favourite English mis-spellings, pronunciations and sayings from Nepal. No particular order.
-e-school, e-sprite, e-stretch. Just about any word that begins with 's' is pronounced with a long e at the beginning. Many people won't understand what you're saying unless you include the extra syllable!
-'Thank U' written on the cake we gave to the teachers. I wrote out the full word when we ordered it, but we got this anyway!
-in a textbook, 'qwessicums' instead of 'questions'
-"are you boring?" actually means "are you bored?"\
-Welcome is always written 'wel come'. Yes, two words
-English names have endless versions. Caitlin = Catlin, Caitin, Catin, Edward = Eteewad, Julia = Joellyea, Jully
-A bus labelled the 'of road express'. One 'f'

Nepali Familiarity

The men, women and children in Nepal are all very familiar with each other. People often call unrelated friends and aquaintances brother, sister, aunt, uncle etc. The Nepali words for brother and sister are different for older and younger, so it is a sign of respect for someone older as well as familiarity. Often the person's name isn't used, just 'bhai', 'dai' 'didi' and 'bahini' for older and younger brother and sister respectively. Bhai and didi were the two I heard most commonly, although I often heard dai as well. After a while it just became natural to respond when someone said didi as to my own name!
The familiarity extends to physical as well. I've noticed it mostly among children and young adults. It doesn't cross gender lines, but seeing two people of similar age walking down the street hand in hand or sitting with their arms around each other is normal. It's not a sign of homosexuality, but rather a way of showing friendship. The sense of personal space here is much smaller, but I quickly became used to the female teachers putting their arms across my shoulders or the children leaning right over me. This is one arena in which it's a little better to be female, as the guys in the group seem to end up with arms across their shoulders or people wanting to hold their hand down the street. The Nepali men won't do the same with a woman, and the Nepali women don't tend to show this familiarity unless they already know you.
All together it just goes to show how friendly and open Nepalis are, that they consider so many people family and aren't afraid to demonstrate they care.

Moving On

P.S. (at the beginning) I wrote this the week after leaving Laxmi, so although it's taken me 6 weeks to get it up here, it reads like it was written then, not now.
My three months of teaching have flown by, and now it's time to pack up our house and move on. Having been in Lumbini and Bandipur for a week, I had 3 days in which to pack up my life and prepare to leave.
The most prominent feature of the 3 days was laundry. Boo. With no washing machine I've done everything by hand the past three months, and this mega wash was no exception. This was the last chance for a completely clean wardrobe without paying for it, so I took full advantage. It took two days, but I got it all done. Between the 4 of us the roof is covered with drying clothes. We went through 500L of water in 3 days!
After laundry was organizing and packing. I loathe both these things, so it was a trial. It took constant encouragement/brow-beating from Caitlin for me to finish.
Packing has been quite sobering. We had full, settled lives in this house, and called it home. These three months haven't felt like travelling. We had a home routine, the same as I have in Canada. When Caitlin and I came back from Kathmandu, it was really like coming home, not more travelling. Seeing everything from a full like go into two small-looking bags was weird. I didn't honestly think it would all fit! (it did)
The house was brand new when we moved in in January, so we're the first people to live here. We decorated, and really made the 6 (the roof counts, I called it upstairs) rooms our own. Durga even commented how she was happy that we had decorated her house so much. She is going to add a second story this summer, so future AVs will live upstairs, while her family is on our floor. It's nice to think we're the only AVs to live in these rooms - it makes them more ours.
Leaving Laxmi is difficult. I love this village, and don't like thinking that I will no longer have a home in Nepal. I'll miss the roof the most, but also the feeling of having a proper home to return to every night.
Quick forays down to Nice Lady's Shop for last minute dinner ingredients, being recognized on the bus, afternoon trips up to Gorkha and a hundred other little aspects of life here are ending. There are some things I won't miss, like clothing disapearing off the washing line (I lost my lulus ! :( ), but overall I'm not ready for it to end. My and Caitlin's room looks so bare.
The house has been scrubbed as clean as we can make it, and all the bags are packed. Without our belongings strewn about it no longer looks like our house, so now it's time to shut the door and say goodbye.

Looking Back at School

It's been about six weeks now since the teaching part of my trip ended. I recently found the notebook I used at school, and looking through it was like reliving the three months. It brought back a ton of memories, so I though I'd share some.
-I did lesson plans for all my classes until mid-February. I didn't realize I did them for so long; I was better organized than I thought! There's conversations we had Class 2 act out, ever-changing topics for Class 1 as we tried in vain to find something in the book they hadn't done yet, and day after day of either the exact same plan as the day before or a note saying see an earlier day, as classes were seemingly randomly cancelled
-the essay on human rights that Caitlin and I did scant research for and made up the rest from our general knowledge (think lots of bullshitting, this is what I learned at school!) is in here. We discussed the topic one period with Class 10 (with one day's notice to write the essay!), and I was very impressed with their English writing skills. Each student was to write a paragraph during the period, and some wrote some really good ones. We had to explain most of our keywords, and I made a horrible mess with Amnesty. Caitlin had to rescue my explanation, which had gone horribly south.
-Class 7 really got going when we introduced the past tense wordsearch. It got them eager to come up to the board, which lasted the rest of the semester. The second time we did one it wasn't finished when the bell rang, but they wanted us to stay until it was done. Seeing everyone so eager made us more than happy to comply!
-my notes go from a wordsearch on February 18 to our schedule for exams. I guess that's when I stopped making lesson plans and just went with the flow. That's the end of the front of the book, everything else I used the book for started on the last page and worked backwards.
-the first (last) page has my and Caitlin's Nepali names. The teachers decided to name us, so I was Uma and Caitlin was Parbati. Both are incarnations of the same goddess (please don't ask which one). Being given the names and learning to write them in Nepali was the gesture that made be really feel accepted by the teaching staff.
-there are several pages of class lists. At first I thought lots of the kids were related to each other, as there are disproportionate numbers of Ales, Magars, Thapas and Gurungs. Then I remembered that a Nepali's last name is actually their caste, and so isn't entirely indicative of familial relationships. I was glad to remember that, for about 30 seconds I was seriously worried about just how related 30 9-year olds were to each other.
-when the school was being painted and I was teaching outside there were no blackboards available. For the most part I either taught without writing anything or prepared poster boards in advance, but the first day I had nothing as it was a surprise to be outside. I ended up using my notebook as a blackboard, so there's page after page with one word on it, written big enough that the kids could just see well enough to copy it down. A slow way of doing things, but it worked!
-about 15 pages have been torn out to make flash cards (and more from Caitlin's book) to we could quiz each other on Nepali vocab. Some of the teachers were extremely helpful when we made the cards, and together with the older students were wonderful with quizzing us. My favourite word: oofranu, to jump. I love the way it sounds
-there are page after page of word games. With four free periods a day, Caitlin and I had lots of time to fill. We played snake on her cell, read, chatted, and played game after game. Our favourite, the one in my notebook, was finding words using the letters of longer words. 'President' was the best, with almost 200 words found. 'Adventurous' and 'despicable' were runners up.
-lots of pages revolve around food. I used the notebook to copy recipes from the internet (as it was the only thing I always had on me when going to the internet cafe). There are several pancake recipes as I looked for a good one to introduce Caitlin, Amy and Kirsten to North American pancakes. In the end though, I still bow to the master. Uncle Dave's are still the best, and everyone I made them for enjoyed them.
-the final entry is a list of ideas for the poster boards we made for the Jubilee. We ended up making six of them. Never saw them again though!

