Charlotte's Web

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Back from the village

Greetings from Chitwan National Park! Our time in the village of Nichuta was an amazing experience. It was very different from all my expectations. Houses in Nichuta are made of clay and cow dung with straw roofs. The house we stayed in was one of the nicest homes in the village. Brijlal's family was so welcoming to us even though they weren't able to communicate with us since most of them didn't speak English. We were fed big and delicious meals of dhal baht with vegetables grown nearby and carp caught in a neighborhood pond. We had chai tea at the local tea shop. When we walked around exploring the village we attracted a large group of village children who loved to smile at us and give us high fives. While writing this I'm just thinking that I really can't explain how much we saw or what we experienced. We got to visit a public school in the village where the Literacy for Nepal library is located. It was incredible to finally be standing in the building that I talk about and think about all the time when working on LFN projects throughout my time at SLU. The students at the school were also welcoming and were eager to show us around their school and Chris, Lizzie and I even got to teach a lesson in two classrooms. The students had amazing enthusiasm to learn and were so happy to be showing off their English to Americans. I have so much more to say about Nichuta but I really can't describe the village and the amazing community there. Nepal is truly a unique place with amazing people.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Leaving for the village

Unfortunately I am the first one of our group to get sick. Last night was a bit of a struggle but I'm feeling much better today as we get ready to drive to Nichuta, a village about an hour and a half away from Birgunj. The Literacy for Nepal library is located in Nichuta and we will be staying with Brijlal's family while we are there.

Our time in Birgunj has been great! Yesterday we spent most of the day in Brijlal's office. He works for a NGO called Sano Paila (A Little Step) that works towards building a better community by offering drug rehabilitation programs, increased awareness for health issues among many other topics. In his office we also met up with an organization called Freedom Matters which helps rescue children that have been trafficked into an Indian circus. This organization has rescued almost 500 children who are either reunited with their families or brought to a rehabilitation center and receive an education.

We then took a horse pulled rickshaw that brought us to the Indian border. The border was pretty crazy with huge trucks going back and forth with oil, food and other goods. We got to speak with customers inspectors at the border about what kinds of issues they deal with.

After returning to the Sano Paila office we were able to interview a few people and I even got to meet a Literacy for Nepal scholarship recipient. Anju is 19 and is attending school in Birgunj and hopes to become a teacher in the future. It is amazing to meet people that the LFN organization is helping.

Friday, January 4, 2013

We made it!

I am thrilled to say that we have arrived in Birgunj! It was a pretty crazy drive here going up and down through the mountains around switchbacks and squished together (8 of us plus the driver) in the van. The roads alternated from pavement to bumpy dirt roads with no painted lines, stop signs or traffic signals. We had lunch along a dry riverbed that turns into a roaring river during monsoon season. I have ditched my laptop in Kathmandu until I return there on the 12th so I will just be posting iPhone photos for a while so I apologize for the crummy quality.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Leaving Kathmandu

Good morning! I'm so glad to hear that everyone has been following the blog and enjoying it so far. It is great that you guys can see what I'm doing day to day. We are leaving soon for Birgunj and I will post when I can.

Last full day in Kathmandu

Today was an interesting day. We started off the morning early by walking to find a stupa and do some prayers. While exploring the city we witnessed our first motorbike accident. Luckily the driver was safe but it was a shock to see it happen so close to us. Then we had some breakfast before meeting with Juju who runs a program called Heartbeat that provides daycare and counseling to children living on the streets of Kathmandu. Chris then lead our group in a yoga session on the rooftop before we headed out for our daily adventure. We visited Pashupatinath which is where Nepal's most important Hindu temple is located and is also the site of where many Nepalis are cremated on the banks of the holy Bagmati River. We explored this area for a while however it was difficult to watch the ceremonies that were taking place before the bodies were cremated. The rest of this area was filled with monkeys running around and cows walking down the street. Many Indians were here visiting the Hindu temple. After this we visited the stupa called Boudhanath which is a beautiful place with people of all ethnicities especially Buddhists who go there as a pilgrimage.

It has been amazing to spend my first couple of days in the busy capital of Kathmandu but I am excited to get a taste of different areas of Nepal when we leave this city tomorrow morning for Birgunj.

Pashupatinath

Boudhanath

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

January 2, 2013

Woke up, had breakfast, did some shopping at the market and headed to Bhaktapur City, a world heritage site that contains beautiful temples around every corner. We spent most of the day here enjoying learning the history behind the monuments and the warmth of the mid day sun. We had a Newari dinner overlooking the Bhaktapur Square and listening to bells chiming from nearby prayers. Then we went back to the airport (for the third time) and our luggage had finally arrived! Got to come back to the hotel and call my parents, it was great to hear their voices and tell them about

Lizzie, Chris and I enjoying Nepali tea at breakfast

Bhaktapur

Group shot at Bhaktapur

Chris doing yoga on an elephant statue

Throwing clay in Pottery Square

Brijlal says, "it's just a pond" (check out that clean water)

Our bags have finally arrived!! (after 5 days...)

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! To celebrate on New Year's Eve, Lizzie, Chris, Taylor, Brijlal and I went to the Electric Pagoda restaurant to have a light dinner and listen to a live Bob Marley cover band. The restaurant was outdoors and we sat on cushions on the ground at a low table while enjoying Nepali beer and Mexican food (Nepali food wasn't offered). After dinner we went to a hookah bar called the Buddha Bar where we again sat at a low table and had a complementary drink before hitting the dance floor with mostly Nepali men. The music was mostly American but it was fun to talk and dance with locals. We strolled back to our hotel on the busy streets and exchanged a "happy new year!" to everyone we passed.

The next morning we had breakfast on the roof of the hotel enjoying the morning sun. We then took taxis to a local private school where we interviewed the founder of the school named Rajesh about migration, remittances and the education system of Nepal. It was amazing to learn more about what goes on in Nepal from a local. I rode on the back of Rejesh's scooter to the college that he also founded. We passed what looked like a river bed but it was filled with sewage and trash. After touring the college we returned to the school and had a lunch made in the straw roof outdoor cafeteria. We were able to go to the home of a well-off Nepali family and meet their children who are fluent in English and seem to be doing amazing things in school. Then we went to another restaurant where we all tried new things. I avoided the goat head dish...but as a trade I was coaxed into eating goat testicles. Not my favorite Nepali food to say the least. Overall it was another great day in Nepal. Despite still not receiving our group's 5 pieces of missing luggage.....