Saturday, July 5, 2008
Charpi, dinner by headlamp, leeches... village life in a nutshell
We just spent 3 days of training in the most spectacular setting, a village nested in its own valley just south of Kathmandu. Everywhere you could look you saw either rice patties or mountains. The houses were nestled in the sides of the mountains and the rice patties occupied the entire valley in the middle. Rice patties are basically little ponds of water with the rice plants growing out of them. The women in the village work out in the rice patties all day.
Our family was soooo nice. They understood our western eating capacities, i.e. the fact that we don’t eat a mountain of rice for dinner like Nepalis do. Every meal from now on is called Dhaal Bhaat, rice and lentil soup, with some other vegetable. Nepalis eat that for every meal their entire lives. For each meal they eat HUGE amounts of rice, yet they are surprisingly all very small people.
The children there were so beautiful. They were so much fun and so happy. Their lives were so simple, but they knew nothing different! The family’s kitchen consisted of the floor, a campfire, and metal plates and tools for cooking, yet they were not poor, it was just their way of life! They had everything they needed, just very different compared to our standards.
The bathrooms are called “charpi”s. They are an outhouse building with literally a hole in the ground in which you cannot place any paper. You do not use toilet paper, or if you do you have to take it with you yourself (we call the envelopes that shitvelopes). They have buckets of water in the charpis and that is how they do it.
There was no running water in the houses. There are public taps along the village where the families fill up buckets of water and bring them back to their houses. The house we stayed in had a Gatorade-like cooler/dispenser where all the family’s water came from. We used this cooler for washing dishes, our faces, our feet, laundry, and everything else. It was really nice staying there, and our family was so happy that we hardly missed our western comforts!
Our family was soooo nice. They understood our western eating capacities, i.e. the fact that we don’t eat a mountain of rice for dinner like Nepalis do. Every meal from now on is called Dhaal Bhaat, rice and lentil soup, with some other vegetable. Nepalis eat that for every meal their entire lives. For each meal they eat HUGE amounts of rice, yet they are surprisingly all very small people.
The children there were so beautiful. They were so much fun and so happy. Their lives were so simple, but they knew nothing different! The family’s kitchen consisted of the floor, a campfire, and metal plates and tools for cooking, yet they were not poor, it was just their way of life! They had everything they needed, just very different compared to our standards.
The bathrooms are called “charpi”s. They are an outhouse building with literally a hole in the ground in which you cannot place any paper. You do not use toilet paper, or if you do you have to take it with you yourself (we call the envelopes that shitvelopes). They have buckets of water in the charpis and that is how they do it.
There was no running water in the houses. There are public taps along the village where the families fill up buckets of water and bring them back to their houses. The house we stayed in had a Gatorade-like cooler/dispenser where all the family’s water came from. We used this cooler for washing dishes, our faces, our feet, laundry, and everything else. It was really nice staying there, and our family was so happy that we hardly missed our western comforts!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
shower by candlelight
Nepal is absolutely amazing! Arriving to the airport was just spectacular... gorgeous views of mountains and trees, everything is so green. The airport was very homey, rather than the modern style, it had wooden carvings and decorations all over. The customs people were so friendly, very quick, and an overall great first impression of Nepal!
We met another VSN volunteer at the airport and got taken to the hotel. Even though our manual warned us not to tip people who help us with the luggage, Rachna and Ryan, another volunteer with us, got suckered into giving twenty U.S. dollars each to people who pushed their luggage carts! That’s more money than they’d probably see in an entire month. Jessi refused to give in and gave twenty Indian rupees (that’s approximately 50 cents in American dollars). Let’s say we all are much wiser now.
The first night we went out to a huge dinner with everyone who volunteered past, present, and future with volunteers services Nepal, (VSN). It was on the top of a restaurant, really cool and gorgeous. The people were very interesting and extremely inviting. We heard about everything from fun nights out to sick nights in bed.
