Mero Amma (mother) Tara

Tried to upload some more pics but doesn't seem to working......will try again on Saturday or Tuesday.

Due to the lack of Internet and electricity combined its too difficult to try to keep a day to day diary so thought i'd write about stuff randomly - prob like if you were havin a conversation with me.....!

On Sunday we treked up the to mountain house which was about an hr and all up hill....got some pics but like i say having problems uploading them.


So each night Praba, my sister gets up around 4am and prepares the first curry of the day - she gives me breakfast around 8.30-9am after she's given me hot water for my instant coffee. She started to let me help with dishes and things now she knows i do them to her standard. Shes only 22 and has only been married to my Brother for 5 mtnhs. It was an arranged marriage suggested by her Aunty. She and my Brother met for 5 mins and decided that they would get married. Praba then had to move to her husbands family home with his mother and father (Tara and Laxmi). She still seems to be adjusting and each day she tell same how tired she is and how her backs hurts - its fair enough though as she never seems to stop. She tells me though that sometimes when no one else is home she has a sneaky 'cat nap' in the garden!!
My Mother and Father also work all day in their 'field' they're farmers.
My brother is a teacher at the school where we work - he teaches maths and ecconomics.


Each night i get home around 6 and sit in the down stairs kitchen come dining room come sitting room. We sit on foot stools or mats on the floor. We have curry - which we all eat with our hands (right hand mind you). This was a little strange at first but now i think it will feel strange to eat with a knife and fork!!


After we have finished our tea Praba collects every last grain of rice which has been dropped on the floor and this goes into the cow bowl with the other left overs (the cow bowl is basically a bowl of water and left overs which is given to our cows).


After the dishes have been washed Praba then rubs Cow dung into the floor in the house - they believe that not only does this purify the house because the cow is sacred but they also believe that it works as disinfectant!!!!


The stars here at night are amazing - i can remember seeing pretty impressive stars when i used to go the France camping with my parents but nothing like this - its as though theres' double the amount i have ever seen before - have tried to take a picture but it just doesn't do it justice.

Each night when i have finished my food Amma gives me hot milk (fresh from the cow then boiled on the clay stove) and i sit in the back yard drinking my milk and looking at the stars.


I kinda gettin used to the outside toilet but we heard today that two days ago a tiger was heard in our forest!! Pretty scary..............my mate Ceri has suggested we all keep pepper on us as apparently her mum throws pepper at the cats that try to come into their garden at home - not sure this will work!


We have the day off work tomorrow (Friday) which is great because i ache all over - i have never worked so hard in all my life - today we shifted about a thousand house bricks from the ground floor of the learning centre on the second floor - no more bingo wings for me!!! I 'felt the burn' believe me!!


We work Mon-Thurs then Friday we have a cultural discussion and dvd in the morning then our weekly meeting in the afternoon when we are given our spends - i can't wait for that either as i'm skint (nothing new there either). We get 700Rs which is quite a lot here - considering a coffee is 10p and the bus 5p it does go a long way -


Saturday we work half day then we're planning to go to Kathmandu for the night (we couldn't go last weekend because there was strike / protest).


We also plan to go to the Ambassador hotel for a massage - can't wait!


On Weds it was our project Supervisor (Bal's) birthday - we bought him some surfer shorts and also did a make shift pass the parcel - we basically wrapped some Nepali sweets in newspaper!!! We also played musical chairs - think he enjoyed it - we f\got a late curfew which was fab as every night we have to be home for 6pm - but on Weds we were allowed to 'play out' till 8pm - whoooo! We were late getting back and the bus was full so we had no choice but to come back on the roof of the bus! Ubber dangerous - nearly had me head cuts off by electricity cables and branches i don't know how many6 times - was a laugh though - prob a bad idea me mentioning it on here as its against our 'code of conduct' but so is being late so it was one or the other....

Got to go now - we're in a place called Lubhu which is the closest place e for the Internet, we found a back street cafe here which we have nicknamed to Nepali Arms! Have to be back by 5.30..............

More pics from monkey temple - bought some of these flags - don't know where i'm gona put them!!!

13th-16th Jan

This blogging business is hard going.....today is the first chance we have had to use the Internet so trying to cram as much as i can but i'm on a count down to the scheduled power cut and won't get chance to come on the net again for the 7 days so here's a quickish round up.


13th up at 7am - opened my window and greeted by the most spectacular view of the valley - i truley feel blessed to be here - despite the culture shock........

Curried cauliflower, rice and Dal for breakfast at 8am, testing............

