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Friday, August 1, 2008
Saying goodbye
We had to say our goodbyes this past week to both the children’s home and CBR. We had so much fun in the children’s home, and grew to know them so well. We recorded two Nepali songs with them on Garage Band and will soon give them a CD of their music! Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things we had to do. We arrived at Shining Stars at 7 am in the morning when the children were eating daal/bhaat and getting ready to go to school. They all knew it was our last day, and so many of them wrote us personal letters telling us how much they were going to miss us and asking us not to forget them – these are probably the best souveniers that we will be bringing back with us. Before they left for school, all 31 children, the two didis, and three tutors lined up and placed tikas on our foreheads. Tikas are red powder mixed with a little bit of water, and people place this on someone’s forehead as a symbol of a Hindu blessing and for good luck in the future. You can probably imagine what our foreheads looked like after this ceremony – our heads were covered in little read dots.
After we walked the Shining Stars children to school, we went to CBR to say our final goodbyes. Unfortunately, there were only 2 children at the center because the jeep had no petrol (how shocking...). The teacher actually came up with her own schedule and used the picture communication symbols with the children. The kids are really catching on to this method of communication very quickly, as are the other didis. It was so nice to see our efforts sticking as we left the center. We said our goodbyes, but we were very upset that most of the children were not there.
We went back to our host family’s house, had our final daal/bhaat meal, and said our goodbyes to our family. It was a very traditional goodbye – they put tikas on our foreheads and leis of fresh purple flowers around our necks. It was a really meaningful goodbye, and we are definitely going to miss them – even our little bahini.
We arrived in Thamel around 4:30 pm, packed our bags, and left for Chitwan National Park at 6:15 am the next morning. The bus ride was 7 hours long, but it was absolutely beautiful. We went through the mountains and drove alongside the river – breathtaking views. When we got to Chitwan, we had a couple of hours to unwind, had lunch, and went for a nice jungle walk to the edge of the river where we watched the sun set. That evening, we went to a cultural dance show where they performed 5 or 6 indigenous dances of the Tharu people who live in the area. It was hilarious – the host had a very annoying Nepali/British accent and the dances were very interesting.
The next morning, we all got into a dugout canoe and went down the river. We were fortunate enough to see a rhino bathing in the river right in front of the canoe. Afterwards, we got to bath elephants! This was the most exciting part about the whole trip. We all hoped onto elephants (three of us on one) and went down to the river. We had no idea what to expect, but before we knew it, the elephants were throwing us off of their backs and into the water! We did not expect to be on TOP of the elephants during their bath, but it was exhilarating and really fun. We got to climb on their trunks and they would swing us up onto their backs. Later that afternoon we went on a safari on elephant backs. We got to see numerous rhinos, deer, and cool bird species. It was a lot of fun, but we are sore as if we rode horses! We got to drive the elephants by sitting on their necks and kicking behind their ears to signal which way they should go. Our group had a lot of fun!
After we walked the Shining Stars children to school, we went to CBR to say our final goodbyes. Unfortunately, there were only 2 children at the center because the jeep had no petrol (how shocking...). The teacher actually came up with her own schedule and used the picture communication symbols with the children. The kids are really catching on to this method of communication very quickly, as are the other didis. It was so nice to see our efforts sticking as we left the center. We said our goodbyes, but we were very upset that most of the children were not there.
We went back to our host family’s house, had our final daal/bhaat meal, and said our goodbyes to our family. It was a very traditional goodbye – they put tikas on our foreheads and leis of fresh purple flowers around our necks. It was a really meaningful goodbye, and we are definitely going to miss them – even our little bahini.
We arrived in Thamel around 4:30 pm, packed our bags, and left for Chitwan National Park at 6:15 am the next morning. The bus ride was 7 hours long, but it was absolutely beautiful. We went through the mountains and drove alongside the river – breathtaking views. When we got to Chitwan, we had a couple of hours to unwind, had lunch, and went for a nice jungle walk to the edge of the river where we watched the sun set. That evening, we went to a cultural dance show where they performed 5 or 6 indigenous dances of the Tharu people who live in the area. It was hilarious – the host had a very annoying Nepali/British accent and the dances were very interesting.
The next morning, we all got into a dugout canoe and went down the river. We were fortunate enough to see a rhino bathing in the river right in front of the canoe. Afterwards, we got to bath elephants! This was the most exciting part about the whole trip. We all hoped onto elephants (three of us on one) and went down to the river. We had no idea what to expect, but before we knew it, the elephants were throwing us off of their backs and into the water! We did not expect to be on TOP of the elephants during their bath, but it was exhilarating and really fun. We got to climb on their trunks and they would swing us up onto their backs. Later that afternoon we went on a safari on elephant backs. We got to see numerous rhinos, deer, and cool bird species. It was a lot of fun, but we are sore as if we rode horses! We got to drive the elephants by sitting on their necks and kicking behind their ears to signal which way they should go. Our group had a lot of fun!
Monday, July 28, 2008
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