7/12/13
A Long Journey
On December 1st
we started our journey away from our PST site and towards being real, grown up
PVCs. It was a very stressful day. By 7am, we had to have as much of our rooms
packed up, as possible, so that the PC car could come and pick it up. We then all jammed into the back of the jeep
with all our stuff and drove into Chautara with our favorite PC driver, Ram.
After arriving
in Chautara we all had the herculean task of re-organizing our suitcases to be
ready for the long journey ahead. Mine
was particularly difficult as I’d just received five packages in the last two
weeks and didn’t have anywhere to put the new stuff, this, in addition to the
stuff that PC requires us to take created a rather large pile… After packing I had:
1 big suitcase
1 backpacking
bag
1 small backpack
1 tote bag
1 mattress
1 bag with my
sheets, pillowcases and comforter
1 mosquito net
1 medical kit
2 large packages
YIKES!!!
On our last
morning, December 2nd, things were pretty unemotional. I had gone, the day before, to say goodbye to
my other family. It was nice, because I
gave them a large bag of presents that I’d been collecting for them-hats,
gloves, scarves, drawing materials, a headlamp, medicine and some candy. They were, as always, so darling and glad to
see me. I kept it together except when I
finally had to say goodbye and my hajur ama started crying-I had to run away to
keep from breaking down.
So, since that
was all behind me, I got up super early on December 2nd to do final
packing and cleaning of my room and say goodbye to my new family. They, apparently, didn’t understand that I
was actually leaving and didn’t understand that I had to leave exactly at 6:30,
so it wasn’t until my other Didi arrived to give me a blessing (in Nepal they
always give tika and mala (a flower necklace) before a big journey, it’s a
sweet ritual) that they realized that I was actually leaving. They hurriedly made me mala and gave me tika
while I tried to gulp down my tea as quickly as I could. By the time I actually had to go I was just
irritated at being late. It was a little
sad when I heard how upset everyone else was, that I wasn’t emotional at all,
but, as Elizabeth says, everyone has his or her own journey.
Everyone
complains about the long bus rides that we have, but I actually love them. It’s a time to just listen to music and look
at the beautiful scenery. The first day
was hard-8 hours, so I was pretty sore by the end. We stayed in a nice hotel (I always love
staying in hotels!) and I got to take a hot shower, which was amazing! We didn’t have much time to enjoy it, but we
did get to watch some HBO (“Beverly Hills Cop”!), which was also a luxury. The next day was another 8-hour journey. A few hours in we were irritated because we
were making pit stops every 90 minutes, or so, and we just wanted to get
there-I guess that’s a pretty good example of the difference between American
and Nepali sense of time.
We arrived at
the hotel in Nepalgunj around 6:30. Our
low expectations of the place that “Lonely Planet” described as “a grungy border
town-a necessary evil on the way to better things” were definitely met. It is just one street, very dirty and
smelly. It was cool, however, because it
was basically like being in India-as it’s only about 5 miles North of the
border. There were rickshaws and
horse/donkey carts everywhere. Our hotel
looked nice on the outside, but was actually a little grungy. There were things like a beautiful marble
lobby, but our bathroom didn’t have running water and many of the rooms had not
yet been renovated, like ours ways, and were pretty bad. Brittany and I were blessed to get to stay in
the new wing of the building, so we had nice comfy beds and HBO, which was such
a treat! We even had BBC, but, of
course, it was the only channel that was so static-y that we couldn’t really
watch it-we just put in on and listened to it like the radio and it was almost
as good!
That first night
we decided to order room service since we were both not feeling well and wanted
to take advantage of the amenity. The
act of ordering room service, in itself, was an adventure! There was a four-page menu that only, in
fact, had about a quarter of the items, so it became more a question of asking,
“what DO you have?” Plus, being so close
to the border, many people here don’t even speak Nepali, but speak Hindi, which
makes things even more difficult! We
ended up with two bowls of delicious ice cream, soup, fried eggs and honey
lemon tea-not a bad spread!
After dinner I
decided to take advantage of the pool.
If nothing else, the pool made the hotel worth it-it was huge and lined
with beautiful blue tiles. It was not
heated, so it was about 60 degrees, but I didn’t mind. Just being in my bathing suit, moving through
the water felt amazing-and feeling good in my bathing suit, having lost a bit
of weight, wasn’t too bad, either! We
only got shushed once, but we had an amazing time!
