So I'm halfway through the Hindu holiday Dashai. We get tikka and some rupees from all of our older relatives and give clothes to the little kids. There are also bamboo "pings" (giant swings) set up all over the neighborhood. I think I got into a little money trouble... I didn't exchange enough for presents after an expensive trekking trip, but while I was at the bazaar with my bausu I bought her two pairs of shoes. My aamaa found out and wasn't very happy... I don't think my aamaa and bausu are getting along very well right now. Each one thinks I like the others food and tea better than their own, and my aamaa and daai both think my bausu talks too much. Also problems with the goat sacrifice.... I watched. I guess that is the only problem. I really have no desire to eat meat again. I can give gory details later, but basically I still had a taste of goat meat beacuse my daai wanted me to try it. My bausu is upset I won't eat more though. My aamaa understands. She thinks the whole goat sacrifice is really sad; she told me she hates it.
Also the kids don't have school. So I've been exhausted by all the little cousins. I was doing homework in my room one day when I looked up and saw two little boys just starring at me with their mouths gaping wide. Later the youngest pointed to me and asked his mom, "How much skin-lightening lotion did she put on? How did she get her hair that curly?" I think I was the first white person he has ever seen.
All in all Dashai was fun, but a little too much family maybe.
Fall break was way different. I found out about two days before that my group had decided to go all the way to Annapurna Base Camp. As some of you may know... I have little trekking experience and I can barely climb a hill without getting breathless. But... I made it. I'm not sure how exactly. Four days from Pokhara to the camp, and then three days down (I hurt my knee so it took longer than expected) I'm pretty proud of myself, if I may say so. The views were AMAZING. I wished some of you could have been there with me... The basecamp was a lot of fun. There were a lot of Americans there that day and they brought a recent "Newsweek" so I got to get a little news update. We had hiked into fog so we didn't know until the next morning what kind of view we had... I watched the sun rise from behind Machupuchhre and the light glistened on the snow of Annapurna South. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
I was suprised how many older people were out trekking! I was very impressed. One German man had some kind of stroke on the road and passed away. We watched them carry the body up to our site.
The Annapurna Sanctuary itself has such a variety of wildlife. We hiked through rainforest jungles, rich farmland, and cold high altitude forests. At the basecamp I felt like I was on the moon. and what's more odd is that you stay in little hotels every night instead of camping out in tents.
Our guide, Angdu, or "Angdu Daai" was great. He carved me bamboo walking sticks and made sure I made it safely all the way down the mountain given my bad knee. He was a really sweet guy.
I turned in an ISP proposal to study HIV/AIDS in Nepal. I'm pretty excited. I originally wanted to research female sex workers but this topic is related and seem a little more feasible for three weeks time. right now we have less than a week till our next village stay and trek. and then i'll have three weeks for ISP. I really started missing home over Dashai. I think its because it's the holiday season here and I know I'll be missing Halloween and Thanksgiving back home. I don't know what to expect when I get home though. Who will be in Cleveland in mid-December? Lately I've really been missing pitzer and my crew there. I miss you pitzer kids very much... I can't wait to come back.
I've been a little sick of my family, but at the same time I realized how much i will miss them. Yesterday in a taxi back from my "mama's" house (My mother's brother) my litle niece fell asleep in my arms and I wished so badly I could take her back to America with me.
Kathmandu in October is beautiful. there are orange and purple and yellow flowers everywhere. all the kids in my neighboorhood are out flying kites and swinging on swings. sometimes I feel like I'm living in a dream.
Maya,
Laura
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
rhinos and tigers and Maoists OH MY!
We just got back from Chitwan National Park today. We had to wake up at 3am and hop on the bus at 4am to get out of the Chitwan district before daybreak because we had heard on the radio that night that a banda was planned for the next day. Apparently a YCL (Young Communist Leauge) member beat up some head honcho of the Nepali Democratic Party and people were not happy. Really, what a "banda" means here is nobody goes to work or school and sits around. Still, we had to pack up and leave in the middle of the night in case we weren't able to get out. We got back to Balkot around 11am.
Really, riding on big buses here is way scarier than bandas. We've seen two buses completely tipped over on the roads. The roads swerve up and down the mountains, and other buses will frequently pass each other around the curves. Add in the crazy Hindi music playing in the back of the bus and students flying around like they are riding bulls, and you have yourself an adventure in itself. But watching the sun rise over the Terai villages was amazing... and we saw the sun shining through the early morning mists in the valley... it was so beautiful.
