Sundrawatti

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” (Mary Anne Radmacher)

On Thursday I had the pleasure of traveling to Sundrawatti to attend a Youth Migration Workshop. It has been a long time goal for TBT to do this and I was very happy to be part of it. Each village (Kalimati, Mahadev-Beshi, and Ranimala) had two guides to represent their area as well as one volunteer (me for Kalimati, Al for Mahadev-Beshi, and one of the staff, B, from Ranima). The 9 of us met at in the Big House Tuesday evening. We had dinner together and then the kids worked on the activities for the workshop and I had a meeting with Al and B. Shortly after we all went to sleep because we had to wake up very early the next morning.

Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:40 so we could leave the house at 6:00. I was not happy! We took a microbus to the bus park and from there we got on the bus that would take us to Sundrawatti. We all piled on and only left about a half hour late (8:00) but then stopped 10 minutes later to load on what felt like 50 people and all of their belongings. Finally after 9:00 we left! Then we stopped for gas and dal bhat and then drove a long, long way. We eventually arrived in Chericoat (the town about an hour away) and then we had a very bumpy and nauseous ride to Sundrawatti. We got in after 5 and it was getting dark when we arrived. I was extremely grateful that the house was very close. It was so wonderful to see everyone! Al and I were sleeping in the house with everyone and the kids and B were sleeping in a hotel close by. We settled in and had dinner. It is so peaceful and quiet there. They are really in the middle of nowhere and it couldn’t be more beautiful. We went to sleep very early that night, I was extremely tired and I cuddled up with Sm and M and had a great night sleep!

The next morning (Thursday) we woke up and had breakfast and had a staff meeting with the Nepali staff (B from Ranimala and U from Sundrawatti). We talked about some details of the workshop and the decorations and supplies we needed to prepare. While the guide had a board meeting we worked on everything for the workshop. When we were finished I took a walk to the farm to see Sh and Eli. The view is breathtaking! They have an amazing backdrop where they work every day! They have also done a lot of work! At the moment they are working on building a green house. Around noon we gathered all the decorations and supplies and went and had lunch. When we were finished we went to the school. It was really nice and again, had an amazing view. Around 2:00 we started the workshop. 58 kids came! It was so crazy! I was so excited! We began by singing the Hami Yuva and Neplai anthems, which was so cool to see. Then we had activities, a play by the guides, and discussions all about migration from the village to the city. It was especially great because the guides led the whole thing, we (the volunteers) were just there to facilitate. This is extremely important because this is the last machzor that will be in Sundrawatti. We didn’t end until after 5 and it was getting pretty cold outside. We walked back to the house and helped make dinner. There was this really beautiful vibe in the room as well all sat and helped with dinner and asked about each other’s days. It wasn’t forced or awkward but sincere and lovely. Everyone seemed truly interested in what their peers were doing. Music played in the background and the food smelled delicious. I looked around me and felt very luck to be able to have this experience if only for a day. After dinner we made hot chocolate and hung out and talked for a bit. I was really happy because I really miss everyone when I am in Kalimati (especially Sh, Sm, and M). Before too long I was very tired, which was good because we had to wake up early again the next day. I went to sleep happy about the day’s work but sad to have to leave so soon.

Friday morning I woke up at 6:15 (which was actually an improvement of the 5:40 wake up I had, had on Wednesday) and got dressed and went to try to have some tea before we left. Around 6:45 we got a call that the bus was on its way. We said our goodbyes, which is crazy because the next time we will all be together is at the end seminar, and headed down to the road to get on the bus. I knew the ride from Sundrawatti to Chericoat would be bad but I felt really awful by the time we got there. I got out and got tea and donuts with Sh and Ab (they had come because they were starting a hike from Chericoat) and felt much better after although I almost missed the bus (luckily Al was there to save me)! The ride from Chericoat until the dal bhat stop was not much better. It was bumpy and I felt sick. When we stopped I drank a lot of water and took a Dramamine (I advise bringing these!) and felt much better. We got back to Kathmandu around 3 to find it gray and wet looking. All we wanted to go back to the Big House and have a shower! After we met up with GB and O who were visiting from Mahadev-Beshi and all had a night together in the Big House.

I cannot believe this workshop has come and gone so quickly. We move out of our areas in under 3 weeks! Although some of the days have dragged by, overall, time has slipped away from me. I am not ready to leave yet so I guess these next few weeks will have to be enough to mentally prepare myself to move on. We have lots of projects coming up in Kalimati and I can only hope they are successful. The only thing I can do is remember to have a Nepali sense of time and take everything slowly and savor each moment.