Yesterday morning, July 1, we started our training. The VSN office is very close to our hotel. It is spacious with western bathrooms, and the staff are really warm and approachable. We had our first Daal Bhatt, which is rice with lentil soup on top, the meal we will be having twice a day every day for the next month! It’s really not that bad. p.s., you eat it with your hands and sit on the ground. No silverware!
We had the afternoon off, so we went with a group of 8 volunteers and explored around Kathmandu. We saw “the monkey temple,” a huge Buddhist temple on the top of a mountain. We had to climb up hundreds of stairs after walking curvy dirt roads up the side of the hill. There were monkeys the whole way up, so it held its name well! At the very top were hundreds of butter candles. It was a celebration of the cleaning of the Buddhist temple, so lots of people were gathered in festive wear eating food and doing the rituals. There were spectacular prayer wheels and prayer flags everywhere you looked.
When we returned to the hotel, it was around 7, the time when the power goes out. Therefore, we showered by candlelight!
We had a really fun night going out to dinner and then hookah bar with the other volunteers. We are having so much fun with the people and seeing all of the awesome sights of Kathmandu.
Tomorrow, we leave for the training village, so we won’t be back to internet for at least 3 to four more days. Supposedly our cell phones will work, so we shall see!
Namaste!
We met another VSN volunteer at the airport and got taken to the hotel. Even though our manual warned us not to tip people who help us with the luggage, Rachna and Ryan, another volunteer with us, got suckered into giving twenty U.S. dollars each to people who pushed their luggage carts! That’s more money than they’d probably see in an entire month. Jessi refused to give in and gave twenty Indian rupees (that’s approximately 50 cents in American dollars). Let’s say we all are much wiser now.
The first night we went out to a huge dinner with everyone who volunteered past, present, and future with volunteers services Nepal, (VSN). It was on the top of a restaurant, really cool and gorgeous. The people were very interesting and extremely inviting. We heard about everything from fun nights out to sick nights in bed.
Yesterday morning, July 1, we started our training. The VSN office is very close to our hotel. It is spacious with western bathrooms, and the staff are really warm and approachable. We had our first Daal Bhatt, which is rice with lentil soup on top, the meal we will be having twice a day every day for the next month! It’s really not that bad. p.s., you eat it with your hands and sit on the ground. No silverware!
We had the afternoon off, so we went with a group of 8 volunteers and explored around Kathmandu. We saw “the monkey temple,” a huge Buddhist temple on the top of a mountain. We had to climb up hundreds of stairs after walking curvy dirt roads up the side of the hill. There were monkeys the whole way up, so it held its name well! At the very top were hundreds of butter candles. It was a celebration of the cleaning of the Buddhist temple, so lots of people were gathered in festive wear eating food and doing the rituals. There were spectacular prayer wheels and prayer flags everywhere you looked.
When we returned to the hotel, it was around 7, the time when the power goes out. Therefore, we showered by candlelight!
We had a really fun night going out to dinner and then hookah bar with the other volunteers. We are having so much fun with the people and seeing all of the awesome sights of Kathmandu.
Tomorrow, we leave for the training village, so we won’t be back to internet for at least 3 to four more days. Supposedly our cell phones will work, so we shall see!
Namaste!
leaving india
India Blog 4
here are some funny litttle things from India:
· Honk OK please - a sign on many trucks
· “I love you India?” ~A woman, first time meeting Jessi on the street by Ba’s house, attempting to ask Jessi if she liked India.
· Ba trying to understand Jessi’s sunburn, “It will go away when she goes into the cold, right?” HAHA
· Shopping bopping
· Taking pictures - very funny hand motion
here are some funny litttle things from India:
· Honk OK please - a sign on many trucks
· “I love you India?” ~A woman, first time meeting Jessi on the street by Ba’s house, attempting to ask Jessi if she liked India.
· Ba trying to understand Jessi’s sunburn, “It will go away when she goes into the cold, right?” HAHA
· Shopping bopping
· Taking pictures - very funny hand motion
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