Laxmi and Gorkha Shops

Unlike at home, shops is Laxmi and Gorkha don't have storefonts, large displays, or even front doors. They're on the main floor of the buildings lining the road, with apartments above, and the fronts are open to the street. Once you've got past seeing everything crammed together on display, both in the shop and on the stoop, there's all sorts of different shops - dry goods, spices, material, stationary, pharmacy, vegetable and fruit, and many more.
There have been two shops that stood out in particular - Nice Lady's Shop and Chocolate Spread Shop.
Nice Lady's Shop is in Laxmi, and was the shop we frequented the most. A dry goods/general store, we went there the first night in our house, when we were still in some culture shock and buying our first vegetables. The woman running the shop was extremely patient with us, and from that evening was christened Nice Lady.
From that day onward, I don't think a single day passed that at least one of the four of us didn't go to her shop. As the only foreigners in the village, she quickly knew us by sight, and always had a smile ready when we walked up. Over the course of the three months we met the rest of her family as they ran the shop together. Our eating patterns were pretty predictable, and it didn't take long for her to be able to anticipate what we needed. It didn't hurt that we bought bread almost every day and a kilo of potatoes roughly 2 out of 3 days.
While packing to leave Laxmi, Amy and I compiled a list of everything we bought from her shop, and came up with 26 different items. The list ranges from rice to potato to beer/rum to candles, batteries, chocolate bars, lighters and everything in between. Other than vegetables (excluding onions and garlic) and stationary we went to her shop first, and we're pretty sure she knew it. It didn't take long before we started getting discounts (price 100 rupees, for you, 90 rupees - prices are usually printed onto the item, so we knew exactly how much packaged things cost). When we left at the end of March she gave each of us a chocofun, everyone's favourite chocolate bar.
Chocolate Spread Shop is in Gorkha, and was so named as it's the only place in town to get chocolate spread. In addition the shops sells jam, peanut butter, ketchup, honey, the biggest selection of biscuits I found outside Lakeside and Thamel, and even baking powder! The only drawback was that these items aren't too popular with Nepalis, so many things were out of date. It's a bit daunting to buy something that an inch of dust has just been blown off, but I got used to it. As long as it's close to being with the expiry date it's fine.
Check not only expiry dates though, but seals as well. Once Ed and Magnus bought a tub of chocolate spread, only to open it at home and realize that someone had carefully spooned out a chunk from the center of the tub!

Food

Having spent four months in Nepal I have been exposed to all sorts of new food. Some good, some not so good, and some that was just damn fantastic.
The traditional Nepali dish, which most of the population eats twice a day, is dal bhat. It's rice (bhat) with a lentil soup (dal), some form of curry and usually pickle. To eat you mix everything together. As such most families eat off plates with a lip, so as to not spill over. Even in restaurants it usually comes on such a plate, often with various compartments for each item. Think prison plates. The curry and dal vary by region, and are generally quite good. Plus, when you order it in restaurants you get refills until you're full, and when its served in a private home there's a mound of rice. When Caitlin and I stayed with our students we had to be careful not to put all the curry and dal on the rice at once, as the bowls were immediately refilled without our asking, so we'd end up with far more food than we could possibly eat.
In my house we ate dal bhat with cabbage and cauliflower curry most nights for dinner. Our dal was very different from the typical dal (not in taste, it was just WAY thicker than it should be), but we liked it. There's often lots of twigs and small rocks in the lentils, and therefore in the dal. There's a distinctive crunch when you find one, but after a while you stop noticing and a small pile on the side of the plate is normal.
In addition to dal bhat we made lots of fried rice and fried noodles, other staples of Nepali diets. To complement dinner I sometimes made chapattis, momos and alu parotha. All three involve dough made from flour and water. Chapattis are the most basic, being simply dough rolled very thin and fried. Alu parotha is two layers of dough with curried potato in between. It should be fairly thin, but I usually made it rather thick, as it was often the main course of picnic lunches.
Momos are my favourite. They're a Tibetan dumpling made from dough with either meat or vegetable mash inside. Steamed (momos) and then sometimes fried (kothey), they're my favourite Nepali food.
The most common snack eaten by the children is chow chow, which is dry ramen noodles. There's all sorts of brands, usually chicken, vegetable or shrimp flavoured. It's an excellent snack for on the go. If you have a little more time there's chock pot, which is noodles with lots of spices and fresh coriander. It can be spicy, but it's also really good.
Sweets and biscuits are really cheap, and there's lots of variety. Sau-roti is my favourite hot sweet - rice flour, flour and sugar made into a dough, then deep fried. In terms of biscuits, the coconut crispies and pineapple creams are the best. Not the ones labelled chocolate, they don't taste a thing like it.
Unless in a tourist area, it's best to stick to local food. Attempts at western fare are a gamble. Sometimes it's really good (like the burgers and spring rolls at the Gorkha Inn), but other times it goes horribly wrong.
Now that I've left Nepal, I'm craving one more dal bhat like crazy. I'm pretty sure there's a Nepali restaurant in Ottawa, so I'll be making a trip once I'm home!

Durga

Durga (pronounced Dulga), out landlady, was the first person to make us feel comfortable in Laxmi. A petite woman, at least a foot shorter than me, she has a warm and engaging smile that immediately puts you at ease. For the first two or so weeks she visited us every morning to make sure we were dong alright. As time passed her spontaneous visits decreased, but she was always at the other end of a phone call if we needed her. As it turned out, we needed her fairly often. From a blocked bathroom drain to a thief in the house to requests for household supplies, she was always there. Sometimes she was like Santa, appearing with curtains, a mortar and pestle, and even a bona fide carpet for the hallway. Once it was a bag with about 20g of hash, homemade on her family's farm! Overall, we couldn't have had a better landlady. Always cheerful, she and her two young children were wonderful to have around. Next year's Laxmi house will be a lucky group.

The Neighbours

My little pink house is up on a hill, and there are two families that we share the little rise with. Standing on the roof, looking out at the road, both live to the left. I have no idea how many people actually comprise these two families (Nepali homes typically include 3 or 4 generations). Between the 2 families there are people ranging in age from a few months to very elderly, and everything in between. I think there are around 12-15 people bewteen the two houses, but I'm really not sure.
We quickly struck up a relationship with the family immediatly next to us. From the beginning we gave them the contents of our compost bin, which they fed to their goats. Usually we did this every 2-3 days, as they didn't like it when the compost started to compost. In return they knocked on our door every so often with plates of food - various Nepali snacks. I have no idea if they enjoyed the food we put on the plate when returning it each time (pancakes, onion rings...) but the exchange continued until we moved out.
The two families have a few young boys (or at least one whose friends come over a lot), who often come peer through our windows, usually the kitchen ones. If the windows are open they will often talk through them. Once I was in there making momos and ended up being quizzed on Class 3 social studies, the exam having been that morning. I have no idea if I got any right, but judging from their reactions I didn't!
It's not just the kids that peer through the windows; the adults do it too. Even after 3 months it sometimes feels like living in a zoo. When the Besi house visited for Holi, they were a little shocked to have people peering in at 11pm. I'd never known it to happen at night before, but I guess the zoo never closes! There were times during the day when everyone would unabashedly look through, even knowing one of us was in the room.
As important as the neighbour people are the neighbour animals. Mostly goats, there are also a few buffalo and some chickens. We never bothered to name the chickens or adult animals, but the babies all got names. In January there was Lucy, a little grey goat, and Harry, a buffalo. Harry disappeared all of a sudden though, and we don't like to think about why.
We thought Lucy was small and cute, and she was. I mentioned the lack of entertainment before - once I watched the rooster chase Lucy around the yard for a good 5 mins - I think it was the highlight of the day. She certainly was sweet, and very inquisitive. That might be what got her in trouble with the rooster! But Lucy grew.
But then spring began, and with it came a slew of baby goats. First there was Holi, so named because of the day of her birth, and then Molly while I was in Bandipur. They're adorable, especially when the play together, which they do often. We're not actually sure as to the gender of these goats, but just made gave them whatever names they looked like.
During the final days in the house, construction on the house to the right reached the point where the house was habitable. The owner and his wife and son moved in, so for those few days we had people on both sides.
As the only AV's to live in a house with nobody else on another floor, it was nice to have neighbours. They offered a window into everyday Nepali life, which was fascinating to watch.

