Bye Bye Pokhara, Bye Bye AAN :-(

Now in my last post I mentioned a lot of 'we' but never told ya about the volunteers I worked with in Pokhara! There is David and Jenna, who are from England. Pokhara is just a small part of all their travels which should last at least until July next year. I'm very excited because there is a huge possibility that they will be in Australia and New Zealand so will def be catching up!! Then there is Mim (also from England), who has returned to AAN after being here 2 months last year. She was my Perky Beans buddy... best mango smoothie in Perky Beans!!

The rest of my week at AAN flew by pretty quickly. Every morning and evening I spent with the kids, during the day I chilled out. My hang out became the Bullet Base Camp Bar. I can not recommend this place more! When you first walk in you think its just a bikers bar (there is a motorbike hanging from the roof and the whole bar is decked out with bike parts). But this place is a home away from home. You can not sit here an hour without being invited to play a game of pool with a friendly stranger. Those strangers soon become friends, and those that work there felt like family pretty quickly! Oh... and the food is soo very yummy and a total bargain. On my last day in Pokhara I was chilling out there with Mim when Ed (barman from Netherlands) had us taste some of the pesto he had just made for a pasta dish he was going to try that night. OMG, it was delish! I was sooooo gutted that I wouldn't get to try that pasta and told him so. It was the night we would have a wee party at AAN. I'll just add here that I did get to have some but more on that later...

During my week at Pokhara I had been staying at the Garden House as I mentioned in my previous post. Now I had endured my week there because Tikka had been lovely, and I didn't want to cause a fuss. But all week I had not gotten any sleep from the heat in the room, the noise of the tin roof, and Tikka being not so quiet with her radio, and waking of Yogash (5 year old boy who is supported by AAN). On the Friday morning I washed a Toy Story single duvet cover I had used on my travels. My plan was to give it to the Childrens Home. I hung it out and Tikka came up to me and using hand gestures was asking that I give the cover to her. Now, Yogash does live with Tikka in her room, so I could understand that he may use it, but I wanted to give it to Milan who would make sure it went where it was needed. So I said to Tikka, 'Milan, AAN Childrens Home' and said no to giving it to her. I was shocked when she kept saying 'gift' and pointing to herself. I was more shocked when, after saying no many times, she stormed off! More on this later...

On Friday morning, instead of sending the kids off on the school bus, Mim and I joined them! The bus ride was fun with Anu sat on my knee the whole way in the packed in bus. When we arrived at the school the kids were all so excited to have us there. They all wanted to show us their classrooms and introduce us to their friends. They were so proud to have us there, which was so very sweet. But when the bell went they went running! Five minutes later the whole school was all gathered in the middle of the school in perfect lines. They did different actions all in sync and sung the National Anthem together. Was incredible to see!!

Now that particular week two of the girls had had their birthdays and the following week another two of the girls would have their birthdays. So our party became a wee birthday party too for the four girls. And the ice cream became a big chocolate cake!! Milan picked me up from Bullet Bar on the Friday to go to order the chocolate cake and momos for that night. Gotta say again, I love travelling on the motorbikes here in Nepal! Love it! Especially since I don't wear a helmet... free as a bird haha. While ordering the momos and chocolate cake Milan and I had an incredible piece of cake. Don't know what is was, was red and white but OMG so yummy! Momos and cake ordered, David and Jenna sorted the Pass the Parcel, and decorations sorted. Ready.

I returned to the Garden House to pack my bags ready for the next day, and returned to a very quiet Tikka. I went to my room and had everything spread out to start packing. Tikka and Yogash stood in my room while I packed and started looking through my things. I tried to ignore this a little and kept on packing. Then Tikka starting putting on my cardigan and said 'gift'. Don't get me wrong, I did have a gift I planned to give to Tikka, but the way she was asking really had me not wanting to give her anything! I took the cardigan off her and said no. In his best English Yogash explained that Tikka liked the maxi dress I wore at nights and would like it as a gift. I said again no. I started to lose it at this point, how rude that someone would come into my room and try to pick out their own gift? Tikka then stormed out. I no longer felt comfortable at the Garden House.

