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
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 :-)
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!!
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 :-)
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