I thought this deserved its own post, so the last one wouldn't be super long. On Thursday Caitlin and I spent the night at the house of one of Rupa, one of the girls in Class 9. It was really interesting to see just how a typical Nepali family lives, and to take part.
The house was very small, only 2 rooms made from brick, that wasn't covered over inside, so there are open brick walls on every side. The main room has 2 beds, the stove, a tv and a cupboard to hold clothes. The other room has another bed, another cupboard and a desk. The family has 6 people, 5 of whom still live at home - Rupa, her parents, one sister and one brother, one brother is older and has moved out.
I think the house is one of the few in the area with a television, because there were lots of children hanging around watching through the afternoon. They were all kids from school, and it was nice to see them out of their uniforms and in their natural environment. Once it was dark we went for a walk through Biren Chowk, to see the village by night. Everywhere we went we ran into kids from school, so by the end it was quite a big group. The village looks very different at night, it actually felt more alive than during the daytime when everyone is a work. I think we visited about 4 homes on that walk, and walked the length of the village on the main road. All the while being taught more and more words in Nepali.
Dinner was the traditional Nepali meal - dal bhat (rice with a lentil stew) and vegetable curry. the curry in particular was delicious. I have no idea what spices were in it, but the potatoes in particular were fantastic. Breakfast was the same again, but a different curry, and a little bit of meat. I'm not sure what animal it was, they just said it was meat, so who knows! I've never had rice for breakfast before, and I'm not sure if I want to do it often, I didn't feel as if I got much energy from it, I feel better after a breakfast of a few eggs, or the like. Overall though, it tasted amazing.
The power was on most of the evening, and so was the television. There were a few Nepali channels, and many in Hindi, which shows the cultural influence that India has. Rupa said most of her family, including herself, understand Hindi, as it is very close to Nepali. There were also a few English channels, mostly with really bad movies from th 90's, and many channels with music videos, so we watched a number of Nepali and Hindi music videos - very colourful!
Life in Nepal starts and ends early. We went to bed around 9, and were up by 7, the rest of the family having been up since around 6:30ish. We didn't do much in the morning, just hung around (with the tv on again) until it was time for school.
It was certainly an interesting experience, staying overnight, and it has made me ever the more grateful to have been born where I was, with the opportunities I have. You don't really realize how lucky you are until you see people who have so much less. Studying hard and getting a scholarship to university in Kathmandu or abroad is really the only way out of this town, and it is difficult to do this. Despite this, everyone is very happy and very generous - this family doesn't have much, but still invited us into their home and gave us lots to eat (it was the fullest I've been since coming to Nepal!). It just goes to show that you don't have to everything to lead a happy life.
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