Signed,

Slow and Steady

Nepali Seminar

“Travelers never think that they are foreigners.” (Mason Cooley)

Wednesday night I went and had dinner at OR2K with S, Sh, C, and El before heading to Swayambhu. We got to see everyone from Sundrawatti and hang out for a little which was awesome! Then we took showers and went to sleep because we had to leave the house at 5:45 AM to leave by 6 AM (for those of you who know me you can only imagine how happy I was about this). We all piled on but were majorly delayed by one of the Nepali staff. Eventually we took off (only stopping 3 times, twice for gas because one place didn’t have, and once to pick up more Nepali staff). So we didn’t end up getting to Mahadev-Beshi until around 8:30. We had tea and a little breakfast (provided by the group) and somehow all managed to squeeze everyone on the bus. We stopped for lunch at around 10:30 and arrived in Gorkha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorkha_District) around 12:30. When we got there we climbed up for about 45 minutes (steep steps) to the top of a temple in which we could not bring in anything made out of any animal product (leather). The view was really incredible! It looked like the Himalayas were floating in the sky! We stayed there for a while and then came down and got back on the bus and made our way to Bandipur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandipur). We got in around 4 and had a bit of trouble with the rooms. We were not aware that we were not going to be in the same place (actually it was really most of the volunteers in one hotel and only a few of us separated). It was frustrating for everyone and not a good way to start the seminar. However after dinner everyone felt better and much more calm. Then we had an activity. E taught everyone how to salsa! I personally like to dance so this was fun for me. Sm and I partnered up and had such a fun time! E was really great at leading it and I think overall it was a success! When it was over, Sh and I climbed a latter to the roof of our hotel and looked at the stars for a while until we became too cold. We layered up and huddled under the blankets in the cold and fell asleep exhausted.

On Friday I started off my day with a nice walk with Sh and L. Bandipur is really, really beautiful! It’s peaceful and clean and has land stretching out for miles. Then we had our first activity, which was the same as the one M did with us in Kalimati. There were a bunch of quotes on the floor and everyone had to pick one and talk about how it related to how they feel at this point in the program. I chose a Hemingway quote (which for the life of me I cannot remember), which was about writing. Then we walked to this big open flat field and had an activity with the Nepali staff. We played some silly games and then got into groups and discussed the following: what is happiness/love? How are they portrayed? Has your idea of these things changed since you started TBT? It was all right but for some reason my group felt really awkward. After that we had a thematic meeting in which we talked about how the basket money workshop and guide of the guides seminar went and what we were planning on doing for the upcoming guide seminar. Then we had free time until dinner! I took a scalding shower and relaxed for a while which was nice. Dinner was good but afterwards E wanted to do an activity in which everyone picked a name out of a bag and had to say nice things about the person they picked until everyone could guess who it was. O and I looked at each other and thought the same thing, “there are 41 of us…this is going to be a mess and take forever.” But, we were wrong. It was actually really nice and didn’t take as long as we thought. It was also a good way to get to know the Nepali staff we don’t get to work with. When we finished I headed to GB and Al’s room with a bunch of people with some wine and snacks. We had such a fun night! We played jungle speed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Speed), which turned crazy very quickly, and talked and laughed and then all cuddled up and went to sleep.

Saturday was a free day until 3PM. I slept in, had breakfast, hung out, and took a walk. I was very relaxed! Then we had group area meetings so Kalimati met with M and had to fill out a worksheet (two columns: personal and group and three rows: things to keep, leave, and renew). Then we had to read whatever we wanted to from our own worksheet and fill out a bigger version. Then we started talking about how the last two weeks have not been so good for us. I think my explanation was the best: we are sick of each other! We live, work, eat, sleep, and hang out with each other! That’s enough to make anyone nuts. After we talked there was a good feeling and hopefully things can get better for us in these last couple of weeks. After our area meeting we had another activity with the Nepali staff. We went back to the big field where there was a big drawing of the outline of Nepal with the Nepali staff members standing in different areas holding posters and wearing costumes. So all the volunteers paired up and visited each station to find out about different areas of Nepal. It was really fun and we got to learn about lots of places I had never heard of.

