My Journey to Nepal: 07/02/14

Buddhist Prayer Flags

Traditionally, Buddhist prayer flags can be found in the Himalayas Mountains, along rooftops, even embedded in the flora of a country. They are hung to bless the countryside, those that are living nearby, and serve many other purposes. They traditionally come in five colors, which represent the Five Elements: sky (blue), air/wind (white), fire (red), water (green), Earth (yellow). Tibetan Buddhists believe that once all of the elements have reached a balance, good health and harmony will follow. Although many believe that the flags carry prayers, that is a common misunderstanding. In fact, there are mantras written across the prayer flags and in addition to saying the mantras, prayers are offered up for those that hang the flags for lifelong blessings. The best time to hang the flags is in the morning, preferably when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing; therefore the wind can carry compassion and good will to all within its reach. After traveling through Buddhist communities, I noticed that some prayer flags looked brand new while others were old, tattered, and faded. Just as Buddhists have accepted the journey of life through aging, so the flags are treated the same. Alongside of old, faded flags will hang new ones. The old ones are not taken down, burned, or thrown away because of the sanctity of the mantras and symbols. Each colored flag has an image or a name of the four powerful animals, better known as "Four Dignities". Perhaps you can see them on various Buddhist flags, but they are the dragon, garuda, tiger, and snowlion. How colorful and beautiful!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

My first invite for tea...

A very kind and genuine teacher has invited me and a volunteer from Milan, Italy to her home for tea this afternoon. In Nepali culture, it is an ultimate gesture of kindness and hospitality to be invited into someone else's home. Tomorrow is also Irene's (Italian volunteer) last day in the schools before she departs for home on Sunday. Irene is a volunteer from EVS (European Volunteer Services), which is akin to the U.S.'s Fulbright program, so she has been in Nepal for 5 months with three other volunteers (one from Italy and two from Spain) and is very sad her journey has come to an end here in Nepal. She will venture next to Paris, France, where she will study for a two-year Master's degree in Human Rights and may begin one of her first courageous internships in the Middle East. I have worked with Irene in the classroom with my level 3s and she has been nothing but kind and caring. She is not a teacher, but has come to work in the orphanages, which are so plentiful here in Nepal, especially since the Maoist insurgency era. So not only has she touched my life and the children with which she has worked, but also Sangheeta's, who is very sad that she will be leaving soon.

Sangheeta is a teacher and teaches English at the 7th grade level amongst other courses and has been doing so for 25 years, exhibiting such care for children with very difficult home situations, mental anguish, embracing the innocence of young children. She has hosted Western volunteers before and embraces them as her own children, as she had done with us this very afternoon. We were invited for tea and she prepared a smorgasbord of food and drinks, finishing with hot tea. (Tato chia!)

We met her husband, who is also a teacher at the school down the road, her two daughters, her daughter's childhood friend (who is applying to study abroad in the U.S.) and her son. What a lovely family and her children have such a great sense of humor and zest for life!

They mentioned how everything is so much bigger in the. U.S., including the people, the food portions, the size of toothpaste!, the size of sodas, etc. and just how expensive the states are in general. They said when they visit the states, they are told that they look like malnourished children who have not eaten much in their lifetime. They said most Americans look older than they really are and it's so deceiving because of how large they are in size!

I couldn't help but agree with most of what they were saying and always wondered what impressions other cultures have had of America. However, and I'm not sure how much I believe this, they said I look much younger than I am and I don't look like many of the Americans they have seen. I'm pretty tall for a female and built kind of broad and don't think I look that young. My level 12 class concurred that I don't look OR act my age, but I'll just take that as a compliment of someone who embraces youth. That's what I'm going with anyway!

What a most enjoyable visit with Sangheeta's family and a time in which I've really enjoyed myself and the people around me. When you can let your guard down in another country, in a very different culture, you are able to just embrace the purity and sincerity of the human connection. What an incredible experience to feel, observe, and be a part of!

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The Book Bus has finally arrived!!

The Book Bus came and offered many different programs such as book reading, film presentations on climate change, art workshops focusing on the environment, and students were even taken outside of the school campus to collect ground, flowers, plants and learn the importance of them as well as how to plant flowers, etc. Students had such fun with the Book Bus and what it had to offer. Teachers became curious and excited about its programs as well! I hope they continue to bring the Book Bus to Godawari!

