My last few posts have been pretty negative, so I thought it would be a good exercise to review some of the amazing things about this adventure that I'm on, so, in no particular order, here's what's good in Nepal:
-Surprisingly good pastry.
-Clean air.
-The simple pleasure of doing a face-mask with a friend, or taking a normal shower-even if it's with cold water.
-Sunsets/sunrises.
-Being surprised by how much people care.
-Writing a word or sentence in Nepali, with minimal help from a host family member.
-Singing on a long, dusky walk home.
-Being able to buy fabric, negotiate a discount and order tailoring all on your own, in Nepali.
-Egg/Chow Chow(like packaged ramen noodles-they come in flavors like "chicken pizza") spring rolls, dripping in grease,with ketchup-even better when shared with a friend, after a long day of shopping.
-Finding out that apple vodka and pepsi actually aren't too bad together.
-Being so used to spiders that seeing one the size of a fist (next to my door handle) doesn't freak me out, since, HEY, at least it's smaller than that hand-sized one I saw the day before!
-Getting the pronunciation right!
And listen, I've never done this blog thing before, so I don't really know what to write, so if y'all have requests for things you'd like to know about, please post comments and I'll try to oblige.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Bad Things Happen in Threes
Well...today was a day remember.
I woke up at 1:30am with flea bites covering feet and legs.
We had another hub day, today and were informed that one of our volunteers was leaving, so that was emotional. Then, two of our volunteers found out that close friends and relatives had died-there was and air of gloom about the place.
This afternoon I found out that I was being pulled from my current house and placed in the house of the volunteer that is leaving. It was a hard decision, as there are many good things about my family, but at this point there has been a combination of health/sanitation issues and problems with my host mother that makes our management team feel that they need to move me. It will be hard adjusting to a new family, but the house is nicer and I will still be close to the friends that I have made.
Off to bed,
Sleep tight,
Zoop
I woke up at 1:30am with flea bites covering feet and legs.
We had another hub day, today and were informed that one of our volunteers was leaving, so that was emotional. Then, two of our volunteers found out that close friends and relatives had died-there was and air of gloom about the place.
This afternoon I found out that I was being pulled from my current house and placed in the house of the volunteer that is leaving. It was a hard decision, as there are many good things about my family, but at this point there has been a combination of health/sanitation issues and problems with my host mother that makes our management team feel that they need to move me. It will be hard adjusting to a new family, but the house is nicer and I will still be close to the friends that I have made.
Off to bed,
Sleep tight,
Zoop
Friday, September 27, 2013
In Nepal, Everything is Uphill
Another week, another couple of dollars.
This is our second day in Chautara, which is a treat.
The last week has been alright. I'm still hacking, and our cookstove isn't being improved for another couple of weeks, so I'll have to live with it for a while longer.
School is getting harder, as we've now introduced Sanskrit, and our teachers now exclusively write in it, as well. The rate of learning has definitely slowed.
Today is a day off, so we came into town early-momos, shopping for fabric, a stop at the bakery, then a stop at the tailors to have my kurta surwal fitted.
The equivalent of Christmas is coming up in a few weeks, so we are all trying to get nice stuff for the festivities. It'll be exciting, but they warn us about all of the drunk men out on the roads, and also about eating the food that is prepared for the feasts-they set it out for hours before and after cooking, so it's pretty dangerous. No one really mentioned what to do about the food, just to be careful, so I guess it'll be a spur-of-the-moment thing.
We have about another 7 weeks, counting our time away for trainings, with our host families. Everyone is saying that PST, these first 3 months, are the hardest part, so I'm just taking it a day at a time. Once our cookstove is improved, and I clean and decorate my room, it will be superficially nicer, but there is still the problem of the privacy thing.
I do feel lucky, however, because some other trainees have very strict families. Having a young "cool" mom has its advantages, I guess.
Tomorrow is another hub day, then we have a practical training (these are things like building stoves and planting gardens) in the middle of the week, then a half hub day on Friday-we are being spoiled for socializing this week!
Well, off to do other internet and take a hot shower.
Fill me on everything!
Love y'all
XOXO
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Since last time I posted, we were placed with our host families in our respective villages. All the villages are within an hour hike of our "hub" site, Chautaura-a medium sized village that has our training site, which is blessed with western toilets and internet access-we walk into this once a week.