Milan arrived shortly after to have a cuppa with me and I told him I was struggling to sleep in the Garden House and could I go stay with David and Jenna (who had been lovely and offered a spare bed at their place). He insisted I sleep in the childrens home that night and happily I agreed. Before leaving to go find the others (to have a much needed rant!) I gave Yogash some coloured pencils, but left Tikka to it. I should note here that Tikka has only been very lovely to me, and very sweet. I was very upset that things turned a little sour in the end, but at the party that night Tikka was again lovely to me. Cultural differences I suppose.

Anywho, enough of the negativity eh!! Now I get to the fun part... the party! When we arrived at the Home the girls were all practicing dancing and we weren't allowed in the downstairs part. The momos and cake arrived and it was time to tuck in. Although the momos were slightly spicy they were delish. The kids loved them, and I don't think I have ever been thanked so much in my life! Was lovely, and loved seeing the kids tucking in. After the momos Milan had made very yummy lassis! A lassi is like a milkshake, but Milan's lassi was like a fruit salad lassi, nom nom. A lot of the girls had lassi moustaches too hehe. 

David and Jenna started the Pass the Parcel with everyone. They had been dead smart about it too, knowing which layers had no sweets in it so when Milan got the parcel twice, both times he did not get a sweet, the kids thought it was hilarious! When the last layer came it was sweet and quiet Puja who won the little purse and sweets :-)

Now was time for a big chocolate cake (which looked gorgeous btw and written on it 'Happy Birthday Girls'... oh and had a rabbit on it - fab because rabbit is what the kids call David. We had all the kids sitting in the library room and after a lot of explaining (they don't do birthday cakes here so this was all new to them) had the four birthday girls sat together, ready for the cake. I walked in with the cake (and everyone singing happy birthday) and loved seeing the girls' happy faces when they saw it! They all blew out the candles and had cake smashed into their faces hehe... Then we all tucked in!

Now we all wanted to spoil the kids and this was our chance, but in the end it was the kids that spoilt us with a dance show. We all sat watching the different girls in their best dresses dancing to Nepali music including my favourite song 'Simple, Simple'. Even one of the older boys got up and sang a song which was incredible to see! Little Sima got up many times to show off her dance moves. We had so much fun and after the dancing show was done we put the music on and danced like crazy! No idea how the kids kept going, we were shattered by the time we left! 

Oh and I forgot to mention that my name here in Pokhara is Anju. Back when I was trekking Bibek (assistant guide) had called me Anju as it was my Nepali name. At the school many of the teachers and children called me Anju. At AAN I was simply Anju, not Angela :-)

After the party David, Jenna, Mim and I went to Bullet Bar for a few drinks. On arriving I asked Ed if there was any leftover pasta and he got me some 'on the house'. It was frikken yummy! The bar was lit by candles which was sweet, and the bar was pretty busy. When the bar was meant to close by law I asked Ed about the police coming, he simply said 'I haven't been arrested in Nepal'. Haha... The bar was all shut up so nobody would've really known anywho. David, Jenna and I left Mim with friends and went home - I had an 8 hour bus trip to Kathmandu early the next morning, groooooaaaaan....

