FOOD

26/7/14

So, there is pretty much negative activity going on at site, so this week I decided to wax poetic about the thing that I, and most volunteers, think about, dream about and discuss every day. Food.

To start us off, here’s what I eat in a day, every day, the same thing:

Morning:

2 pieces of rice flour roti (like a thicker tortilla)

Peanut butter

 1 piece fruit

1 cup of milk (sometimes, in the rainy season our water buffalo produces less, so I might not get this.)

A butt load of vitamins and supplements

Afternoon:

2 pieces of rice flour roti

Peanut butter

 Mustard

Sometimes: an extra piece of fruit, if I have it, a protein bar, a packet of soup or other American food that someone has sent me.

Evening:

1 ½-2 cups white rice (Bhaat)

A lentil broth called Daal

A curried “vegetable” mix usually consisting of potatoes with the occasional addition of beans, peas, tomatoes, squash or okra.

It is always the same. Always. 

When I go into town (once a week), I’ll have French fries or these fried cheese nuggets called “cheese pakoda,” “donuts”-really only rolls with some sort of non dairy cream and chopped up maraschino cherries in them, an “ice cream” cone (the quotation marks are used to denote how terrible this ice cream is. Not only is the flavor unidentifiable, but also since the power is so unreliable here, it has that terrible consistency of ice cream that has melted and been re-frozen, over and over again. But we eat it anyways, because, what’s the alternative?

Here’s what I’ve fantasized, discussed with other volunteers and dreamed about since I’ve been here:

Cheetos

Tortilla chips

Guacamole

Sour Cream

Bagels with cream cheese

Truffle fries

Good salads

Good fruit

Smoothies

A pot of Irish tea with biscuits

Muffins

Cupcakes

Red velvet cake

Lysa’s coconut cake with lemon curd

Lemon curd

Mom’s butter brickle pecan cake

Pancakes with maple syrup

Cheeseburgers with crispy bacon and a fried egg

Greek fries

Falafel

Hummus

Pita chips

Pizza

Baguette with goat cheese and tomatoes

Roasted vegetables

Tomato soup and a grilled cheese

Strawberry rhubarb pie

Huckleberry Ice Cream

Frozen pizza

Mashed potatoes

Turkey

Olives

 Dill pickles

Grey poupon

Good ice cream

Avocadoes

Cold watermelon

Corn on the cob

Indian tacos

Eggnog

Root beer

Champagne

Lasagna

Buckwheat waffles

Salami

Donuts

Curly fries

Mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce

Salmon

Asparagus

Broccoli

Fresh spinach

Peaches

Nectarines

Hostess or Little Debbie Snacks

Shepard’s pie

Chicken and dumplings

(I’m salivating and on the verge of tears, here)

Drunk chicken

Avgolemnn soup

Margaritas

Black bean quesadillas

Good salsa

Cheesy hash browns

Fried eggs-over medium

Wheat thins

Caprese salad

Gelato

Pesto

Good wine

Sangria

Good bourbon

Macaroni and cheese

Plum jam

And a million other things that I have probably forgotten.

So, the next time you eat any one of these things, think of this poor little PCV, all the way on the other side of the world.  Oh, but don’t put a picture on FB, that’s just fucking cruel. Seriously, we HATE when we see delicious food online, it is like a stab in the gut, and a visual reminder of how much our lives suck. DON’T DO IT.  

Now, I realize that the above rant is ironic, coming from a Food Security volunteer. What I’ve come to realize is that we cannot divorce ourselves from our upbringings, only make ourselves aware of them and try not to let them influence our interactions with others, much.  I would never complain about the lack of food variety to a Nepali, I know how spoiled that would sound. I also know, however, that this is just an honest account of my feelings.  It should also be pointed out, that Nepalis are happy with their limited food variety (not to say that they are happy with limited AMOUNTS of food, obviously, food scarcity is a very big issue in this country and many like it, around the world, just that they really, really love Daal Bhaat).  Even wealthy Nepalis like having Daal Bhaat every day, that’s the way that they grew up-just as I grew up having a variety of foods.  When I return to the US, I will, indeed, hope for that embarrassment of riches that is American food culture, but, I will devour the above with the knowledge that I have committed my life to a job that will work to provide something similar to more people around the world.  Maybe Nepalis wouldn’t appreciate having lasagna one night and Shepard’s pie another, but I do know that they would appreciate having milk every day, and enough food for their children, and maybe, just maybe, a different “tarkari” every day.  Here’s to an embarrassment of riches for all.