My village is the furthest from Chautaura, an hour hike, uphill. It is very small and has no real central gathering point, just a road that goes through it. My house is at the end of a hairpin turn, right next door to another volunteer, thank goodness!
My family consists of my didi (older sister) who is 32, my bhai (little brother) her 13 year-old son, my bahini (little sister) her 8 year old daughter. Her husband is in the Nepali police and lives in Kathmandu for most of the year. Today is my fifth day with the family and I am getting used to it. My family is very poor and my room smaller and dingier than many of the other volunteers-just a bed with a mosquito net, a shelf and two plastic chairs. The family is very nice and welcoming, although since my didi has to run the house and small plot of land by herself, I do not see her much.
I have washed my clothes once, we put them in a shallow bucket to get them wet, then put them on the ground and rub them with a bar of laundry soap, then rinse and ring them out twice, and then line dry them. With the exception of my towel, all of my clothes seem to been very clean and smell good, although I think my idea of what "clean" is has changed, already.
Every morning I get up at 4:30 or 5:00am, go use the squat toilet, wash my face in the bucket of water outside of the toilet and brush my teeth with my filtered water. I usually do homework or write in the morning, then tea and maybe some beaten rice in the kitchen. We sit on the floor, surrounded by the smoke produced by the open fire stove with no chimney. I walk steeply uphill for 10 minutes at 6:30 for school, then back down for late breakfast with the family at 9am, then back up for class from 11 to 5. We have language classes for 4 hours/day, plus 2 hours of culture classes. Classes are very hard and it's exhausting to always be on, but it will help me communicate with my family, and, I think, it's getting easier every day.
From 5:30 to around 8 I work on homework, review what I studied and hang out with my family. Sometimes I help my bhai cut grass for their cows and goats, which is super hard. I used to sit in the kitchen with my didi, but I have developed a horrible hacking cough from all the dust in my room and the smoke in the house.
The food is fine, a lot of rice with vegetables cooked in a light curry sauce-we eat this twice a day, sometimes broken up with roti (flat bread) or sweet rice, and the occasional guava (it's guava season right now-I can't wait for mango season, which is coming up!!!) Nepali people, as well as us PC volunteers, are at great risk for protein and vitamin deficiency because of the lack of fruits and vegetables and protein.
At this point, I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I'll be here for over two years. I am lucky to have some amazing people around me, although there's not a lot of down time to hang out, that I will be able to lean on.
Recently, after class, some of us gathered under a pipla rook (sacred ficus tree) to play cards, and nearly 20 people came out of their houses to silently watch us. The constant watching is interesting, it doesn't really bother me, much, except for the recent evening when I tripped on the uneven road and 10 people burst out laughing!
We will be with our host families for 9 more weeks, with some trainings sprinkled throughout, then back to Kathmandu for our swearing in ceremony, and then onto our permanent sites. However, we find our permanent sites the first week of October, which will be exciting!
At this point, it's feeling very weird being so disconnected, I can't even call of text the other volunteers, as we have no cell reception at our house.
I'm missing y'all, and food and hot showers, but I'd like to think that I'm adapting.
I'll try to post photos soon, but the internet is very slow when we do have it.
I only check my email once a week, but I love hearing from everybody, so please send me little notes!!!
xoxoxo
Zoop
My village is the furthest from Chautaura, an hour hike, uphill. It is very small and has no real central gathering point, just a road that goes through it. My house is at the end of a hairpin turn, right next door to another volunteer, thank goodness!
My family consists of my didi (older sister) who is 32, my bhai (little brother) her 13 year-old son, my bahini (little sister) her 8 year old daughter. Her husband is in the Nepali police and lives in Kathmandu for most of the year. Today is my fifth day with the family and I am getting used to it. My family is very poor and my room smaller and dingier than many of the other volunteers-just a bed with a mosquito net, a shelf and two plastic chairs. The family is very nice and welcoming, although since my didi has to run the house and small plot of land by herself, I do not see her much.
I have washed my clothes once, we put them in a shallow bucket to get them wet, then put them on the ground and rub them with a bar of laundry soap, then rinse and ring them out twice, and then line dry them. With the exception of my towel, all of my clothes seem to been very clean and smell good, although I think my idea of what "clean" is has changed, already.