Now I was staying at the orphanage on this evening so was slightly worried when I was heading back late, and a little tipsy... David and Jenna did say if I couldn't get in to go to theirs to crash. I arrived at the home to silence. I walked to the second floor, around the corner, and to Milan's window. I knocked on his window a few times... no answer. I knocked again and whispered 'Milan, wake up'. Never been so happy to hear 'Anju?' Hehe... he let me in and made sure I was safe and sound - such a sweetheart. I fell asleep with the windows open and woke in the night to fireflies flying about. Lay there wondering if it would burn if a firefly touched me before being quickly asleep again. Lovely :-) 

Woke the next morning and said good morning to the kids who quickly got me a cuppa tea. Then it was quick goodbyes. It broke my heart saying goodbye. How it is possible to care so much about children who were strangers only a week before? They really had made me feel a part of their family, and I had had so much fun with them. But they truly blew me away and inspired me. After such troubled pasts these children were working hard at school and living in harmony together while welcoming in complete strangers to their home. And they had such gorgeous big smiles!! Miss them :-(

AAN Childrens Home

Well, well, well... where to start about my week so far with my new family at AAN Childrens Home?

I arrived in Pokhara and was taken to my new home for the week - the Garden House. Just a few minutes walk from the orphanage, the Garden House is a two bedroom home (a building of only the 2 rooms & an outside toilet & small kitchen) on the land with the garden that supplies all the veges and sometimes fruit to the children. I am living with Tikka who sleeps in the other room. She doesn't speak English but we manage with my small amount of Nepali! Because there is no shower, I walk to the orphanage to shower. Oh, and my room has a tin roof which, as I will mention later, can be very loud during storms!!

When I arrived a few of the girls from AAN were cooking corn on a tiny fire for the childrens' afternoon snack. With the snack we had a very yummy drink. It was milk mixed with a little yoghurt and sugar - very yummy!

Saturday is their one day off during the week. And it is also the one day a week that they shower or change their clothes. So after a week of so much hard work at school and SO much homework at night I think they really enjoy their day off! That night I introduced myself to them all and told them all about myself and New Zealand. They informed me that their textbook said Sir Edmund Hillary was from England - I made sure they knew he was from NZ!

They then all took turns to introduce themselves. I learnt that a lot of the children want to be doctors, nurses, teachers, or tailors. And at the end they all welcomed me into their family. There is a real family vibe in the home which is lovely. All the children help each other and look after their home together - all sharing the duties. There are 17 children in the home ranging from 4 years old to 15. The children are not from the streets. Milan (guardian) rescues the children with the help of the child welfare. Milan believes it best not to mix the children with street kids who can be more difficult - therefore impacting the welfare children.

One example of how the children have come to AAN is wee Tulsa. Her father has passed away and her mother is mentally disabled. She was rescued just in time, as her two sisters had been sold into slavery and her brother (10 years old) was sent to India to make money for the family, but he went missing.

Our duties in the home is as a big sister or brother. In the evenings we help with their homework first. And they have a lot! Last night I was sat with Preeti and Sabina helping them and we were in the study room for 2 hours and they still hadn't finished! After homework we do a news class which is where the older children will read through a news article with us. We will go over words they don't understand and discuss the article. The younger children will be read to, and learn 5 new English words. We then play games with the children before having dinner. After dinner we leave the home.

In the morning we arrive to help the children with any unfinished homework and help them get dressed and ready for school. Getting them to the bus on time can be a mission. With them sometimes running to catch it, so far no one has missed it! After they have gone we do some cleaning before Dal Bhat for breakfast. We try to arrange different activities, and this Friday we are going to have a wee party. I'm going to get the momos and ice cream for the kids as a treat and a change from Dal Bhat! We are going to have dancing (which they all love) and lots of other games and fun... can't wait!!!

During the day is our free time and yesterday we went to the International Mountaineering Museum which I loved! Having been up to Everest Base Camp it was amazing seeing some of the gear they used back in the day to summit! Today I am going to catch up with some volunteers from another orphanage down the road. I met them back in early May when we had our orientation so will be good to catch up!

