Personal Experience Days

 Once training was about 3/4 finished, the twenty of us were sent off in groups of 2 on a two night journey, just to see if we could survive.  My friend, Tom, and I ended up in Barabise.

We got there fine, learning all about the Nepali bus system, found our hotel, watched ladies working at a paper factory for a while, went on a hike, and suddenly realized we were going to be board out of our minds with a whole other day to spend there.  So, the next day we decided to go two hours further up the road to Tatopani where there were some famous hot springs.

We never actually went to the hot springs though.  We discovered lots of other cool things to do.

Like look at beautiful waterfalls.

And walking to China. 

It may not sound super cool in the retelling, but it made our day.  It even almost made up for the 2 hour delay in our bus ride, waiting to be checked out for smuggled goods.

It was during that 4 hour bus ride that I learned that there's no such thing as a full bus in Nepal, a truth I've experienced over and over again since then.  I think half the people got off before I got the chance to take this picture.

My last for a while... my computer died!

The last few weeks have been so busy that there hasn't been much of a chance for anything to happen, if that makes any sense.  Here's a little more about Dasain:

Halloween was a quiet day, but we did talk our teacher into taking us to the local creamatorium:

 It was a wonderfully peaceful place, out in the middle of the woods.

I finally got a kurta.  It was a difficult process and ridiculously expensive (apparently I'm too tall for the less expensive fabric).  First you go to the fabric store, where they have packets of fabric to choose from.  I haven't gotten any better at making choices, so that was painful.  Then you take the fabric to a tailor and get measured and decide what style you want (more hard choices!).  A few days later you come back, make sure it fits, and then you're set.  I suppose I really shouldn't complain too much about spending $25 on a nice custom made outfit.

Weeks 5, 6, and Dashain

 It's been a busy few weeks.  First there was a three day training on permagardening, taught by a specialist imported from Ethiopia.  He made a video from all our work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAIsQPR6A60&feature=youtu.be

Friday afternoon some of us went to my sister's school to watch a dance program.  A group of girls approached me at one point and started chatting.  "Do you like friendship?" they asked.  What are you supposed to say to that?  "Yes," I replied.  The next thing you know...

I let them talk me into getting up in front of everyone and dance.  We eventually got everyone on the stage to join in.  It was a lot of fun.

That night we got to fix a Nepali meal.  I even went shopping on my own.  My family was great about telling me what to do, then letting me do it.  It turned out well enough that they said I could fix dinner every day.

Monday we got to go on a field trip to Bhaktapur, one of Nepal's most ancient cities.  It was fun being a tourist for a day, but i have to admit that I missed being the only white person around.

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Last week Dashain, Nepal's biggest holiday, began.  I don't understand or remember all the religious significance behind the festival, but it included lots of "pudja-ing" (that's not a real Nepali word, just incase you were wondering) or worshiping.  Sometimes this meant going to the temple and making offerings of fruits and flowers.

 

 Sometimes it meant sanctifying personal property, like my family's mill,  In this case pudja included cleaning up a bit, painting religious symbols on the machinery, burning incest... and sacrificing a goat.

 "Pinging" (or swinging) is also a traditional activity during Dashain.  This is done standing up and requires far more muscle and skill than you would think.  The older women and young girls tended to be the best pingers of all.

 The last day of Dashain involves the giving of tikas and money.

It was fun hanging out with my whole family.

Week 4: "My" Rice Mill

When I first came to Nepal and began hearing about how it would be to live with a host family, I thought it would be really weird to call perfect strangers mom and dad, brother and sister, but it turns out it feels perfectly natural.  I've even taken to calling their things mine, like "my" new house that the family is building (I'm fascinated by this building-- you'll probably see pictures of it later), "my" goats, and "my" rice mill that my father owns.  Until last Saturday I didn't have a clue what actually happened at "my" mill, but I finally got a chance to hang out there and see what really goes on.

Three different processes take place at the mill: dehusking the rice, making rice flour, and making beaten rice.  The day I was there they were mainly making the beaten rice.  First, people bring their rice here where it is roasted.  Someone is constantly throwing rice chaff into a fire under some clay basins and a blade is constantly mixing the rice.

Next, the roasted rice is put in this machine, where it is smashed into thin flakes, the chaff falling off in the process.  That's it.  The beaten rice is then put into bags and taken home.

This machine makes the rice flour.

I never actually saw this machine being used, but my family seems more proud of it than any of the others.  I assume its where the rice is dehusked.

And that's my mill.  Not exactly what I expected when I first heard about it, but it gets the work done.  I'm very proud of it.

Weeks 2 and 3

We’ve been in training for two weeks now (three by the time I actually get this posted).  It feels like much longer.  I’m at the point with the language where I still get supper excited when I understand what people are saying to me (it doesn’t happen all that often), but I’m understanding things more and more frequently.  I understand enough at least to know when my family is laughing at me for my eating habits, digestion problems, and all the other things I don’t do quite right.  Luckily I can still laugh at myself too.

Teej Festival.  Some of the volunteers got dressed up by their families and a picture of three of them ended up in the national newspaper with the caption “two Americans and a Nepali” (or something like that).  Some of us blend in better than others.

