Colleen's Photos

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Photos coming soon...

We'll post the link to photos as soon as we get them all uploaded. Thanks for following along!

May 11th Update

This is likely to be my last posting as I'm leaving Charikot on Friday to head back to Kathmandu. Hard to believe that it's been a month already. At times it seems like I've been here a lot longer and at other times it feels like I just arrived. I was thinking about ending with a top ten list (mine would have been "Top Ten Things I Take for Granted Living in the U.S.") but as I started to put it down on paper I realized that I take pretty much EVERYTHING about my life in the U.S. for granted. Yes there are things like electricity 24/7 and paved roads that take some getting used to but I've learned that you can adapt to pretty much anything without a whole lot of effort. But if I had to single out one thing that has struck me most it's the availability of choice. You really don't know what a luxury choice is until you have to live without it. I know at home I often complain that I'm bored with my choices for lunch at the Universal Gourmet across the street. But living here I've had two choices for lunch everyday - either noodles or Dahl Bhat (rice and lentils). That's it. And for most people that live here, that's their choice for dinner as well. There's no such thing as a Wal-Mart or Target that carries 8000 brands of the same item. They have small little shops that sell one kind of whatever (cookies, toothpaste, etc.) and you take what they have. Clothes? The children I see everyday maybe have two different outfits that they can wear. Most wear the same thing everyday. And many of them are wearing clothes with holes and shoes that don't fit them but they don't have a choice. What a luxury it is to put on a different outfit everyday and give away clothes just because we're tired of them! What a luxury to wear something once and then throw it in the laundry to be washed. Anyway, you get the idea. Don't mean to be preachy or philosophical but I know it's taken this trip to remind me of things that I know but find so easy to ignore when I'm home.

On a lighter note, a few little updates. Last week I made yet another new little friend. This one is a little boy they call "Babu". He is actually a little boy for which we are sponsoring a scholarship because he was found by the side of the road, abandoned by his family, and another family has taken him in. That family, however, doesn't have the money to send Babu to private school but if you could see this child you would know that he has true potential in him. His one little "idiosyncracy" is that he refuses to go into the classroom with the other children. One afternoon last week I was sitting outside and he came over to me and wanted to look at my sunglasses. So I let him try them on and he just lit up!!!! Then I decided to play Peek-a-Boo with him. Well, that was a huge hit!!!! Here's this little boy, covering his eyes, and then putting down his hands and yelling "Pookey!!!!" (close enough!!!) and just laughing away. That went on for about 1/2 hour (no joke). Then I took out a pad and pen and started to show him "A,B,C". He repeated right after me and then wanted the pen for himself. He didn't manage more than a scribble but the look on his face when he just made a mark on the paper would just melt you heart. He then looked to Surya and apparently said "Look, I'm writing!" He then let me actually lead his hand to make A,B,C and was so proud (even though he couldn't do it by himself) and kept motioning for me to do it again. So we spent the rest of the afternoon "writing". Wish I could stay longer just to see his progress!

Got sick at the end of last week. Just a cold (didn't grow a snout or a curly tail so I'm pretty sure it wasn't swine flu :)) but realized that yet another "luxury" I take for granted are tissues! Apparently you need to go to Kathmandu for them. Thank goodness I'm staying in a place that uses toilet paper (yes, another luxury in most places). So if you ever plan to come to Nepal, pack plenty of Kleenex just in case!!!!

Last night experienced what can best be described as a Nepali hurricane. We had rain in the afternoon and when it let up I left the school. It was still thundering and I felt like one of those stupid people in the movies who try to outrun a storm. All I kept thinking was "I'm climbing up to the top of a mountain in a thunderstorm and I'm about the tallest thing out here. When exactly is the lightning going to strike me?" Anyway, made it to the hotel just as the rain started again and soon enough it was a true display of Mother Nature. Thunder, lightning, hail, rain, you name it! Sitting in my room I was really starting to worry about the windows blowing in so spent about an hour sitting on my sleeping bag on the bathroom floor trying to read my book by flashlight (although most of the time I was just praying for the storm to stop). It eventually did die down and it left us with a truly spectacular view of the snow-capped Himalayas this morning. Really wish my camera could capture what my eye can see!!!

