Wow, where to begin?

nose piercing

the village  i caught the bus from

I brought my diary that I've been writing down with me to the computers at the Tibet Guest House in Kathmandu, where I'm staying for one night before heading off to the orphanage, but there's just so much to say! I will have to condense one month into a post that isn't too daunting to read... This will be difficult as I do have a tendency to waffle. I'll cut out all the bits about my bodily functions and save that for my special friends who LOVE knowing about these things... (Silkie).

Before I left I was given advice from various people, a couple of things which stuck in my mind were from my friend Stewart who said "Don't trust ANYONE" and from Emma who said "Never go in the local buses - I've seen them crashed into cliffs on straight roads." So it was a little bit worrying that I had to trust an 18 year old boy to take me from Kathmandu to his village. He didn't speak very good English, but seemed nice enough. We also had to get a bus there - followed by what he said "A little bit of walking." I was thinking that's fine - when i arrived in my village in Madagascar I had to walk about 10 minutes to the house where i was staying.

The Journey:
We left at 5am to get the bus at 6 which left at 7. We drove for 3 hours, it was beautiful, reminiscent of Madagascar, crappy uncomfortable bus - but at least the journey wasn't that long. We stopped for curry and roti (bread) and then had to go for a walk. I asked the boy - Pralhad, how long would it take... he didn't seem to understand the question he said "6 hour." I was like - you mean 6 minutes? he said no. I continued to think that this was a breakdown in communication. After insisting on carrying my 21kg rucksack I had to hand it over to him after 20 minutes of walking up sheer mountainside following a zig zag path that looked like it was made by goats. Pralhads sister and cousin (who he called brother - as they do here) were walking with us - along with other passengers from the bus. Stewart said not to trust anyone-  where were these people taking me? How long would it really take? I had no address other than Pokri Chauri (turns out they dont really have any other adress in these parts) And were they just taking me into a hilly wilderness to kill me and steal my stuff? We continued walking in an upwardly direction for approximately 5 and a half hours, then we walked along the top part of the mountains on winding up and down bumpy paths. We stopped for short breaks along the way, mostly because I thought I was going to die. I had not prepared for hill walking. I THINK - but am not sure - that the mountains round these parts range from 750m to 4000m in height - I think we were only at the height of about 1400m or something... We arrived when it was dark. I was severely dehydrated - after sweating for 8 hours from trekking in the hilly region of Nepal in the sweltering daytime heat. Pralhads family were gathered there in the dark and I couldnt see them, all I wanted was a shower and cold water, neither of which I got -I had to drink warm water that I bought earlier that day for fear of picking up some nasty bug from the local water. And it doesnt seem to be the custom to shower in Nepal in the evening. We ate rice, curry, and egg, with warm milk to pour over the rice too- it was very nice - I was hungry. he family spoke Nepali - I understood none of it.

Well, turns out I wasn't killed and and the family I was staying with were SOOO lovely and welcoming. I had been given Pralhads room to myself - the beds are INSANELY hard here and I think mice are like part of the furniture - they are INCREDIBLY noisy at night - if you do a similar thing I recommend keeping the earplugs from the plane - they have been indispensable. I was brought tea every morning to my room - I didnt generally wake up early enough to be outside when it was made. (the tea is lovely - spicy not very strong, sweet and milky - Buffalo milky ). The food continued to be delicious - I never expected to like like having curry so much for breakfast. The amenities are very basic - not for the faint hearted - - squat toilets and a bucket of cold water and a jug to shower  with in the same room as the toilet. I still can't quite work out where the stuff goes as it just seems to sit there even after you've poured water down there...

The School:
I visited the school the next day and observed lessons. They were remarkable similar to lessons in England. Checking HW, recapping the previous lesson, going over new stuff, and checking understanding. The only lesson other than English I understood was maths - it really is a universal language... although the maths teacher did also give the lesson in English- for my benefit I imagine. The teaching is of course restricted in ways that it is not in the UK. They lack what we would consider basic resources. As a teacher it was a major inconvenience when my interactive whiteboard didn't work - or the projector failed. Here they work with chalk and a blackboard. We don't expect classes of more than 30. I taught a class of 60 in my time there, although classes of 40 odd were more common. Little wooden benches for students - no desk for teachers - corrugated iron roofs - metal windows and doors - no glass - few posters or displays. My gift of colouring pencils and short period of one months teaching is but a drop in the ocean.

I came at the wrong time of the year to be of any significant use. In England this is one of the busiest teaching months, in Nepal one of the least as there are exams followed by fun lessons as they approach their festival season. The majority of my lessons involved drawing pictures as soon as the English teacher discovered I was alright at drawing. I'd come up with little stories and write them on the board with accompanying pictures. In my later lessons when I was left to my own devices I enjoyed teaching correct pronunciation as that is the biggest problem I found - they are taught English well in Nepal, but their pronunciation of words is so different I couldn't understand them - writing or spelling words helps. The kids seemed to find making 'th' sounds and 'shh' sounds fun too.