Mehendi Henna Art

Upon returning home from my adventures with Brittney and Samantha in Kathmandu on Saturday, Didi created her own designs on my arm and hand with Mehendi. Can you see the two peacocks she has incorporated amongst the flowers? After waiting about an hour for it to dry, she dabbed it with mixed lemon juice and sugar to help the ink absorb and come out darker. When that dries, she pulled off the crusted layer of the ink and rubbed the skin down with mustard oil. If I washed my hand and arm within that time frame, it would not come out very dark and it darkens over time. Upon arriving to school, many of my girls pulled on my hand and arm to tell me how beautiful the art was and how nice it looked! A young man in my level 12 told me it looked beautiful! This is the month for Mehendi. As Mehendi Henna art is a cultural component of India, its popularity continues to grow throughout Nepal. Mehendi is a type of plant found in India, rarely spotted in Nepal, which where the dye comes from. It has a nice, herbal scent, I think, and is completely painless. It is not permanent and can last around three weeks, dependent on how much your art has been exposed to water, and soap of course! After we do our trekking week, we'll return back to our host families before departure and Didi will do a final masterpiece on both arms and hands and possibly on the tops of my feet. I'm very excited!!

Care for a Mo mo??

Mo mos are very similar to pot stickers or dumplings back in the States and other international communities, except they are healthier and, I think, they taste so much better! Rather than dipping them in some sort of soy sauce, they are accompanied by achar, which is spooned out on the side of your plate. Ama asked how many I wanted for dinner and, knowing that five would not be an acceptable number, I replied 'das!', which means 10. When I looked at my plate, Ama had given me 12 and later 4 more, so, for dinner, I had 16 mo mos. I think that is the most I've eaten in one sitting since I've been here! Oh my goodness! Another cool part about today is the fact that I've been invited into the kitchen to help prepare the meal, which exhibits a true acceptance within the family. I was very elated I could participate in this rare meal preparation. Kabita and her mother worked all day long preparing to serve mo mos. See some of the materials used, above, showing some of the ingredients and tools.

My very first Mo mo!

I can't imagine how many Heather, Kabita, Ama, and I made, but when one makes mo mos, there is no dhal bhat for the evening and no other snacks. You just gorge yourself on tasty mo mos, plain or dipped in achar sauce, which is made up of seasonings, spices, chopped garlic, chile peppers, tomatoes, etc. to give it such a flavorful taste! Perhaps Heather and I each consumed close to 30 mo mos between snack time and dinner time and then we sat around with our gorged bellies, feeling quite lethargic!

Tradition doesn't die very easily...

As I've just read about this superstitious and very traditional component of Nepalese communities, I've witnessed it first- hand with Didi, my host sister. For four days, she must avoid entering the kitchen, almost spending her four days in hibernation in her bedroom or outside, washing her dishes outside as she is seen as impure and can inflict bad luck and misfortune on those she touches or serves food. When it's time for her to eat, my Ama, her mother, will place a small bowl of plain rice on the floor and Didi would pick it up and take it to her room. Even if it was a cup of tea, it must be placed on the floor first before Didi can pick it up. This way, there is no direct contact between the 'impure' and the 'pure', taking no risk of a superstitious, bad omen to transpire on any of the family members.

As you may read in the article below, many of the rural communities send these women outside of the house to spend the next four days, which proves to be very dangerous and unhealthy for that female. However, Didi was not sent outside, but spent most of the day in her bedroom.

Even some of the WorldTeach volunteers experienced this type of ostracism during their stay with their host families and, being so culturally different, felt as if they'd done something wrong, enduring what our country teaches as a very normal bodily response for females, a sign of fertility. An extreme contrast in culture, but one that is still very much alive here in Nepal, whether in the city or in the countryside.

The culprit!!

Do see how feisty he is? He's the village menace and just arrived about 10 days ago with two of his brothers- the new gang of Toukhel, Godawari. Be careful! He plays all day long, meows when he is hungry for chicken and eggs, and may follow you a third of the way to school before returning to his turf! I have been very careful not to touch any of the jungle plants here as my knowledge of them is very limited, however I woke up on Thursday with poison ivy on my finger and I think I narrowed it down to this conniving trouble-maker! Just kidding- he's very sweet and cute and we may name him today!!

Load-Shedding.

Load shedding is something I've experienced in Lesotho, Africa, which I'm also experiencing in Nepal. However, it was much more predictable in Lesotho because load shedding occurred at nighttime and ended around 06:30 in the morning. Load shedding in Nepal is dependent on the district and the times are inconsistent throughout the day and evening. Sometimes I wonder if load shedding in Godawri corresponds with the most popular competitions of the World Cup. What is load shedding? Load shedding is the solution for a country that cannot afford or supply sufficient electricity and power to all of its country's demands at one time. So, while some districts have power, others do not and it sort of alternates and shifts the power throughout the country at different times. What also sets Nepal back in their abilities to provide power is that some of the power and electricity must be transferred to India to help them meet their needs, leaving the Nepalese with less to work with. I adjust pretty quickly to power outages, but wonder how many 1st world citizens could cope, being so dependent on technology, the Internet, power, light, etc. So, to cope, Nepal arranges their schedules around the power. What they do when it's in their homes and what they can do when it's out. There is no frantic outcry of "what shall we do!!!!", but rather they conduct their lives as if it never existed before and have no need for it.

