Heat, Heat, GORGEOUS Heat!

Okay, so at the beginning of every blog entry I think I will make it a tradition that I talk about the weather haha... I mean really, 40 degrees with no air conditioning, no beach, and now no stream to swim in.

In my last blog I showed a picture of the stream we swim in which is two minutes from our home. After writing my last blog I went right home and said to Sanjiv, "Right, lets go swimming, I'm frikken melting!'  I had been thinking all day about that damn stream. Well, Sanjiv tells me that we no longer can swim there, and not even the locals are swimming there now. Apparently, the day we were swimming there, a crocodile showed up and now it is a no go zone! :-( How unlucky am I? And Sanjiv is adament that we will not be swimming there, no budging.

But wait, there's more. Also on this day the two wells that we have for water were BOTH broken! So no water either. Sanjiv's grandfather took the parts of the wells by bike to a local town and that evening we had water again but was torture. Now the wells are fixed when I got home from school today I was straight there pumping it then ducking under the cooool water, bliss!

My day at school was good today. I taught Grade 1 so children aged 6 years old. When I was asked if I would teach them the teachers were laughing and said they hoped I knew sign language. I wasn't so bad though. I had them for four lessons and did English, Maths, and Science with them. Teaching them subtraction was interesting. I had say 4 children stood at the front of the class, then would push one away and say '4 boys - 1 boy equals?' They loved it. But am shattered now. Trying to think of ways to communicate for 4 lessons used a lot of brain cells!

Eekk best get home before dinner is ready. Ohhhh guess what!? We have mango tree in our backyard! How awesome eh? They aren't ready yet but hope they are soon!! And a short bike ride away there is a lychee tree. Had one of the little boys with a stick hitting them down so I could eat them Nom nom...

Dal bhat time! xo

Teaching at Annapurna Higher Secondary School

Well....

It has now been a week in Padampokhari, and a month in Nepal. 

Where to start for the past week? Have I already mentioned how hot it is? Yes? It is now hotter. In fact, today it is 40 degrees. It is incredible how much one can sweat. Even while teaching I literally have sweat dripping down my neck! 

Teaching at Annapurna Higher Secondary School
The first few days of teaching has been a mix of highs and lows. I did not spend days with a teacher learning what to do, or learning about how things work. I was shown to the classes and introduced before being left to it.

The first class? A class of 62 12-13 year old students from Grade 8 jammed into a small class with me there to teach. Luckily, on the first day I had Nina (volunteer from Chicago, USA) join me as my assistant teacher as she could not teach at her school yet. The entire day was us shown to large classes ranging from 30 - 60 students, and then chaos.

See I am teaching at a government school and the discipline of the students is an issue. And I had heard from other volunteers that in government schools violence is used to discipline the children. Something that I am not comfortable enforcing myself. I have not yet witnessed this at Annapurna HSS. 

But at the end of the day I am a substitute teacher to them. Why listen to me?

So the goal of the day (for me anyway) was simply to shut the kids up and let them know who I was and what I expected of them. I know it sounds bad 'shut the kids up' but have you tried to teach 60 kids in a tiny classroom? 

And they really did try everything. Half the class was doing work from other classes like Nepali or Mathematics, a lot of these books were collected and kept up front - around 15 books from most classes. 

They all tried to be excused to use the bathroom or refill their drink bottles. I was having none of that, they were told they could do that after my class. 

Students who were blatantly not listening or misbehaving would be asked to stand in front of the class and read a passage from their English textbooks. Usually the naughtiest of the children really struggled to read basic English so after being humiliated they would soon behave.

My name and 'Miss' or 'Madam' were being yelled all over the place. I am teaching them to put their hands up if they want my attention but they are still learning this. 

Having to be so tough on the children was something I knew I had to do to be able to teach them anything and not be walked all over. It is bloody hard work but after only 3 days teaching I am getting somewhere with many of the classes.

