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/