Namaste!! Sorry it has been SO long since I updated this blog, but for three weeks I didn't have any internet access and then I dropped off the face of the planet to be in the Himalayas, so I have just now made it to an internet cafe with decent wifi.
I spent three weeks in Narayangarh, a town in the district of Chitwan. I stayed with a host family on their farm and had a great experience there through the WWOOF organization. Let's just say it was difficult to find the farm in the first place because the taxi driver didn't know where it was, but after asking the local people at every corner we finally made it there. And THANK GOD. It took me a little while to get used to life on the farm, and for some time I didn't really enjoy myself. But after the first week, it grew on me and I really loved living the true Nepali lifestyle. It was a welcome change from being that rather annoying white tourist who goes from one destination to the other with a camera and a guide book. My life slowed down and I was able to focus on the present.
I had one host sister, Prashamsa, and one host brother, Prakhat. They were home for the entire time I was staying with them because the largest Nepali festival was occurring, the Dasain Festival. It stands for the "Togetherness" festival. Couldn't America have something like that?! C'mon guys. It lasted for close to 15 days. I loved playing with my host siblings because they introduced me to the other children on the street and we would play games every day, like hop scotch and jump rope. And there were actually some pretty awesome games involving dirt and rocks, I learned to be very inventive.
As I got used to the routine on the farm, I enjoyed it. Every morning, I would be woken up between 3:30am and 4:30am to do yoga and meditation with my host father, Pushpa. It was a different type of yoga than I was used to; it was more like an hour of ab workouts and stretching. But we would meditate for the last part of our routine and practice saying "Om" for upwards of thirty minutes. The breathing exercises that I learned were very calming and allowed me to be in the right state of mind to continue with my day. The only problem with waking up that early was that I would be dead tired by 1pm and the kids would always want to play. So I had some compromises to deal with, for sure.
We would have breakfast at 7:30am, which would typically be popcorn and milk tea. Then lunch would be at 10am, and MAN did I have to prepare myself for that. SO MUCH FOOD. I literally had to force-feed myself sometimes because the amount of rice my host mother gave me was ridiculous. But at least I like the national dish, dhaal bhaat, because that's what I ate... 42 times in three weeks. We would usually eat a snack around 3:30pm, and then dinner would be at 7pm... more dhaal bhaat for ya! During the day, I would scoop cow poop and milk the cows, plant garlic and harvest potatoes, cut grass for the cows and pull hay, and pick green beans for our dinner. I can really say I'm sick of green beans now. For one hour I would pick beans in the field, which was actually my favorite part of the day because I could reap what the earth created, but then I would have to spend two hours picking the beans out of their skins. And that wasn't so fun. So while working on the farm was a lot of hard work, I loved it because I was getting down and dirty and really just not caring about my appearance anymore. And I also loved it because there were no errands to worry about, no emails to send, no clothes shopping to do. We woke up, enjoyed each other's company, ate delicious food, and focused on the most important thing at the time- the farm. The pace of my life slowed and I had nothing to worry about except learning how to do yoga and meditation and how to be a good farmer. And I'm now a good farmer. So I've accomplished something and now I can go home to the states and grow my own food because I have at least a little knowledge of what is required to plant and harvest crops.
Another update will come soon because this blog post is nowhere near being finished, but I am meeting up with friends to grab some dinner so I have a time crunch. Pokhara is where I'm at now, and I love it so far! Talk to you soon.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Onto Stage Two
So the first leg of my journey in Nepal has come to an end. The first week I spent in Kathmandu was amazing! I met wonderful people from all over the world and spent a week learning the Nepali language through the RCDP program with 5 other students. The six of us formed such close relationships in such a short amount of time because we traveled everywhere together and explored Nepal while we were all in pretty vulnerable states and in a relatively unknown world.
On Saturday night, all of us ventured back into the exciting mess that is Thamel. Kirsten and Andy headed back to the hostel but I stayed out with Aaron, Jessica, and Diego. We all got a chance to use the internet cafe and I skyped my parents for the first time since coming to Nepal. Even though I was in the middle of a crowded town with people sitting all around me on computers, I felt like I was at home. It was awesome!! It's difficult to schedule times to Skype and talk on the phone with people at home because the time difference is so extreme. It's doable though!
So anyway on Saturday night we ate at a yak restaurant and met some cool people from Australia, the UK, and South Korea. We ended up sharing a table with all of them so there were 10 of us total. Needless to say it was so much fun to meet new people who were traveling the world just like we were. Some of them were here to volunteer while some of them came to do community service work for their college degrees. Jessica ordered a Tibetan hot beer just to try it and while it was an interesting choice, no one seemed to enjoy it. That'll be a memory forever.
On Sunday, we had our Nepali language exam, which all of us passed! It was tough, but when I look at how much of the language I've learned in only five days, I'm impressed with my progress. I even bought a dictionary to help me out in case my host family doesn't speak any English. And boy am I glad I have that because the language is proving to be hard already where I am now, in Narayangarh.
The bus ride to Chitwan from Kathmandu was long, but not all that bad. I had Aaron to keep me company, as well as an older couple from Australia who has stayed overnight at the hostel the night before. Maybe about an hour in, people started throwing up. And if you know me even a little bit you know that one of my biggest fears is throwing up!! So I had to get used to people sticking their heads out the window with a plastic bag the entire way there. Along the way, we stopped for snacks and breakfast which broke up the trip a little bit. I was craving some fruit so I bought a bunch of tiny bananas to hold me over. And bananas is pretty much what I ate the entire way, with the exception of some cookies that I bought for a treat. The trip along the highway was just about what I expected it to be... lots of traffic jams and steep cliffs, broken down cars and busses off the road in ditches. I'm just glad I made it to where I needed to be safely.
