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!")

A Sweet Letter

Wait until you get a load of some of this sweetness. I received this letter from a girl in class 7 a few days after I arrived at the school and it melts my heart everytime I think of it.

Dear Cameela teacher.

Always be happy never be sad that is my wishes just for u.

U are so beautiful. U are great mam. You are one of the best thing ever happend in my life. U are my best teacher ever happend in my life. You are so good mam. Everyday that passes leaves me a felling like I have discovered something new about you to teach. And I like you mam. Plz talk to me. Coming Saturday I will go to Nagdaha and you are should also come ok my beautiful mam. Ok mam that much for today. See you again.

One poem just 4 U.
Topic=Life is empty.
Life is empty without a teacher and I'm empty without u only u mam.

Topic=One Day.
Some like one day, some like two day
Some like Sunday, some like Monday
But I like one day that is Valentine Days
Teachers Day.

Things I Won't Take For Granted Anymore

. . . when I return to America. Even though I was coming over to Nepal to give service to others, the main reason was because I knew that I had turned soft in my prosperity and glut of blessings. It was about time I had a swift kick back in the pants to help me appreciate everything I had.

in order of priority (and this will probably get revised as I continue to think of things):

going to church (who knew? I actually thought I would enjoy the break, but that is just about the stupidest thought I have ever entertained.)

water from the tap I can drink

toilet paper in bathrooms (you don't have to carry your own in)

flushing toilets (not having to pour buckets of water down the hole)

soap at sinks (generally)

soft beds and soft pillows

not being the only white Western Christian wherever I go

washing machine mostly, but the dryer would be nice too

understanding what everyone is saying

not having to brush my teeth with bottled water

not getting my feet and legs dirty and muddy wherever I go

using an ATM card whenever I want

no mosquitoes

hot water (can you believe that it's this low on the list?)

fast internet and reliable technology

eating beef

not having to scrutinize a piece of food and/or where it comes from before eating it

no transportation strikes

soft couches

having a car

having a cell phone

Cafe Rio steak salads and burritos

Diet Mountain Dew and pebble ice

constant electricity

having a piano

air-conditioning

refrigerator

dishwasher

eating with utensils

Paradigm Shifts

I really had to get used to a lot of things when I first arrived in Nepal. For starters, the living arrangements. When I arrived at the volunteer hostel for RCDP (Rural Community Development Project---the volunteer association I'm with here), I felt like everything was so dirty. The greasy table and dirt-smudged chairs we sat in at when we ate; half the time the silverware was still dirty, and maybe that's because we also didn't have soap to wash them with after our meals of greasy wanna-be Western food. I was skeptical of the beds, trying to not think about the last time anything was washed; my bare feet having to touch dirty floors (because you never wear shoes inside the house in Hindu/Buddhist culture). And then there was the worst of all---the toilet/shower combination bathrooms. I don't think I even want to relive those first impressions yet, or maybe ever. Don't I sound like the hugest snot? (Even though I tried to not verbalize all of this---in retrospect, I think most of the volunteers were trying not to---I was thinking that Nepal had outted this closet germophobe inside of me.)

After several weeks in the country, I returned to the RCDP hostel with 9 other volunteers from our village stay in Lamatar (on the disco bus!), and I was shocked to find how everything was so clean and nice! Even the walls seemed cleaner and the lights brighter. I didn't even hesitate to sit down to use the bathrooms ("sit-down" toilets are a special luxury here) of which I was originally NOT a fan. I barely noticed the smells I first found so reprehensible when I arrived in the country. I was ecstatic! When I shared my enthusiasm with my friend Grace, she didn't really think that that much had changed, but that it was me: I had changed from my few weeks stay in Nepal. Even reflecting back on how I felt, it seems crazy that I could have changed THAT much in such a short period of time.

It is funny, though, how much you really do change when the circumstances require it. For example, we simply sweat and sweat and sweat during our village stay in Lamatar and our jungle activities in Chitwan National Park. We'd go for days without showers wearing the same clothes. You just start to realize that you're not really smelling THAT bad, and that your clothes aren't THAT dirty (sure, it's the 8th time you've worn that pair of pants, but they still look pretty good, right?), and it's just not worth the trouble to get clean in a shower when you're going to be dirty all over again in 30 minutes.