Do you have 15-25 Rupees? Care to cram?

So the micro-bus is quite common, crowded, and can be the site of pick-pockets in Nepal. Not only do you hear their obnoxious horns telling you to get off the road, but they can be quite dangerous even if you think you're far enough away! Didi told us last night that if a micro-bus hits a pedestrian and only injures them, they may just back up and run the person over to kill them for one reason only. It's not that they have a vengeance against the pedestrians; they don't exhibit road rage; it simply comes down to money. You see, if the driver hit someone and only injured them, they would have a very unaffordable price to pay to cover therapy, rehab, surgery, hospital costs, etc. Whereas if they killed the person in the accident, there is one set price to pay for the loss of that person's life. Last Thursday, when we traveled to Dhulikhel, our bus had to pull over because the road was closed off and the drivers went on strike. A truck struck a motorbike and killed the man. After the man is sent to the hospital, and he is identified, if he was killed in his own village, the community and family protest (sometimes for days) to bargain an adequate amount to compensate for the death of that individual and the roads remain closed until the price is settled. The truck driver is always considered guilty no matter the scenario and is arrested and imprisoned. It could be for 10 years, but many are released much earlier, sometimes as soon as 2 days. If the person who lost their life was not killed in the village to which they belonged, the roads will open shortly after and the protests rarely occur. On Friday, I will need to figure out the bus system to get into Kathmandu for our weekly meeting, which is about an hour away from me. My Dai has been helpful already and may bring me home from Kathmandu when he closes his shop. I am completely enamored by my host family's kindness and they really exhibit a love and concern for our well-being.

Our first departure and my first cup of Nepali tea!

So the WorldTeach volunteers and Ganga-ji have, essentially, become one big family, all excited (and nervous) about our roles to serve here in Nepal. Today, after many long, intense sessions and always on the go, it was time to say goodbye and new our new host families! We are the families' new daughters, and son, respectively known as Chhori and Chhoro. For a moment, I felt homesick from my family away from my family and I missed them before they even left. Once host families picked them up at the hotel, it was official and there was a void in my heart. However, that void continues to be replaced and filled by the genuine spirit of Ganga-ji's home, family, and the sincere welcoming of my host family. The view from where I am staying is a paradise and such a serene utopia that I have to question whether this is real or whether I am dreaming...again! Upon arriving, my host Didi (elder sister) and Ama (elder mother) have welcomed me with a signature cup of tea after showing me my room and allowing me time to settle down. I've heard that another American is staying here, Heather, who works with a children's place nearby. This is her second summer staying here with this host family, so I have much to learn and always be thankful for. Today is the first day of monsoon season and, so, from my room, I see lush green trees, bushes, plants, and all I can hear is the pitter-patter, dripping of the rain, hearing it softly falling in the distance with birds elated at the coming of the rain and singing their finest songs. I feel so welcomed here and I look forward to the beginning of my next journey in the schools!

U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu.

This protocol went much smoother than when I went to the U.S. Embassy in Lesotho, Africa. After having a meeting already scheduled with Ambassador Sara Bolton, two of us gave our passports,a long with our Nepali leader's Nepali passport for the first checkpoint of security. Following, two at a time, the guards wiped a security sheet that detects foreign powders and then we had to claim anything electronic that could be disturbed by the scanners. We were then exposed to the wand, front and back, and when that was clear, we could enter the next checkpoint in the main entrance where we had to pull out flash drives and put everything in a container and send it through the scanner. Then we stepped through another security point and we were allowed to take our notebook and pen and had to leave our bags behind with a token that would claim our bag upon our departure. From there, we were allowed to exit the main entrance into the beautiful gardens within the Embassy gates, ask guards where we could find the Library and continue asking guards until we were at the door of the library where you had to be checked in by another guard. Upon arriving in the Library, there were many young Nepali men studying SATs, studying for other exams that is administered through the Fulbright program that has a deep network within Nepal.

Lalitpur District, Nepal

Update on Mt. Everest

You may have heard about the tragic events that have occurred on Mt. Everest on April 18th, 2014. This has led to mourning the deaths of fallen Sherpas, cancelled climbs to summit this topographical giant, concerns for the upcoming climbing season as more than 400 Sherpas have banded together and quit, and rising challenges to government compensation allocated to the Sherpas' families, which pales in no comparison to the multi-million dollar industry. Take a closer look. Tell me; where do you stand on this issue in Nepal?