Love and miss you all,

Maria

Back at Site

6/7/14

My last two days in KTM were stressful, as they so often are, in KTM.  The battery that I had ordered was not in yet, of course.  So now, I have to figure out another way to get one-necessitating either another trip to KTM or to Pokhara (another city two days away).  On the bright side, the kittens that I rescue were both adopted.  I honestly feel that rescuing those kittens is the best thing that I’ve done in PC, so far.  To celebrate, I went by the KAT centre.  It is so sweet to see Nepalis taking care of animals, as that is rare.  The nice young men working there showed me around.  About half of the dogs there live there permanently and are up for adoption.  The other half are dogs that have been brought in from the streets for treatment-sterilization, vaccination and medical care.  Unfortunately, there is not space or money to keep all of the dogs, so this second group of dogs is released back onto the streets, which breaks my heart.  It’s very frustrating, because the workers say that those dogs can’t be put up for adoption because they are “owned” by the communities that they come from. This is bullshit.  If these dogs were really “owned,” they would be taken care of, as pets. Instead, they are allowed to sleep in doorways, sometimes given scraps, and used as objects upon which frustration can be taken out.  It is preposterous that these dogs are missing out on the opportunity to be adopted by people that would actually love and care for them, to be returned to people that do not deserve or value them. 

Is spent a couple of hours playing with the dogs (and a few cats), giving them love and throwing the ball for them.  Nearly all of these dogs were sweet and gentle and so excited to be getting attention.  It’s so sad, because these dogs have every right to hate people, and yet, all they want is love and care.  Saying goodbye to them, especially the dogs that were going to be released, was very sad.  I’m genuinely worried that I’m going to return to America with several dogs… Next time I’m there, I’ll go back and see my new friends. 

After a couple more nice dinners with Elizabeth, I had to undertake the two-day journey back to site.  I wasn’t particularly excited to return (except to see Danny), but after 17 hours on a bus, anywhere to lay down starts to sound nice.  I got to pick up a couple of packages on the way back, which was a nice treat, and I’m loaded down with new books and magazines for the coming months, so I felt as prepared as possible.

The next few days I spent with my fellow Dang-ers, celebrating the 4^th and regaling them with stories of the real world.  I was very glad to be surrounded by friends, again, even if it meant being back in the bowels of PC.

Monsoon season has begun. It’s not as bad as I imagined, just very muddy.  It’s not like I went outside all that much, anyways, so it’s not changing much. However, the bug situation is out of control.

The other morning, I was putting on my nightgown only to see a huge bug on it.  I screamed and flung it off. 25 minutes later, much to my horror, I realized that it was still inside of my nightgown. Bad morning. 

Today marks the real beginning of my return to work.  Lots of planning to do, and phone calls to make.  I am really just hoping to find my unicorn, soon. A unicorn is an organization that wants to work with me, that is organized enough to actually help with a project, that can give me work to do, for the next 16 months.  Ahhh, if only I had a unicorn.  The next month is dedicated to planning for upcoming projects, and filling out grant applications for those projects. 

These next few months will be difficult, as there are very few events to look forward to.  The beginning of September is the next time that I have an out-of-town meeting.  I guess I’ll have to come up with something to motivate me for July and August.

Missing you all, especially those of you getting to enjoy that magical Missoula summer.

Xoxox

Zoop

P.S. I planted rice, yesterday. Look at me!

A Return

25/6/2014

My trip to Armenia has been a welcome break, despite the excessive amount of dental appointments.

Before my journey West, I had two days in Kathmandu.  I partook of good food, did some PC work at the PC office and spent a ridiculous amount of money on a new battery for my laptop (it turns out that it was not swelling because of the humidity, but because it was faulty-something that, were I in America, would have been replaced for free, but in Nepal cost me nearly an entire month’s salary to replace-Ughhhh). 

After forking over a fortune for a new battery I left the mall, only to hear the most pathetic, soft mewling sound.  I looked down into the gutter and saw a tiny, wet, dirty black kitten.  After questioning a couple of men, nearby, I ascertained that the kitten had a sibling, which I also scooped up, and their mother was nowhere to be found.  I realized, immediately, that I could not leave them there, so I jumped in a cab to return to the PC office. 

As if I could be more disappointed with PC and the people that work for it, the sight of two orphaned kittens elicited only disdain from the PC staff.  One staff member said that he could think of “literally a million other things that you could have done with them, besides bringing them to the Peace Corps office.” Jesus Christ-what a caring person!  I have never, in my life, been around people who cared so little about helpless creatures.  Nepalis, in general, do not like cats, so none of the Nepali staff would take them, either.  I was on the verge of crying for hours, so heartbroken and disappointed.  I very much believe that you can tell what kind of a person someone is by the way they treat animals-I guess my suspicions about those people are correct.  After some research, I found an animal rescue place in KTM.  Unfortunately, they could not come pick the kittens up, nor could they house them for more than a week.  With 90 minutes until I had to leave for the airport, I hopped in a cab to drop the kittens of, because, what was the alternative? Putting them back on the street?  After a comedy of errors with a box of kittens in my lap, I made it to the KAT rescue center (please look them up and donate-they do invaluable work for the many, many abandoned animals in KTM).  The man there was very kind, and I donated some money to keep the kittens alive and housed until I returned from Armenia.  Despite my many, many pleas, no one has adopted them in the two weeks that I have been in Armenia.  I guess that means that I’m taking two kittens back to my site, with me…

I was excited to be on a plane-the cleanest place I’d been in 9 months! The trip was fine, with the exception of:

-A 10-hour lay over in the New Delhi airport.  Not helped by the fact that they only have free Wi-Fi for 45 minutes.