My bathroom.  I’m fortunate to have an indoor shower (aka a spicket higher up on the wall).  I can’t actually stand up straight in there, but overall it really is a nice set up.  I unfortunately spend a little too much time there...

It’s not often you get to meet dinner only hours before eating it (with my dad, uncles, and a mill worker—my dad owns a local rice mill).  Speaking of meat, I’ve very nearly decided to become vegetarian while here—the way the meat is prepared is delicious, but they have a tendency to eat parts that I’m not used to thinking of as food.  On the other hand, as morbid as it may sound, it was fascinating to watch the preparation process from start to finish.

I had another great food adventure this week: my brother asked me the other evening if I like bees.  I wasn’t sure how to answer, so said something vague like “I think they are good, but I don’t like them to be around me.”  His response: “No, no—to eat.”  I had no idea bees were edible.  The next day during the morning meal (we eat only two meals each day here) I was offered a serving of fried bees and bee larvae.  They weren’t the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten, but they weren’t the worst either (I still wasn’t brave enough to eat more than a few bites).

Theses are two of the older temples in Chautera that we pass by every time we come into town.  Most temples are much smaller and located by rivers or on the top of hills.

First aid training.  It was like girls camp all over again without any fake blood.  You’ll be happy to know we all survived.

Every once in a while (usually for just a few minutes in the morning) we can see the mountains.  Only with that perspective can you understand why they call this region the mid-“hills” region.

Oops...  The Peace Corps vehicle, the Defender, decided to take itself on a drive down the hill.  No one was hurt and the Defender is still working just fine.  It added a little excitement to the day though.

 

Our classroom.  We've started getting burned out on language training and were particularly tired on this day.  We mutinied and decided to play a game of Snakes and Ladders instead of have practice conversations for another hour.  We didn't have a spinner, so our LCF (language and cultural facilitator), Bimsen, drew one on the floor.  We were a little shocked at first, but it turns our white board marker will wipe off the linoleum-esque floor
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Last Saturday (our one day off each week) one of our host brothers (everyone seems related here, so I'm not sure really who's brother it was) took some of us on "a little bit long" hike down to the river.  We didn't realize "a little bit long" meant 6 or 7 hours of steep grades.  We took the road down and were able to see men welding piping together as part of a hydroelectric project.  That was pretty cool, but the best part was when we got to the bottom and got cold Sprite.  Cold drinks are a rare treat at any time here, but after three hours of hiking in really hot weather with not enough water, it was heavenly.  We took the "short cut" back up, which meant a narrow nearly vertical path, but we all survived.  It was actually a really pleasant path if you ignored the physical discomfort.

The real training begins

After a three hour drive (only 40 miles) on beautiful windy mountain roads, we arrived at our real training site and met our new families.  I live in a small village called Banjuket and have a mom, dad, and little brother and sister (actually my parents grandchildren).  We go to language class from 7-9am and again from 11-2 and then have another lesson usually from 2:30-4:30.  I still have no clue what my family is saying to me most of the time, but every day I make a little more progress and we get along pretty well.  Luckily my brother and sister both speak fairly good english.

It is incredibly beautiful here.  If only a picture could show what my eyes actually see...

My house is the first one across from the big unfinished building

My house.  It's actually 4 stories.

 my aamaa (mom) eating breakfast in the kitchen.  We eat on the floor with our hands.  The cook in Nepali culture eats last, after everyone else has been served all they want.

My baa (dad), cooking meat-- a special occasion for as part of jaal-a woman's festival.  Normally we cook over a gas stove, but we were out of gas for a few days, so cooked over a fire.

 

Kathmandu

After a really long flight through Chicago, Tokyo, and Bangkok (where we actually got to spend the night in a  nice hotel), we finally arrived in Kathmandu.

First impressions: Kathmandu is a dirty, crowded city.  Once you look a little more closely, however, you see beauty everywhere.

We stayed in the city for 4 days for the first phase of training, which included a lot on safety, medical (including 6 rounds of vaccinations-- Typhoid hurts a lot by the way), Peace Corps policies, and language basics so we can at least great our host families appropriately when we meet them later today.

This is our training center, located right across the street from our hostel.

The main streets are super busy with cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians, but ours is quiet and extremely narrow.

I know many of you are wondering... Yes, we have electricity (which is obvious, considering the thousands of wires strung up along all road sides), I have a flushing, sit-down toilet and a shower (no hot water) right in my room.  Of course that will be different in rural areas, but squat toilets, despite occasional awkward moments, really aren't so bad and bucket baths can't be any worse than a  cold shower with minimal water pressure, right?

Staging: Washington D.C.

The great Peace Corps adventure began with a one day orientation (aka staging) in Washington D.C.  I had a few hours of free time, so took a walk around the mall.  I didn't expect it to rain... but it did.  A lot.

I didn't realize it, but apparently the Peace Corps returning to Nepal is a big deal.  To celebrate, the director of Peace Corps, the Nepali ambassador, and a representative of USAID came to our staging to say a few words.  Check it out: http://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/media/press/2114/