Landing in Chitwan, Grace and I were delirous with joy at the ceiling fan that we had in our guest room. It was our first air conditioning in the country, plus the moving air kept all of the mosquitoes away. The bedroom even had it's own bathroom, which in turn had it's own bathtub and shower area, separate from the rest of the bathroom. (Most hostel situations have a shared bathroom for all the guests on a floor, and usually the shower is in the middle of the bathroom and there's just a drain in the floor, between the toilet (which is either sometimes a sit-down get-up or a hole in the floor) and the sink.) It wasn't until a day later that I noticed that there was a lot of dirt in the bathroom. When I asked Grace if our bathroom had been clean when we got there and she said no. I was so happy to have what we had, I hadn't even realized that it wasn't a clean (by general hotel housekeeping standards) bathroom.

One night when Grace and I were up late talking we started fantasizing about all the foods we would eat when we got home. I am constantly fantasizing about steak and Mexican food (food I can't get here), and especially anything Cafe Rio that would include steak as an ingredient. Not only am I at the point where I'm obsessively thinking about eating the forbidden holy cow, I could even it off the bathroom floor or the toilet lid and probably not be phased by it (Maybe even wash it down with some toilet water). That is how excited I will be to eat it, and also how much trust I have in the cleanliness of my bathoom at home.

Random Observations: Part 5

When Americans express agreement, we usually nod our head or say yes. Here in Nepal (also in India from what I've seen on television), to show agreement, the people kind of shrug, moving their head from side to side, and they don't say anything. For me, I'm used to this meaning "I don't know" or perhaps even a negative answer. I'm finally getting used to this after 5 weeks, but it took me a long time to get used to it. I remember several times repeating my questions when really my Nepali friends were saying "yes" the whole time.

The Venga Boys are also still extremely big here. (?) If you don't know this cheesy (and that's an understatement) pop group, you've probably heard their song on the Six Flags commercials with the old guy prancing around to "The Venga bus is coming. . ." Pretty annoying, but catchy---it's one of those songs that will definitely get stuck in your head for a week. The other day I went over to a student's house---she's so sweet---and I transcribed the lyrics for a Venga Boys song (as well as the Titanic "My Heart Will Go On") and I can still remember it all unfortunately.

Marijuana grows wild EVERYWHERE in the country. Supposedly there is a day here, like a festival or something, where they can smoke it legally.

There is a lot of garbage lying around; I was walking in Thamel, the tourist center of Kathmandu just last week after a few days of a garbage strike and trash was piled up thigh high in the narrow streets, feet away from vendors selling vegetables and fruit. The Bagmati river that flows through Kathmandu and Pashiputinath (the most sacred Hindu temple complex in Nepal) is rank with the stench of being a public dumping ground. In stark contrast to this, however, Nepalis recycle and are very careful about their glass bottles. Most of the time you buy a soda, you get it in a glass bottle and they pop off the bottle cap with a bottle opener old-school style (like how I imaging in the 50's). It's a lot cheaper to buy this way rather than plastic (15 rupees, about 25 cents for the glass bottle; 35 rupees, about 55 cents for a plastic bottle) even though usually the shopkeeper won't let you leave the shop for fear of losing his bottle and you have to drink your soda there. After you're done, you give the bottle back to them and then they keep it to be picked up by the bottling distributor who will then take it back to the plant to be refilled. You just hope that the bottle is being washed in the meantime, but I've since learned to not over analyze sanitation in this country, otherwise I would have gone stark raving mad a few weeks ago.

Leeches and Mosquitoes

Leeches and mosquitoes are so smart.

Before this trip, I'd never encountered a leech. They were those things that I had heard about doctors using hundreds of years ago "to bleed people out." They are nasty little buggers.

First off, they look like innocent little worms. But they're not. They're after one thing: your blood! When they attach to your skin, they apply some kind numbing agent so you can't even feel that they're there. You won't even know that something's sucking your blood until you actually see them.

