Corn fields

Yesterday I spent the day at the orphanage, getting to know some more names, and playing with the younger girls. We watched a movie in the afternoon, then Lachu showed me the river where they bathe in winter when they run out of water. Because the monsoon season is in summer, and they rely on rainwater to drink, wash and bathe in, by winter time they run out. Eli said they buy 1600 litres a week in winter, and the children go down to the river to wash.

    

In clockwise circle, walking through the rice paddy toward the river; maize stacks where the ground has been cleared for new crops; the river, rice fields and brickery in the valley; looking back at the hills behind the village; and Lachu leading the way home.

This is taken from the upstairs kitchen porch, over looking the cow shed on the right, the vegetable plot, and the maize/rice field behind. It turns out they can’t grow much in their garden because every year the monsoon floods the ground and the vegetables die.

Saying that, they still produce rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, squash and a few other vegetables. Soybeans are dried in the sun. The sun bursts open the pods so the beans come out. Alternatively they can be jumped on like this:

There was another power cut last night so I didn’t get to write this post. Now you’ll just get two for the price of one!

So I keep meaning to take photos of the orphanage, but it hasn’t really happened yet.

But, here is the orphanage from the outside!

There are 31 children living here, aged 4ish to 19. There are about 15 older girls, and 15 younger girls, and 2 boys, who are 18 or 19 and 22. Eli said they used to have lots of boys, and less girls, but they had problems with the boys so decided to stop taking them in. All the boys they did have had family to go back to except the eldest ones. There are only a few known orphans at here, and a group called ‘lost children’. The others have family who can’t care for them fulltime – I guess like when kids go into foster care in NZ.

  

The house is very tidy, and every morning I wake to the sound of sweeping. I would say it is clean – but I’m not sure since the dogs come and go through the house, and the puppy piddles everywhere.

This morning after breakfast I went downstairs and helped one of the older girls de-corn some of the maize that was drying on the porch. It didn’t take long before there were 25 helpers, and these kids sat for an hour and took the dried kernels off of the corn, then tidied up and dragged the sacks to the shed, no problem. I got blisters on my thumbs, so went and grabbed my camera feeling a bit pathetic that Sabina, a 4 year old, had tougher hands than me! I can’t spell the girls names, but the one I had started with had her cellphone out and was playing American pop music through it and singing. She loves Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Rihanna apparently!

 

 

The maize comes from the fields next door. I’ll get some photos soooooooon, but on the top photo you can see there is a fence along the wall top. This got put in last year, because of a leopard that was terrorizing the cows, dogs and children! It would come out of the corn fields and sit on the wall during the day, then at night sneak down looking for the dogs. Oh the problems one faces in Nepal!

P.S. I just ate the hottest food I’ve ever eaten, and my stomach is buuuuuuuuuurning. I snuck off very quickly after lunch to have a lie down.

Being disorganised has its benefits…

I had an amazing day in Kathmandu today!

I went in on my own, terrifying on the buses, but made it to Thamel, the tourist district, to meet my new friend Kinnari. To get from Bungamati to Thamel you need to get a bus from either Bungamati village (so walk down the hill for 10 minutes) or on the road by the house. This bus will either take you to Ratna Park (fingers crossed) or Jawalakhel, where you have to jump out and grab a mini van to Ratna Park. Mini vans are called microbuses here and they fill it with as many people as physically possible. 35 people in a minivan? No sweat. Actually, a huge amount of sweat, and no foreigners except me so that was funny. Once getting to Ratna Park I had to walk the next fifteen minutes to Thamel, which was when I got nervous because I thought I had taken a wrong turn. Turned out my supreme navigation skills were correct, and I got to Thamel on time to meet Kinnari. Or so I thought. She wasn’t there, and after 40minutes of waiting in the cafe I decided to try and find the trekking business she said the guy who runs the orphanage has. I wandered into central Thamel and immediately had no idea where I was.

Luckily, or unluckily, a trekking guide operator guy kept trying to talk to me. I fobbed him off a few times but he was persistant so I took his card. Then I had to stop to look around at all the signs to try and find API Himal Treks and Expeditions. It turned out that almost all of them have a variation on a name like this, and it was impossible. The guy (Krishna) offered to help me, and after wandering around and asking a few people he suggested I phone from the guide office. I followed him down an alleyway and up to the guide office (suddenly wondering if I was an idiot and should just run away haha) and we tried ringing the place I was looking for. There was no answer, and I had no idea how to track down Kinnari. Kinnari is the woman I met on the plane over here. I thought out loud that I should get a cell phone and Krishna’s boss told him to take me to find one. After introductions he took me out of the tourist area down to New Road. He said that I shouldn’t buy anything in Thamel because of tourist prices. Outside of Thamel was amazing! Lots of food stalls, and everyday items, shrines, stupas and rickshaws. I didn’t get my camera out but I will next time.