Laxmi

Laxmi Bazaar, the little village where I lived for three months, became my home away from home. When it came time to leave I was sad to say goodbye. At first I thought the village was far too small for me to live happily there, but as time passed I fell in love with it.
It gets bright early, so the village wakes up early. Everyone is up and about by 6, to make the most of the daylight hours when power cuts aren't as debilitating. Much of morning (well, all day) life happens outside, as the shops are opened, steps washed and chores completed. And it's loud. Crying babies, bleating goats, loud voices and even chopping wood (all this about 2 ft. from my head and at 6am!)
The village isn't big, but its small feel is somewhat deceptive. There is one main intersection where the buses stop, around which the majority of the shops are located. It runs along the top and side of a ridge, with houses and fields down either side. There are two roads off the main road. One goes up a hill, and is where Maha Laxmi is located. The other runs off the intersection, along a small offshoot ridge. It has some shops, lots of houses, and ends in farms.
There's always lots of people around during the day. There are people in the fields, in the shops, hanging around near the shops and houses and generally just everywhere. Nepali life, as I'm sure I've said before, takes place outside.
Except where it rains. As soon as it starts, the village appears to close. Shops do stay open, but the little hut shops along the road are closed. All of a sudden there is nobody outside, and the usually bustling village appears deserted. As soon as the rain stops though, everyone is right back outside.
I've never lived anywhere smaller than 100,000 people, and I thought that was small. Laxmi has maybe 2000 people, includes the outlying farms. At first I was irked by the number of things that aren't available here, but you can get in Gorkha, like jam and toilet paper. After a while I got used to it though, and going up to Gorkha - which really isn't an inconvience, it's only 10 mins by bus - to get supplies didn't feel like any sort of imposition. After a few weeks I settled into the rhythym of the village, and by February I loved it there. I see the same people around all the time, and recognize a lot of the villagers. And I've figured out some of the little things about the village, like how fresh bread rolls are delivered around 2pm, and who lives near the upper bus stop.
As the day starts early, so too does it end early. It gets dark around 7 (in March, in January it was more like 5:30), and the village appears to go to sleep around 9. That's deceptive too though, there's a lot of activity still going on!

Sitting on the Rocks - Besi

The last stop of our week away was in Besi Sahar, to visit another group of volunteers. We arrived in the late afternoon, and went down to the river for a while. Bupu, Will and Pippa's school, was on the way, so we stopped to visit.
It's a private school, and by far the nicest of all the AV schools I've visited. It's English medium, and huge. A large hostel, several staff rooms, and even a garden. The garden had rope fences around it though, I guess the kids would pull it apart otherwise!
We spent about an hour down on the rocks next to the Marsangi River, clambering around and skipping stones. Well, not me, I've never been able to skip a stone no matter how much I try. There was even sand amongst some of the rocks, which felt lovely on my feet.
There was a significant storm that night, complete with lots of loud thunder, bright forked lightening and rain. The Besi house has a patio (up on their floor, the second) covered by a pavilion. We sat underneath it to watch the storm, and what a storm it was. At one point a lightening strike hit the top of the ridge just above Besi, complete with sparks and everything. Amazing.
The power was on and off, much more off than on, all evening due to the storm. It was like being back on the roof at home (Laxmi), but with the added bonus of the storm.
Besi is a more prosperous town that Gorkha, probably because it's the start of a trek. It feels cleaner, because the gutters were covered over so you can't see the garbage. It's flat too, instead of always going up on downhill.
We left Besi in the early afternoon of Saturday, after a nice leisurely morning. Got home to Laxmi to get ready to move out.

In a Tree - Bandipur

While we were in Bandipur, while going for a walk along a ridge, Magnus and I found a tree. I have no idea what type of tree is was, but it was huge. It has large, flat branches, and lots of places to lean back and relax. By far it was my favourite place in Bandipur.
It's located along the top of the ridge, with a view along both sides. Located alongside a small shed, it's an informal resting place, for people walking longer distances, and those looking after a herd of grazing goats. A couple groups of people stopped to take a rest underneath; also to give us quite a few stares, white people in trees not being a common occurence.
While sitting up there a husband and wife came walking along the path hugging the ridge, carry large loads of leaves on their backs/heads. The wife was in flip flops, and the husband was barefoot. We had walked to the tree in flip flops and thought that was pretty Nepali (especially after seeing two people come by in full trekking gear), but barefoot with that load was impressive!
We went back the next morning with everyone, having stopped on the way at a large rock with a 360 degree view. You could see down onto the whole of Bandipur. And kudos to Hari for doing that walk, partly bushwacking, in a skirt!
At the end if the trail back to town, along a trail that hugs the ridge instead of going along the top, there is a small outskirt of Bandipur. It's tiered fields with some houses. That morning, there was a tractor churning up one of the tiers, making a road.
After the heat of Lumbini, catching the breeze in the tree was wonderful. I went back in the afternoon with Mangus, Julia and Ed, and it actually got chilly! It's not as hot here as in the Terai, but it's still plenty hot enough to really enjoy a breeze. The tree is big enough that the four of us could easily and comfortably all lean back, with room to spare.
Heading back to the guest house that afternoon, we again passed by the construction, which had progressed a surprisingly long way. There was a crows of people standing by watching the progress - as there is when anything happens in Nepal. They also helped us get on the right path, as the original was being churned up into a road.
Just like Lumbini, it was nice to get out of town and see some more of rural Nepali life. That's the real culture of the area, and much more like what I find in Biren Chowk.

Bat Cave - Bandipur

After Lumbini we headed to Bandipur, a Newari town just up the mountain on the south side of the main highway. The only way up to the town is by jeep, along the hairpin curves, and affording beautiful views of the valley.
Bandiur is clean. Very clean. Immaculatly clean. NGO (we're not sure which one, but prevailing opinion is either the UN or UNICEF) has put quite a bit of money into cleaning it up, and the results are obvious. It's the cleanest place I've been to in Nepal. There are signs everywhere reminding people to keep the place clean, put rubbish in the bin , and my favourite, announcing that Bandiupr is a defecation free zone!
The town feels like a European village, with a stone paved street, restaurants with outdoor tables, and guest houses with shutters opening onto the street and flower gardens along the side of the road. The entire time we were there we didn't eat a single meal inside. We stayed in a small guesthouse family run where the rooms were once occupied by the owner's children. My room had a balcony looking out over the valley. By far the best guest house so far.
The first morning in Bandipur we went to the Siddha Cave, the biggest cave in Asia. It was about an hours walk downhill to the cave, so the cool and dark of the cave was heavenly. The inside was HUGE. We climbed down two ladders into a massive chamber, with smaller chambers off it. There was a small shrine in a little alcove, and bats overhead. Not very many though. Lonely Planet said there are tons, but I was dissapointed. There are more bats on the roof in Laxmi.
Julia, Magnus and I walked back up the really steep stairs (I hate stairs) back to Bandipur, while Caitlin, Hari and Ed walked the rest of the way down to the highway and took a jeep back up. It had to stop halfway up to pour water on the engine to cool it off. Oh the vehicles in Nepal - they're not the most reliable.
The rest of the time in Bandipur involved the tree, until Friday morning, the day we were leaving. That morning we all went to a silk farm. It was fun, and we saw all ages of silkworms, but I learned more a the silk farm in Turkey. Still, we ate mulberries, the food the worms eat. It was a fun outing.
And from there we headed to Besi.

