How to See Lots of Pictures

I just can't get all of my pictures up here with their accompanying stories fast enough, but I have been setting up some albums on my Facebook profile. Even if you aren't a member of Facebook (and have no desire to join), you can still view my pictures by following these links:

Since each of these albums have a capacity of 60 pictures, I'm sure I'll be adding more too! Also, if you try these links and they don't work, let me know---it means I did something wrong!

Pictures of my host family:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50856&l=44c10&id=630057811

Pictures of where I lived and visited nearby:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50828&l=f324b&id=630057811

Pictures of places I visited:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50840&l=0dbb9&id=630057811

Pictures of the kids at school:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50854&l=7c25d&id=630057811

The link to the Letters to Nepal group (and there are about 45 pictures of kids on there, but mostly serious ones):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32132534472

Names

I thought it might be good to tell you all of the names of my kids just so you could know what Nepali names are like. Memorizing them at first was beastly hard (and this was when all of the 116 students all looked exactly the same), but once my ear got used to the sound of the language and the soft-spoken manner in which Nepali children usually introduce themselves, I found their names to be charming. The pronunciation is pretty simple: vowels are like Spanish vowels, "h" is usually not pronounced, "j" is like a "z" especially at the end of names, but it sounds more like a soft j + "zh" at the beginning and middle of names.


Class 4 boys: Chandeshwar, Roshan, Binod, Udish, Prayush, Roshan, Biki, Sagar, Ujit; Class 4 girls: Mamata, Jessica, Rojina, Rashila, Shamjana, Urusha, Gita, Mamata, Rojee, Sheruta


Class 5 boys: Shiva, Imran, Anish, Sujan, Madhav, Roshan, Binesh, Rajendra, Manil, Gopal; Class 5 girls: Juna, Binita, Ramita, Manisha, Sarishma, Sanu, Sapana, Sunita, Saru



Class 6 boys: Saroj, Balram, Suraj, Saroj, Susan, Sanjip, Buddha, Bibek, Suman, Krishna, Buddha, Nigam, Anoj; Class 6 girls: Rabina, Nabina, Sangita, Sajana, Rishma, Sonu, Saraswati, Asmita, Roshni



Class 7 boys: Suman, Sunil, Sushan, Rajan, Dhiraj, Susan, Sujan, Sudarshan, Ashish, Manoj; Class 7 girls: Neha, Rashmi, Sarala Alina, Sharmila, Sabitri, Muskan, Kalpana, Salina, Sabina, Ribika, Anu, Aman, Saru, Rakshya, Chanduka, Nisha, Rabina, Puja



Class 8 boys: Rohit, Raju, Powan, Saroj, Santos, Sulove, "Bicycle" (the only one whose real name I can't remember!); Class 8 girls: Usha, Tara, Sajani, Sabina, Puja, Sujata, Shila, Sachita, Sujina, Jamuna


Class 9-10 boys: Mahesh, Kuber, Ranjan, Suman, Gaurav, Ashish, Ramesh, Umesh, Sanish; Class 9 girls: Ranju, Shanti, Shamjhana, Jharana, Sarita; Class 10 girls: Shree Devi, Sapana, Tina, Kanchan, Sujita, Bimala, Rabina

Pictures of Dhapakhel. . . Home

I was not only SO lucky to live with a terrific family in Nepal, but I was lucky to do it in such a picturesque and peaceful place. I still lived in the Kathmandu Valley, but I was about 30 minutes from the actual city of Kathmandu---away from the traffic, pollution and crowding. The shots above are taken from the house; the first is the patio where we ate our meals, and the second is a better view from that patio to the east (I think?), showing my friend Anoj's house (my host father was his uncle). There are many green rolling hills in the distance but because it was the monsoon season they rarely peeked their heads out from beneath the clouds. Below is another picture of his house just as the sun was setting and the light (even though it looks a little dark here) and colors looked so warm and beautiful.

Below is the west view of the temple and pipal tree from the shop my host family ran on the bottom floor of our building. This is one of my favorite pictures from the hundreds I took while I was in Nepal.

Above you can see the views from the roof of my family's house. The picture of the fields was taken in early June, before much of the rice had been planted. The fields got progressively greener and greener---almost neon---as the rains came down and the rice sprouted up. (My Irish friend Brona said Nepal was even greener than Ireland!) You can probably see this in other 2 photos below that I took of the fields from the pipal tree across the street. I love the scarecrow.

The pictures below are of the main road---really the only road---that runs through Dhapakhel. My house and my school were on this road and so I walked it everyday.

Nepali Food I Love

I don't believe Nepal is particularly famous for good cuisine, but I loved the food because it was so salty and spicy and fresh! I only regret that I didn't get too many recipes; the preparation was always fairly simple but the problem was in translation: knowing what some of the spices were called in English. What I really missed most during the 2 months was meat, which we got about once a week (usually chicken and a couple times goat); however most of it was fat and bones, which the family ate also, but I just couldn't choke down (so it just wasn't the same). Here's a quick rundown of some of my favorite dishes:

Rice from my family's field (nobody does it better! the way they cook it too. . . it's so moist) The basic meal in Nepal is called daal bhaat, daal being lentil soup and bhaat meaning rice. You pour the daal over the rice on your plate and scoop it up with your right hand (I think I wasn't half bad at eating without utensils by the time I left). The mother made AMAZING fried rice for breakfast as well.

Fried mo-mo (veggie or CHICKEN! chicken mostly) (finely ground cabbage/veggies or chicken with spices wrapped into a ball with an egg roll type shell and then fried so the shell is crunchy, but you have to make sure it's fried---steamed momo is not so much my favorite)

We ate potatoes in some form (usually with another vegetable) at almost every meal and they were fantastic, but cauliflower was my favorite vegetable that we ate in our curry. We also ate a lot of pumpkin leaves, which tasted like spinach but even better!