Other Highlights:

• Waking up one night at 2am from a HUGE storm. Now I usually love the storms here but this really was something else! I think my tin roof may have contributed to the noise but I had my iPod on, a pillow on both ears, and I was under the blankets and still freaking out! The thunder was crazy! It lasted about an hour and a half - terrifying! Most the kids said it kept them awake so I feel a little better about freaking out haha.
• Poor wee Sima has had a chest and throat infection. Although the only way we knew was by her cough - she didn't complain! After visiting the doctor she had to stay off school for two days. Poor thing would cry in the morning because she wanted to go to school. Definitely would not have been the case when I was a child!
• Harimaya (13 years old) slept with me in my room on the first night. While I was shattered from helping the kids with homework, she was up til 10pm sat on the floor studying for a maths test the next day. I managed to help her with some of the questions but did have to wake up a dormant part of my brain!!! She is first in her class and wants to be a doctor when she is older. She works so hard too. The only way she would have the opportunity to train as a doctor is with top marks. The government funds just 20 children in Nepal and those with very good marks.
• After reading in the paper that only 40% of the older children had past their SLC (School Leavers Certificate) exams we heard that 3 of the 15 year olds in AAN had all passed in the 1st division!! And one of the girls had got 79.9% while 80% would've given her distinction. So all the hard work that these children do really shows!! So proud!!

Settled & Happy. New challenge & Adventure necessary...

Another week has passed and again, so many new experiences and memories. Nepal is a place where every day there are surprises and mostly from the people who are like a giant family... especially in our lovely village of Padampokhari.

My week began with a quick visit to the doctor for some antibiotics and drugs. They soon did the trick but on the Sunday I was very upset as so fed up with being ill. On my way home from school on Sunday I phoned my sis in tears. I made sure I got it out of me before I reached my village! Had I known I would go to the doctors on the back of a motorbike I would've gone a week earlier! Loved it! And slightly less bumpy then bus or bike.

But my days at school were now a lot of fun, and I felt so at home and part of the staff. With the Grade 9 and 10s we had a classroom discussion about why they are proud of Nepal followed by the students writing an essay. Through the discussion they spoke of all the things i love about Nepal. From the incredible landscapes and animals, to the friendly people and rich culture. 

I was surprised when they also said they were proud of their caste system. Without going into too much detail, a Nepali person is born into a caste and will remain this caste their entire life. The Brahmin caste is the highest caste and they, for example, would not touch or eat food prepared by a lower caste. Outsiders such as myself are considered to be not pure so I suppose a low caste. There is so much to it, but it is not followed so much these days. But in more remote villages it is still be much apart of life. 

On Tuesday we had four new volunteers arrive (Terese left on Sunday). I had Jorae from Canada join me teaching at my school. On her first day she struggled like I did. She didn't want to do the biggest class again after they were crazy so I took them, and they were very good for me. It shows that with everyone it does take time for them to respect you. I made them promise to be good next time for Jorae but we will see if that happens! The only problem with having another volunteer at the school was that I didn't have as many classes. So I would teach 2 or 3 classes (rather than 5+) but be there for the whole day. And so brings me to how I am now working at an orphanage...

Jorae had come to Chitwan from Pokhara working in an orphanage. We chatted a lot about it. She told me at her orphanage volunteers are needed, and even if I just went for a week, it would be good. Now that I was settled and happy in my village and at my school I thought about it a lot. Should I stay and enjoy a lovely time here or should I uproot myself for a week and have a new challenge and experience? 

Of course, I went for the latter. After raising money from my marathon for part of the costs of volunteering and to go towards an orphanage, this would be my opportunity to find the best place for this money. I had half a week left in Chitwan so decided I would extend my program slightly and leave a few days early to do a week at Jorae's orphanage in Pokhara. Everything was arranged. I would leave on the Saturday morning.

On the Thursday in my last time with Grade 9B I told them it would be my last day tomorrow. They asked if I would join them in their Grammar class the next day so they could have me once more and I agreed. Friday is a shorter day and their class would be my last. 