So that's the latest from Nepal! Again, this may be the last posting although will try to update at the end of the week if I can. See you all soon!!!

Sorry I've been out of touch for awhile. The phone lines here went down because of storms last week and weren't fixed for 5 days so no dial-up service. Then we were having issues with the electricity again so finally I am back on-line and hoping that the electricity holds up long enough for me to post this update.

Since the last post there have been quite a few adventures. Last Thursday a reporter from the Kathmandu Post, Nepal's largest newspaper, came by to do a story on Chonli, my 64 year old student, and her English teacher (guess who!!!). I think it was mostly about Chonli pursuing her education in her 60's but the photos were of the two of us together going through our ABC's :) Not sure if the story will ever run, particularly since there are bigger issues in the news these days (more on that later) but it was fun nonetheless.

This past weekend I went to a music festival at a place called The Last Resort. It is a resort (can't call it a hotel because lodgings are tents, but very nice large, comfy tents) very close to the Tibetan border (hence the name). So close, as a matter of fact, that when I turned on my cellphone I was welcomed to China's mobile service!!! To get to The Last Resort, I hopped on a local bus (always an adventure) and endured 3 1/2 hours of slow, tortuous driving and a Nepali woman's purse jabbing into my hip but at least I had a seat!!! Some of these folks stand literally for 6 hours on their way to Kathmandu! At the end of the 3 1/2 hour drive I met up with my trekking guide and his wife and we travelled the rest of the way by car. The festival itself was fun although I think I was about twice the age of 90% of the attendees. They had fusion bands and Nepali rock bands and an Indian pop singer. What I liked best, however, was drinking nice Australian chardonnay :) What a treat!

The Last Resort is also known for having the 3rd highest bungee platform in the world. It's where Cindy, Dave, Denise, Tim and I did something called the swing last year which is basically a feet first bungee. I awoke Sunday morning to screams because my tent was right by the viewing platform and about 20 crazy 20-something's were lined up to bungee in the pouring rain! At least they had the good sense to wait until the thunder passed since standing out on a metal bridge in a thunderstorm is not all that great an idea!

We left TLR at about 11a and made it back to the town where I was to catch my bus. We'd heard rumors of another road strike but some brilliant soul informed us that everything was fine. Well, when we got to town there were no buses to be seen. So, yes, there was yet another road strike. Mads negotiated with the owner of a car to get me back here, to Charikot. There was a banker in a suit who also needed to go (and about 15 others) so when I agreed to pay the bulk of what the driver was asking we were on our way. Unfortunately, we made it only half of the 54 km distance and were met by a road block. Usually they let tourists through but no such luck today. I managed to understand that this road block would be lifted at 5p (it's now 1:20p) but our driver just asked for his money and left. So even had I decided to sit in what can best be described as a 10 building village for 3 1/2 hours, I still didn't have a way back to Charikot. So the banker and I decide to walk. I don't want to go into excrutiating detail but I wasn't exactly wearing shoes designed for 10 mile walks on not-so-smooth roads and blisters started forming pretty early on. When I finally got back to the hotel (after 4 hours of walking and 9 km in the bed of a pickup truck) and removed my right shoe I definitely experienced a Curt Schilling moment. Blood all over! Had the pickup not come along when it did I honestly don't know that my feet would have held out. Still hobbling around because of blisters on the bottom of my left foot. It's not pretty!!! Also doing that kind of walk in the foothills of the Himalayas with very little water and no food wasn't fun either. But it's all part of the adventure of Nepal!!!

I know you've been seeing things in the news about the political situation here and I want to assure everyone that things are not as bad as they might appear on the news (I think they manage to find the one tire burning in all of Kathmandu and make it look like everyone is rioting in the streets). As a matter of fact, around 3pm yesterday I heard a loud commotion and we could see all these men running in the street (and a tire burning) even here in Charikot. But I went through the town square after school and this "crazy" rally consisted of men making speeches (apparently the Maoists who don't want their PM to resign), some minor cheering, but, for the most part, just a bunch of men standing around looking bored. And no one paid me the least bit of attention. Or no more than they usually do when they see a fair-skinned blonde among them. So it's fine for now. There is another guest here at the resort who works with the UN and she receives daily phone calls with updates. They are telling her just to lay low for now. I will continue to monitor and will come home early if I have to but would prefer to stick it out the full month with this school. The kids are used to me now and even the little ones wave hello and good-bye to me so would break my heart to leave them before I have to.