I have two favourite classes. The first is Grade 5 (9-10 year olds) who I have taught many times. When I want them to be quiet I fold my arms and they copy. If they do this quickly and quietly I then touch my head, clap my hands, etc and make a game out of it. Was hilarious when I was doing this and did 'spirit fingers' next to my ears and all the children copied then immediately started singing Baa Baa Black Sheep! 

They also love playing Pictionary on the whiteboard. They are super competitive! But again, we only play this if they have worked well during the lesson.

My other favourite class is one of the Grade 10 classes (16-17 year olds). They are very smart and I have not had any discipline issues with them at all. When I told them about myself and that I had a 16 year old sister Mikaela they wanted to know all about her. With just a few classes with me they are understanding me better, and we are able to have good class discussions. 

There is A LOT of help needing here in the Chitwan area. The students do a lot of copying of answers rather than creating their own answers. I will ask a student a question about a passage we have read and they will stand up and read the relevant paragraph word for word. They don't know how to think in English. My goal while I am here is to have an improvement in this. I only have a month but one can dream right? Haha

I am so SO happy that I ended up here teaching. We had a new volunteer arrive this week from an orphanage in Kathmandu. She came because she wasn't needed a whole lot in the orphanage. Also another girl will come next week from as orphanage in Pohkara because she feels she is not needed. 

Now it is just a matter of how much can I squeeze into their brains before I leave! 

Other school highlights:

• Every school day at 1:30pm I join the teachers for day snacks. Not really sure how to describe the food as I have no idea what it is! One day was like flattened, dried rice with a curried fruit which is called Jack Fruit? 
• When I teach in the first period the students stand and sing the Nepali anthem. Not all classes do this but when I am teaching I have them all do so.
• On entering a classroom I have the children stand and say good morning before letting them sit. Love the POWER! Haha... But actually this helps with the control of the classroom from the start. 
• On my second day teaching it was bucketing down rain. All the other volunteers didn't go to school as it was too wet. Silly me, I decided I would go. I spent the first two periods drying off under a fan. On the bright side I made a lot of students and teachers laugh that day when I rocked in!

 So that is a summary of my first three days at school. The rest of the week the school was off for teachers exams so I went to Chitwan National Park. More about that in another blog post (this blogging takes a lot of work!!!).

Oh and do excuse how this is written. I have got very little sleep in the past week due to the heat. So am exhausted!!

A few pictures from family life in this quiet wee village...

 

Boys will be boys. The boys playing with the dead snake that caused havoc one morning. Most of the village were in a backyard while Pinto tried to catch him!

Aama sat (she is rarely sitting still) in the kitchen and dining area. No idea how she cooks for all of us with such little bench space!

The street we live on. Behind the house on the left is where we go for samosas, momos, and other snacks. Suppose it is like a cafe, except it is just a table outside a neighbour's house. Love it as they cook on a fire next to us.

The stream we swim in! Water snakes def don't stop you jumping in with this heat. Although I did a bomb in and hit my butt on a big rock, ouch! My butt is already sore enough from the bike ride to and from school :(

Pinto! Pinto was the one who discovered the snake. Even got bitten by the snake (but okay now)

Getting some water from the well to do some hand washing. I'm looking happy in this pic but I HATE washing my clothes with a passion. Takes SOOOOO loooonng!

Arrived in a wee village surrouned by rice fields...

So I have arrived in my village and first I must say... it is HOT!! Trying to get used to constantly dripping in sweat. And this village really is away from everything. It is over two hours to get to the Chitwan National Park and about an hour to get to a town. Although a ten minute walk from our home is this wee internet cafe which sells cold drinks. Cold Fanta Mmmmmmm...

So anywho, I am living with 3 other volunteers with Sanjiv and his mother Rada. The home is gorgeous and surrounded by rice fields. Down the road is a river you can swim in. The Canadian volunteers who leave tomorrow have told us they haven't swum because of water snakes in there, but I will say now that is def not going to stop me! Too hot to care I think! Oh and snakes are also about. Today when I was heading to my room one was wrapped round my shoes so John (Volunteer from UK) and I swept him out with brushes (made of wheat I think?). Okay I keep losing track... back to yesterday...