Lumbini Temples

Lumbini, the bithplace of Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha, is located down in the Terai region of Nepal, near the border to India. As Buddha's birthplace, it holds a special significance to Buddhists and it attracts many pilgrims. It is listed as a World Heritage Site.
Over the past few decades money has been dedicated towards the creation of a small village of temples known as the Lumbini Development Zone. The most important is the Maya Devi temple which holds the rock Buddha was born on. On its grounds is the pool in which his mother bathed before giving birth. It also holds a group of ruins from over 2,000 years ago, and a sandstone carving depicting the birth of Buddha. It's huge, and beautiful.
The Lumbini Development Zone has been dedicated towards the construction of monasteries from Buddhist countries around the world. Although many are still under construction, we were able to visit several.
The Lumbini Development Zone is divided into two sides, with a museum dedicated to Buddha and a Peace Pagoda, like the one we visited in Pokhara, at the far end. It is fairly spread out, so we hired bicycles (mine worked much better this time!), and went around looking. One of my two favourites was the first we visited, the Chinese Buddhist Monastery. It had a large garden in a courtyard, with a shaded walkway around it. the monastery, at the far end, is a large building, very spacious, open-air and bright. This, I later learned, was in contrast to some others, which were much darker in comparison. In the middle was a huge gold statue of Buddha. I had read that millions of dollars have been donated to the creations of these monasteries, seeing this statue and temples really made me realize it. It think it was also the fact that it was green and there was no dust, because it is HOT in Lumbini, and the road just outside the temple was extremely dusty in places (it was a dirt road most of the way). The walkways were cool and shaded, and the monastery, with it's statue, was truly a sanctuary.
My other favourite was at the far end of the row of monasteries, located with several others around a small pond. It also has spacious gardens, bigger than those at the Chinese Monastery. The monastery building itself had a covered deck all around, so you could walk around in the shade and look at the succession of murals, painted on the outside walks of the building. While we were there I saw a group of children dressed in the same clothing as the monks. They were talking and laughing and going about their lives, it was my favorite part of seeing the temples.
The Zone is divided into two rows of monasteries, each side dedicated to one sect of Buddhism, with a canal in the process of being built in between them. The entire site is truly a construction zone. The roads are still being built in places, and many of the monasteries are unfinished, but there was an air of tranquility within the zone, which made cycling along the dirt roads, along a few avenues line with trees, an idyllic way to pass a few hours. Well, the actual cycling bits were, but it was hot, so some of that idyll might have come from the breeze!
We visited one of the unfinished monasteries, the Korean one, whose gate was unlocked. Right now its a giant concrete building, with concrete buildings all around, but you could just imagine what it was going to look like once completed. It's large, several stories high, with a central room to hold the forthcoming gold statue, which will be quite large based on the size of the room!
The Peace Pagoda was very similar to the one we visited in Pokhara. A large, white, dome-shaped building, it was again a place that inspired quiet. It was also an ideal spot for much-needed shade!
After a rest and a snack lunch, we headed to the Lumbini Museum. As far as the museums I've visited here in Nepal, I was quite impressed with this one. The architecture of the building was quite modern, constructed of brick, with high, arched ceilings and large, circular windows. Some effort had clearly gone into the displays, and although it was mostly rather similar (to me, at least) statues and many paintings and photographs. Mot had clear descriptions, and I learned all about the important places in Buddha's life where he was born, gained enlightenment, preached his first sermon, and died.
Visiting the temples was a lot of fun, but Lumbini will be an even better place in 10 years or so, when the construction will be finished. Then, it will be spectacular, and I only hope I get to see it again.

A Walk in the Fields - Lumbini

The first stop on our week away was Lumbini. A small village near the border to India, It is famous as the birthplace of Buddha. It's located in the Terai, which is the plains region of Nepal, so it it is FLAT and HOT. The village itself is unremarkable, just an intersection with shops and guest houses going a short way down two branches. The real draw to Lumbini is the temples, located in a park just outside the village. It took a long, hot, and hellish bus journey to get there from Gorkha, so we decided to stay two full days, and split the temples into two mornings.
The first afternoon, after relaxing in the shade through the hottest part of the day, Julia, Magnus and I went for a walk through the fields outside of the village. It was weird, walking through fields that were completely flat and completely yellow, after so long among green tiered fields in the mountains. It took only about 10 minutes walking to get completely in the country. The edge of the village was almost like a suburb; rows of individual houses instead of apartments.
From Lumbini we went along a dirt road, past a group of children swimming in a small pond. At first I though it was too bad I couldn't join them (it was still brutally hot) but later, on the way back I saw the far end of the pond clearly. It was gross, and all desire to swim vanished in an instant.
We walked past another small village, all dirt and brick houses, lots of thatched roofs, and people out working in the fields. (my first paddy fields!) As per usual we received lots of stares, but that's all in a day's experience here. Don't really notice any more.
After walking for a little while, we made a right turn and while a while later did the same again. Walking, wandering really, around with only a vague idea of where we were going afforded us the opportunity to see what life in the Terai is really like. It was wonderfully peaceful, and there was farm equipment. Tractors and everything! After so many weeks in the mountains where buffalo do all the work, it was a bit of a shock to see machines.
The walk showed me once again just how friendly Nepali people are. Along the way a man on a bicycle stopped to chat, simply because he spoke English and felt like using it. It turned out to be really helpful, as he directed us back to town! It wasn't just him; almost everyone we passed said hello or stopped to chat a little more. Really, it's the friendliest country I've ever been to.
I didn't see any motorcycles. Because it's so flat, everyone rides bikes instead. There were lots of people biking by, old and young. There were also tons of temples dotting the countryside, a sign of how deeply ingrained religion is to Nepali culture. It was very peaceful, to see once again the slower pace, and to walk on a path literally through a field. The villages were poor though; they looked poorer than Laxmi, which I'm coming to realize is a rather prosperous little place.
It was a wonderful walk, a really nice way to pass the afternoon. Lumbini the village wasn't that impressive, so seeing the countryside made a much better impression.

A Week of Travels

School being done, Caitlin and I headed out for a week of travelling with Julia, Hari, Magnus and Ed. Leaving from Gorkha early Saturday morning, we headed for Lumbini, a town near the Indian border, famous as the birthplace of Buddha.
One LONG bus ride later - 9 hours in progressively hotter weather and crowded buses - we got there. Lumbini is located in the Terai, the plains region of Nepal. It is completely flat, and very hot, temperatures much more akin to India.
3 nights and 2 days later, we set off for Bandipur, a Newari town located up in the mountains, about 40km from Gorkha. Another 2 nights and 2 days, we set off again, this time for Besisahar, to visit another house of volunteers. A night there, and we headed home to Laxmi, having been gone a week.
Having a week of travel was a wonderful way to break the two parts of the trip. We've been teaching, and are now moving on to trekking, then travelling. This week was a start of the next period, but with the benefit of coming home, to have a last few days in our Nepali home lives, and say goodbye to everyday life here.