Hope all is well in the States. Sounds like swine flu is abating which is one less thing for this traveler to worry about!!!!

10 Things I (Colleen) Miss

In no particular order:
1. Cold drinking water
2. Electricity 24 hours a day
3. My friends and connecting with them on a regular basis
4. Chocolate
5. My memory foam mattress topper
6. Western style toilets
7. Not having to concentrate when someone speaks to me
8. Being able to use the water that comes out of the faucet to brush my teeth with (you have no idea until you can't!)
9. Clothes that are laundered with a washing machine and dryer
10. Anytime access to the internet
there are many more, these just seem to keep popping up!

My new friend Chonli

Okay, I know we said to expect weekly updates but we have electricity and I just had to share today's events. My new student (who is 64, not 62) came this morning for her first lesson. Her name is Chonli (not how she spells it by the way but doing everything phonetically these days). We got her as far as "Hello", "Good Morning" and "Good-Bye". Nepalis use the same word for Hello and Good-Bye so I was trying to pantomime when you use Hello and when you use Good-Bye and the poor thing thought I was asking her to leave!!!! It's interesting teaching English when neither party knows the other's language but we're working through it. The other thing that just about broke my heart was that she arrived with a little plastic shopping bag and when I started to teach her words she took out a little notebook with Power Rangers on the cover. I'll have to get a picture because it's just about as precious as it can be.
This afternoon I was told that there were complaints from the younger folks that I wasn't spending anytime with them. I think I've opened Pandora's box with this Hokey Pokey thing. So I had about 30 kids on the playground this morning doing the Hokey Pokey (and yes, there are photos!!!!). The topper, though, was that my new best friend Chonli came back to school and joined us. It was hysterical!!!
After school Chonli insisted that we come by her house for some traditional Nepali hospitality which consisted of chicken that was still wearing half his feathers and yes, you guessed it, good ol' Nepali wine (aka grain alcohol)!!!! And this ol' bird would not let me go without finishing my whole glass!!! No wonder she got out the drum and some other instrument involving a reed-like thing and some string and started singing which, of course, led to dancing which, of course, led to ME dancing!!! Or whatever semblance of dancing you can do in a cramped room with two other women dancing with you!! And, yes, you guessed it, there are photos AND a video!!!!
That's it for now. Hope you're enjoying reading half as much as I'm enjoying my experiences here!

