Tales from the Country.

Hello once again and a very Happy New Year to you all. Since Mel wrote the last blog single-handedly, and not to be outdone, I thought that I would take a turn. Unfortunately, being somewhat lazier than Mel, most of this blog consists of a poem that I wrote for the VSO Education newsletter and have pasted here. First though, the customary update on our news for the last month:

We have been trying to keep busy during school closures for festivals, exam marking and bandhs (protests) but have managed to get into schools sometimes. In particular, we spent a very enjoyable and interesting week in the most remote part of our district, which we visited for the first time. We spent several nights staying at a residential school for the deaf where we had fun getting to know the children and learning sign language:
We also got the chance to visit several small, rural schools. As we near the end of our placement (5 weeks and counting) and think back on all the interesting times that we have had here, it is travelling to and working in such schools that is probably the thing that I will miss most. Back in the UK, there are few schools that can compare with this:
You never know what you'll encounter next. If you are very lucky and quiet, you may even get the chance to see some hobbits:

To illustrate some of the ups and downs of working in rural schools, I composed this entirely unique and original poem for the VSO newsletter. Any similarity with a certain well known children’s book from the UK, is purely coincidental.

I'm Going on a School Hunt

I’m going on a school hunt. I’m not stressed.

What’s this? A busy bazaar.

Can’t cycle round it, can’t cycle over it, must cycle through it.

Honk honk, beep beep, vrooom vroom, ring ring (people smiling),

Phew! Made it!

I’m going on a school hunt. I’m not stressed.

What’s this? A herd of cows in the road.

Can’t cycle round it, can’t cycle over it, must cycle through it.

Moo moo, ring ring, Dong Dong, ring ring (people smiling).

Phew! Made it!

I’m going on a school hunt. I’m not stressed.

What’s this? A Bhandh.

Can’t cycle round it, can’t cycle over it, must cycle through it.

Protest protest, chant chant, smelly burning tyre (people mostly smiling).

Phew! Made it!

I’m going on a school hunt. I’m not stressed.

What’s this? Un-made up road.

Can’t cycle round it, can’t cycle over it, must cycle along it.

Bumpy bumpy, dusty coughing, bounce crash (people smiling).

Phew! Made it!

I’m going on a school hunt. I’m not stressed.

What’s this? A river.

Can’t cycle round it, can’t cycle over it, must cycle through it.

Splish splosh, splash splish, gooey mud (people smiling).

Phew! Made it!

I’m going on a school hunt. I’m not stressed.

What’s this? A swarm of children.

Can’t cycle round it, can’t cycle over it, must cycle through it.

“Hellogoodmorninghowareyou?”, “HellogoodmorningIamfine” (people smiling).

Phew! Made it!

I’m going on a school hunt. I’m not stressed.

What’s this? The school’s closed for no apparent reason!

Back through the children, “Hellogoodmorninghowareyou?”

Back across the river, Splish splosh, splash splish, gooey mud.

Back along the un-made up road, Bumpy bumpy, dusty coughing, bounce crash.

Back through the Bhandh. Protest protest, chant chant, smelly burning tyre.

Back through the cows, Moo moo, ring ring, Dong Dong, ring ring.

Back through the busy bazaar, Honk honk, beep beep, vrooom vroom, ring ring.

And safely home to bed (or at least, the office, same difference).

To discover the highs of working in rural schools, read the poem again but substitute the phrase ‘school hunt’ with the word ‘adventure’. With apologies to Michael Rosen.

For more photos from the Country and of our life here in general, don't forget to look at our photo albums. The latest one including some of our Christmas and New Year's parties, where we bemused our Nepali guests with 'Pass the Parcel' and 'Lucky Dip'. The latter was Mel's brilliant idea for getting rid of all our unwanted stationery and ornaments, prior to having to pack up. It worked a treat!