Exams at School

The end of my time teaching coincided with the end of year exams. It meant we taught for the entirety of the third semester. The majority of the exams are district-wide, and therefore standard throughout the region. Due to this, Caitlin and I didn't have to worry about setting any exams, just whether our kids would pass!
Lessons ended on Wednesday, March 10, and exam prep began the next day. The students stayed at home to study, while the teachers came to school to prepare the exam booklets. It was a ton of folding. I folded for two hours without stopping, and the pile didn't look any smaller. It wasn't difficult though, and with a dozen teachers working together, the work did actually get done fairly quickly. We left around noon, and had the rest of the day off. Friday was much the same, except we brought in a cake to say thank-you to the teachers.
Caitlin and I went to Kathmandu that weekend, and returned to school on Tuesday. Out responsibilities during this time period were to be at school while out classes wrote their English exams, and then to mark said exams. With upwards of 60 students in some classes (and some really poor penmanship) it was a lot of marking. The exams were held in the morning, and we were free to mark at home in the afternoon. All in all not very stressful days.
In reality, the three days our kids had exams were rather boring. We invigilated Class 3, but otherwise hung out in the staff room all morning. Invigilating was fun, but very different from exams at home. The kids of kind of allowed to talk to each other, according to what everyone else is saying about their invigilating experiences. We didn't really let the Class 3's talk, but they were trying to help each other and copy the answers all the way through. Apparently this was even more the case in the older exams. When marking Class 7, I found some many instances where the kids made the exact same mistakes, and even had the exact same essays!
Once exams were over that was it for school. After 3 months we said goodbye and headed out the gate. A bit anti-climactic, but that's life.

Weekend in Kathmandu

The weekend of March 13-15 Caitlin and I went to Kathmandu, to buy books for our school, so Caitlin could go to the doctor, and just generally to relax. I needed it too. After a long week of highs and lows it was nice to have a change of scenery and change of pace.
The official reason for going was to buy the books that would be our donation to school. Part of the fees paid to AV was 60 pounds each to put towards a specific donation of our choice. It meant we spent hours on both Saturday and Sunday looking around bookshops. I had no problem with this, other than I had the same problem I always do in bookstores - there was a long list of books I wanted to buy but couldn't. (too heavy!) We ended up buying about 50 children's books, a combination of picture books and easy novels. - Roald Dahl!
As we were there for 2 nights, we spent one night down in Freak St. and one in Thamel. Freak St. was the Thamel of the 60's and 70's, but is small and quiet now. It's cheaper, which makes it a nice option. It's about a 15 minute walk south of Thamel, down very crowded streets. Not too far, but enough that you are amidst Kathmandu proper as opposed to an area devoted entirely to tourists.
Caitlin was ill on and off in the weeks preceding the trip, and couldn't shake whatever was bothering her, so she went to the doctor on Sunday afternoon. I went and wandered around Durbar Square a little, and did some shopping.
You may remember that my bag was lost for about 2 weeks when I got to Nepal in January. The final errand of the weekend was to the airport, to get the official paper from Jet Airlines saying how long the bag was lost, so now I can make an insurance claim. That done, we settled back to enjoy ourselves.
Durga's brother Harry is currently living in Kathmandu, so we met up with him for tea a few times, and generally just wandered around and relaxed in cafes. A nice way to spend a retreat weekend!
We caught the direct bus home on Monday morning, and were there in time for dinner. All-in-all it was an easy and hassle free trip. We got to know Kathmandu, particularly Thamel, much better due to all the book shopping. I like Kathmandu much more the second time round. In January we only saw a little, and were in such culture shock I couldn't appreciate it. I can't wait to come back. After spending some more time here, I'm torn between preferring Kathmandu or Pokhara.

Top of a Bus

Buses in Nepal are always something of an adventure. With the exception of large cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara, most buses travel from town to town, instead of within the town. There are usually 1-2 official stops in each town/village. The buses are either large, and quite akin to a yellow schoolbus with individual seats, or microbuses, which are like large vans with 3-4 rows in back.
Some buses run on schedule - long distance buses are pretty much it though - and leave at a certain time. These double as local buses, picking up people who want to go just a few kilometers down the road as well as those travelling long distances. Keep in mind though that it takes at least 3 times as long to get anywhere here as at home, as the road are so windy and twisty. A long distance bus will go for 4-5 hours and have covered about 200km in that time.
I mentioned above that there are a few official stops in each village, but a bus can be hailed just like a cab, at any point along the road. It's the same with getting off; if you let the conductor know where you would like the bus to stop, it will! This results in constant stops and starts, but you get used to it.
While the long distance buses do leave at a specific time, there is no guarantee of how fast they will be. While traveling from Gorkha to Lumbini one day, it took 90 minutes to get past my school, a distance that is usually covered in about 15 minutes. We sat in Laxmi for about an hour, with a crowd of people around the bus. None of the 6 of our group on board could figure out what was going on, but eventually we got moving again. At this point itinerary changes like this are so commonplace that the only thing that frustrated me was that I could see my house, and could have slept for an extra hour!
Now that the weather is warm, the buses are extremely hot. Long distances require at least 2 bottles of water, and result in copious amounts of sweating. It doesn't help that the bus is always crammed as full as possible, so there's lots of body heat! The heat and distance combined break long trips into legs, with much needed rest stops along the way. Shade!! It's allright when the bus is moving and you can get the window open (note the combination of the two, one or the other doesn't make a difference). It's when the bus is sitting in the sun that it really becomes an oven.
Some buses don't have a set time to depart, they just fill with people going in the right direction and go. This is the case with local buses, those that go stretches of about 25km in each direction. (this takes just under an hour) It's amazing how many people can fit into a bus; often every seat is full, and there are large bags of fruit and veg, 12.5L canisters of gas and a goat or two in the center aisle. Plus people, they fill the aisle as well, cram into the doorway, and even hang outside it. These buses don't tend to depart until the driver and conductor feel they have enough people. It means that when I climb onto an almost empty bus I know it's going to be a while before I get to my destination, because the bus won't leave until it's full.
It's impressive though, how an empty seat is always immediately filled (with at least one person!), and people filter to the back of the bus to make space. There's never of problem of lots of space in back but a crush of people in front. No available space is left open. I've sat with next to mothers with 2 children on their lap, been sat on by random people in the aisle, and so crammed together with other standing people I didn't need to do much holding on. The roofs are really low too. I hit my head if I don't remember to duck!
All buses tend to play Nepali music, and music videos in some of the larger ones, very loudly. Really, super loud. You can't hear an ipod on max when the music is going. Having listened to so much music during dancing practice for the Jubilee, I recognize some of the songs, and have a few favourites. I have no idea what the songs are about though!
The best part of riding the bus is the roof. All large packages, such as our backpacks, are tied to the top. When there is no more room inside, it also takes passengers. I've only ever seen Nepali men up there, never women, but we climb up there anyways. When its not too cold (so as long as the sun is still fairly high overhead) the top affords the best view of the valley. When its really hot out, its the perfect way to catch a breeze. Plus, now I can say that I've ridden up a mountain on top of a van while sitting on a pile of bananas!
My most memorable experience on the roof was coming back to Laxmii after a week touring trip. Coming from Abu Khaireni (about 45 mins) on the roof, we passed a ton of the kids from my school. Having finished teaching a week before, it was nice to see some of them one last time.
Buses here can be frustrating, as there is no way to know when the next bus will come along. It could be 30 seconds or 30 minutes, and there's no way to know other than to wait. The worst is waiting a long time, because you know that when the bus does arrive it will be absolutely packed. A packed bus, particularly a microbus, won't stop, leaving no option but to wait for the next one, however long that may be.
In addition to local buses there are tourist buses. These are usually air conditioned, have more leg room, and are several times the price of a local bus. However, having been here for so long, none of us would consider taking anything other than a local bus!
The distances involved in my life here - down to school, up to Gorkha - have meant lots of time on the bus. Although we walk to school every morning, and home in the afternoon, if Caitlin and I are going to Gorkha after school we get the bus directly there (and save ourselves 1.5 hrs walking). I'm on the bus at least 2-3 times per week, which increased to 3-4 by March, when the days were longer and we went to Gorkha more often.
Having spent so much time on the bus, by March we could get on and find that the conductor already knew where we wanted to go. As 2 of the only 8 white people within 50 kilometers, and the two that took the bus the most,we stood out quite a bit. Often we would here snatches of conversation that involved some combination of the words volunteer, UK, teaching, Biren Chowk and Laxmi Bazaar. At that point I knew we were really part of the community.

