12/1/14
Danny!!!
This is where Danny lays when I'm not in my room with him-so cute!!
Our yard-bathroom/shower to the left and that's my mom washing dishes near our well. You can see our fields in the background.
Traditional clothing for the most important Tharu festival-Maghi
Cross-dressed dancing!
Local women-that's my little sister on the left and my mom on the right
Since last time
I wrote things have been very up and down.
One morning
recently, after my headlamp broke and I got dirty toilet water on my socks, I
retired to my cold, dark room and sobbed, hysterically for an hour, before
climbing back into bed for several hours.
Some days are like this-the tiniest thing can set you off and make it
seem like everything is impossible. The
fact that I don’t have enough language to explain this to my family (although
if I did, they would probably be sad, because people here don’t seem to
understand that you can miss home and still like Nepal) makes things even
harder. I finally roused myself in time for Ben to come and visit. We wandered around down by the river for a
while, then drank rakshi with my family-it was a nice little infusion of
America right when I needed it most.
Another day this
week I spent nearly 10 hours doing three separate, but identical, nursery
trainings with KISAN. I realize that I
am lucky to be able to go to these things, but the fact that they were
identical did not make it feel like my time was being used wisely. I tried to have a positive attitude, but the
addition of horrible back pain all day, and no food between 11am and 6 pm made
me a very cranky girl. I know myself
well enough to know that I am not good at hiding my emotions, but I was trying
very hard not to seem ungrateful and surly around my family. That night I went to bed very early-to watch
“She’s the Man” and eat American food in bed.
The next
morning, however, things took a turn for the adorable! My family had brought home a puppy for
me! His name is Danny and he’s about ten
days old. He is brown and black with a
white stomach. We immediately took to
each other-he falls asleep in my lap immediately and follows me everywhere. This morning, when I left my room for 5
minutes, I came back to find him sleeping on a pile of my clothes. My family definitely thinks it’s hilarious
how I treat him-bathing him (to get rid of the fleas and ticks), feeding him
vitamin supplements, carrying him around, etc.
I already got in a bit of trouble for letting him sit in the kitchen, so
he’ll have to sit outside, from now on.
Nights are hard, as I can hear him crying for
me from the barn, but he cries less and less every night, so hopefully he’ll
get used to it, soon. The joy on his
face when I open the door in the morning, and the feel of his little, warm body
on my lap is an amazing comfort. Not
having any human contact here has been difficult, so having something that
loves me and wants to be cuddled all the time is wonderful.
It will be a
challenge to keep him as healthy as an America dog. I found flea and tick medication in Tulsipur,
as well as deworming medication, but figuring out how to get him a rabies shot,
as well as getting him spayed, are going to be more of a challenge. I didn’t want to get a dog, here, since I
know that it’d kill me to leave it behind.
I already know that I’d be devastated to leave him, so I’m looking into
how to bring him back with me…
Other than that,
I’m just trying to come up with little treats to look forward to, every week. This week should be a good one-on Monday I’ll
be getting my site visit, which means that I’ll be getting my first set of
packages since November, as well as my bike helmet! Plus, Wednesday is the beginning of a weeklong
Tharu festival, for which Nikea and Bora are coming to visit! Friday, as I plan to do every week, I’ll go
into Tulsipur to eat ice cream, donuts, use fast Internet, and stock up on
“American” food.
It’s become
increasingly evident how nice it would be to have an office to go to, as I can
tell my family is judging me for being around the house all day. I will have to figure this out,
eventually-hopefully by being able to go to the health center, more. I do not think that I’ll ever be going to my
Agriculture office more than twice a month, so I’ll have to find other ways to
be out of the house, plus, my family will just have to get used to it!
It helps to talk
to other volunteers-hearing their frustrations, how similar they are. It’s mean, but it does help when I hear about
someone having a way harder time than me, because I think, “Hey, at least I am
doing better than that…”
This next month
will be busy-I have to begin my village survey, which is a tool that we use to
determine the needs of our community, and decide on what our main project will
be. I have to begin compiling questions
and translating them-I’m absolutely terrified.
Plus, I think we’ll start working on preparing to build an improved cook
stove. I also will be making some
compost next week, and making final preparations for my first English class-or
at least those are the plans-in this country, you never know!
What I’m really
passionate about, at the moment, is my idea for a secondary project: building a
library in my village. I want to rent
out a large room in somebody’s house, fill it with some bookshelves and tables,
and lots of books, of course, and have flexible hours so that working women can
visit. It’ll be a challenge, but my
friend here knows someone who does this in India, so she could be a good
resource. Anything that gives women a
chance to further their education, and the community a place to have meetings
and lectures seems like a good idea. I
think that I could open it and run it for two years with about $6,000-I’ll try
to fund it with grants and maybe Kick-starter page.
How are things
with all of you? I want tons of emails
and letters, please! Any small news is
exciting!
Xoxox
Zoop
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