Weekend
On Saturday morning we walked out of the city to Swayambhunath temple, finding our way through narrow back streets, where hand carts became more common than cars and motorbikes, then through a stretch of countryside. The temple is on a high hill, so even we could not get lost The long climb up to the temple through leafy trees and stalls was swarming with well fed monkeys and poorly nourished children. It’s a curious mixture of Buddhist and Hindu, with Buddhas, prayer wheels and prayer flags, many stupas and an array of familiar Hindu figures. We escaped the throngs of Nepalis and a few scantily dressed tourists in the old Buddhist monastery where monks were saying prayers, and we sat peacefully until they had finished and came to talk with us. We were warmly welcomed and able to converse in halting Nepali. In the afternoon, the ‘old’ VSOs had organised a ‘treasure hunt’ for the newcomers, which was great fun and helped us get to know each other as well as test our knowledge of the city and give us some more language practice. We discovered many hidden temples, little squares and beautiful old buildings behind the tourist facades. My Nepali is now acknowledged, and I am frequently addressed as ‘didii’ – literally ‘big sister’, and preferable to the ‘mama’ I often called in Africa! Many words are very similar and differ only in emphasis of a letter, so didii is remarkably like didi which means greenfly! The end point was the Buddha bar, where drinks and more ‘snacks’ (little fried bits of which Nepalis are very fond) were waiting. The evening was made more dramatic by heavy thunder showers, which helped clear the air and settle the dust.
A beautiful bright morning on Sunday, but the snowy peaks sometimes visible from the top of the guest house were still obscured by a haze of pollution. We spent a wonderfully relaxing morning in the lovely garden of the Manaslau hotel, surrounded by a hedge of sweet peas, swimming in the cool waters of a big blue mosaic pool, fed by spouting Hindu figures. Lovely to get some sun, and catch up on homework and reading. In the afternoon we were invited to Kumbeshwar Technical School where Jan from B-on-A had been a VSO almost 20 years ago. Kiran’s (the current director) father had founded the school to provide basic education for local untouchables, and it now has a small orphanage, primary school for 260 children and a technical school for carpentry, carpet weaving and knitting, with nearly 500 women knitting in their homes and in the women’s prison. The products are exported through People Tree to Europe and America. An extraordinary achievement. We were able to meet several of the knitters, the boys in the woodwork shop, several weavers, a young blind man ‘rescued’ from the streets who had just completed his first carpet, and the women attending a basic literacy class. We talked and played with the children in the orphanage, who initially were very shy and stared at us with huge brown eyes. Later we climbed the stairs to the top floor of the family house, where four generations of the extended family live, and shared their daal bhaat (rice, dhal and vegetables) dinner. Hajur baa and hajur aamaa (grandparents) speak no English and cackled delightedly at our attempts to converse in Nepali. I know we will return before we leave Kathmandu.
Walking to school
We love the walk to the language school each morning and are already getting to know some of the people we meet on our way. First across the building site, and right at the Nest café. Marijuana plants grow in profusion by the roadside. On past the Kid’s Paradise Montessori school and the New Wanted bakery, before turning left into a busy road, lined with ‘general’ stores. Across from the Guarantee Pile Treatment Centre we take a flight of steps up to a small Hindu temple, and then through a small vegetable market. The path goes straight through the next, larger Ganesh temple, with drums cymbals and bells every morning and many local people with prasad (offerings) for the elephant god. We have to negotiate an expanse of waste ground busy with fruit stalls, men selling ice cream from tin boxes on the back of bicycles, cycle rickshaws, old taxis, piles of stones and rubbish skips before entering a lane with a dairy. Several men in wellingtons are packing milk into plastic bags as we pass in the morning. By lunchtime the little shop is stocked with slices of yak cheese, paneer, jars of ghee and small pots of bright yellow yoghurt. On our way home the butter is being scooped out of a tin drum by hand and pushed into a wooden mould before being wrapped and stacked. Next come several shops selling stationery and school books. We especially like the ‘New Golden Guess exam papers’ series, which seem to be multiple choice questions. Finally a left turn by the Snow Farm all vegetarian ice cream parlour gets us to school.
The week
We have settled into a comfortable routine, starting with curd and muesli sitting on cushions at the guest house, leaving about 8:40 to walk to school. The language is progressing very well, and we have been ‘setted’ this week. Our hard work before we left has earned us places in the top set, with Pradipta, who speaks Hindi and a bright young Dutch volunteer, Kors. We are now working very fast, in both transliteration and Devanagari script. Some afternoons we have a break from intensive language for cultural and etiquette lessons. Wednesday’s ‘toilet training’ ie using a squat toilet and bathing in public reduced those unused to such things to hysteria. On Friday we learnt lots of food and eating vocabulary in the morning, and walked to a Nepali restaurant for lunch where we were able to practice ordering food, giving compliments, eating with our right hand while sitting cross legged on the floor, and drinking without the bottle or glass touching our lips (wet!). Evenings are spent doing homework (lots!), shopping, chatting, and finding interesting local places to eat. I ordered my first kurta surwaal yesterday from a tailor nearby, who has just received her new summer materials. Spread on the floor, the contrasting colours making up the 3 piece set are amazing. On reflection, I suspect I will resemble a Christmas tree when the outfit is completed! I’ve also discovered a shop selling Anoukhi fabric in the bazaar, so if the first outfit is successful, there will be more. The ‘set’ – trousers, long top and scarf costs £5 –8. Nepalis like us to wear traditional clothes, and I suspect Biratnagar will be more conservative than Kathmandu. Yesterday was New Year’s Eve, and we went to a party and then ate in an Indian restaurant with splendid balloons, decorations and a Christmas tree! Today is 1st Baisakh 2064.
nayaa barsha shubhakamanaa!