Spitting

Part of the everyday culture in Nepal is the practice of hawking and spitting. This occurs everywhere: out bus windows, out building windows (from any floor!), on the side of the road, and anywhere else you can imagine.
It's both adults and children, male and female, who do it. I've never been a fan of spitting, but I've grown accustomed to it. It's the hawking beforehand that I cringe away from. When I see/hear the younger kids doing it, it makes them much less cute.
At school the teachers, particularly the male ones, tend to spit off the walkway along the second floor, down into the courtyard where the children play. One time, a teacher came about an inch away from hitting of the kids in the face. The look of mortification on his face when he realized was priceless!
Of all the differences in culture between Canada and Nepal, the spitting has been on of, if not the, most difficult to adjust to. It's one of the very few things I won't miss!

Picnic on the Mountain - March 8

On Monday the 8th there was a school holiday (don't remember why), so my house and the Gorkha house decided to go for a walk along the top of the ridge from the Durbar. In the end there were only five of us though, as Amy and Kirsten were invited to their headmaster's, and Ed didn't feel too well.
We began by going to visit Laxmi, a teacher at Hari and Magnus' school. She lives in a small village called Raniban, just outside Gorkha. While there she made us ghandruk, a dish of pickled spinach. Not being a fan of pickle, I wasn't took into the taste, but I did enjoy the spinach.
From there we headed up to the top of the ridge, a little ways east of the Durbar. That path up was through a wood, and it was like walked through a wood in Ontario, albeit with slightly different trees. The feeling of shade and solitude was the same, as was the sound of the birds. It wasn't too steep and, going at Nepali pace, an excellent pace, a pleasant walk up. It was hot though, and I was grateful for the breeze when we hit the top.
While we were walking, particularly on the way up to the ridge, we passed several small groups of children out collecting rhododendrons, Nepal's national flower. One group stopped and gave us each a flower. Caitlin saved hers and put it on the kitchen table, and we've had a rotation of flower centerpieces ever since.
From the ridge we could see into the valleys on both sides. A short way along we stopped for lunch and a relax at a small platform made from flat rocks. We hung out there for a leisurely lunch, and then headed a little further along before descending. The route down took us though some small groups of farms strung along a dirt road snaking through the tiered fields. This was my favourite part of the walk, as it was more rual that anywhere I've yet seen. And I though Laxmi was small!
The houses themselves were small, mostly with corrugated iron roofs (complete with stones on top to help the metal down), and some thatch roofs. They are set in small group, and often have animals living in part. They small size of the tiered fields means all farmwork is done with buffaloes and small plows. It also means that a family's fields are necesarily right next to the house, but could be a ways up the mountain.
It was extremely peaceful walking through the little clusters of houses. As with all of Nepal, there were people hanging around the buildings and road, as well as out in the fields. It was a wonderful way to spend a day off school.

Kids Along the Road

Unlike in North America, Nepali children spend quite a lot of time outside. Outside of school hours, they can be found just about everywhere.
Some of the games played are just like those played by kids at home, like hopscotch and jump rope. Others are straight out of the early 20th century; a spinning top launched from a string, a rolling hoop controlled by a piece of bent wire, and marbles. Occasionally you will see a handheld gaming device, but not often at all, especially here in the country.
It's nice to see so many kids outside. Nepal doesn't have an obeisity problem, partly because the kids don't sit in front of the tv all the time. Partly also because everyone is much poorer.
There are often small children playing around one of the (yes there are two! how small village I've become) bus stops in Laxmi. One day one of the toddlers was given his first (slow!) ride on a motorcycle. An ear-to-ear grin and non-stop laughter means it probably won't be the last!
Walking to a from school, Caitlin and I often walk past some of the same groups of children on their way to school at Maha Laxmi. Most call out a greeting, either in English or Nepali. I've now perfected the motion of transferring my water bottle to being carried by my elbow and doing namaste without breaking stride!
The other, slightly less popular, salutation is 'good morning' delivered at any time of day. I've been told to have a good morning when it was 7 in the evening. Quite often the kids will do away with pleasantries altogether, and launch straight into questions. Mostly 'how are you?', 'where are you from?' and 'where are you going?' Once I answered where are you coming from as Gorkha, which brought out tons of laughter. Apparently that wasn't the answer they were looking for!
Sometims it's hard to know where the voices are coming from. It could be a balcony or roof, a parked vehicle, the side of the road, or 50ft up the mountain from the road, next to a goat. It's like the live version of Where's Waldo.
The kids in the cities, particularly in/near tourist areas, are less likely to call out friendly greetings, and more likely to ask you for something. Mostly money - 10 rupees, the price of a packet of biscuits- and chocolate or sweets. I say asking, but its really more of a demand, as please and thank-you are not commonly used in Nepali, and have been lost in translation. They are really quite unabashed about it, and will continue until you are several feet past.
There has been a difference in the children in Gorkha over the past few weeks. Tourist season is starting, so there have been an increasing number of foreigners in town. Clearly some have been giving in to the kids' demands, as they have grown ever-more insistent, even following you down the road. It was much nicer before!

Teaching Update - Part 3

Snack, or 'casa' in Nepali, is made and served everyday by the school caretaker. It's always a curry, usually potato and cauliflower (which I've since found out is called govi curry), which is eaten mixed together with chura, or beaten rice. I'm not a fan of chura, although others seem to love it. It's too dry and chewy for my taste. I'm not so sure about the govi curry, but I love the chickpea curry, pea curry, and mostly, noodles.
All the teachers eat lunch together, and its the main social time of the day. Caitlin and I don't often know what is being said, but sometimes someone will translate some for us. And of course, we are always asked if the food is tasty, and if the tea is hot. Every day.
After lunch is another free period, and then it's on to Class 5, our last lesson of the day. W've had this class the least - there was a period near the Jubilee where I didn't teach them for 2 weeks! They're also a great class; at an age where they can sit queitly, but still love the games we play with them. There's a few kids that stand out, but not as many as in my two other classes.
At thyis point the school day is over for us (it's now 3:20), so we head either home or to Gorkha, unless there is something going on at school. There have been farewell ceremonies, prize giving, quiz competitions, and even a joke competition. It's quite a busy school!

