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.
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