On my last day at the school it was very overwhelming and sad. I really struggled with their kindness and generosity. The school had made me feel at home. One of my students came to the staff room and gave me a flower and all the children were wanting to say goodbye. I arrived in my Grade 9B to find that we were not doing their Grammar that day. First they gave me a gift that they had sorted themselves. They knew my favourite animal was the rhino so they gave me a wooden rhino ornament ad had written about the rhino too. They gave me some roses and pages of writing which included one of the childrens' essays about why they are proud of Nepal. The remainder of the class was spent with different students standing and singing to me, or reading me poems about friendship.

My favourite was:

Fanta is Fanta, it is not Coke.
Friendship is friendship, it is no joke.

Cute eh?

After that class and after lunch with the teachers, all the teachers gathered in the staff room and I was invited to sit in the middle with the Headmaster (Mani Lal) and the Vice-Principal (Batuk). A presentation was done with Batuk speaking. I was handed a letter thanking me for my time there. They spoke of my 'teaching perfection' (hehe) and talked of my contribution to the school. So very sweet.

Then with the Headmaster first, all the teachers put a tikka to my forehead and handed me a flower. I was covered in the red powder in the end! Hilarious! One of the woman got a cloth and cleaned me up a little haha. We then had a group picture and I had to say goodbye.

As I biked from the school there were tears. The whole day had been incredible and such a crazy experience! 

I was to be spoilt even more when I got home. That night Aama made me my fried chicken (we have chicken once a week) and my favourite Dal Bhaat of curried cauliflower, rice, and lentil soup. 

That was followed by sitting at the back of Uncle's house with everyone and Nepali music having a few drinks. I created the 'Angela's Mango Surprise'. It had vodka, mango juice, sprite, and a straw with a Jolly Rancher lollipop sticking out of it... oh and some bugs, SURPRISE! Haha... 

Could not believe I would be leaving this quiet wee village and my new large family. 

The next morning I woke early and found, because I didn't have time for Dal Bhaat, Aama had prepared some mango for me (my absolute favourite!!!). Again spoilt rotten!

The trip to Pokhara was.... crazy! The bus to the city never came, and I was going to miss my bus from the city to Pokhara. We quickly ordered a cab but managed to jump on the roof of a bus that doesn't usually stop for us. Twenty minutes later we met up with our taxi and sped away to the city. Could not believe we made it! 

So I am now in Pohkara and so much already happening here so I will write about that another time, maybe tomorrow. Being on the internet is a bit of a chore at the moment.

All I will say about Pokhara right now, is that I am struggling with the traffic and how busy it is with tourists! The girls were saying how peaceful it is here compared to Kathmandu but I am finding it insanely busy! Can't relax! Maybe in a day or two I will adjust... village life sure was peaceful and chilled!!

Weeks Highlights:

• Sitting outside watching a massive storm while hoping it would make a mango fall off the mango tree. After around an hour I moved to watch it over the rice fields. Then a lightning striked a tree (or the metal from the bridge?) 400 metres in front of me, with sparks flying!! I screamed and ran but at the same time the loudest thunder of my life BANGED! The only way I could describe it would be like getting an electric shock from a fence or something. The sound went right through my body. Took awhile to calm down after that!
• Thunder and lightning starting during our last period at school so having to pedal like mad on the bikes to get home before the rain started pouring. Got home to still have time to play football on the temple grounds. But soon it bucketed down and had to race for our jandals and get home.
•  Going for a walk out of the village in the morning and after 20 minutes walking being invited into a home for some milk tea. Fresh from the family's buffalo it was delicious!! More hospitality from the friendly locals!

Fun on Top of a Bus

Wow, how time is flying!! Another week has passed and despite a miserable start to the week I was flying high by the end on top of a bus.. literally :-)

Unwell & Feeling Sorry for Myself
So my week began with me being horribly ill and unable to work for 3 days. I hadn't been sleeping for the week prior and had a slight tummy bug too so suppose everything just got to me in the end. I was in bed feeling very sorry for myself with a painful throat and nausea. 