Chitwan was like bringing my childhood ideas of the jungle to life. The second day there we rode elephants into the jungle and we saw a rhino! It was only about 20 feet away, but neither the elephants or the rhino seemed scared which was good (for everyone, including the humans) I also saw some peacocks, spotted deer, hornbills, and crocodiles. We canoed, hiked, and took the jeep. The hiking was really exciting, just because if we are charged by a rhino we have to climb at least 6 feet up a tree or hide behind a big one. I kept a mental note of the nearest large trees every few steps or so. I LOVE elephants! They are so sweet and so smart. I think they are one of my favorite animals. They have a breeding center with lots of cute baby elephants, too! And we got to play with them!! Didn't get to see tigers, but I saw tiger marks on the trees which was pretty cool.
I think the Terai is one of the hottest places I've ever been. I was dripping in sweat almost every waking moment. I don't understand how the people who live there barely sweat at all. We got to spend some time with the native Tharu people which was a great break from Brahmin-Chetri life. We ate dinner at a Tharu house, but before kept serving us "rakshi" which they brew themselves. We sat inside a tiny house with about 50 neighbors hanging around outside, and there was one flourescent light but it was very dark and we were all dying of heat... I ate some snails, which were kinda salty but good, and then we had a "rave," as Marky termed it. We danced with everyone outside untill horse-drawn carriages came to pick us up. It was... crazy.
I think I'm going to do a project on Nepali dance with my friend Maggie. We are meeting with a dance teacher on Tuesday. It's so weird that we only have a few more weeks left with our familes. Soon we will be going to Pokhara and then we have Fall Break... and soon after our village stay. I need to narrow down my ISP ideas. I'm thinking something with education, maybe something specifically with women, but I'm no sure yet.
I'm gonna go chill with the Nepali fam now. My bausu was gone for a while because she had to go to the hospital for back problems, but now she's back. I missed her a lot.
Namaste,
Laura
Really, riding on big buses here is way scarier than bandas. We've seen two buses completely tipped over on the roads. The roads swerve up and down the mountains, and other buses will frequently pass each other around the curves. Add in the crazy Hindi music playing in the back of the bus and students flying around like they are riding bulls, and you have yourself an adventure in itself. But watching the sun rise over the Terai villages was amazing... and we saw the sun shining through the early morning mists in the valley... it was so beautiful.
Chitwan was like bringing my childhood ideas of the jungle to life. The second day there we rode elephants into the jungle and we saw a rhino! It was only about 20 feet away, but neither the elephants or the rhino seemed scared which was good (for everyone, including the humans) I also saw some peacocks, spotted deer, hornbills, and crocodiles. We canoed, hiked, and took the jeep. The hiking was really exciting, just because if we are charged by a rhino we have to climb at least 6 feet up a tree or hide behind a big one. I kept a mental note of the nearest large trees every few steps or so. I LOVE elephants! They are so sweet and so smart. I think they are one of my favorite animals. They have a breeding center with lots of cute baby elephants, too! And we got to play with them!! Didn't get to see tigers, but I saw tiger marks on the trees which was pretty cool.
I think the Terai is one of the hottest places I've ever been. I was dripping in sweat almost every waking moment. I don't understand how the people who live there barely sweat at all. We got to spend some time with the native Tharu people which was a great break from Brahmin-Chetri life. We ate dinner at a Tharu house, but before kept serving us "rakshi" which they brew themselves. We sat inside a tiny house with about 50 neighbors hanging around outside, and there was one flourescent light but it was very dark and we were all dying of heat... I ate some snails, which were kinda salty but good, and then we had a "rave," as Marky termed it. We danced with everyone outside untill horse-drawn carriages came to pick us up. It was... crazy.
I think I'm going to do a project on Nepali dance with my friend Maggie. We are meeting with a dance teacher on Tuesday. It's so weird that we only have a few more weeks left with our familes. Soon we will be going to Pokhara and then we have Fall Break... and soon after our village stay. I need to narrow down my ISP ideas. I'm thinking something with education, maybe something specifically with women, but I'm no sure yet.
I'm gonna go chill with the Nepali fam now. My bausu was gone for a while because she had to go to the hospital for back problems, but now she's back. I missed her a lot.
Namaste,
Laura
Saturday, September 15, 2007
mero sopana
I can't believe it's been a month since I last updated. I hope people can take some time to read these even though they are long... because when I get home and people ask 'how was Nepal?' I won't really know how to respond.
Reading my last blog I noticed how rushed and excited I was to try and convey what was going on. Now that I'm settled into my family and village, things are less "shocking," but nontheless, everyday is still a new adventure.