If you're lucky, they will only be on your clothes or your shoes and you can pick them off, but it is easier said than done. They just don't give up. They even fight to wiggle into the mesh of your shoes and they are real good at it.

One time I stopped on the trail to remove a leech from each shoe, only to see another leech fly from behind and attach to the back of my shoe again. How did they know that I was even there?
Does anyone know how they sense that blood is around? Body temperature?

Once a leech is on you sucking away, they put an anti-coagulant into the wound so that once you get them off, your blood won't clot. After I pulled one off my ankle (which you're really not supposed to do, you're supposed to put salt on it or burn it off---unfortunately our guide didn't have anything for us) it would not stop bleeding for a day! I was pretty freaked out, but I didn't have it a fraction as bad as 2 other volunteers on the hill hike; they had open-toe shoes (they were champions for even being able to make it up the mountain in the first place) and they got leeches inbetween their toes and on the bottoms of their feet! Disgusting.

Mosquitoes are pretty smart too, but not nearly so much as the leeches. They're kind of like Santa Claus in that "they know when you are sleeping, they know when you're awake." You can be lying there on your bed for awhile and just when you're about to sleep, you hear them buzzing in your ear. But it's not until those final moments when you're drifting off and you're so tired. And then you get stuck and just can't fall asleep for a few more hours.

The mosquitoes like me most, unfortunately, at the host family's house. It seems that I've worked some kind of truce with them at night so that they don't bother me so much anymore in my room, but I've basically surrendered to them if I'm outside in the evening. I'm wondering if my ankles and feet will ever look the same again.

My Dream Honeymoon

So when I was about to leave for Nepal, there was always the inevitable question, "So why are you going?" When I tried several times in vain (and I could tell from the looks on my friends' faces that I was pretty unsuccessful at explaining) I started resorting to sarcasm and humor. "Because I'm single and I'm bored." Naturally. I even joked, perhaps a little too close to sacrilige, that this trip was my signal to God that I wanted to get married, and if he continued to keep me waiting, the trips and the countries would just get scarier and crazier.

If there's one thing I have learned, though, while I have been here, is that there is no way I can keep doing this scary stuff by myself. I have definitely got to get married so I can bring a husband on my trips to help kill the bugs and to just have a manly presence around, you know? You would be amazed at how differently I'm viewed when I am walking with a male, as opposed to being just by myself.

So I've already decided that I'm coming back to Nepal, but not in the monsoon season so I can go on a mountain trek. And I'm going to bring a husband. So here's the plan. Ideally, I'll get married and just have a short little honeymoon to nowhere in particular. We'll save our nickles and dimes and then like 6 months later, we'll fly on over to Kathmandu where we'll volunteer in an orphange for a week (this is negotiable, but it would be so awesome! The kids here rule.) and then we'll set out on the mountain trek of our lives for 11-14 days and then we'll fly to Thailand where we'll crash on a beach somewhere for a week. Isn't that like the most amazing vacation plan ever? It's just flights that kill you; once you get over here, everything is dirt cheap.

Look, I know it won't happen, but I can always settle for Hawaii.

Tourist Visa

I know that I should be writing down all the "adventures" and such, but sometimes it's these little conversations that really leave you with the most intense impressions. In the broken english which my host father speaks, he told me about his experiences with attempting to obtain a 2-month tourist visa to the United States.

It's taken the equivalent of one year's salary for my host father's 2 interviews for a tourist visa at the US Embassy in Kathmandu. And in case you're wondering, each interview is a non-refunadable $131 US (so we can guess that his salary is about $260, comparable to figures I've read and heard). In addition it also cost him money to collect all the financial documents for presentation at the interview. For example, it costs 1000 rupees (only about $6.75 US, but that is a substantial amount of money here, so much so that if I have a 1000 rupee bill, I have trouble spending it because it is such a large bill they can't make change for it) to get a simple bank statement. Sadly, when he brought the papers to his interview, they rejected him without even looking at them.