Teaching Update - part 2

The teaching part of the day begins after the break between periods 2 and 3.

When the bell rings it takes 2-3 minutes plus for everyone to get inside. The teachers don't start moving for at least that long. The first 5 or so minutes of the class is punctuated with repeated cries of "May I come, miss?". Over and over, because each kid says it individually. It's quite fun to see them go running for the classroom when they see me coming down the stairs, and they always look somewhat sheepish when they don't make it in time. The kids won't enter a room with a teacher in it without first asking permission, no matter what room it is. If you say no, they won't come in - I did that once to a kid who showed up 10 mins before class ended.

Period 3, in which I have class 3 and Caitlin has Class 4, is my favourite of the day. Every day when I walk into class I'm greeted with handfuls of red flowers. Sometimes they're even tied together with leaves to make a proper bouquet. By the time class is over my pocket is bulging with them. I've accidentally stained the inside cover of my textbook because I had nowhere else to carry them.

Class 3 is challenging, but a ton of fun. Everyone loves writing on the blackboard, so if I'm not careful there will be a full on stampede - I kid you not, kids crammed together to get as close as possible - when its time to fill in the answers. There are a few kids I need to pay particular attention to, like Munisa, who will fill in as many answers as she can instead of just one, and Ram, who gets so excited he runs out of patience and fills them in early. Overall theres lots of shouting a laughing, and its a ton of fun.

The kids are at the age of passing tons of notes in class, and the boys shot elastics at each other for a few weeks. Now they're on to paper airplanes, because I confiscated all the elastics. Kept my house in elastics too, we don't ever need to buy any!

Leaving the room is difficult, as the kids all want handshakes or high fives, and some like to hold onto my hand as long as possible. There's often quite the throng, and lots of yelling from the door of the room.

Immediatly after Class 3 comes Class 7, which is a nice change of pace. The classroom is much quieter, and everyone stays in their seats. They're just as much fun though, once you get to know them a little. We've been doing a lot of reading comprehension lately, and when someone puts an answer on the board, everyone tries to fix any grammar mistakes. It's fun to watch them discuss among themselves where the problems are. They love to hear us say 'no mistake', and ask it constantly. Caitlin thinks is because it sounds like 'namaste'!

The class has really come out of its shell over the past few weeks. At first they were hesitant to come to the board, and now about 1/3 love to do it, and compete with each other to get the right answer first.

There are over 60 kids in Class 7, the largest class Caitlin or I have - although Caitlin's Class 4's come pretty close! Everyone is so crammed in that you wouldn't think there are that many, but there definitely are. Marking their exams took forever! There are two rows of benches, one for girls and one for boys. The size of the class determines bench space per kid - in Class 7 there's 4 to a bench.

By this point it's 1pm, and we have another free period before lunch. It passes in the exact same manner as the first two periods. Caitlin and I are becoming masters at playing snake on her cell phone! And then its time to eat!

Teaching Update - Part 1

Now that school has been going on for over two months, it's time for an update. Our days at school follow a pretty similar pattern, so what you read here is pretty much how each of my days go.
Although school officially begins at 10am, Caitlin and I arrive around 9:45 for assembly. The kids line up by year, one row of boys and one of girls for each year, and do a mini-calisthetics program before singing the national anthem. I have no idea what they're singing, but I can repeat verbatim entire portions of the anthem.
There are 8 periods each day, each one 40 mins long. This is typical of Nepali government schools, all of whom run from 10-4 each day. The only difference is the exact times of each period, which varies slightly by school.
On the walk across the courtyard we are greeted by kids from almost every class. 'Good Morning', 'Namaste', handshakes and high fives fill the roughly 100m from the gates to the stairs, and then along the walkway to the staff room. Handshakes (the kids are obsessed with them, and equate a handshake with good) and high fives are almost exclusive to the younger classes, while all years say hello.
Unless a teacher is absent and a class needs to be covered, we have periods 1 and 2 free. We spend the time planning lessons, chatting, reading, playing random word games and staring out the window. Pretty much, we're bored. On nice days we take chairs out onto the walkway to enjoy the sunlight.
For the first six weeks or so there were about 10-12 student teachers. This meant there were always lots of people at the end of the walkway where the staff room is. It is quite a central location, teacher-wise, and there was a constant stream of people going by, an English teacher stopping to chat, or other teachers stopping to test our limited knowledge of Nepali. We're still getting better, but can still only handle the pleasantries.
Now that the student teachers have finished it is much quieter. The teachers are teaching the classes themselves now, and have much less free time. We've even found ourselves alone int the staff room!
Leading up to the Jubilee out headmaster, Mr. Ram Babu Shrestha (I love that name) was so busy he was almost never around. Now he's at school every day, so we see him quite a bit. He's a lovely man, and really makes an effort to ensure we are happy. Hopefully with his slightly less busy schedule we will be able to spend some time with him.

Power Cuts

Power cuts and load-shedding are part of daily life in Nepal. People work their lives around them, and after a while you stop noticing. In the mountains a power cut can last anywhere from 1-2 seconds to several hours. When it's shorter ones there tends to be lots, but you never actually have any idea of how long the power will be out for.
We're actually quite lucky in the mountains. Although our cuts are scheduled and can last any amount of time, we have power fairly often, and usually in the evening. In Kathmandu the power cuts are 12 hours per day, and apparently often in the evenings. The trade off though, is that with a scheduled cut you can plan cooking rice for when the power will be on, instead of it being half done and the power cutting, which happens to us once in a while.
Outside of cooking rice, power cuts don't affect our lives very much. You just do everything by torch and candlelight instead of overhead light. With the possibility of it cutting at any moment, once it starts to get dark you always know in the back of your mind exactly where your headtorch and all the house candles are, to the point of easily being able to find them in the dark. We can all make our way to the kitchen from any part of the house, find a candle, light the stove, and light the candle from the stove, all in the pitch dark. And we haven't even eaten that many carrots!
Power cuts are such a part of Nepali life that mobile phones come complete with flashlights. I've even found a lighter with a flashlight on it!
Some nights I live in my headtorch, reflexively turning it on and off as the power does the same. I don't really even notice it any more, just turn it on and continue what I was doing. When the power goes out, conversation doesn't even pause, just continues like nothing happened, while one person goes and finds a light. Actually, we don't really look for lights anymore, as one person inevitably has one on them.
Some people, particularly hotels and restaurants, have generators, although some private homes do as well. Usually they're only turned on when needed, so when the power goes off there's a little while of dark before the lights come on again. Still, I don't really notice, and prefer when the lights are left off and just candles used.
The roof is a great place to be in the evening when the power is often going on and off. When it is on, you can see the lights of Gorkha across the valley, and many lights interspersed among the trees near the roof. When it goes off, the whole world suddenly goes dark, and then lights up when it comes back on. It's almost like the world is coming back to life.