Off to work for 9.30 at the school - we dug and shifted masses of dirt, bricks and soil and also dug out and moved some massive boulders. We went for 'Tiffin' (lunch) at the cafe then back to work for 2....we worked till 3 then nipped home to get cleaned up (baby wipe shower as my family don't have a bathroom).

We went back to school for our first Nepali language lesson - this was just nuts and we all lost the plot - think the teacher was overley optimistic about our knowledge of English never mind Nepali!!

Back home for 6pm, Dal Bhat and curried cauliflower and spinach for tea (think you're getting the idea now about my diet).


We worked on the school again on the 14th - same thing really, felt good though as managed to get 11 1/2 hrs sleep and didn't wake up once till 8am. Curry Cauliflower once again for breakfast!
Had a FREEEZING cold shower after work - intense!

15th - Apparently there was supposed to be a solar eclipse on the 15th - it was all a little disappointing though and aside the sun light going slightly dull for around 10 mins nothing really happened.
Only my Bhuha was home tonight as my brother and sister in law went to visit family and Amma was away to China to bath in a river! Was crazy as Bhuha speaks no English at all - we got by though on sign language!

View of Kathmandu from top of the monkey temple....

Prayer room at the temple.............

Monkey................... (self explanatary i guess!)

Cool picture - no? (monkey temple again)

Little 'cute as' mini Buddha's!

Buddha at the Monkey temple

Monk listening to his I-Pod outside the temple.....

Me n Colm next to the biggest Buddha's in the world?? (Not sure if that true but its what we were told)

Tight squeeeeze on the way to Monkey temple.

The bus to the temple - a sped down from Stagecoach????

Roof party at the hotel...

Kathmandu................

Space invaders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trek round Kathmandu

View of Lamatar from the mountain house............

View of the Himalayas on the flight from Deli to Kathmandu - i was asleep!

Arrival at Heathrow and the rest of the 'gang'

This is my Bathroom..................

This is what my hair is going to look like for the near future! No straightening electricy in Nepal!

12th Jan - early start and off to our community

So after 4 hrs sleep i was up at 6am - shower, packed my case then up on the roof at 7.30am for breakfast - we had rice pudding - delicious!
At 8.30am we all met in the reception to get the bus to the supermarket - i bought some chocolate and toiletries - (i am doing really well not to buy so much over here!).
We set off to Siritar to drop off the 1st group - on the way we passed the Kathmandu 'slums' - this was real eye opener - peoples houses made from plastic sheets and a dirty river as the only supply of water - our project supervisor has suggested we visited the slums at some time during our stay (maybe when our Nepali has improved). I'm a little apprehensive but i guess if I'm going to see what that side of Nepal is all about i should see it first hand.
We dropped the first group in Siritar - it was sad to say goodbye, even though we've only known each other a few days some of us have gotten pretty close. It was quite funny as the Lamatar group we all checking out Siritar, a bit like when you go on a package holiday and you check out the other people hotels on the drop off from the airport and your hoping your hotel will be nicer!!
Then it was our turn and man did we get the sweeter side of the deal. Lamatar is breath taking - right in the valley - surrounded by forest covered hills, green rice fields and orange mud houses. We also have an amazing view of Kathmandu City and the Himalayas in the distance.
I met my family for the first time, Mero Amaa (mother) is called Tara, Mero Bhuha (Father) is Laxmi and my sister is called Praba - i can't remember my brothers name!
The house is traditional Nepalese Mud House, the tolilet is a small hut outside with a squat toilet. The house is very very basic and the family explained that they do not have much money - they don't often eat meat and their main food for every meal is boiled rice and Dal Bhat (which is basically flavored water which you pour onto your rice). We have cat - he doesn't have a name so i decided to call him Basil. He's not very friendly at all and tries to rip my hand off if i try to touch him!! He just comes home around 7pm each night to have rice and milk - apparently he won't eat anything else! We also have 2 cows.
I am not allowed to go to the toilet alone in the night as there are wild cats that live in the forest right next to our house and they have been know to consume human beings!! Not sure how true this is but not planning to test the theory!
Have been told i have mice in my room aswell....need to find my ear plugs.
The family cook on a wood fuelled clay stove which is built into the wall. When i sat down to tea tonight (we sit on the floor) i could hardly see the rest of my family - not only because there was no power but the smoke was so thick from the stove! We had rice, curried cabbage and curried spinach. After tea Amma milked the Cow and we had hot milk fresh from the udder - pretty wicked!
My Father seems to be a holy person in the community as people came to visit him and he was doing some kind of chanting and rubbing their skin?? I didn't feel comfortable to ask what he was doing - maybe when i know the family a little better I'll ask.
When the brother arrived home from work he started to explain about the outside toilet and also seemed to feel a little uneasy about the fact i was staying with them. He was really welcoming and told me that this was my house now but he was talking about how they were 200 yrs behind the UK and the way they lived was backward - i felt quite sad and didn't really know what to say or how to react so i just thanked him for having me and reassured him that i was here to experience the 'real' Nepal........., we have been told 'DON'T COMAPRE - ADAPT' - i have to admit though that i was pretty worried about everything and when i went to bed i had a little cry.
Woke around 2am and I was desperate for a wee and really didn't want to have to go outside at risk of being eaten by a giant cat on my 1st night, i lay awake for about an hr and 1/2, then the mouse decided to visit and thought it would be a nice welcoming to poo on my head from the roof above my bed.....nice! At this point i realised that things weren't going to change and i would just have to crack on and deal with it - it wasn't actually as bad as I'd thought it would be going to a squat loo outside - a bit like camping really!!