For instance, about a week or so ago I woke up early to eat breakfast and go to school and it was pouring, pouring rain. It had been raining all night. I walked down the road but the road had become one long stream of water. I thought it was funny until I walked to the bottom of the hill and discovered that where there was once a giant field of rice patties, there was a HUGE river. All these men were standing at the edge of it looking totally clueless. Luckily one woman who worked at a T.V. station in Kathmandu directed me to take off my shoes, hold her hand, and walk across with her. Won't lie: I sometimes thought I would fall and get washed away. But I forded the river and got to school. When I asked her if a lot of people won't go to work today because of the flooding, she told me that Nepali women always go to work, no matter what. She didn't say anything about the men I had seen starring cluelessly at the dirty, brown, rapids.
So yeah, that's walking to school.
A not-so-exciting but more entertaining adventure was our trip to the U.S. Embassy for our "saftey" briefing, conveniently held the week following the bombings in Kathmandu. First of all, the inside of the building was so clean and gleamed in the flouresent light... I felt like I was literally thrown back into the States. It was culture shock for sure. We passed the neatly hung murals of the gang: Bush, Cheney, and Rice, and entered an air-conditioned, well-lit conference room. Our briefing was SO brief. And I tried not to laugh at the information they provided. This lady told us that the Maoists are a terrorist group (even though they have resigned their weapons to the U.N. and have successfully joined the government as a political party) and that we should stay away from them at ALL costs. 'What does a Maoist look like, you ask?' she said (we didn't ask) 'Well, they usually wear red. Like... a red bandana. But you don't really know if someone is a Maoist or not. But stay away from them.' Then she told us she thought in the comming months there will be "chaos" and "violence." She could barely name one Maoist organization, and even then it was only the YCL (Young Communist Leauge). The only place in Kathmandu she could reference was Thamel, which is where all the western tourists stay. It was obvious that this woman had never been outside Kathmandu, let alone the Embassy.
Oh yeah. and also, the most important information we can learn in Nepal (according to security lady) is... the telephone number of the Embassy. She was shocked to find out we don't have cellphones on us so that we could call them at a moments notice. So her alternative in case we were in danger was... to run.
We hadn't even been in Nepal for a month, but the fact that we collectively knew more about what was going on in Nepal and how to be safe than the U.S. government was just hilarious. But at the same time it was scary to see how Bush's "terrorism" campaign legistically works in other countries.
If you are wondering about the Kathmandu bombings, don't worry about me. I'm safe in our small village of Balkot away from he hussle and bustle of the city. Besides, I don't like Kathmandu too much. There are piles upon piles of old stinking garbage and crowds of people. I really prefer my quiet village life.
Speaking of such, I haven't even menioned my family. My Nepali name is Rita Thapa ("Thapa" is a Chetri name) and I live in Changathali in the Bhaktapur district. "Changa" means kite, and every evening when I walk back from school I watch all the little boys from the village fly their kites in the rice patties. I have an "aamaa" (mother) who is just hilarious, a "daai" (older brother) who is 35 or so and works as some sort of electritian during most of he day. He's usually on the quiet side but lately he's really taken an interest in talking to me about Nepali culture which is exciting. His wife, my "bauju," also lives with us. She is in her late 20s and does most of the household cooking and chores, but she is really just a little girl on the inside. She serves me warm milk (from our cow) in the mornings after tea and I let our kitten (who my niece appropriately named "Meow") sleep and purr in my lap. We talk about clothes and makeup and boys and other girlie stuff. She usually wears checkered dresses and puts her hair in braids, and will gaze out the window of the kitchen as she cooks... and at night I can hear her singing outside as she washes the dishes. Right now she's at her father's house for the holiday season, but I miss her a lot.
My daai has two children. Rejina is 6 and she's adorable (although she cries a lot) her school is right next to our house and I've been there a couple times to visit her teachers and friends. When I played Daft Punk for her one night, she couldn't stop giggling. Needless to say we had a little dance party in my room.
Rejina's brother, Rajiv, is 7. His English is so much better than Rejina's. He also goes to a different private school farther away. He is fun, clever, and full of energy, but very violent. He loves watching WWF on T.V. I try and tell him to stop hitting his sister, but it sometimes just feels useless. I love coming home from school and hearing them yell "Rita didi! Rita didi!" (didi means older sister) But it's also exhausting having little kids in the house all the time.
We also have a cow, a baby calf (so cute!) two dogs, and "Meow." And that's just the family at our house. I have about 30 or so other relatives that have come for visits during the holiday season.
Healthwise, I'm lucky. I haven't had any problems besides irregular digestion, (as in, not digesting... my family's diet is basically potatoes and rice) and LOTS of mosquito bites... mostly on my feet. I lost my bugspray early in the program, but I'm not even sre that would help.
The gender differences are really starting to challenge me now. My aamaa expects me to be home no later than 6:30. Girls can't be out when it starts getting dark. I have no problem respecting these wishes, but I want to spend time talking to the villagers, too. Most of the frustration stems from the language gap. But now things are smoother.