Krishna introduced me to a friend from his village, and then I was invited to their family for the Dasain celebrations! I’m not sure about that since Kinnari also invited me, and I think i will take her up on that. After purchasing a cell phone we had to get a sim card, which in Nepal is apparently difficult. You need all your forms of id, which of course I didn’t have, but Jatrinda put his drivers licence down and bought the sim card under his name. While we were waiting for it all to happen we were served Nepali tea – boiling hot black tea with massive amounts of sugar. I swear I will have no teeth after these two months. Then this guy turned up:

He put a tika on my forehead which stayed on til I got home and washed it off (Gopal and Eli would not approve I was told by the children.) I was getting tired by this time, and said goodbye to Krishna and Jatrinda. I headed back out of Thamel, stopping off briely at the Himalaya Java cafe that I was supposed to have met Kannari at earlier, when I saw her crossing the road! Small world. It turned out that the Java cafe is actually on the second floor, and the cafe on the ground floor is different. We had been there at the same time on different floors all along.

She suggested I come look at her orphanage, and after being squeezed into a jam packed microbus, me standing bent in two, we made it to Balaju. The orphanage is run by a Hindu man, and it was very much a traditional Nepali family/building. It was more colourful than House of Hope, and lots of signs of the festival coming up. The children were very excited, and it made me realise how reserved and quiet the children at House of Hope are.

 

They wanted their photo taken so many times! And spoke very good English, and called me Miss Alex.

They then showed me the new house they were building. It is in the style of most tradiational Nepali houses, and the kids clambered all over the building site. No OSH standards here!

 

 

Then we went and met the orphanage guy, and talked about how he wants the best for the children, and would like them to feel that they have a father and mother figure. More on this another time, I had to race to catch a microbus back to Ratna Park so I would get home on time, but it was way to hectic, and getting dark by that time, and I had no idea where i was once again. I don’t think I can remember seeing that many people before, not even in London rush hour. In the end I decided to just catch a taxi back to the orphanage, 500 rupees and all. It was well worth it I think!

When I got back, the children at the other orphanage had inspired me to make a real effort with the kids here. I decided that they were shy and ignored me because they didn’t speak English that well. It was a good decision, except for that fact that I had forgotten to tell anyone I was home and sent Eli into a spin! I felt so bad, but lesson learnt! Anyway, the girls were adorable, and I learnt a few more names, and they have started teaching me some Nepali words. They LOVE my curly hair.

Prayers, great dinner, and then to bed! Love you all, I have photos of House of Hope now, but will put them up in the morning. x

Good morning!

Himalayas as I came in!

Last night I help a little with dinner, peeling potatoes and cutting up string beans, but then the kids got home and there were suddenly 5 helpers helping Slochinna? in the kitchen, girls no older than ten very competently cutting and grinding up onion and garlic, and making boiling hot tea. Slochinna showed me how to make the curry, and then that teenage girls in Nepal are identical to NZ ones! She showed me her phone (which she hides from the others) and the photos of herself and her friends, and videos of her favourite (Korean) pop bands and movies. She is lovely, and I hung out with her the most yesterday.

I went and had a nap, expecting to retired for the night, when I got woken at 8 by two girls telling me to come to evening prayers. In quite a daze I sat through 31 introductions, then songs and prayers before behind guided upstairs for dinner with Gopal, Eli and their family. I sat and conversed with Gopal after, and then said goodnight, exhausted!

This is Kathmandu from the aeroplane.

I awoke to the sounds of about 10 dogs barking, a cow mooing and crows in the fields next door. Also slamming doors and children running around – at 6am. I am feeling very settled now, and after a cold shower and a catch up on facebook with everyone I got up and sat in the dining room with some of the younger children who were finishing their homework. The older girls were making packed lunches for everyone to take to school, a piece of apple and 15 biscuits. An eye opener! It turns out the girls are all older than I thought, but they are all so tiny, I thought most of the 9yr olds were 6.