On Saturday morning we walked out of the city to Swayambhunath temple, finding our way through narrow back streets, where hand carts became more common than cars and motorbikes, then through a stretch of countryside. The temple is on a high hill, so even we could not get lost The long climb up to the temple through leafy trees and stalls was swarming with well fed monkeys and poorly nourished children. It’s a curious mixture of Buddhist and Hindu, with Buddhas, prayer wheels and prayer flags, many stupas and an array of familiar Hindu figures. We escaped the throngs of Nepalis and a few scantily dressed tourists in the old Buddhist monastery where monks were saying prayers, and we sat peacefully until they had finished and came to talk with us. We were warmly welcomed and able to converse in halting Nepali. In the afternoon, the ‘old’ VSOs had organised a ‘treasure hunt’ for the newcomers, which was great fun and helped us get to know each other as well as test our knowledge of the city and give us some more language practice. We discovered many hidden temples, little squares and beautiful old buildings behind the tourist facades. My Nepali is now acknowledged, and I am frequently addressed as ‘didii’ – literally ‘big sister’, and preferable to the ‘mama’ I often called in Africa! Many words are very similar and differ only in emphasis of a letter, so didii is remarkably like didi which means greenfly! The end point was the Buddha bar, where drinks and more ‘snacks’ (little fried bits of which Nepalis are very fond) were waiting. The evening was made more dramatic by heavy thunder showers, which helped clear the air and settle the dust.
A beautiful bright morning on Sunday, but the snowy peaks sometimes visible from the top of the guest house were still obscured by a haze of pollution. We spent a wonderfully relaxing morning in the lovely garden of the Manaslau hotel, surrounded by a hedge of sweet peas, swimming in the cool waters of a big blue mosaic pool, fed by spouting Hindu figures. Lovely to get some sun, and catch up on homework and reading. In the afternoon we were invited to Kumbeshwar Technical School where Jan from B-on-A had been a VSO almost 20 years ago. Kiran’s (the current director) father had founded the school to provide basic education for local untouchables, and it now has a small orphanage, primary school for 260 children and a technical school for carpentry, carpet weaving and knitting, with nearly 500 women knitting in their homes and in the women’s prison. The products are exported through People Tree to Europe and America. An extraordinary achievement. We were able to meet several of the knitters, the boys in the woodwork shop, several weavers, a young blind man ‘rescued’ from the streets who had just completed his first carpet, and the women attending a basic literacy class. We talked and played with the children in the orphanage, who initially were very shy and stared at us with huge brown eyes. Later we climbed the stairs to the top floor of the family house, where four generations of the extended family live, and shared their daal bhaat (rice, dhal and vegetables) dinner. Hajur baa and hajur aamaa (grandparents) speak no English and cackled delightedly at our attempts to converse in Nepali. I know we will return before we leave Kathmandu.
Walking to school
We love the walk to the language school each morning and are already getting to know some of the people we meet on our way. First across the building site, and right at the Nest café. Marijuana plants grow in profusion by the roadside. On past the Kid’s Paradise Montessori school and the New Wanted bakery, before turning left into a busy road, lined with ‘general’ stores. Across from the Guarantee Pile Treatment Centre we take a flight of steps up to a small Hindu temple, and then through a small vegetable market. The path goes straight through the next, larger Ganesh temple, with drums cymbals and bells every morning and many local people with prasad (offerings) for the elephant god. We have to negotiate an expanse of waste ground busy with fruit stalls, men selling ice cream from tin boxes on the back of bicycles, cycle rickshaws, old taxis, piles of stones and rubbish skips before entering a lane with a dairy. Several men in wellingtons are packing milk into plastic bags as we pass in the morning. By lunchtime the little shop is stocked with slices of yak cheese, paneer, jars of ghee and small pots of bright yellow yoghurt. On our way home the butter is being scooped out of a tin drum by hand and pushed into a wooden mould before being wrapped and stacked. Next come several shops selling stationery and school books. We especially like the ‘New Golden Guess exam papers’ series, which seem to be multiple choice questions. Finally a left turn by the Snow Farm all vegetarian ice cream parlour gets us to school.
The week
We have settled into a comfortable routine, starting with curd and muesli sitting on cushions at the guest house, leaving about 8:40 to walk to school. The language is progressing very well, and we have been ‘setted’ this week. Our hard work before we left has earned us places in the top set, with Pradipta, who speaks Hindi and a bright young Dutch volunteer, Kors. We are now working very fast, in both transliteration and Devanagari script. Some afternoons we have a break from intensive language for cultural and etiquette lessons. Wednesday’s ‘toilet training’ ie using a squat toilet and bathing in public reduced those unused to such things to hysteria. On Friday we learnt lots of food and eating vocabulary in the morning, and walked to a Nepali restaurant for lunch where we were able to practice ordering food, giving compliments, eating with our right hand while sitting cross legged on the floor, and drinking without the bottle or glass touching our lips (wet!). Evenings are spent doing homework (lots!), shopping, chatting, and finding interesting local places to eat. I ordered my first kurta surwaal yesterday from a tailor nearby, who has just received her new summer materials. Spread on the floor, the contrasting colours making up the 3 piece set are amazing. On reflection, I suspect I will resemble a Christmas tree when the outfit is completed! I’ve also discovered a shop selling Anoukhi fabric in the bazaar, so if the first outfit is successful, there will be more. The ‘set’ – trousers, long top and scarf costs £5 –8. Nepalis like us to wear traditional clothes, and I suspect Biratnagar will be more conservative than Kathmandu. Yesterday was New Year’s Eve, and we went to a party and then ate in an Indian restaurant with splendid balloons, decorations and a Christmas tree! Today is 1st Baisakh 2064.
nayaa barsha shubhakamanaa!
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