The next two
days were taken up by 8 hour-long conferences with our counterparts. Our counterparts are Nepali people working
with either the Department of Health and Population or the Department of Agricultural
Development. They are people working in
small, district-level offices that know a little bit of English and will be able
to help us with projects. My counterpart
is named Prem, he is of the Tharu ethnic minority and is very sweet, although
he looks exactly like a giant baby and has a really high pitched voice, which
is pretty funny. We did things like
team-building exercises and listened while the Counterparts got lectures on PC
policies, etc., that we had already heard tons of times (it got pretty monotonous). Our final activity was creating a 6-month
plan for our working relationship. We
scheduled when I’d come into the office (an hour bus ride away) and what
projects we’d work on, together. He is
very gung-ho, but it’s a little worrisome- I don’t know if I’ll live up to his
expectations-he already has me scheduled to do nursery development training in January
(yikes! What? I have only built a nursery once, with the help of like 10 other
people and a trainer!!!)
Our first
evening of freedom we decided to go on an adventure to an ATM and then to this
restaurant that everyone has been talking about, Candy’s Place. Three of us piled into a rickshaw (only when
I finally gave up on the idea of flagging down an empty horse drawn cart) and
were off. As most of the rickshaw
drivers here only speak Hindi, it was pretty stressful, but we finally got
there. After our pit stop, we decided to
follow the rest of the group to the restaurant.
After trying two drivers who couldn’t understand our directions, we
finally met one who nodded assent (that was our first mistake!), but when we
got in, he took a U-turn and started heading back to our hotel. It was already pitch dark and we didn’t
really have any idea where we were going, so we took it as a sign.
Riding in the
rickshaws made me extremely uncomfortable-they were old and rickety bikes and
the driver straining, with all of his might, to lug us three fat Americans
along made me very sad. We finally
reached our hotel, haggled a price and went into a very mediocre dinner,
especially considering the feast that we’d been anticipating!
We again spent
the night watching TV and talking, it wasn’t what we’d planned, but it was
definitely nice.
Our last night
we were determined to find the restaurant, so we had the front desk call us a
taxi and made it the Candy’s with little incident. THIS PLACE, THIS PLACE!!
Candy is an
American woman who was a tour guide in Asia for years, before marrying a Nepali
man and moving to Nepalgunj to open a hotel and restaurant. The place looks like a colonial mansion, with
landscaped gardens and palm trees.
Inside, the restaurant is only one room, with eight tables. It was painted sky blue and had simple while
tablecloths.
When we looked
at the menu, we almost fainted. There
was everything from American breakfast to quesadillas to burgers to pie!!! We
ordered two bottles of Italian wine (delicious) and all got burgers (veggie and
meat, respectively), which came with a simple garden salad with a vinaigrette
(something sorely missed here, as there is no such thing as dressing and where
many of the raw veggies are too dirty to risk eating) and crispy, delicious
French fries! The burger was hand-ground
tenderloin and was so good that just thinking of it now makes my mouth
water! I topped it off with a piece of
sublime lemon meringue pie and some carrot cake for the road-such a piggy!
We were all in ecstasy
the entire time, and a little drunk, as well, which was embarrassing, since
there was a table of PC staff right next to us! Candy came by to talk, several
times and promised to make us a Christmas dinner when we returned for Christmas. We plan to pack about 8 of her rooms with the
18 of us who can travel there in three weeks-I am very much looking forward to
it!!!
When we were
done, we all (including the PC staff, who didn’t know that the rickshaws
stopped running at night and hadn’t ordered a car) piled into a jeep to take us
back to the hotel-there was much laughing, starting with when we all chugged
our glassed of wine when we heard the jeep pull up to the restaurant.
The rest of the
night was actually pretty sad and stressful, it being our last night all
together. We wandered about the hotel
grounds and spent some time all in a room together, but there was a definite
air of sadness.