So after arriving, playing some cards and relaxing, Sanjiv grabbed a motorbike from the neighbours (his Aunty) and I jumped on the back so we could head to my school.
My school is Annapurna Higher Secondary School (I think, will have to check that hehe). There are 500 children at the school from the age of 3 years old to 18. I met the English teacher there, and also A LOT of the other teachers too. They all have varying levels of English - hopefully something I can help to improve in the very short time of a month.

Oh and cannot believe it when one of the mathematics teachers tells me that his son is studying in Tauranga!! Will have to find out where but did tell him I live near there so I think when I get back I will definitely have to catch up with him.

So I am at the school just as it has finished and I am shown the classes which are like what I imagine my grandparents to have had. Except the one exception which is the white board rather than blackboard. All that is in the class are the chairs and seats (which are wooden and connected) and then the white board with a platform for the teacher. there is also on of those stands that a conductor uses in an orchestra.

Then English teacher explained to me that the children don't move classes for their subjects, the teachers move to the students (damn!). And he also discussed how much the children are struggling with English, Maths, and Science. And in particular, English because the town is so remote and there are not a lot of opportunities to practice it. He did detail ways they are trying to improve results but I will go into detail another time when I know more.

After school I was chatting with the head teacher who has been teaching there for over 30 years and he said something to me in Nepali but I heard the word chiya which means tea and said 'Yes, please!' So I had tea with some of the teachers before heading back home. Oh and this tea is yuuuummmy! Is a milk tea but here they put lot of sugar in it hehe... Oh and the teachers paid for my tea too, they are lovely and welcoming.

They also asked a lot of questions about New Zealand. They don't know a lot and I had to show them on a map but they do know Sir Edmund Hillary is from NZ!! The head teacher said he is very well respected here.

My day is going to sort of be like this:

6-6:30am Go to village school. Bike to a local village to a slab of concrete where village children will come to have any extra help with their English or other school work. Usually an hour long.

8:30-9am Breakfast time which is Dal Baat (Curried veges, rice, lentil soup, spinach, and if we are lucky egg) Oh and eaten with our right hand - there is a technique and I have got it sussed! Although by the time I leave here my right hand will be yellow in colour!

10am School starts. So bike there for 25 minutes and the next I am not sure of...

4:10pm School ends. Possibly tea (chiya) with the teachers or home to chill out with the other volunteers.

8pm Dinner which is Dal Bhat.

Then bedtime and repeat! This is 6 days a week with Saturday being the day off. So I will be shattered but I'm lucky to have a lovely family I am living with. Rada is soooo sweet and we call her Aama (mother in Nepali). On Mothers Day here the volunteers brought her a vacuum cleaner and today was the first time she used it. You should have seen her grin! Was also very cute watching her understand how it works and John showing her how to use it. She cooks for us and only speaks Nepali but I know enough now to get bye. Especially when it comes to dinner and breakfast. Ali ali means 'a little' and I make sure I say it before she serves mine up! Last night though we all ate lots and had seconds and I don't think she could have been happier. She was whipping around us all topping up whatever we needed.

And the village is small but friendly. I am getting to know the local children and a few of the Aunties and Uncles about the place. Including the Uncle who owns the local liquor/convenient store, which is where we visited last night while the power was out.

Oh and am a little gutted because  I asked Sanjiv if rhinos came to the village and he said in the winter you would have the odd one walking through the village!! Obviously, not in the summer so may have to come back one day in the winter til one waltzes past! Hehe...

Today I have also been trying to prepare for my classes but there really isn't much you can do. I have been told to expect the first week to be bloody hard. And the kids treat you like a substitute teacher so I am got to make sure I control the room from the get go. Of course, I am nervous but am sure I can contribute in some way over the next month.

Anywho, gotta go! Damn hot and have drunk all my fanta... looking forward to a cold shower when I get home!

Wish me luck for tomorrow! Maybe having my own classes and getting thrown into it is the best way to become awesome! Haha ;-)

There were tears... but everything happens for a reason!