Charikot - April 27th

Sorry it's been awhile since anything's been posted. Electricity in Nepal is not exactly a 24/7 thing. Most days you're lucky if you get 8 hours of electricity. I think we're working on a world record at the moment since we've had electricity since last night (at least I think so, we're not here during the day).
As of the last posting we had just arrived in Charikot and had our introduction to Surya, the headmaster of a new private school here in Charikot. Our first week of teaching was actually focused on teaching the teachers since the kids were not officially back to school. Plus, because of one of Nepal's famous road strikes, books had not arrived from Kathmandu. But Surya sees a lot of value in having us spend time with the teachers because they will be here long after we are gone. Most of them speak very little English themselves and are teaching the young children. And they haven't actually received training from a native English speaker. Instead they have been taught by Nepalis who learned English and many mistakes just get handed from teacher to student. For example, we are told by one English teacher that they were taught to pronounce a "p" as an "f".
I also love the fact that Surya has invited teachers from other schools in the district to participate. We have two gentlemen who join us for two days. They were taught to speak English phonetically so Colleen and I find ourselves having to "wing" a curriculum to teach English phonetically. It's actually not that hard (for us) because it really consists of teaching sounds and then going through some example words. However, they really struggle with some of the sounds, just as I have found it difficult to learn Nepali because there are some sounds we use that they don't and vice versa. But it's very rewarding when these teachers tell you how much they have learned just by speaking to native English speakers.
We also learn that we have really helped Surya's reputation in the community. This is the first week that his school is open and he tells us that he already had several new enrollments from families that heard he has American's volunteering at his school. Apparently this shows the community that Surya is "connected" so must be providing a great education for their children. I love that just our presence is an asset to this man who is so committed to bringing quality education to the more remote villages of Nepal.
Friday was a holiday here in Nepal. It is the first anniversary of democracy so school is closed. Colleen and I just enjoy the beautiful mountain views and some R&R here at the hotel.
On Saturday we are invited to Surya's home for the mother's day celebration. There is a small ceremony at Surya's mother-in-law's home first which consists of her two daughters and one son blessing her and presenting her with gifts. Surya's niece then performs the same ceremony for Surya's sister-in-law and wife. Then the fun begins because now we are presented with the same traditional Nepali food that the mother-in-law received. First it's an egg that has been hard-boiled and then fried and then touched by pretty much everyone in the room :). Colleen and I are presented our eggs on a plate with a spoon which is really cute because everyone else uses their hands. We also try a little buffalo meat (which is quite tasty!). Then we are presented with curdled milk and a traditional Nepali wine which can best be described as grain alcohol on steroids. We give it the ol' college try but try as we might we just can't down a glass of curdled milk with a grain alcohol chaser!! We'd make bad Nepalis!
Yesterday was our first day with the children. We attempt to teach nursery rhymes and songs to the nursery school kids but are met with a bunch of blank stares. No surprise there since we are singing in a language they've never heard and I don't care how many farm animal sounds you make, they just don't get it! We finally find success with the Class 3 (third-grade) kids who actually know quite a bit of English although they are very shy to speak. However, I find that by asking them to help me learn Nepali, they open right up. At first it's just a few words but by the end of class they are looking through books in English to find words that they can translate into Nepali.
Today can best be described by me as my idea of a perfect day. I get to school and immediately my friends from Class 3 want to help me to learn more Nepali. Then I go downstairs to teach songs but this time to Kindergarten thru Class 3 (these ages at least are able to mimic what I say). I teach them "If You're Happy and You Know It" first and they do a really good job of singing along plus they love the clapping and feet stomping. The show stopper was definitely the "Hokey Pokey" though. I had them all on their feet, "shaking it all about" and they just loved it! There is absolutely nothing better than the sound of children's laughter and, for me, the ability to connect to these children who don't understand me and who I don't understand but we still had so much fun together. However, let me tell you, doing the Hokey Pokey 10 times in a row is tiring!!!! I'm out of breath and these kids want to keep going! I then go upstairs where Surya has the nursery age kids (about age 3) in his office dancing to Nepali music. It is one of the cutest things I've ever seen and, of course, today I don't have my camera!!!! But they made me smile so much my face hurt!!! After lunch I spent time with Class 3 again but then Surya called me in and introduced me to my new student who will start tomorrow. She is 62 years old and started in school for the first time 3 years ago. She has advanced to Level 5 but in a government school so has not had the chance to learn English. She is now running for Parliament (isn't democracy great?) and wants to learn English. She has seen Colleen and me in town and we've even greeted her but now she wants to greet us in English. So she starts tomorrow and that just made my day!!!!
Sorry this is so long folks. Had a lot to fill you in on and haven't even covered everything but I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're tired of reading so more later!!!!!

Charikot

Written 9:18 pm Sunday, April 19th

We began our four hour car ride to Charikot at 6:00 am this morning. Previously we hadn't planned to leave until 9:00 am however, there was a strike in one of the villages we needed to pass through and so we had to beat the villagers to the road!

After arriving we had lunch and then met the Principal at the private school we will be teaching at. His English is really good (by Nepali standards). He took us to meet the teachers at his school - which is an English Boarding School so all classes are taught in English (albeit broken). The students not only learn Nepali but English, Math, Social Studies, American Literature [even I hated that] and Science. Surya [roll the r = sur-i-a] has been a principal for 17 years and was telling us how in the early 2,000's before the Maoists were working as part of the Government forced him to close his private school. They did not like the fact that students coming out of private school were getting better jobs and had a "better" education than the Government schools. He said they threatened to kill him and burn his building if he did not shut down thus, he caved. One of his colleagues building was burned and they guy was actually in the building when they lit it on fire. It hasn't been until the past few years they have been allowed to re-open the Private schools.