7/12/13
A New Home
Yesterday
morning was terrible. After only three
hours of sleep I had to get up, finish trying to cram all of my stuff into my
bags, get ready, drag my bags down to the lobby, shove some food in my bag and
say goodbye to all the people who were up in time to see us off. That part was
terrible, as we’d been told that we’d have more time in the morning. I started crying as soon as I realized that
I’d only have about 5 minutes to say goodbye to these people. Obviously, I’m not close to everyone, but
those people that I am used to seeing, speaking to and being emotionally close
to were very hard to say goodbye to. My
only comfort is that most of us will be reuniting in a few weeks for Christmas,
and the rest I’ll see in February-small comfort.
The whole
transportation thing was a bit of a cluster fuck. All but four of us got private buses or jeeps
to their sites, meaning that they could leave later, only had to load there
stuff once, and didn’t have to worry about losing their things and dealing with
the crowded, stressful public transportation here. However, because this is me we’re talking
about, OF COURSE I was in the group that had to take a public bus. All of our stuff was loaded on top; we
crammed into seats and had to listen to the blasting Hindi music that they play
on such things, for the next four hours- there was even a goat sitting next to
me!
We arrived in
Tulsipur, the nearest city to my site, we unloaded our stuff and waited in the
bus parking lot until a jeep could be arranged to take us the rest of the way
to our site. My counterpart, it turned
out, was sick in the hospital, so the man that I would later find out was my Babu
(host father) came to meet me. We
finally re-packed all of our stuff onto the top of a jeep, had a quick lunch
and were off. It took about 30 minutes
to drive to my house, through beautiful countryside.
Dang is very
different from where I was during PST.
It looks a lot like India-it’s flat, but you can see the hills in the
distance. It is crisscrossed by streams
and rivers and has palm trees and farms as far as the eye can see (this area
produces 60% of the produce for the country).
I already liked it better, just driving through. I, of course, love being able to be by
rivers, and the open space made me feel less Closter phobic.
We arrived at my
house, where we were greeted with tika and mala by my Buba, Ama (host mother),
Bahini (little sister), Bhai (little brother) and Hajur Ama (Grandmother). They seem very sweet, especially my Buba who
has a very kind face, but it was definitely scary. I was in the jeep with Ben, who was being
dropped off after me, and it was a horrible moment when I had to say goodbye to
him. Men and women who are not married
are not allowed to touch in Nepal, so Ben and I couldn’t even hug goodbye,
plus, I didn’t want my family to see me crying and think that I was crying
because I was sad to meet them.
They are Tharu,
which means that they speak Nepali, but with an accent, and have the Tharu
language as their native tongue. This
makes things even more difficult for both of us. I was anticipating my Bahini knowing some
English, as most people her age do, but she knows very, very little, so it’s
going to be a bit of a struggle.
They took me
inside to show me my room, which is very nice, painted kind of a grey/beige
color, with straw mats on the floor, a big bed, a table, a chair and a little
built-in bookshelf. I spent a little time
with them, but the language was difficult and I was so tired that all I wanted
to do was go up to my room and sleep.
For the next few hours, my Bahini and I worked on unpacking my room,
which was embarrassing, since I have so much stuff! I then finally got them to let me rest for
about an hour, after which my Bahini took me for a walk around the village.
The village is
very cute-only one store and a post office, with a school and a health post,
which I hope to be working in as much as possible. We then went to my Hajur Baa’s house, which
is weirdly huge and beautiful, then to a temple and down to the river. The river kind of looks like McClay flats and
had a few fisherman wading in it-very lovely.
We got back around dusk, after which I sat in the kitchen with the women
and helped/watched them cook dinner. It
was very sweet; they added very little salt, spice or oil in order to
accommodate me. The meal ended up being
bland, even for my tastes; it must have been dreadful for them.
I crashed after
dinner and went up to my room about 6:30.
I talked to some people on the phone, although the cell reception in my
rooms is pretty frustrating, wrote some emails and read. It gets pretty cold here at night, so I
actually had a wonderful night’s sleep.
This morning I
woke up, did some more work on my room and spent some time with the
family. It’s very weird; my family
doesn’t appear to drink tea in the morning, so all I got was warm milk and
peanuts. I think that I’ll try to shower later, after it gets really hot, and
maybe wash my clothes, and I think my Buba wants to take me on a walk around
the village.