I have no idea where to start with this as I have not been able to write about my orientation or the past weeks so far but I will try. As I have mentioned before, I never knew where I would be working in the orphanage as it would depend on where we are needed. But we did get to put our preference and mine was Pokhara. 

Well in my group here at orientation there are 20 of us from all over the world and the majority working at orphanages, although one doctor and one teacher. Now the majority of volunteers put their preference as Pokhara. Mix this with the Nepalese people's love of pleasing people and you will start to understand my dilemma today.

Over the past days during orientation (which I will have to talk about in another blog when I have time!) they have been talking to us about the orphanages and trying to match us up with the right place. 

Today we found out our placements (although we were told a few details yesterday) and officially given the slip with all the details. So mine was in Pokhara at an orphanage with 9 children and 3 volunteers in total. Compare this to another orphanage there with 60 children and 4 volunteers. Yes, you are probably thinking like me errr.... too many volunteers? So I turned to the coordinator and asked why there would be three volunteers for 9 children, surely one would do? His face gave me my answer, and he explained that everyone in the group wanted to go to Pohkara. I politely declined to working in this orphanage and explained that I wanted to work where I was needed. 

And so he asked,"Would you teach?" 

Now this is the reason for the tears... for the past 6 months I have known I would go to Nepal and work at an orphanage. But I have since realised it really doesn't matter whether I am teaching or working in an orphanage. I will still be working with children and getting to know the Nepali culture.

As it turns out in Chitwan they are very much in need of teachers at the moment. They were very upset when they heard that from our group there were only 2 teachers going to Chitwan. Chitwan is very, very hot at this time of year as it is in the lowlands. And the village that requires the teachers is an hour by bus from the city of Chitwan. The name of the village is Padhampokhar When it comes to facilities in the village, they are very limited (I have been to the shop and stocked up on chocolate!). Just now one of the coordinators has just come to tell me I will be on a bus at 6:30am tomorrow rather than leave on Saturday. I start teaching on Sunday. He also asked me to teach the teachers as much as possible too as it will make a world of difference to the school.

Oh, and he also said to me that because it is so hot at this time of year, the rhinos, snakes, etc shouldn't come into the village. He said it is usually just in the winter that the animals wander from the jungle...... haha

And it has been lovely because I have had different people from Hope and Home come to me and thank me for going to Chitwan. They have also said to please tell them if the heat gets too much, that even a week there will be incredible help so only do what I can handle. Errr.... challenge accepted!

So now I am getting excited....

 Oh and apparently the children in the school range from 3 years old to 16 years old. The age I teach we are not sure yet. And I will need to bike for half an hour to get to the school initially, but this could change during my placement. And I think that is everything I know so far. 

I have been at an incredible low today, feeling like I was letting everyone down by not working at an orphanage but now I see how silly that was. Everything happens for a reason, and today has definitely shown me that I can be flexible...

Oh and one other thing... a lot of people probably know this by now, but I have been planning that next year I will do a Diploma in Teaching and start a career as a primary school teacher. I brought a book with me to read on my down time at the orphanage with the title: The Primary School Teacher's Guide to Teaching Grammar & Punctuation. 

Funny eh?

Well I have just finished a chunky white chocolate Kit Kat and another storm has begun (the path outside this guesthouse has become a river hehe) so maybe it is time I go pack my bag and start to prepare for the 8 hour bus ride tomorrow. 

I really want to write about the last few days which have been incredible including the scariest bus ride of my life (think cliffs and slippery mud), the most beautiful remote village and its welcoming people, & the food mmmm....

But this keyboard is horrible and I have no time. I am keeping a diary so I will do highlights on this past week and also the incredible Everest Base Camp trek another time.

Now for my next adventure.....

Oh, and if anyone has tips or anything that you would like to contribute to my month of teaching please comment below or message me... any ideas etc are appreciated!!!!

 

XOXX 

Everest Base Camp, DONE.

Yahhhh! I have done BC!! And OMG, it was incredibly hard but so worth it. Still hasn't really sunk in that I have actually done it. I haven't had time to write about the two week trek and don't have the time right now but will do a blog entry about it asap :-) Now for another adventure...