11th Jan - Monkey Temple & talk by british embassy

So this morning we had a visit from the British embassy - the guy was called Steve and was really informative about Nepal and the Kathmandu Valley - the most crucial information we received was where we could get Sirloin Steak and peppercorn sauce! Beef is not normally food here in Nepal due to the Cow being sacred in the Hindu religion!
We took the bus to monkey temple. This has to be one of the most amazing places i have been, coloured flags everywhere and the biggest golden Buddhas i have even seen (again i will try to upload some pictures). We were able to go inside one of the prayer rooms whilst the monks were praying, pretty incredible.
Saw a monk sat outside on the roof listening to his I-Pod!!
Bought a prayer wheel and had to barter with the guy - he initially wanted 1200Rs but managed to get him down to 500Rs. It was made by one of the monks at the temple.
When we got back to the hotel we got washed up and went in search of the steak restaurant.....the place was 5* - we had to pay just to get into grounds - the British embassy guy was right about the quality - we ate like kings and queens in comparison to the rice and Dal Bhat we've been having for most meals at the hotel. I also broke my abstinence and had a bottle of San Miguel : {
At the hotel we sat out again just chatting and listening to music - had a bit of a sad end to the night though as one of the lads in the group had another lads camera and was trying to scare me and my room mate by scratching our bedroom door - his plan was to make me jump when i opened the door and then take a picture - his planned failed though and it was actually him who jumped out of his skin when i opened the door and he dropped the lads camera and smashed it!!! Luckily the lad who's camera it was was cool about it and there was no 'kick off'.
I wen to bed around 2am knowing i had a 7.30 start the next day - bad move........

10th Jan - 1st visit on foot to Kathmandu

So we had our first days orientation and learnt about our families - my mother and father are farmers and their 30 yr old son and his 22 yr old wife live with them. The son and daughter-in- law both speak English - bonus.
After our orientation finished we walked into Kathmandu city - the place is crazy - no pavements and cars, bikes, buses and people everywhere. The pollution here is unreal and even my 'iron lungs' are struggling to deal with the cars fumes and dust. Have managed to avoid the shops however tempting they are - selling so many beautiful Buddhist 'trinkets' and clothes ans tea etc.
We saw a lot of street children and beggars - was pretty difficult to deal with and everybody was struggling as we had been advised not to give any money out to the children as it was likely they would use the money for drugs and alcohol.......
It strange how many people stare at us - probably because we are such a big group??
Was surprised to see space invaders tiles on some of the buildings like the ones in Manchester - have taken some pictures.
When we got back to the hotel we all sat out on the roof listening to music, playing cards and drinking tugorg beers - i have managed as yet to abstain.
Tomorrow we are off the Monkey temple - really excited!

My Nepalese Mobile Number

+97798492557

Remember the time difference if you do feel rich enough to call.... think its approx 70p/min from the UK and we are 5 hrs ahead of the UK.