I went outside and found a million little hands grabbing mine to take me to prayers upstairs. House of Hope is a strong Christian family, and every morning is started with singing and prayers on the second floor. It was a nice start to the day, and after all the children trailed out and shook hands with me with big smiles. Then they all went downstairs for breakfast and I was led upstairs to eat with Gopal and Eli’s children. I need to ask them how to spell their names, but they both speak very good English, and are very friendly. Prarnah? is 24 and about to start her masters in sociology. Ravishek? is 22 or 23 and ‘taking a gap’. We had Nepali bread (like small flat naan), curried potatoes and omelette with very sweet tea and milk from the cow. Eli came and chatted after, and told me more about the orphanage, like why they only have 2 boys, and showed me pictures of the children when they were younger. House of Hope has been around for 15/16 years, so some of the kids have been here for most of their lives! She also asked if I would work at the local Montessori that her sister runs. The children all walk to school at about 9.30, and will be home at 5.

This afternoon I’m going into Kathmandu with Prairnah? to get an adaptor for my laptop plug, and some rupees. Tomorrow I am meeting my new friend in Thamel to have a look around. She rang this morning and it sounds like her orphanage is very very different from House of Hope! She is very keen to go trekking and have a friend to look at the temples and things, so I am very excited!

This is the view from my window this morning:

I am going to take more photos soon, but I feel like I should let everyone get comfortable before I whip out my camera and start snapping photos! Can anyone advise how I can make my photos smaller too? Just the panoramic ones, I still can’t upload the ones from Singapore.

Much love! Also, feel free to send lots of very NZ postcards – the children here have no idea where New Zealand is, so i just say the bottom of the world haha. When I talk about farms with a hundred cows they don’t believe me!

Made it!

Trying my hardest not to fall asleep, but it isn’t working so just a quick post to say I’m in Kathmandu at the House of Hope, its a complete culture shock and there is nothing similar to anything in my life! Finding wireless made my day, and the rest of my day was made up of: flying out of Mumbai after 10 hours in transit, (2 hours sleep), making a friend at the airport, meeting Gopal and Eli, meeting 31 children and young adults who make up the young charges here, de-podding soybeans, almost dying of the heat, had my first homesick cry, made friends with the older girls, taught how to cook a traditional meal for 25 people, being asked many many times if I’m Christian, and stared at with huge eyes by small children.

House of Hope is outside the bustle of Kathmandu in an extremely picturesque village. Photo’s when I can again! They have 4 cows, 4 cats and 6 dogs. And I think I’m going to get sick of dhal baht very quickly.

x

Singapore Botanical Gardens

I got to Singapore on Friday night and felt like I’d walked into a furnace! I hadn’t even contemplated what the weather in Singapore would be like. (Incidentally, it hasn’t been too bad, I’ve coped with the heat and its been overcast most of the time). As I said earlier, Susanna and Carissa picked me up from the airport with Susanna’s family. Carissa and her cousin Scott sat and played racing games against each other on their I-phones. Carissa has an amazing grasp on technology! Though I’m starting to suspect that it is more her hand-eye coordination, and she doesn’t really know what the buttons say. Saying that, she can use an I-pad far more adeptly than I!

On Saturday Susanna showed me around the gigantic shopping malls of Singapore. Carissa was not very interested so we went and did window art painting and watched her ride little electronic cars around outside before catching the train from Vivo City to Orchard (Street? Road?). The number of shops was staggering, to the point of not wanting to go into anywhere because there were so many! We went into the National Geopgraphic store, which was very cool, and made me more excited about travelling :) There are also lots of UK brand stores, which made me worried about how much money I will want to spend when i get over there! And also think about all the clothes I didn’t bring with me haha.

Dean had gotten back from Bangkok by then so he picked us up and we went out for an AMAZING dinner at the East Coast Seafood Centre on the waterfront. The park had a cable driven waterski/wakeboard lagoon which looked pretty interesting. I hadn’t brought my camera out, but it was beautiful, and there were so many boats lined up on the horizon for the port. Dean said that it is the second biggest port in the world. For dinner we had crab, prawns, clams, some green stuff in sambal, fried rice and oyster omelettes. The food here is amazing!!

Yesterday they took me to the Botanical Gardens in the afternoon and my cousin Carissa got to ride her bike around.

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In the evening we went to Marina Bay Sands Skypark, a crazy, decadent, luxurious gigantic hotel/look out. I took some photos from the top, the views were breathtaking.

 

Hmmm, can’t seem to add the other panoramic pictures, they must be too big, I’ll try again once I’ve worked out how to downsize them!

First Leg Down!

I’ve made it to Singapore finally! The flights weren’t bad, didn’t get much sleep, but the transit was 8 hours which made for a very long day. After leaving NZ at 6am, and getting to Singapore at 10pm local time, I can’t even work out how long I’ve been awake for! Susanna and her family picked me up from the airport, and are lovely. I’m looking forward to exploring Singapore in the daytime. Photos when I can. Love you all! Looking forward to sleep. x