Two days ago we had a speaker come in and talk to us about the festival of "Tij" and women in Nepal. We asked her all sorts of questions about abortion, pregnancy, sex education, birth control, marriage, menstruation, etc. Most of the answers were shocking only because the woman came from a whole different worldview than we did. Roxy straight up asked if she thought, in general, men have it better than women in Nepal. She said no because women get to wear 'decorations and ornaments.' Her explanation made my head spin.
When women menstruate they can't touch certain things and have to be kept out of the cooking areas and other sacred things. Pregnant women can't live in the house. And during the first menstruation in some of the rural villages the girls are placed in the barn by themselves and often get very sick. The speaker was a nurse, but she couldn't tell us the major forms of birth control here. I know I only despair because I'm a "western" woman, but there are so, so many young people in Kathmandu now who are stepping out of traditional roles who could really benefit from sex education.
The whole festival of "Tij" itself seems like a contradition to me. The women don't work, wear all red, bracelets, jewelry, etc. and dance all day. They also fast, but they fast to ensure that their husband has a long, healthy life. I fasted for Tij yesterday, and everyone kept saying "you will have a good husband," but really, when I thought about eating, I would rationalize whether or not I really "needed" a good husband. And what makes a "good" husband? My didi, Nani, told me the other night she was so scared for her arranged marriage. She told me she liked "love marriage" better. And when I asked my 17 year old cousin Sunita what a good husband is to her, she said one who doesn't drink a lot. So yeah, she has high expectations.
When people ask if I like love marriage or arranged marriage more, I say I like both. Here marriage is purly economical, and there is something to be said for learning to love someone over time. Your husband is your family... he's a part of it and you grow to love him no matter what. I also told Nani that in love marriages, sometimes people have very high expectations and the whole thing ends in disaster.
I have visited sooo many temples and seen so many fall celebrations already! My family back home would be happy to know I celebrated Rosh Hashana! My friend Marky read from the Torah (in Hebrew AND Nepali!) and we ate apples and honey during tea break.
I'm feeling very detatched from friends back home, since I know they are busy starting school and such, but I would love to get an email from you, even a short one, telling me how life is and such...life at the pitz and skiddy and the nati and athens. My email: laura_chernin@pitzer.edu
Every single night I have vivid dreams about people from home. I think my mind is trying to live in Nepal and America at the same time. So I never really sleep here. I just live and dream.
Next week I'm going to Chetwan National Park! I'm so excited because it's in the Terai region and we haven't been there yet. It's going to be SO hot, but hopefully I'll get to ride an elephant!
I think of you all so much and each and every day. Know I'm thinking of you here on the other side of the world.
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." -Buddha
All my Maya,
Laura
Reading my last blog I noticed how rushed and excited I was to try and convey what was going on. Now that I'm settled into my family and village, things are less "shocking," but nontheless, everyday is still a new adventure.
For instance, about a week or so ago I woke up early to eat breakfast and go to school and it was pouring, pouring rain. It had been raining all night. I walked down the road but the road had become one long stream of water. I thought it was funny until I walked to the bottom of the hill and discovered that where there was once a giant field of rice patties, there was a HUGE river. All these men were standing at the edge of it looking totally clueless. Luckily one woman who worked at a T.V. station in Kathmandu directed me to take off my shoes, hold her hand, and walk across with her. Won't lie: I sometimes thought I would fall and get washed away. But I forded the river and got to school. When I asked her if a lot of people won't go to work today because of the flooding, she told me that Nepali women always go to work, no matter what. She didn't say anything about the men I had seen starring cluelessly at the dirty, brown, rapids.
So yeah, that's walking to school.
A not-so-exciting but more entertaining adventure was our trip to the U.S. Embassy for our "saftey" briefing, conveniently held the week following the bombings in Kathmandu. First of all, the inside of the building was so clean and gleamed in the flouresent light... I felt like I was literally thrown back into the States. It was culture shock for sure. We passed the neatly hung murals of the gang: Bush, Cheney, and Rice, and entered an air-conditioned, well-lit conference room. Our briefing was SO brief. And I tried not to laugh at the information they provided. This lady told us that the Maoists are a terrorist group (even though they have resigned their weapons to the U.N. and have successfully joined the government as a political party) and that we should stay away from them at ALL costs. 'What does a Maoist look like, you ask?' she said (we didn't ask) 'Well, they usually wear red. Like... a red bandana. But you don't really know if someone is a Maoist or not. But stay away from them.' Then she told us she thought in the comming months there will be "chaos" and "violence." She could barely name one Maoist organization, and even then it was only the YCL (Young Communist Leauge). The only place in Kathmandu she could reference was Thamel, which is where all the western tourists stay. It was obvious that this woman had never been outside Kathmandu, let alone the Embassy.