After meeting the teachers at Surya's school, we got on the back of motorbikes and went over to the village of Dolaka to meet the Head Master of the Government school where we can also help out. It's about 10-15 minutes on motorbike or 45-60 minute walk from where we are staying where as the Private school is about a 15 minute walk [mind you all walks are up and/or down very steep inclines].

Once we arrived we has tea with Surya's family and then were given a walking tour of the village. We had a chance to see the Government school as well. Shortly after that we headed back to Charikot to shower and get settled for dinner.

We explained to Top and his wife [Top is the owner of the place we are staying] that for these first few days we'll have teacher "workshops" where we'll work with the teachers on phonetics because school hasn't officially started yet and this will be a good way to help them improve their English - a lesson that will last far longer than our four weeks here.

Now as you can imagine that after a day like that; we were once again thoroughly exhausted and in bed by 10:00 pm again...good thing school doesn't start until 10:00 am tomorrow!

Trekking

Written 1:39 pm Sunday, April 19th Charikot time.

On April 13th we left the hotel at 8:00 am to begin the three hour drive to the beginning of our trek. The road out of the Kathmandu Valley was quite crowded as it actually runs from Tibet all the way to India and is the main trade route for any and everything coming in to Nepal from India. It's also quite interesting in that we literally drove down a mountain for the first two hours or so.

After lunch [where we were the object of attention from a few Nepali children - I'm hoping Kim will write about that] we began our trek ... and after climbing for about 20 minutes we turned around to look down at the road we'd began our trek from. We could look down because we damn near climbed straight up; (think 12% or HIGHER incline on a treadmill) and did not stop climbing at that incline for about four hours! Talk about one helluva cardio workout...the terrain of the trail was compromised mostly of rock and dirt however, the view was of beautiful mountain sides and many of them.

We set camp in Jayapuri, right in the middle of a small village. Funny thing is that we are here to experience Nepal and it's beauty (at least for the trekking portion) however; the Nepalese are just as curious and interested in us Westerners trekking through their villages. With Kim and I being so fair skinned and with light eyes, we are quite the attention getters...given that Mads, Claire and the crew are fluent in Nepali communicating and answering their questions wasn't an issue.

I have still have three more days of trekking to write about but am a little behind on that so I will go ahead and post the stuff I do have typed up and get to the rest of the trek days as soon as I can. I am purposely leaving out a few details so that we have stories to share once we get home. Thanks.

Arriving

Written at 2:00pm on Sunday, April 12 Kathmandu time.

The flight from Doha to Kathmandu was pretty uneventful until we started our decent… Kim pointed me to the window and what I saw was this little tiny green man with fangs and wings –okay, just kidding.

The view was absolutely breathtaking…through the top of the clouds was a majestic view of the Himalayas. The jagged peaks are capped and there was so much detail it’s hard to describe. I took a few photos to try and capture the serenity of this moment however; something tells me the photos just won’t do it justice.

As we arrived; we went through customs, obtained our Visa’s and collected our luggage and while doing so, witnessed “complete and utter chaos”. [Mads (pronounced Mass) and Claire warned us but who knew?!]

People were lined up in masses looking for “their people”, there were taxi drivers (and by taxi, I mean a tiny skittle of a car) lobbying for your fare and others with signs to pick up from agencies or trek companies. Claire hadn’t arrived just yet but after a few minutes she was there smiling; with Budda blessed scarves in hand to grace us with.

The drive to our hotel was interesting…the steering wheel is on the right hand side but you drive on the left [ever wonder why that is?] and there are no “lanes”. If there is an open space and you can fit through it, have at it. Once you get used to the idea of traffic coming at you from every angle and within three inches of you, it’s just a taxi ride. Oddly enough, that didn’t bother me.
This truly is third-world and reminded me of the really impoverished parts of Jamaica. The streets are crowded with a compilation of people, cars, motorbikes and dogs. There are small shops aligned in rows and extremely close to the road. Many of them looked like stacked garages with items from top to bottom and no room to move – not quite sure how that works yet. We passed food shops along the way, some with vegetables, some with de-feathered chickens then whole fish(es) lined up for sale [yes, in the hot heat, on a table with insects and all flying about…].