Fresh Fried Doughnuts (the best ones come from the shadiest looking places so it's always a risk, but I was never disappointed)

Samosas (I think these are Indian, similar to the mo-mo, but a pyramid shape and larger, usually filled with cooked potatoes, beans, chickpeas? and spices---curry at least) This picture is of our samosa supplier in the shop down the street. He makes them with the shell pastry layer so flaky and light and wraps them up in newspaper for us.

Cucumbers in general, but with chili is even better

The homemade potato chip place in Patan that my students took me to; I had pineapple flavored potato chips and they were fabulous!

Ramen noodles like I've never had before! Unbelievably good with a little extra oil, chopped tomatoes and onions, ground chili and coriander. You can eat them dry or cooked, but I prefer cooked. I can't wait to make it at home

I'm Addicted to This Baby

Baabu! (means "small boy" and you must make the "baa" low and the "bu" a high pitched squeal when you say it) I miss this baby! SO much. Baabu (who I first thought was a girl because of pierced ears and silver anklets) is some relative of my host family---I think his father is a cousin of the kids. . . it's all so confusing because everyone is called "brother" or "sister" regardless of the actual relation. Baabu is not his real name; it's just what little baby boys seem to be called (I believe he already had his naming ceremony but when I asked what his real name was I was told that nobody knows yet except for the parents---I will consult with my Nepali connections to make sure that's right).

Baabu lived next door. Some mornings (after I got over jet lag and was able to sleep through roosters) I would wake up to the sound of his squeaky shoes (you know the kind of baby sandals that squeak when you step down) 3 stories below toddling around. He would always come with his grandfather to the shop my family ran on the 1st floor of the building where we lived to get attention, kisses and sweets. Even though he took a few weeks to warm up to me so I could hold him, he was such a happy baby all the time and never cried. I literally watched him grow right before my eyes: he was just starting to walk when I arrived and by the time I left he was running around. . . especially if there was a chocolate in plain sight. Oh, and Baabu loves his chocolate.

P.S. Baabu has the coolest clothes ever.

Really Quick. . .

I still have so many experiences to record on here---I have written about 115 pages of journal so far---but I have sadly had no time to do put most of it online. I will be returning to the States on the evening of July 24, and then you will get to see some amazing pictures of the beautiful places I been, and more importantly, you will get to see the many people that I love over here! I will also be playing catch up in writing all of my stories down.

Besides just teaching at the school, lately I have been busy just trying to spend time with my friends before I leave. Also I've been organizing a penpal program between the students here and my students back at home (students on both sides have been so excited)---it's actually been a lot more work than I originally thought (I give you an update about that soon) we've been teaching some of the older students how to use the computer and set up email---it's a stretch (to say the least) for some of these guys. I have also been working on sponsoring, and eventually creating a scholarship fund, for students at my school who are in financial need---it is so inexpensive, you would be amazed (More on that soon too).

As things are winding up here and I'm not sure what I'm feeling. Disbelief that's almost all over, love for my host family and such sadness to leave them and the school and the village, anxiety at leaving my new "normal" life here to go back to the old "normal" life, so excited to see family and friends and to gain back some independence, dread at the thought of jetlag, wondering how I'm going to reconcile the changed me with the old me. . . I am going to miss so much here and at the same time NOT miss some other things. . .

I'm just so blessed to even have had this experience.

Happiness is. . .

(I'm definitely adjusted to Nepali time now, because now I can't fall asleep until my usual midnight or so. Last night at about the same time I jotted down this list of moments that have made me sublimely happy since I've come here. They all are about my host family. Just a reminder, Manisha is the 15-year old daughter, Anisha is the 11-year old daughter and Anish is the 8-year old monkey terror.)

-lying on my back with the kids on the roof watching the satellites and shooting stars in the rare but special cloudless sky
-laughing so hard I'm crying with Manisha when Anish pretends to be drunk with "white beer," as he calls it---it is only water; also when Anish puts on these ridiculous floral print rain boots that the family inherited from another volunteer (they are very un-Nepali and that is what makes them so funny)
-taking pictures of "baabu"---the one year old cousin that is learning to walk around in his squeaky shoes
-kung-fu fighting and ticking Anish; this morning I tickled him to the ground and he peed his pants! ha ha!
-Anisha and Manisha doing my hair
-Anisha "I like it very very very very very very much."
-singing "Om Shanti Om" songs or Akon's "Smack That" with the girls at the top of our lungs; even funnier that Anisha is always WAY off pitch.
-singing "dun dun dun dun dun dun DISCO" with Anish
-playing clapping games with Anisha (I'm so uncoordinated; the occasional dance lesson can be, but is not always, fun too)
-watching "Tom and Jerry" with Anish
-power outtages for hours at a time and hanging out in the shop with the kids
-falling asleep on the veranda, snuggled up in a blanket with all 3 kids (also during a power outtage)
-eating the best rice in the world on the silver plates that everyone in this country seems to use
-hearing the Jannatt (Bollywood movie) theme and break out into song at any time or any place (this is actually with any of the volunteers too, not just the family)
-the father asking me if I have "taken rice" no less than 10 times a day
-how the mother and I always seem to communicate even though we don't speak the same language; sometimes she'll tell Manisha to ask me something and I can just answer her right away even though I promise you I don't speak Nepali
-wearing my Groucho Marx glasses/nose/moustache and seeing their reactions
-sharing coconut lotion with the girls (Anisha says, "Everyone always wants to hang out with some one who smells good, and when they smell me, everyone will want to be my friend!")