Oh yeah. and also, the most important information we can learn in Nepal (according to security lady) is... the telephone number of the Embassy. She was shocked to find out we don't have cellphones on us so that we could call them at a moments notice. So her alternative in case we were in danger was... to run.
We hadn't even been in Nepal for a month, but the fact that we collectively knew more about what was going on in Nepal and how to be safe than the U.S. government was just hilarious. But at the same time it was scary to see how Bush's "terrorism" campaign legistically works in other countries.
If you are wondering about the Kathmandu bombings, don't worry about me. I'm safe in our small village of Balkot away from he hussle and bustle of the city. Besides, I don't like Kathmandu too much. There are piles upon piles of old stinking garbage and crowds of people. I really prefer my quiet village life.
Speaking of such, I haven't even menioned my family. My Nepali name is Rita Thapa ("Thapa" is a Chetri name) and I live in Changathali in the Bhaktapur district. "Changa" means kite, and every evening when I walk back from school I watch all the little boys from the village fly their kites in the rice patties. I have an "aamaa" (mother) who is just hilarious, a "daai" (older brother) who is 35 or so and works as some sort of electritian during most of he day. He's usually on the quiet side but lately he's really taken an interest in talking to me about Nepali culture which is exciting. His wife, my "bauju," also lives with us. She is in her late 20s and does most of the household cooking and chores, but she is really just a little girl on the inside. She serves me warm milk (from our cow) in the mornings after tea and I let our kitten (who my niece appropriately named "Meow") sleep and purr in my lap. We talk about clothes and makeup and boys and other girlie stuff. She usually wears checkered dresses and puts her hair in braids, and will gaze out the window of the kitchen as she cooks... and at night I can hear her singing outside as she washes the dishes. Right now she's at her father's house for the holiday season, but I miss her a lot.
My daai has two children. Rejina is 6 and she's adorable (although she cries a lot) her school is right next to our house and I've been there a couple times to visit her teachers and friends. When I played Daft Punk for her one night, she couldn't stop giggling. Needless to say we had a little dance party in my room.
Rejina's brother, Rajiv, is 7. His English is so much better than Rejina's. He also goes to a different private school farther away. He is fun, clever, and full of energy, but very violent. He loves watching WWF on T.V. I try and tell him to stop hitting his sister, but it sometimes just feels useless. I love coming home from school and hearing them yell "Rita didi! Rita didi!" (didi means older sister) But it's also exhausting having little kids in the house all the time.
We also have a cow, a baby calf (so cute!) two dogs, and "Meow." And that's just the family at our house. I have about 30 or so other relatives that have come for visits during the holiday season.
Healthwise, I'm lucky. I haven't had any problems besides irregular digestion, (as in, not digesting... my family's diet is basically potatoes and rice) and LOTS of mosquito bites... mostly on my feet. I lost my bugspray early in the program, but I'm not even sre that would help.
The gender differences are really starting to challenge me now. My aamaa expects me to be home no later than 6:30. Girls can't be out when it starts getting dark. I have no problem respecting these wishes, but I want to spend time talking to the villagers, too. Most of the frustration stems from the language gap. But now things are smoother.
Two days ago we had a speaker come in and talk to us about the festival of "Tij" and women in Nepal. We asked her all sorts of questions about abortion, pregnancy, sex education, birth control, marriage, menstruation, etc. Most of the answers were shocking only because the woman came from a whole different worldview than we did. Roxy straight up asked if she thought, in general, men have it better than women in Nepal. She said no because women get to wear 'decorations and ornaments.' Her explanation made my head spin.
When women menstruate they can't touch certain things and have to be kept out of the cooking areas and other sacred things. Pregnant women can't live in the house. And during the first menstruation in some of the rural villages the girls are placed in the barn by themselves and often get very sick. The speaker was a nurse, but she couldn't tell us the major forms of birth control here. I know I only despair because I'm a "western" woman, but there are so, so many young people in Kathmandu now who are stepping out of traditional roles who could really benefit from sex education.
The whole festival of "Tij" itself seems like a contradition to me. The women don't work, wear all red, bracelets, jewelry, etc. and dance all day. They also fast, but they fast to ensure that their husband has a long, healthy life. I fasted for Tij yesterday, and everyone kept saying "you will have a good husband," but really, when I thought about eating, I would rationalize whether or not I really "needed" a good husband. And what makes a "good" husband? My didi, Nani, told me the other night she was so scared for her arranged marriage. She told me she liked "love marriage" better. And when I asked my 17 year old cousin Sunita what a good husband is to her, she said one who doesn't drink a lot. So yeah, she has high expectations.