We also passed a funeral in process. There was a procession of people on foot; a body wrapped in a shroud was being carried high above four men’s shoulders. In the front and back of the body were people carrying something that’s burning…I’m sure it’s incense with who knows what powers to cleanse, purify, and other sorts of spiritual things to assist the soul with it’s journey.

We arrive at the hotel to drop our luggage and then head to breakfast with Mads and Clarie at “Mike’s breakfast”. Now that our bellies are full and we have completed the 23 hour journey to get here; Kim and I head back to the hotel to get some rest and a shower as in a few hours, we’ll head out for a little stroll and find some dinner.

Doha

So it's 11:45 am EST and Kim and I arrive in Doha, Qatar (ki-tar). We just woke up but it's already night time here! Rewind: yesterday as we left for the airport on the taxi ride to Dulles our nerves woke up… the idea of spending six weeks in a third-world country has finally kicked in. We were able to tame the nerves by enjoying a glass of wine (of course) and some mushroom risotto in the lounge while waiting for boarding to start.

The experience of flying business class on Qatar is one in and of its own… Kim told Ray "now that we're settled in our apartment" – and if we compare it to NYC, its damn near that big. After we relaxed in the lounge we headed to the gate to board the plane. Business class had its own walkway so there was no mingling with the other passengers. [Be quiet, if you were going to live in a country that barely has running water, let alone any that might be warm, you too might pamper yourself on the way there!] The cabin was very nice, dimly lit with burgundy and tan coloring. Each seat had its own 19" screen TV and a smorgasbord of entertainment to choose from. After the plane took off we had dinner – and more wine – and then settled in for a little sleep. As we were falling asleep we realized we had only flown 519 miles – oh my. We both fully arise around 8:00 am EST for breakfast and then just two hours later we're landing. Colleen's nerves have once again kicked in as she realized we are now in a country where people speak a completely different language and we are foreigners.

The nerves settle once we get to the lounge (in Doha) and everyone speaks English (to this point). We've got diet cokes in hand and are patiently waiting a few hours before the 4.5 hour flight to Kathmandu where Kim has assured me- the experience there will be completely different than that here in Doha – yikes.

I know we're not there yet but, had some time and internet access so I thought I'd share part of the journey to get there as well.

A little aside from Kim – I've now discovered another country that I'd like to come back and actually see. If the employees of Qatar Airways are any indication, Qatar is another country of warm and friendly people and never having experienced the Middle East before it's nice to know that Americans are not universally despised. Seeing the world is a great reminder of how, while we may look a little different from each other, we're all the same at heart. It's the reason I love to travel! Oh, and don't watch "Marley and Me" on an airplane unless you don't mind openly sobbing in public!

Until our next post – live with passion!

H2

Thank you to everyone who came out to Chima last night! Kim and I had a wonderful time getting a chance to socialize with each of you before we take off today. We look forward to sharing some of the experience through this blog as well as having a photo viewing party upon our return. Photos here.

We're psyched, running a few errands before we head to the airport for the 14.5 hour flight to Doha, Qatar and then the 4.5 hour flight in to Kathmandu.

Take care everyone!

Bon Voyage

For those of you who would like to see us one last time before we go; we're having a Happy Hour:

Where: Chima
Location: 8010 Towers Crescent Dr., Vienna, VA
When: Thursday, April 9th
Time: 5:00 - 8:00 pm.

Hope to see you there!

Vaccinations

Kim and I are finally up to date with our vaccinations for Nepal:

• Updated Tetanus
• Polio booster
• Typhoid
• Hep A
• Hep B
• Yellow Fever (required for the southern parts & our safari in the Royal Chitwan Park)

We'll also take Malaria pills and Cipro (just in case).

Anticipation

The idea of spending six weeks in Nepal, the top of the world, donating your time and energy to teach children ages 5-16 English - it's an emotion one can't describe.

** No one should wait until they retire to live life so fully. **