But I was very looked after. Although Aama wouldn't let me drink cold water because she said it isn't good for my throat! She made sure I had boiled water. Sanjiv was lovely, asking if I wanted Aama to make me mushroom or vegetable soup. Instead I ate plain rice (brekky), 3 chocolate bars a day, some Dal Bhat, and fruit. 

Actually that brings me to another point. I am seriously addicted to chocolate here! I don't know if maybe it is because most Western food has sugar in it and over here it doesn't. Or whether the amount of sweating I am doing is getting me craving chocolate? But it is a problem. And it is contagious. Both Terese and John have started the mass chocolate eating. Perhaps not to my extent (when reading a magazine I literally stared at an advertisement for Peanut butter M&Ms for a good ten minutes drooling!). 

Whenever Sanjiv was going to the city I would have him bring me a supply of chocolate. But then I would constantly worry that I would run out before I could top up my supply. Thankfully, this week we discovered that Uncle sells little Dairy Milk chocolate bars at his house down the road!!!! They are bliss :-) They are wee 8.5 gram bars - I know this because after eating seven of them within an hour I had to know how I was doing in comparison to my big chocolate bars!

Okay, enough about chocolate hehe... will be soooo funny weighing myself when I get home. Everyone thought I would get home skinny from this trip. Errrr.... think the opposite is going to happen! :D

So back to being ill. Basically in a nutshell I spent 3 days in bed. BORING! I made a trip to this Internet cafe (or Rupa's house) on day 2 to Skype family but was freaked out by how weak I was. Quickly, was back home in bed!

Fun at School
Come Thursday I woke feeling good! Was so excited when I got up and went and had a heap of Dal Bhat for brekky. Enjoyed my bike ride to school although they had put more rocks down - a sports bra is a necessity when biking here!!

I had brought a big world map poster over the weekend so took this with me to use to teach the students about the world. And somehow I seem to have the classes mostly under control. I have their respect. Will never forget on Thursday going to the biggest class of 62 Grade 8 students. After letting them sit and starting my class I realised, shockingly, I had 62 children sitting quietly listening to me! Wow, what an achievement!! I really wanted to sit there and just enjoy it, but with 124 eyes peering at me I got underway with my lesson. 

The rest of the day continued like this with the other classes. At our break I walked into the staff room very happy. The Vice Principal then turned to me and said, "You are very energetic today, what is your secret?' 

So I have settled into my school. I've got chatting with the teachers too. One of the teachers was talking to me about books. She then asked if I had read The Secret by Rhonda Bryne or Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Interesting books for her to be reading! In her free time she writes about equality and woman's rights. Although she said that most people don't read her articles. We discussed the issues and was very interesting hearing her views... women in Western societies (me!) are so lucky to have the freedoms that we do.

On Friday morning I woke to pouring rain. Was raining cats and dogs for sure! I was in no way going to turn up at school drenched again or risk getting ill again. So I txt the Vice Principal letting him know that I would be late as I was waiting for the rain to stop. Okay, seriously, who can get away with that sort of excuse right?! Only in Nepal!

I arrived at school a couple of hours late but very dry :-) It was another lovely day of teaching rather than disciplining. In my free period before Khaja (day snacks break) I helped to cook our snacks. The snack was like a pancake but with curried veges in it - actually pretty tasty. During the week I will put a few more pictures on here including my delish cooking hehe. When we were all sat down to eat all the teachers were saying how I must cook them a dish from New Zealand. I'm very much more of a baker than anything and without an oven anywhere in this village I'm not sure what I could cook them! If anyone has ideas let me know. The facilities I have are pots (so boiling) and a frying pan. Also the food supplies are limited so think basic flour, rice, sugar, vegetables.... let me know if you think of anything!

One thing I'm loving about school is the tea. Kalo chiya (black tea) is lovely here during the day - likely because of the mass amount of sugar they put in it. And there I was back in NZ always drinking tea without sugar! Wonder if I will still be so thirsty for mass sugar teas when I get back!