We had to end around 6 because it got too dark and cold so we headed back and had dinner before our night activity; a talent show! Everyone got into groups of what they wanted to do (decorations, singing, acting, dancing, etc.) and we got to work. O and I went with most of the female Nepali staff and learned a Nepali dance! When it was time the decorations looked really nice and S and Sm were the MCs! There was a really funny short skit, singing, our dancing, acrobats, and impressions. It was really fun and I think everyone got into it and participated in some way. The night ended with everyone laughing and in a very good mood. After short star gaze with Sh and GB I fell fast asleep.

On Sunday we had a thematic meeting with N and At. We talked about the Sundrawatti migration workshop next week and then each area met with N. We mostly discussed the guide seminar we are planning for the week of the 20^th. Then we had our final activity of seminar: how to say goodbye. Since we will be leaving our areas in a little less than a month we have to be very conscious about how we leave the people we work with (especially Sundrawatti because they are the last machzor to work there). We got into our areas and talked about positive and negative goodbyes we have had (I talked about Apple Farm goodbye ceremony my first year) and then came back together for closing comments. Then we had lunch and were back on the bus leaving Bandipur. We got to Mahadev-Beshi on time (about 4:30) but then hit major traffic on the way back to Kathmandu. We got back to Swayambhu around 7 and were all pretty exhausted. We ate dinner and took showers, which felt absolutely amazing and then I Skyped, emailed, and facebooked for a while until I had to go to bed.

I can’t believe Nepali seminar is over and we are going to move out of our areas in a little under a month. Soon we will all be back in Swayambhu for the closing seminar and then off traveling. Sometimes the days or weeks seem to go by really slowly but then I look up and see how much time has gone by. I have been away from home for almost 4 months. I have met many new people and made a few very good friends. I am doing work that I enjoy and living in a city that I like. We never know how much we change until we look behind us, which I will be ready to do at the end of this program. I hope I will be able to really live these last couple of weeks here. Life is much more simple in a lot of ways here and I hope I can start to bring these things into my life sooner rather than later. For now I am looking forward to the Sundrawatti workshop this week and will allow myself to live in this moment and not look too far ahead.

Signed,

Simple and Sighing

            

Helpful Tips For TBT/Nepal

Theses are some no-so-obvious things I think are helpful for TBT/Nepal. I didn’t list things like headlamp and hand sanitizer because those are really straightforward. I hope this is helpful!

Always bring toilet paper wherever you go (Eastern countries do not use toilet paper. They wash instead. Say it’s gross or weird or whatever you like but unless you are in a tourist area (Thamel) there will not be any. Always keep a spare roll or tissues in your bag).

Buy slippers immediately or bring them from home (you cannot wear shoes in the library or kitchen in the big house, the office, or the activity rooms and daycare in Kalimati. Your socks will be filthy and since you do your own laundry they will always look disgusting).

Be careful giving money to children (It is so extremely sad to see children who are dirty and hungry, especially when they ask for food. However a lot of kids use the money to fund their drug habits (glue mostly). If you want to help buy them some food, if they are truly in need they will take it (some just want the money and get mad or when you give them money demand more). I urge you to avoid the situation altogether).

Bring hiking sandals, or as I call them “ugly Israeli sandals” (You can wear them with anything and put socks on when the weather gets cold. I did not bring a pair and I have been regretting it from my first week. Wear them on a hike, to the market, even out to a bar. They match with everything and will never fail you).

Bring lots of movies (If you are bringing your laptop download or if you are not then put a bunch on a hard drive. There are a lot of long nights, especially when it gets deeper into winter the power cuts get very long. Having movies not only provide entertainment but will give you a nice taste of home).

Bring a laptop (It is not necessary but will make your life easier especially if you are blogging. It also helps to have a laptop for documenting your activities. It is also nice not to have to ask anyone to borrow his or hers).

Bring a jacket (You might think it’s pointless at first but the winter does get cold. There is no heat in the big house or in Kalimati and a lot of the time it is colder inside than outside. Bring a fleece; you can wear it outside, inside, or to bed. I am from the East coast and am used to winter and still need my fleece inside!).

Bring under armor (Yes you can buy it here, and yes it will be warm. However it will not be as good as what you can buy back home. I pretty much live in mine and I know for certain that the people in who live in the villages do as well. This is an excellent thing to bring from home).

Hot water bottle (Many of the girls had them and I couldn’t understand why until I was given one and used it. It makes the cold nights better and is amazing for that time of the month).

 Blow dryer (I am one of the two people to have one but personally, I hate having wet hair when it is freezing out. I absolutely love my little blow dryer. It makes me warm and when I want to “dress up” it’s nice to have).