The house is
much cleaner than my last house, but actually has far fewer amenities. This family doesn’t have a TV, a gas stove or
even a pressure cooker-they cook over an open fire on a non-improved cook stove
(I plan to build one in the next few months) with dried buffalo dung as
fuel.
It’s still hard
to imagine that I’ll be here for another two years, but, at this point, I’m
just taking it one step at a time.
I have a modem
that lets me use the internet (email and Facebook, mostly), here, but it’s
pretty slow. I will, however, be able to
be in more constant contact, I think. I
will try to upload photos of the new house and family soon and will be waiting
to hear from you all!
Loving and
Missing you All,
Zoop
12/12/13
Boredom Descends
Well, tomorrow
marks a week since I’ve been at permanent site.
It is both exactly and not at all what I was expecting.
My counterpart
has been sick since I arrived, so I have not had him to show me around, which
has been difficult. I wasn’t expecting
to do any real work, but I hoped to be going to meetings or at least being
introduced to important people in the area.
Luckily, my Buba (father) is what is called a “Thulo Manche”(Big Man) in
the village, so he’s walked me around the village and introduced me around;
however, it’s not his job to do this. I
did meet a doctor from the local health clinic who speaks English, which may
come in helpful. He works with an NGO
that works with female victims of torture-a group that sounds amazing to work
with! It’s very strange speaking (or
trying to) with people who work at places like schools and clinics, because I
suspect that they speak English, but they won’t with me. I feel myself getting flustered, trying to
speak with them, and getting angry when I think that they could just put me out
of my misery and speak in English-I guess I just have to think of it as good
practice. Also, there’s a horrible
cultural thing here where people laugh behind their hands, all the time, which
makes me feel horrible-sometimes I wish I knew how to say “Shut the fuck up, I
can SEE you laughing at me!” in Nepali.
My first few
days were about getting situated. Two
days ago, my Buba took me into Tulsipur to buy things for my room. He, my Bahini and I shopped all day-I bought
a wardrobe, hangers and an electric teakettle.
While I shopped, my Buba would tell the shop owners about how I was a
volunteer and negotiate me discounts, while he and my Bahini bought cooking
implements to make me food-so sweet and unnecessary! My room is all set up;
it’s starting to feel a little more like MINE.
After that full
day, I haven’t had another full day. I
tend to spend hours at a time playing solitaire, reading, listening to books on
tape and washing vegetables with my Hajur Ama.
I try to do several
things every day:
-A short workout
(my family feeds me two-three cups of whole milk everyday-yikes!!!)
-PC work (things
like doing an inventory of everything I have here and packing an emergency
evacuation bag)
-Make flashcards
for Nepali language study
-Wander to some
location in the village/buy some small things at a local pasal/visit the VDC
office, school or health post
-Do some housework
with my family (like washing vegetables)
Yesterday was
hard, as I felt like everyone but me had already been to their office or a
meeting several times, but today my Buba brought the local farmer’s group to
the house, so I got to sit in on the meeting.
I didn’t understand much, as it was in Tharu, but I tried to ask questions
about what problems they have in the village and what projects they are
interested in. The group is about half
men and half women and pay dues every week.
I am unclear what they do with the money, but most groups like this
usually have a group bank account, which can be used by members who need it for
a project.
It’s hard being
in my room so much, I feel like my family thinks that I’m extremely lazy, but
it’s really cold outside until about 11, after which I feel uncomfortable being
out in the farm yard-I don’t have any work to do outside but read the newspaper
and make yarn bracelets-both such frivolous things to be doing while my family
work in their garden! As I’m still
considered a very respected guest, they barely let me get away with helping
them clean vegetables, so I’m not at the point of being able to dig in the
garden and/or help them with real work.
I do love all
the animals around here-we have bison, goats, chickens and a cat. Plus, there are cows, pigs and sheep at our
neighbor’s house. I’ve named the cat
“Anna” and visit the week-old baby bison several times a day-my family thinks
I’m crazy!
Sorry for the
boring post, but that’s how I’m feeling, at the moment. However, I’m feeling hopeful, after
today! Tomorrow us Dang volunteers are
planning on meeting in Tulsipur to go see a Hindi movie and go out to eat in a
restaurant-something to look forward to!
Plus, there’s Christmas in Nepalgunj, to look forward to!
XOXO
Maria