When people ask if I like love marriage or arranged marriage more, I say I like both. Here marriage is purly economical, and there is something to be said for learning to love someone over time. Your husband is your family... he's a part of it and you grow to love him no matter what. I also told Nani that in love marriages, sometimes people have very high expectations and the whole thing ends in disaster.
I have visited sooo many temples and seen so many fall celebrations already! My family back home would be happy to know I celebrated Rosh Hashana! My friend Marky read from the Torah (in Hebrew AND Nepali!) and we ate apples and honey during tea break.
I'm feeling very detatched from friends back home, since I know they are busy starting school and such, but I would love to get an email from you, even a short one, telling me how life is and such...life at the pitz and skiddy and the nati and athens. My email: laura_chernin@pitzer.edu
Every single night I have vivid dreams about people from home. I think my mind is trying to live in Nepal and America at the same time. So I never really sleep here. I just live and dream.
Next week I'm going to Chetwan National Park! I'm so excited because it's in the Terai region and we haven't been there yet. It's going to be SO hot, but hopefully I'll get to ride an elephant!
I think of you all so much and each and every day. Know I'm thinking of you here on the other side of the world.
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." -Buddha
All my Maya,
Laura
Saturday, August 18, 2007
mero naam laura ho. malaai nepal manparyo...
helloooo! i'm in the village of balkot just outside kathmandu. the program house is here and we have been living at the house of a generous brahmin-chetri family down the road (all ten of us!) so much has happened in two weeks, including the aquisition of basic nepali language. five of us are from pitzer (ziggy, jeff newman, alex kenyon, roxy and i) and five are from other schools... bodin, swarthmore, pomona, and two from colorado college. we all get along really well and support each other in the process. we've had some good times together but right now we are still at the touristy level. tomorrow we have a day off from class, and then monday we move in with our family. i'm excited and nervous at the same time.
classes are really effective... we are in a classroom with one or two other students and we rarely take notes, just repeat words and practice conversation with each other. literal translation into english is not advised. we're all suprised how much nepali we know already. everyday we wake up between 6 or 7 am, eat breakfast, have class at 9 till 12:30 or so, lunch, then a field trip or lecture, language review, dinner, and asleep by 10 or so. i've had ONE day of free time so far, but i have this afternoon off. it's busy but i like it. our langage teachers are great too: shovaji, soorjaji, sodhonaji, and sanjibji.
yesterday we went to pashpati(sp) which is a beautiful hindu temple. there were monkeeeeys! and we met a real sadhu. i could see cremation ceremonies from the top of the temple walls...
there are so many cultural differences that i'm finally getting used to. no toilets, just a "chaarpi" which is, essentially, a hole in the ground. no toilet paper. hindus would think toilet paper is dirty. instead we use water because it is pure. yeah so, that is... fun.
i eat dhaalbhaat (rice and veggies) for every meal. no fork or knife, just my hands. i don't even think about it anymore. except when my tummy says uuuuh... what's going on laura? haha. now more than anything i crave cold drinks (no fridge) and sweet things. i've never bought so much chocolate in my life!
everyone here is so friendly. last night we ate dinner with a village family and sang and danced on their rooftop. one girl i danced with, ramaila, was twenty years old and had a bhaai (younger brother) just like me... she said, "tapaai mero ramro saathi!" (you are my best friend) and wouldn't let go of my hands all night. i didn't know why i was getting all this attention. i almost wanted to cry just because she was so sweet.
children here are SO well behaved compared to american children. The family we are staying with right now has three kids: ranjun, ranjita, and sangita. they help us study our nepali (without teasing, of course) are always well mannered and speak english really well. they love all our "stuff." one day i turned around and ranjun was listening to my cd player, and ever since he won't go to bed without listening to erykah badu's "appletree" about five times.
sangita likes daft punk. she's pretty much the most adorable little girl ever. jeff is teaching her chess right now.
you become so close to these people so quickly. you call everyone your brother or sister and same-sex friends (even guys) walk hand in hand or with arms around each other on the street. and nobody will say "ooooh, you did this and this wrong, please do this instead," they just smile and tell you what a great person you are. it's nice except when you want to know if what you are doing in okay or innapropriate, because if it is innapropriate they most likely won't even tell you. i'm learning how to read into things non-verbally...
nobody thinks the elections will happen in november. it's not within the interest of any political party except the uml. the maoists are stalling as much as possible because they are quickly loosing the people's trust, but every party has to front that they have "commited" themselves to the elections because that is what all the people want... just some of the parties know that when the people do elect, they won't be electing them.
it rains at least twice a day. i haven't seen the sky in days. but i like it since it never rains in claremont. kathmandu valley really IS a valley. i'm surrounded by mountains and rice patties... everyday i wake up and wonder "where am i?" i wish you could all see this. it all seems so surreal.