He is applying for a non-complicated tourist visa to visit some of the many US and Canadian volunteers that he has hosted at his house through the years and would legitimately come back to Nepal. He is not trying to sneak over illegally. He has a wife, three children, a home, land, a job in Kathmandu, and a shop---he's not going to just cut and run. Plus he just loves Nepal.

The first time the interviewer gave him the visa interview in Nepalese and so naturally he answered in Nepalese, only to be denied him a visa because they said his English wasn't good enough. The second time they denied him for I don't know what reason, but he said he was so mad that he almost punched the interviewer right there. He said 3 or 4 officials held him back. I don't think he's planning on trying again anytime soon, but I know that if had punched the interviewer he definitely would never set a foot in the US.

We always joke around and so I thought that he knew I was joking: I said that since I'm an American citizen already, I would go down there and punch their lights out (I mean, really, look at me. . . who's going to be scared of me coming? So he would have to know that it's a joke, right?). I would actually probably get arrested for assault of a federal official, but my host father was like, okay, we'll go down to the embassy and I'll show you who to get. Ha ha.

I understand that the United States has to be cautious of who they let inside their borders, but this to me was beyond ridiculous. I mean, I've only known the man for a few weeks, but I know him well enough to know that he's not going to leave his family behind. And that he's definitely no threat to national security. And he was rejected without even a full appraisal of his application. I love America, but the conversation left me troubled and disheartened.

He did say that he could buy a visa for what I think what he said was a million rupees but he said he wouldn't do it. He doesn't have that kind of money (though he is okay financially, he is definitely NOT rich: he pays a lot of extra money for his children to go to good schools, and medicine for his wife). I asked him if it was illegal and he said no, but he said it wasn't good to do that and that he wasn't going to.

Letters to Nepal

So I'm sending this out to all the students (past and present) to whom I have access through the internet, and I know that a few of you are checking this blog:

I'm starting a penpal program for my Nepali students who are really interested in making American friends about their same age. I also want them to be able to practice using their English with native speakers. Most of my students' written English here is absolutely fantastic so you shouldn't have too much problem understanding them. (The difficulty will be in them being able to understand you, but I will be here to help translate.)

What I need you to do (or anyone you know who is interested, from about age 10 on up to 18, but ages 10-15 are probably the best) is email me a simple letter all about yourself and asking questions to a Nepali student to whom you will later be assigned.

You can start the letter with "Dear Student,"

And then I need your letter to include the following:

Your Name, Age, Grade
Street Address
Email Address (though few of these students know how to use email or have access to a computer; I am hopefully going to teach them how to use email and set them up with addresses)
Talk about your family (how many brothers and sisters, etc.)
Talk about classes you take at school
Talk about your interests, hobbies and talents
Talk about what you like
Ask them about their family, classes, interests, talents, what they like, etc.

IMPORTANT:
Please type clearly, without chat or IM abbreviations and with as little slang as possible
(If you want to teach them some slang, that is terrific! Go ahead, just don't throw something random in there and expect them to understand.)

Try to send these letters as soon as you can, like within the next week, so I can help them get responses to you soon! Their letters back to you will probably be sent through the mail and I will take pictures of them that we can include in the letter back to you.

Please send your letters only as a message (not on my Wall) on my Facebook account or to my email address camille.kingman@gmail.com. Do not send letters to my school email address or through PowerSchool because I cannot access those accounts in Nepal.

I know that this seems pretty simple (I think it should only take you 10 minutes maximum to do this) but it will be a GREAT act of service to these students here! Thanks guys!

Greatests Hits from Last Week

Hey everyone, I'm still alive, I just haven't been able to update anything for awhile because I was gone for week exploring the country. Let me give you the greatest hits: hill hiking (hills here are pretty much mountains though) and catching a spectacular glimpse of Mt. Everest, only then to be attacked by blood-sucking leeches; walking through beautiful terraced rice fields in the country; rafting down the river (I'm definitely doing this again!) on my way to Chitwan National park, where I bushwacked through jungle and 8 foot high rhino grass on foot and then later on elephant also. Then I returned to Kathmandu where I got sick sick sick (that is just part of being here), but luckily I am on the mend. More details to follow!