School starts at 10 and ends at 3.00-4.00 6 days a week! The teachers are very relaxed about timing, and I think it is common for them not to turn up to lessons judging by how many children were at the windows to my classes instead of being at their own. I also noticed that there was a lot of children running around and a lot of teachers in the staff room a lot of the time. Some teachers would also be away for a week or so and in these cases there is no substitute teacher. I was sort of used as a substitute on a day when we were particularly low on teachers - although when I finished the class there were more than 5 teachers chilling out in the staff room. I don't think the conditions of the workplace - lack of resources, it being quite hot in the classrooms and I imagine the pay - lend themselves to be motivational factors. The teachers when they do teach do seem to be good at it. The children are mostly engaged and appear to understand. Although, after invigilating quite a few exams - they clearly don't revise that hard and rely on passing by cheating. I have more sympathy for them than British kids mind - because most of them go home and have to work on the farm - they are not squandering their time on pointless computer games or on the internet (says the person who has now been online for 3 hours).

The Earthquake:
Not much to report really - apparently 2 houses in the village collapsed. I was in my room drawing pictures on Pralhad's walls and there was some shaking - I thought people were jumping upstairs - Namraj (Pralhad's cheeky little brother) and I looked out the bedroom door - Suraj (Pralhads nephew (2 years younger than him)) looked concerned and told us to go out of the house... I was like - "what are you talking about - someone's upstairs!" But I did as he said anyway - I'm terribly obliging like that... the house stopped shaking once we were out... I asked Pralhad who was outside what it was he said "volcano...no..." an I was like you mean earthquake? and he said "yes" and that was that - we went back into the house and carried on drawing.

The family:
Pralhad was wonderful at always translating for me and helping me learn Nepali, something Laxmi and Numraj and Suraj and Sarita and Sarmilla also all helped with. As did other random village kids and Sumjhana the English teacher. Pralhad's mother continuously spoke to me in Nepali, I never understood anything she said, but she always brought me boiled water and towards the end of my stay - she started becoming psychic and I'd just think something and then she'd do it... Laxmi taught me how to make donuts, rice pudding, curry and different sorts of roti. She was good company although our communication was basic. Pralhad's father started speaking some English to me and also spoke some Nepali with me, he was very friendly and welcoming - always smiling. The kids were fun to play around with - we all enjoyed the skipping rope I bought and seeing how rubbish i was at hacky sack. They all took an OTT liking to UNO- I left it with them as the game bores me.

Other Stuff:
Cucumbers are MUCH bigger here - and very tasty.
I visited many people in the village who all wanted me to visit again - even though we couldnt speak to each other costhey dont speak English and my Nepali goes as far as - I like this - I dont like that - how are you?
I made a baby cry just by holding it.
I've had diarrhoea once.
Getting to know the local kids is fun - you just try speaking Nepali to them and they rush over to help you - I had a few crowds in my time there - they turned into little mosh pits around me - I had to learn 'stop fighting' in Nepali - they used to laugh and then carry on...
The locals found it amusing when i did 'local' type things like helping Pralhad's mother cut and carry grass, or help Laxmi (Pralhad's sister) with the cooking.
I LOVE the goats here - (bakra/bakri) they are so much cuter than any other goats.
The bhisee (buffalo) at the Gautam's house hated me and ran down the road away from me I think 7 or 8 times - it was tied to a stump which it pulled out the ground. I did nothing to it! I was just standing outside.
The family got a cat - I named him Bob - I think it caught on.
Home made rice pudding is amazing- I hope it works with soya milk...
I got a free Japanese Encephalitis jab - which is good - I think I needed that one but it was dreadfully pricey in the UK!
Went on a few walks with Pralhad and his friends - walking is strenuous in these hot, hilly regions...
Had my nose pierced by a local lady with a needle and some thread (sorry mother). The next day when I was wiping my snotty nose I pulled the thread out by accident - Pralhads mother went and picked some plants and a random girl poked a black grass stem into the hole - I had to finish the job as she got squeamish. I have no nose ring yet.
I thought I would die on the journey back to Kathmandu - I think I prayed for 7 hours straight. We escaped having to walk 8 hours - but it did take the same amount of time in a bus driving through clay mud tracks - getting stuck severely once, and feeling like we would topple over/crash/fall down a mountain every 2-3 minutes and waiting 1hour 3/4 for other buses to pass up the road we needed to go down.

Things I have learnt:
-1 month is not enough time to volunteer.
-you can trust some people.
-buses do not feel safe to travel on but I have no choice- I feel sure these experiences will be\ring me closer to God - possibly permanently.
-People are too nice sometimes-it becomes frustrating.
-factor 30 is too high if you want to tan.
-I will never get bored of curry.
-the Nepalese have a lot of holidays.
-beating children in the classroom looks fun.
-Nepalese scenery is amazing, and beautiful, and I've not even seen the real mountains yet!

Phew, so ok, that was my first month. Believe it or not - that is the condensed version. Quite long. Fairly eventful. It's a wonderful country - I'd recommend everyone to visit it. Maybe living with a family out in the sticks isn't for everyone... but the people, the food, the culture, the scenery, everything so far is wonderful.

Biglove to you all!