all the students here have such different interests, which is great, beause we can share and trade knowlege. marky is from pomona and he is majoring in religious studies, so he fills me in on hinduism; roxy has the politics down, ziggy knows about shamanism and natural healing, kirsten is a bio major and wants to study nepal's diverse enviornments and species.
kathmandu itself is, in one word, crazy. they drive on the left side of the road (supposedly) and there are no traffic lights or stop signs. everyone just honks and yells and crownds the streets. from what i gather it wasn't like this fifteen years ago. and within five years everyone has gotten a cell phone. it's weird standing in a rice patty with a cow and hearing a cell phone ring.
kathmandu is crowded and dirty. the whole economy is purely based on tourism. i've seen westerners there but i imagine in the past there have been more. in the city people were western clothes and play western music... shops sell "hippie" gear to cater to the typical trekking/sherpa-loving tourist. kathmandu is NOT nepal. my village... is nepal. traditional nepal.
we have coke, we have pepsi, we have tv and internet, we have jeans, and we have avril lavigne here (they love avril for some strange reason) but we don't have good roads, we don't have jobs, we don't have higher education, and we don't have political say here.
i'll have to spend another time explaining gender differences...
"danyabad" means "thank you," but you never really use it. it translates to something like "i am eternally grateful." here, you have no need to thank someone, because what people do is just expected of them. dharma is how they live. there are so many things within hinduism that are practiced in everyday interractions that i can't begin to describe in words. marky bought a book called "one thousand names of vishnu" that i started reading yesterday... it describes the genuine, non-selfish nature of the people here. sometimes i don't know if it melts my heart or makes me feel uglier on the inside...
there is no doubt in my mind that i will learn so much about myself here. i already wish i hadn't brought as much as i did. if i want to be integrated into the culture i have to live like a nepali. i can't shower everyday. nepalese don't have access to neutrogena face wash. nepalese don't have so much "stuff." it's amazing how much they want to know about us as well. they don't understand why i don't like avril. oh well.
the ketis (girls) had punjabis tailored for us!! so i have one traditional outfit thus far. sometimes i can't tell if it's better or worse to wear it. either way, if you're white, you're a spectacle.
the kids love my camera and love getting their picture taken. that is always endless enjoyment.
one night the father of our house showed ziggy their family photos after she showed sangita hers. during this, sangita and i read my new book "tales of kathmandu" together. i know i'm going to love living with my host family and i can't wait. i also know it will be the most challenging thing. luckly we have been given classes on cultural differences, health, saftey, religion, history, etc. along with the hours of language... so i couldn't be more ready.
tomorrow i'll either take it easy and scrub my clothes or go on a short day hike in the foothills north of kathmandu.
i miss my family and friends so much. i wish there was a better way than words to express what i have been through in just ten days. just know i am happy and my heart goes out to you...
malaai kushi laagyo. namaste. love,
laura
classes are really effective... we are in a classroom with one or two other students and we rarely take notes, just repeat words and practice conversation with each other. literal translation into english is not advised. we're all suprised how much nepali we know already. everyday we wake up between 6 or 7 am, eat breakfast, have class at 9 till 12:30 or so, lunch, then a field trip or lecture, language review, dinner, and asleep by 10 or so. i've had ONE day of free time so far, but i have this afternoon off. it's busy but i like it. our langage teachers are great too: shovaji, soorjaji, sodhonaji, and sanjibji.
yesterday we went to pashpati(sp) which is a beautiful hindu temple. there were monkeeeeys! and we met a real sadhu. i could see cremation ceremonies from the top of the temple walls...
there are so many cultural differences that i'm finally getting used to. no toilets, just a "chaarpi" which is, essentially, a hole in the ground. no toilet paper. hindus would think toilet paper is dirty. instead we use water because it is pure. yeah so, that is... fun.
i eat dhaalbhaat (rice and veggies) for every meal. no fork or knife, just my hands. i don't even think about it anymore. except when my tummy says uuuuh... what's going on laura? haha. now more than anything i crave cold drinks (no fridge) and sweet things. i've never bought so much chocolate in my life!
everyone here is so friendly. last night we ate dinner with a village family and sang and danced on their rooftop. one girl i danced with, ramaila, was twenty years old and had a bhaai (younger brother) just like me... she said, "tapaai mero ramro saathi!" (you are my best friend) and wouldn't let go of my hands all night. i didn't know why i was getting all this attention. i almost wanted to cry just because she was so sweet.
children here are SO well behaved compared to american children. The family we are staying with right now has three kids: ranjun, ranjita, and sangita. they help us study our nepali (without teasing, of course) are always well mannered and speak english really well. they love all our "stuff." one day i turned around and ranjun was listening to my cd player, and ever since he won't go to bed without listening to erykah badu's "appletree" about five times.