Every morning I get up at 4:30 or 5:00am, go use the squat toilet, wash my face in the bucket of water outside of the toilet and brush my teeth with my filtered water. I usually do homework or write in the morning, then tea and maybe some beaten rice in the kitchen. We sit on the floor, surrounded by the smoke produced by the open fire stove with no chimney. I walk steeply uphill for 10 minutes at 6:30 for school, then back down for late breakfast with the family at 9am, then back up for class from 11 to 5. We have language classes for 4 hours/day, plus 2 hours of culture classes. Classes are very hard and it's exhausting to always be on, but it will help me communicate with my family, and, I think, it's getting easier every day.
From 5:30 to around 8 I work on homework, review what I studied and hang out with my family. Sometimes I help my bhai cut grass for their cows and goats, which is super hard. I used to sit in the kitchen with my didi, but I have developed a horrible hacking cough from all the dust in my room and the smoke in the house.
The food is fine, a lot of rice with vegetables cooked in a light curry sauce-we eat this twice a day, sometimes broken up with roti (flat bread) or sweet rice, and the occasional guava (it's guava season right now-I can't wait for mango season, which is coming up!!!) Nepali people, as well as us PC volunteers, are at great risk for protein and vitamin deficiency because of the lack of fruits and vegetables and protein.
At this point, I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I'll be here for over two years. I am lucky to have some amazing people around me, although there's not a lot of down time to hang out, that I will be able to lean on.
Recently, after class, some of us gathered under a pipla rook (sacred ficus tree) to play cards, and nearly 20 people came out of their houses to silently watch us. The constant watching is interesting, it doesn't really bother me, much, except for the recent evening when I tripped on the uneven road and 10 people burst out laughing!
We will be with our host families for 9 more weeks, with some trainings sprinkled throughout, then back to Kathmandu for our swearing in ceremony, and then onto our permanent sites. However, we find our permanent sites the first week of October, which will be exciting!
At this point, it's feeling very weird being so disconnected, I can't even call of text the other volunteers, as we have no cell reception at our house.
I'm missing y'all, and food and hot showers, but I'd like to think that I'm adapting.
I'll try to post photos soon, but the internet is very slow when we do have it.
I only check my email once a week, but I love hearing from everybody, so please send me little notes!!!
xoxoxo
Zoop
Friday, September 6, 2013
*Disclaimer: The opinions are solely mine and do not reflect those of the Peace Corps or U.S. Government
Thursday, September 4th, 2013, 10:42
Very little sleep last night, up at 4:45.
Tried to eat a bit-some unsweetened applesauce, as I suspect I may not be able to get it in Nepal (especially since I couldn't find it in Ireland and ended up resorting to baby food!).
To the sweet little Missoula airport with the parents. Only cried a little, I was proud of how well I held it together. Bought a dreamcatcher and small eagle statue as host family gifts-plus Glamour(of course!).
Dad kept it together pretty well. Went through security-it's always embarrassing handing your boarding pass to the homeland security agent with tears streaming down your face.
Lost it on the plane-I played "Country Road" on a loop and sobbed. The guy next to me with B.O. was probably really uncomfortable, however, as I finished crying after 20 minutes, he STANK for the whole flight-so there!
Waiting in the Salt Lake Airport-bought a $50 memory card for my camera-but, of course, it doesn't fit, so now I have a camera with no memory-yay! Flight is delayed, so I may be late for orientation-not a great way to make a first impression-I hate being late.
Orientation was long-made longer by no food until 7:30. Nice to meet everybody, but the whole process was exactly what you'd expect-the most boring part of the whole experience, ah well.
In the airport now, off to Tokyo, then Bangkok, then Kathmandu.
We nearly lost some people a couple of times, who here's hoping that we all make it to Nepal!!
We all had our last American meals (Toasted sesame seed bagel with cream cheese and a blueberry muffin).
Off to my gate-next stop-Asia!
xoxo
Zoop
Orientation was long-made longer by no food until 7:30. Nice to meet everybody, but the whole process was exactly what you'd expect-the most boring part of the whole experience, ah well.
In the airport now, off to Tokyo, then Bangkok, then Kathmandu.
We nearly lost some people a couple of times, who here's hoping that we all make it to Nepal!!
We all had our last American meals (Toasted sesame seed bagel with cream cheese and a blueberry muffin).
Off to my gate-next stop-Asia!
xoxo
Zoop
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