Sisters, sisters and more sisters

Hello blog readers,

You may have noticed that we have become increasingly infrequent bloggers. Perhaps that’s because dealing with cows in the middle of the road and wading through rivers to get to school no longer seem new or strange to us. Life here has become ‘normal’ and we only seem to get around to blogging when something different or special has happened.

In this case, the special something was the Desai holiday. Mel headed off for a female and more specifically, sisters themed break. To start with, I joined two of my VSO ‘didi’ (didi means older sister in Nepali but can be used for any female who you respect), Pragya and Christine:

Pragya is a volunteer from India who is working with an HIV / AIDS organisation in Pokhara. She very kindly offered me and Christine a place to stay. Christine is a volunteer from Kenya who works with an organisation in Kathmandu that helps Nepali ethnic minorities to claim their rights. As you can see from the photo, these two sisters were very cheerful company and as well as going on walks and visits together, we sat around Pragya’s kitchen table chatting long into the night together. Here are some amazing flowers we came across on the way to a Buddhist pagoda in the hills:

And from Pragya’s rooftop I took this ironic photo of tourists heading off by aeroplane to go trekking around the retreating glaciers and newly formed glacial lakes:

It’s not all doom and gloom. Anybody interested in local efforts to reduce impact on the environment should check out our ‘environmental’ album in Picasa.

My next sisters experience was with ‘the Chettri sisters’ trekking company. This company is run by 3 ‘real’ sisters (very unusual in Nepal, especially as all 3 sisters are also single). The company has a ‘sister’ charity which aims to empower women by providing free training for women who want to become trekking guides. Almost no other trekking agency has any female trekking guides at all. The charity also runs a hostel for child workers who have been sent away from their homes to work in difficult jobs in the mountains. These children are ‘rescued’ and stay at the hostel where they can go to school. My trekking guide, Shanti was a great ‘bahini’ (younger sister) to me. Actually, despite being younger than me, she was more of a ‘didi’ because she looked after me so well. Here we are setting off on the last day of our 3 day trek:

Shanti bahini very quickly found that I wasn’t the most serious trekker that she had come across. Many people who go trekking in Nepal are very purposeful and focus on reaching their destination. I, on the other hand like to stop and enjoy local culture (in this case playing ‘ping’ – swings which villages put up during Desai):

… not to mention feeling the need to stop every five minutes to admire the view, look at a bird or butterfly, or more likely, to take a photo:

I was incredibly lucky with the weather and was treated to a wealth of stunning, breathtaking views. It was the end of the monsoon season, but I only got wet once and the leeches were mostly very well behaved (as far as I was concerned). Another set of sisters to mention are 3 more sisters whose guest house we stayed at in the village of Panchaase. In the photo album, you’ll find a photo of us all in their kitchen as well as a very nice ‘view from the loo’. Yes – I really do take my camera everywhere! I spent a lovely evening and morning at the guesthouse, from where I was treated to amazing views, delicious food (dhaal bhaat of course), very amusing company (I think some naughty tourists had been teaching the sisters some rude jokes), great birdwatching and stunning sunset and sunrise:

I was lucky enough after my trek to be invited back to my guide's room for tea and to get the chance to meet her very sweet SISTER! I had been a bit upset because, during my trek I had found out that Shanti's sister was visiting from Kathmandu for the Desai holiday, but she had had to leave her to come away for my trek. So, I was pleased to have the opportunity to apologise to Shanti's sister in person, for stealing Shanti away from her for 3 days. After my trek I headed back to Pokhara, met up with volunteers Gordon, Miranda and … yes you guessed it, Miranda’s sister.

Meanwhile back at the homestead ……………. here’s what Steve was up to:

The good news is that his commitment to writing his dissertation rather than going swanning off trekking in the mountains, resulted in his finishing his work shortly after the Diwali break.

Just to round off with another note on sisters. Shortly after Diwali, Lalitha and Latha our twin sister friends who we visited in India (and whose photos can be seen on our last blog) came to visit us in Mahendranagar during their whirlwind tour of Nepal.