My Host Family and Other Tangents

So my host family is pretty much the coolest. The dad is some kind of local hero in this neighborhood (I think he just does a lot of good things for this community.) He is a pharmacist in Kathmandu and so I get the feeling that his family is pretty comfortable, even though they don't have a car, and in the house there is no flush toilet, there is no real enclosed bathroom, I take cold showers in another little closet (and I'm actually getting used to it), and there is no refrigerator.

But there is a TV. And I have to say that Mexican TV is no match in cheesiness to Nepali and Hindi TV. Everything is about 15 times more dramatic than it really needs to be. The acting is very, very bad. It is funny to me now, but I think in a few weeks I will think it is not so funny. Alright, so back to the family: the father's English is pretty broken but he always talks to me and you can tell that he's such a joker. He is not a big man, except he has this jolly pop belly exactly like Santa Claus, and he's always wearing this tank top that's about 2 sizes too small.

In Nepal, if someone says that you're fat, it's actually a compliment. I think it is a type of status symbol, like you are well enough off financially that you can eat well. Most everyone is very skinny. Another unusual indication of social status here too is a long pinky fingernail. We volunteers first noticed that our program coodinator had one very long pinky nail and were hoping that he wasn't on drugs or something; I know that that's the first thing that comes to my mind when I see that in the States. However, what it actually means is that you don't a manual labor type job and you're priviledged enough that you don't have to work with your hands (like in the fields) and thus you can grow your pink nail really long. I'm not really a fan.

Speaking of fields, my host family has a rice field across the street from the house where they live. We are close to Kathmandu, but far enough removed so that it is cleaner and more peaceful, with addition of rice fields intermingled with the buildings. My family owns the entire building where they live, with a little shop---a 7-11 on a very reduced scale---on the first floor, rooms to let on the second, and then we live on the third floor. We eat all of our meals from the open air patio (there is not really a dining room) and even from there, the view of the hills is fabulous.

I had no idea that Nepal would feel so tropical. Supposedly, I am here in Nepal at the worst time possible. May through August is the monsoon season and so it rains and rains, and when it's not pouring the view of highest mountains in the world is impeded by clouds (I did happen to happen to catch a glimpse of a couple a few days ago when I was up in the hills though, and it rocked my world. We were already at 7200 feet elevation and these mountains towered over us. There are no words!). It is also the most dangerous time to go trekking because of the rains, and mudslides and leeches, so even though I looked into that, I decided that I wasn't into sliding down a mountain and setting blood-sucking leeches on fire while still attached to my leg. I DO have my limits.

We can also easily go the the roof of the building and the view is even more spectacular. We go up there when there's a power outage (which is often; Kathmandu has rolling power outages because there is simply not enough power to go around. They simply turn off power to neighborhoods for a couple hours and then they turn it back on and cut the lights for someone else.) We also go up there to watch flights take off and land from the airport---it's like our own little "Inspiration Point." The airplanes start to come in as little dots from the clouds, and before you know it they practically fly right by us and then we can see the ONE runway of Kathmandu airport lit up to guide them in.

I have my own room in the house and it has been a relief and a half to have some privacy (of which there was none when I was at the hostel with the other volunteers in Kathmandu. As an endowed member of the Church it was causing me a great deal of stress. I also have a very nice bed. Okay, it's pretty much hard, but much more forgiving than the planks covered with blankets that we had at the hostel. The pillows are so hard here too! What is up?

The mother doesn't like to let on that she speaks English, but I think that she is just embarrassed because I can tell that she understands so much. There are 3 children: 15-year old Manisha, 11-year old Anisha, and almost 8-year old Anish. Just in case you can't tell, the two oldest are girls and then the youngest is a boy. He is my little monkey. I LOVE playing with him. His English is pretty rudimentary, but we still manage to have so much fun. The two girls are pretty good with their English and they are my salvation, especially Manisha! She is zany and funny and is the one who explains most everything to me. Anisha gives me some pretty intense dance lessons on the roof and teaches me how to cook. She is at that age where she is taking offense to everything and because it is hilarious, Manisha and Anish tag-team her and purposely try to antagonize her. It is sad and funny at the same time. I have seen Anish pull off a couple dramatic tantrums as well---he is still really such a little boy. Hanging out with the family is so fun and they are SO incredibly good to me. It is nice to live with a family with little kids again. Just like how I had mentioned that the personalities of the students in their grades completely translated from country to country in another entry, it is the same with the family. The dynamics are just the same and that is a great source of comfort to me in a country where everything is so markedly different from that which I know.