Day at the Cinema
Today is our day off and Terese (volunteer from Canada) and I decided we would go to the cinema and see a Bollywood movie - which they love over here.

We were to catch a local bus. This involved sitting out the front of the house chilling out for about an hour until the local bus approached (no set time!). Now on the bus it became like a can of sardines. We were sat up in the area with the bus driver in front of the actual door, and I counted 9 of us up there! So Terese and I, having seen the rusty old ladder on the back of the bus, decided we'd go on the roof. OMG, riding on the roof of the bus was awesome! We had the whole top of the bus to ourselves and the best view of the gorgeous villages. The breeze was lovely and we could wave and say hello to everyone along the way. I will admit though that I am a bit of daydreamer. Well, a BIG daydreamer. So I had to REALLY concentrate on watching out for low power lines and trees. Easy enough to duck, but easy enough to daydream too! 

After our lovely bus ride we got to the cinema to find it was a Nepali film that was screening that day called 'Romance'. We got our ticket (NZ$1/70rs) and on reaching the inside were told the popcorn and cake weren't available until the interval. After a mad dash to a local store to get chocolate, we were then sat in the big, very old and rustic cinema. Along the sides of the cinema were big fans which were lovely. But that was as lovely as it got. It started with the man in front of us just casually spitting on the ground in front of him. The man sat to me had serious BO. And well, the movie sucked. Plain and simple. From what we could gather from the melodramatic acting, the movie was about a whore and the boys she was involved with. Really? In Nepal? When the interval came, and we'd had cake (of course!) we left the cinema. In fact, a Nepali man left with us and said, and I quote, 'That movie was crap, no romance in that movie.'  

Other Bits and Bobs

• In the village the children roam. All the people of the village look after the children as if they were their own if they are around. Is very sweet. Simon is a 2 and a half little Nepali boy who we also call Trouble. He is adorable but always in trouble. We were sat down the road on mats with the locals and the women were singing and clapping while Simon would dance Nepali style. So cute! And another time when we were sat at the neighbours Simon runs over, pulls down his pants and nearly pees on Terese!! Sooo funny! He was made to come over and say 'Sorry Sister'. Ohhh.. and when he was in the backyard with me I showed him a big frog so he picks it up and won't let the poor thing go. He just ran about squeezing it while I chased him! 
• Sitting in the dark, in the middle of an intersection in the village, on handmade mats just chilling with the people of the village. Lying back on the mats and staring at the stars, bliss! At the home next door a man is  making a net he will use for fishing. A buffalo sits munching on the hay. Villagers will come and join us all at different points.Simon is running about causing havoc hehe. Lovely.
• Deciding not to ride on the top of the bus on the ride home from the city then having the roughest journey home. Did at one point have the brakes slammed on to stop us colliding with a wee bus. Good decision me thinks! 
• On walking an hour home in the dark after dinner at a restaurant we hear singing and clapping at a home. We walk into the home to find around 50 people sat with a few dancing in front of them to the singing. They quickly get us on the dance floor! So, SO much fun. We learn they are celebrating the birth of a boy. They give us sweets and make us feel so welcome. When I have danced a lot and am dripping in sweat I stand at the back clapping and cheering. An old lady who can barely walk with her stick, stands from her seat and insists I take it. I try to refuse but she won't have it! So I sit down and there she stands, despite being so fragile. They don't know when to stop being so kind and welcoming!!

So that, my friends, is another week is done. I can not stress enough how much I am loving this little village and its people. They live such a simple life but a good life - in their eyes. They are very happy and welcoming people who always have so much to give to others despite having so little themselves. 

Now I must go... Terese leaves tomorrow after being here two weeks. Nina left on Wednesday. Christine and Lea left on Monday. And Kyle left on Tuesday - he left due to the heat and bugs, so hopefully he is now in Pokhara where it is cooler!!

Tomorrow it will just be myself and John here before a new batch of volunteers arrive on Monday. 

Bye for now :-)