-Sitting behind a row of seats with THREE INFANTS who collectively cried 75% of the flight from Delhi to Moscow.

I arrived in Yerevan after 24 hours of travel.  I even had a driver with a sign waiting for me!  Armenia is beautiful-it kinda looks like that stretch of road between Helena and Great Falls-arid, rolling hills, red cliffs and sagebrush.  I was driven to the PC office and met the very nice and organized staff-such a change from PC Nepal.  The PCMO gave me a folder with maps, vocabulary, information on museums and a schedule for my trip-so helpful!  I was then driven to the hostel.  In general, I hate hostels, but for 10 of the 13 nights there, I was in a room by myself, so it wasn’t too bad. 

The first few days, I didn’t do much-I was sore from the wisdom tooth extraction and intimidated by a country where I not only didn’t understand the language, but couldn’t even read the signs! 

Things that I did do:

-A night walking tour of the city.

-Drinks at a bar with a nice German guy that I met.  We had a reserved table to hear an amazing Armenian woman sing great Blues.

- An all-day tour of famous Armenian churches, followed by a wine tasting (the wine was terrible, but it was still a fun day).

-Visits to the Ancient Manuscript Museum, History Museum, Art Museum and various wanderings around the city.

-A large, delicious, expensive Mexican meal, complete with guacamole.

-Donuts, Cinnamon rolls and German sausage (served with corn, olives and mayonnaise-yuck!)

-A few hours spent with PC Armenia volunteers-wandering, eating, drinking, and watching the fountains in the main square.

-Pizza with ketchup instead of sauce.

-Dinner with a girl from The Netherlands and a horrible Armenian guy that she met on Couch Surfing. 

The dentist was terrible-although I didn’t have a single panic attack, so I’m very proud of myself. 

Things went fairly smoothly, except for the inevitable mess-up by PC Nepal, which PC Armenia fixed immediately and didn’t blame me for-a miracle!

Being here has been a wonderful break from Nepal-it’s a beautiful, very European city (although I feel very under-dressed compared to the women of Armenia).  There are hot showers, toilets with toilet paper, good food, beautiful things to see, fast Internet.  It is going to be very hard to go back, especially to monsoon season.  I am, however, dying to see Danny.

My plan for the first week that I’m back is to do project plans for all the projects I will be starting in the next year-I’m hoping that will make me feel more motivated, although it’s exhausting just thinking about going back.

In bowel news:  I had a real (read: not just held up to the light from a window) stool sample done while I was here.  The lab found nothing wrong, which is actually more troubling because it means that my IBS has started acting up, again.  Since I can’t really control my diet at site, I’m dreading going back to the days of diarrhea 8 times daily.

I’ll spend today doing last minute computer things, shopping for bring-backs, going to the sculpture garden and having a glass of famous Armenian cognac.

When I return to KTM on Friday morning, I will try to see a couple of NGOs.  I may have to stay in town until Monday to have more meetings and discuss applications for my GAD committee-exciting, although I’d rather just go back to site right away.

I feel so lucky to have gotten this break, and to have gotten to Skype with some of you-such a treat to see your lovely faces!  I hope to have my first visitor at the end of September, so that’s something to look forward to!

I love and miss all of you,

Xoxox

Zoop

Even More Pictures!

Ama dancing at a wedding.

Ama and Buba dancing.

This is what men think is sexy here-barefoot women carrying heavy things.

Nepal bandaid.

Danny is exhausted from all the stove-making work.

Bora, Nik and I making my family's cookstove.

Ama and Hajur Ama hand grinding flour.

Finished! (That's the old stove next to it.)

So big!

Playing with his toy from Aunt Mary Kay.

Birthday Breakfast: Sausage, Eggs, Pancakes with Nutella and real Maple Syrup, watermelon, coconut macaroons and Tang!

At the "beach"

First jump.

Playing Chicken-I lost 2 to 4 to Nik

We finally got her in the water.

The Birthday boy.

I took a picture of this because I didn't know what it was and thought that it was funny-but motorcycle accidents are super common and scary-there can be up to four people on a bike, sometimes even babies and most people don't wear helmets.

On the way to Bhairhawa for Project Design and Management Training.

Ahhh lovely.

Bus selfie.

Mustache play.

Brittany, Megan, Matt F., Matt B.

You can't tell, but this is a coke float!

Yup, seems about right...

Big Danny!

From my garden.

Permagarden after three months.

My baby water buffalo.

Piglets came to play!

Teaching my Hajur Ama to use the camera.

Nicest gas station I've seen in Nepal.

Traffic jam.