When I got dropped off at the hotel, the staff were looking at me strangely, probably because I hadn't made a reservation and had just showed up all sweaty and frazzled from the long ride. But they were welcoming and gave me a nice room for the night! I was really overwhelmed when I realized I was alone. I found myself sitting on the bed, with an empty bed next to me, FREAKING OUT. Like OMG I'm all alone, no one here speaks English well, nothing is written in English, but instead in symbols. How the heck am I going to fend for myself when I don't even speak up back home?? I really was struggling.
But I walked downtown, being the only white person for miles, and tried to find some food or at least something familiar. I was too scared to step into a restaurant, so I let myself take baby steps and buy some fruit from local people who had stands set up every 20 feet. I thought, well I guess I'll be eating fruit for dinner, to go along with my fruit for breakfast and fruit for lunch. By this time it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. I came back to the room and decided to take a nap to settle my mind. When I woke up, I explored the dining room and got some dinner in me- momos (dumplings) and rice, a huge amount of food for only about $2. I downloaded a book to my Kindle and settled in for the night.
This morning I packed everything up and came to the dining hall for a solid breakfast of eggs and toast. And that's where I sit now. I have the room to myself. One of the hotel staff members said he would give me a ride to my host family farm, so I'm glad for that stress reliever. He said I could ride on his motor bike but I have luggage with me so DAMN!! That would have been sweet.
I'm excited for what the future the holds. In just about three weeks I'll be meeting up with my friends from the hostel to go trekking in the Annapurna region, to the Annapurna Base Camp. I can't wait for that! In the meantime, I'll be farming up a storm and taking an elephant bath in Chitwan National Park, among other things.
Peace out for now!! Hope all is well :)
On Saturday night, all of us ventured back into the exciting mess that is Thamel. Kirsten and Andy headed back to the hostel but I stayed out with Aaron, Jessica, and Diego. We all got a chance to use the internet cafe and I skyped my parents for the first time since coming to Nepal. Even though I was in the middle of a crowded town with people sitting all around me on computers, I felt like I was at home. It was awesome!! It's difficult to schedule times to Skype and talk on the phone with people at home because the time difference is so extreme. It's doable though!
So anyway on Saturday night we ate at a yak restaurant and met some cool people from Australia, the UK, and South Korea. We ended up sharing a table with all of them so there were 10 of us total. Needless to say it was so much fun to meet new people who were traveling the world just like we were. Some of them were here to volunteer while some of them came to do community service work for their college degrees. Jessica ordered a Tibetan hot beer just to try it and while it was an interesting choice, no one seemed to enjoy it. That'll be a memory forever.
On Sunday, we had our Nepali language exam, which all of us passed! It was tough, but when I look at how much of the language I've learned in only five days, I'm impressed with my progress. I even bought a dictionary to help me out in case my host family doesn't speak any English. And boy am I glad I have that because the language is proving to be hard already where I am now, in Narayangarh.
The bus ride to Chitwan from Kathmandu was long, but not all that bad. I had Aaron to keep me company, as well as an older couple from Australia who has stayed overnight at the hostel the night before. Maybe about an hour in, people started throwing up. And if you know me even a little bit you know that one of my biggest fears is throwing up!! So I had to get used to people sticking their heads out the window with a plastic bag the entire way there. Along the way, we stopped for snacks and breakfast which broke up the trip a little bit. I was craving some fruit so I bought a bunch of tiny bananas to hold me over. And bananas is pretty much what I ate the entire way, with the exception of some cookies that I bought for a treat. The trip along the highway was just about what I expected it to be... lots of traffic jams and steep cliffs, broken down cars and busses off the road in ditches. I'm just glad I made it to where I needed to be safely.
When I got dropped off at the hotel, the staff were looking at me strangely, probably because I hadn't made a reservation and had just showed up all sweaty and frazzled from the long ride. But they were welcoming and gave me a nice room for the night! I was really overwhelmed when I realized I was alone. I found myself sitting on the bed, with an empty bed next to me, FREAKING OUT. Like OMG I'm all alone, no one here speaks English well, nothing is written in English, but instead in symbols. How the heck am I going to fend for myself when I don't even speak up back home?? I really was struggling.
But I walked downtown, being the only white person for miles, and tried to find some food or at least something familiar. I was too scared to step into a restaurant, so I let myself take baby steps and buy some fruit from local people who had stands set up every 20 feet. I thought, well I guess I'll be eating fruit for dinner, to go along with my fruit for breakfast and fruit for lunch. By this time it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. I came back to the room and decided to take a nap to settle my mind. When I woke up, I explored the dining room and got some dinner in me- momos (dumplings) and rice, a huge amount of food for only about $2. I downloaded a book to my Kindle and settled in for the night.
This morning I packed everything up and came to the dining hall for a solid breakfast of eggs and toast. And that's where I sit now. I have the room to myself. One of the hotel staff members said he would give me a ride to my host family farm, so I'm glad for that stress reliever. He said I could ride on his motor bike but I have luggage with me so DAMN!! That would have been sweet.
I'm excited for what the future the holds. In just about three weeks I'll be meeting up with my friends from the hostel to go trekking in the Annapurna region, to the Annapurna Base Camp. I can't wait for that! In the meantime, I'll be farming up a storm and taking an elephant bath in Chitwan National Park, among other things.
Peace out for now!! Hope all is well :)
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