Gorkha Museum - Saturday March 6

After shopping for khukuris on Friday afternoon, we had dinner at the Gurkha Inn, and spent the rest of the night relaxing just outside the door of the house in Gorkha.
Saturday morning the six of us headed out to the Gorkha Museum, which is situated on some very nice grounds (grass being quite rare here I can get a bit excited when I see some) just above the buspark. We went with Dinesh again, which was great, as he was able to explain quite a few things to us.
The museum is located in a 19th century Newari palace, built in a square shape with a courtyard in the middle. It's an impressive building, built entirely from dark brick, with dark wood trim.
As far as museum exhibits go, it was pretty lacking. There is a decent size collection of artifacts, which was fun to look at, but not much signage. I didn't often have much more than a general idea of what I was looking at, so it was great to have Dinesh there, as he was able to explain lots.
This was particularly good when we were in a hallway filled with weapons. Having just bought khukuris the day before, it was fun to see the same knives on display, and there were some big ones!
Gorkha is famous because it was the home of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the prince who united all of Nepal in 1768. It hasn't really capitalized on this in terms of tourism yet, but as an important place in the history of Nepal, being able to read the history of the region over the past 400 or so years brought some perspective to what PNS did. It makes his accomplishments all the more impressive.
Along another hallway is a row of paintings, depicting important events and people from the history of Gorkha region. They were all done by the same artist, which was pretty obvious as the style was all exactly the same. They were quite good, showing the weapons in action, style of armour, and even some with more everyday events. In one, depicting a king with his two wives, both wives had the exact same face. That was a little weird.
By far the best part of the museum was the grounds. There is a 2-level yard, and sitting on the top level we had a beautiful view over Gorkha and the valley beyond. It set the pace for the rest of the day - unhurried and peaceful.

Shopping for Khukuris - Friday March 5

The weekend of March 5-6, Amy and Kirsten went to Bandipur, while Caitlin and I stayed back in Laxmi as we had been invited to our headmaster's house. In the end he cancelled as he was too busy, but we had a nice weekend all the same. We went up to Gorkha on Friday afternoon, and spent the night.
Friday afternoon we went shopping for khukuri knives with Dinesh, a teacher at Julia and Ed's school. A khukuri is the traditional Gurkha weapon, carried into battle by Gurkha soldiers. Gurkhas are soldiers from the Gorkha region, who fought alongside Prithvi Narayan Shah to unite all of Nepal in the late 18th century. Incidentally, its also the name of a brand of rum.
A khukuri knife is long and slightly curved, and wider (towards the inside of the curve) at the tip than at the base. The shaft is quite thick, and is sharp on one side, the inside of the curve. Near the handle is a notch, to allow blood to drip away without going on the hand of the wielder. Those we saw had engravings on the shaft; it either said 'Gurkha army', was a geometric style design, or had a picture of a bird. These were primarily ornamental knives, battle ones wouldn't have intricate designs. One of Hari's knives has a engraving of a peacock, with the front and back of the bird on respective sides of the blade.
Khukuri knives range in size from 2-3 inches to two feet (the longest I've seen, there could be larger). The cases can be either plain or quite ornamental, with gold coloured designs and Nepali coins. The plain ones tended to be black, with perhaps a pin attached.
Looking at the selection (which became progressively wider as more and more knives just kept appearing from somewhere) was a lot of fun. There were all different sizes to choose from, with both wooden and bone handles. The combination of choosing size, handle, sheath and engraving meant you could make a knife fairly customized.
Khukuris are still used today. Animal sacrifices are done using them, and they are an important part of the history and culture of the region. One day at school, Druba, one of the English teachers, brought one out to show us. He just pulled it from his bag like it was the most natural thing in the world!
Oh, and Chris, Happy 19th a few weeks early.

The roof at night

- looking out over the valley towards Gorkha, the lights of the town strung along the mountainside
- cars snaking along the road between Laxmi and Gorkha, I can follow the progress by the headlights
- the noise of the road in the background, the noise of the farms in the foreground
- dogs barking, crickets chirping
- sometimes a neighbour on their way to the bathroom, along the path past the haystack
- buffaloes stomping and snorting in their shed
- music coming from the houses along the road
- groups of people talking, laughing and singing as they make their way home
- clear skies, bright moons and tons of stars
- random large bugs landing all over me
- the world lighting up and going dark as the power comes on and off
- my favourite place in the house

Internet

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was writing from the roof of my house. I've taken to writing these posts out beforehand in a notebook, usually while sitting on the roof. It's much nicer than a dingy internet cafe.
The internet here is decidedly unreliable. The power cuts often result in lost emails, and the connection often drops. Saving after every line has become second nature - another reason I write these on the roof, so I only need to copy while typing.
In Gorkha (there is no internet cafe in Laxmi) the connection is often very slow. It can be kind of fast sometimes, but not often. When you sit down and the people on both other computers are having video conversations, you know its going to be a slow day. Once it took almost 5 mins to get into my email!
Other then in Kathmandu and Pokhara, internet cafes are rather airless and hot. In most cases they are small and kind of dingy, not really a nice place to be. But, internet is worth it!
Home computers are available, but not yet widespread in Gorkha and Laxmi. Many younger people use the cafes for msn and games. I already appreciate having my own computer at home, as well as fast and reliable internet. That's something I won't take lightly when I get back!
The most colourful feature of the internet cafes in the group of observers, often young boys. The perception of personal space/privacy is very different here, so its not uncommon to find someone reading your email over your shoulder. They even will read what you type out loud, usually to practice their English. It's hard to tell how much they understand though. It can get annoying to be constantly minimizing something private, but if you do it enough times they will get the message pretty quick. And when it's something you don't mind sharing, it can be fun to see if I can type faster than the kids can read. I can't. Their English is too good!

Day in the Life

I've been living in Laxmi for several weeks now, and have long since considered myself settled. Our days have taken on a familiar pattern, and this place has really come to feel like home.
I tend to get up between 7:15 and 7:45 on a school day (which is 6 days per week). We need to boil all our water for 5 minutes before drinking it, and have only 2 burners on the stove. Making breakfast can take a while, between tea, fried potatoes, eggs, toast, and maybe even french toast or pancakes. I prefer to eat breakfast early and then have some free time before school, instead of feeling rushed.
It's a 30-35 minute walk to school, so Caitlin and I usually leave the house by 9:15, unless it's raining or we're running late, in which case we take the bus. Assembly starts at 9:45, so we need to by there by then.
School usually ends between 3:20 and 4, depending on what is happening in the afternoon. Fridays are a half-day, so it ends at 1. If we are going to Gorkha after school we will take the bus directly from school, as there is no guarantee how fast the next one will come. We have been doing this more often recently, as the days have been getting longer. We like to be home by dark to avoid the night buses, so having more time has been great. Going to Gorkha involves some combination of internet, shopping for things you can't get in Laxmi (such as jam) and visiting the other house. Sometimes there's a hot shower mixed in there somewhere. We are able to have them free at the Gurkha Inn, but as the weather has been getting hotter, the cold shower has been beckoning more and more often.
The days we come home for the afternoon are spent relaxing on the roof with tea, cards, books and lesson plans. It's my favourite place in the house, especially when the view is fine. It's also nice because the rest of the house tends to be quite dark, so its almost always brighter on the roof (I call it upstairs, because it really is another room in the house)
In January we began cooking dinner quite early, as it always seemed to take a long time. We weren't accustomed to how long each item takes, nor to the rythym of coordinating dinner on two burners. As time has passed we've gotten faster, and usually eat at around 7:30, unless there's a power cut so we've delayed making the rice.
I lost my watch in Pokhara, so I haven't worn one since. I almost never know what time it is, which I've become quite used to. At home I hate not knowing, but here I really enjoy eating when I'm hungry and sleeping when I'm tired. The only time I actually need to know the time is while I'm teaching.
The general rule in the house is that who(m)ever cooks doesn't do the washing up. We make tea to have round the table while the washing water is heating, and from there disperse to reading, writing, lesson planning and general relaxing.
For the past several weeks I've been spending my nights on the roof, looking out over the valley. When I'm ready I head to bed, to get up the next morning and start over again!