sangita likes daft punk. she's pretty much the most adorable little girl ever. jeff is teaching her chess right now.
you become so close to these people so quickly. you call everyone your brother or sister and same-sex friends (even guys) walk hand in hand or with arms around each other on the street. and nobody will say "ooooh, you did this and this wrong, please do this instead," they just smile and tell you what a great person you are. it's nice except when you want to know if what you are doing in okay or innapropriate, because if it is innapropriate they most likely won't even tell you. i'm learning how to read into things non-verbally...
nobody thinks the elections will happen in november. it's not within the interest of any political party except the uml. the maoists are stalling as much as possible because they are quickly loosing the people's trust, but every party has to front that they have "commited" themselves to the elections because that is what all the people want... just some of the parties know that when the people do elect, they won't be electing them.
it rains at least twice a day. i haven't seen the sky in days. but i like it since it never rains in claremont. kathmandu valley really IS a valley. i'm surrounded by mountains and rice patties... everyday i wake up and wonder "where am i?" i wish you could all see this. it all seems so surreal.
all the students here have such different interests, which is great, beause we can share and trade knowlege. marky is from pomona and he is majoring in religious studies, so he fills me in on hinduism; roxy has the politics down, ziggy knows about shamanism and natural healing, kirsten is a bio major and wants to study nepal's diverse enviornments and species.
kathmandu itself is, in one word, crazy. they drive on the left side of the road (supposedly) and there are no traffic lights or stop signs. everyone just honks and yells and crownds the streets. from what i gather it wasn't like this fifteen years ago. and within five years everyone has gotten a cell phone. it's weird standing in a rice patty with a cow and hearing a cell phone ring.
kathmandu is crowded and dirty. the whole economy is purely based on tourism. i've seen westerners there but i imagine in the past there have been more. in the city people were western clothes and play western music... shops sell "hippie" gear to cater to the typical trekking/sherpa-loving tourist. kathmandu is NOT nepal. my village... is nepal. traditional nepal.
we have coke, we have pepsi, we have tv and internet, we have jeans, and we have avril lavigne here (they love avril for some strange reason) but we don't have good roads, we don't have jobs, we don't have higher education, and we don't have political say here.
i'll have to spend another time explaining gender differences...
"danyabad" means "thank you," but you never really use it. it translates to something like "i am eternally grateful." here, you have no need to thank someone, because what people do is just expected of them. dharma is how they live. there are so many things within hinduism that are practiced in everyday interractions that i can't begin to describe in words. marky bought a book called "one thousand names of vishnu" that i started reading yesterday... it describes the genuine, non-selfish nature of the people here. sometimes i don't know if it melts my heart or makes me feel uglier on the inside...
there is no doubt in my mind that i will learn so much about myself here. i already wish i hadn't brought as much as i did. if i want to be integrated into the culture i have to live like a nepali. i can't shower everyday. nepalese don't have access to neutrogena face wash. nepalese don't have so much "stuff." it's amazing how much they want to know about us as well. they don't understand why i don't like avril. oh well.
the ketis (girls) had punjabis tailored for us!! so i have one traditional outfit thus far. sometimes i can't tell if it's better or worse to wear it. either way, if you're white, you're a spectacle.
the kids love my camera and love getting their picture taken. that is always endless enjoyment.
one night the father of our house showed ziggy their family photos after she showed sangita hers. during this, sangita and i read my new book "tales of kathmandu" together. i know i'm going to love living with my host family and i can't wait. i also know it will be the most challenging thing. luckly we have been given classes on cultural differences, health, saftey, religion, history, etc. along with the hours of language... so i couldn't be more ready.
tomorrow i'll either take it easy and scrub my clothes or go on a short day hike in the foothills north of kathmandu.
i miss my family and friends so much. i wish there was a better way than words to express what i have been through in just ten days. just know i am happy and my heart goes out to you...
malaai kushi laagyo. namaste. love,
laura
Sunday, August 5, 2007
all your love is gone, so sing a lonely song
hello everyone,
so i started a blog. spread the word. who knows how often i'll be able to update it. who knows how many people will even read this anyways.
monday i'm flying from cleveland to jfk to bangkok, thailand. i'll spend the night there with another girl on the program (hopefully go out for dinner and see the city with her thai friend) then i fly to kathmandu the next day. nervous? yes. excited? even more so.
i have the doors stuck in my head
so i started a blog. spread the word. who knows how often i'll be able to update it. who knows how many people will even read this anyways.
monday i'm flying from cleveland to jfk to bangkok, thailand. i'll spend the night there with another girl on the program (hopefully go out for dinner and see the city with her thai friend) then i fly to kathmandu the next day. nervous? yes. excited? even more so.
i have the doors stuck in my head
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