(also can't text from this number - think i can receive text though - put your name at the end so i know who it is from)

xx

Departure Day 7th Jan 2010

So the train and tube weren't too bad at all - much better due to the kind gentleman at Euston who volunteered to carry my suitcase down two flights of stairs at the underground.
I was surprised to find that the underground also goes overground!! Never knew that!
Arrived at the Airport around 4pm and met up with some of the other volunteers - our flights was delayed by about an hr & 1/2 but this meant i had more time to shop for a hairdyer and adaptor! Also got a quick beer in at the airport (well i say beer - everyone else was knocking them back but i managed to stick to my plan not to drink for the next 10 weeks and had my faithful pint of lime and soda).
the flight to Deli wasn't too bad - we had unlimited films and games which were on screens on the chair in front which on take off seemed pretty cool but we didn't take off till after 11pm and the novelty soon wore off when i got tired!! Tried to sleep but with no luck due to the combination of the people in front who decided to lie their seats all the way back for the full seven hours of the flights, also lots of screaming babies (approx 6 in our cabin alone) and some crazy 'traveller type people' who got really drunk, had a domestic which latest around 3 hours then one of them decided it would be a good idea to pass out in the isle in a drunken stupor! As annoying as all this was it also made good conversation for all the volunteers and helped us bond.....
Arrived at Deli at around 1pm (Deli time) - the airport rep met with our group to let us know that they had decided to book us onto a different flights to Kathmandu which meant we had to go through another FULL security check before we could board....this didn't work out to well for me as the guards seemed to take a dislike to me and not only was i 'frisked' but also had my hand luggage thoroughly inspected. They tried to confiscate my camera (just because they liked the look of it) but i managed to strike a bargain and they took all 60 of my batteries instead!
The flight into Kathmandu was had some pretty amazing views of the Himalayas, i didn't get to see much of it myself because i fell asleep, but one of my fellow volunteers kindly took some photos on my camera for me.....
Arrived at Kathmandu and met with our in country project leaders Bal and Barat (they had been waiting for us for over 3 hrs because of all the delays). We went out to our bus - it was defiantly a shock is all i will say (The pictures will explain better than words, it will make sense when you see them - promise). Our bags were loaded onto the top of the bus and not secured!
We drove into Kathmandu and amazingly manage to avoid any casualties - the drivers here are 'crazeeeeee' - the sights were all lot to take it, more so due to the lack of sleep, especially the people burning bodies at the road side! (i didn't take any pictures of that understandably).
We were dropped off walking distance from our 'basic hotel' and i discovered that the expendable handle on my suitcase was broken - which was a bummer - as theres no chance i could lift it luckily someone from the hotel offered to put my 27kg case in their van and drive it to the hotel.
On arrival at the hotel we checked into our rooms and then had to go for our first induction - no good as i'd i was literally 'tripping' from lack of sleep.
We had 'tiffin' (dinner) on the roof of the hotel (Dal soup and bolied rice) then were permitted to go to bed. It was freezing cold in the room as i forgot to close the windows (der)- had my sleeping bag, thermal clothes and two quilts - guess i'm just ultra soft. The noise her is also pretty insane, stay dogs fighting, cars beeping and nepalese people breaking into song in the middle of the night! Had some cool crazy dreams too that the sun rose in the middle of the night and then set again and then rose again in the morning!
Woke up though and the sun had rose just as it would in the uk which was a relief!! I wasn't relieved to find that it was spicy potato curry for breakfast! The Chai was wicked though - packed with sugar and Cinnamon......delicious!

Day before departure......

So this crazy British weather has meant that my Dad cannot give me a lift to Heathrow as planned and i am now booked on the train and tube to the airport :( Not happy as i am really not looking forward to navigating the London underground with a suitcase which is the same size as me and half my weight!!! Enough moaning though.....this time tomorrow i will be at the airport meeting my fellow volunteers!!!

Got myself a bit tearful yesterday - delayed nerves i think - I'm pretty much over it now - still thinking a bit about the peeps I'll miss when I'm away but you'll all still be here when i get back (and hopefully I'll have loads of interesting and exciting things to tell you all). 'Big-up' to Mr Winstanley for my pep talk - think i was close to overload before your words of wisdom (oh and me 850 tracks on me MP3 - much love xx)

Just finished my last minute packing......whatever i haven't got now I'll have to make do without. (Last minute items i need to buy....travel hairdryer and adaptor plugs - and for those of you who were wondering....yes i am taking my GHD's!!).

So tomorrow i should be getting to Hethrow around quarter to four in the avo and don't fly out till twenty to nine at night so one thing i plan to do is have a burger king!! yum! Have got a 3 hr wait at Deli airport aswell and pretty sure we'll be held somewhere and not allowed to explore so will let you know how that goes......

So approx 40 hrs and counting till touch down in Nepal - AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!! :)
(P.S - i'll post my Nepalese mobile number on here when i know it).