Mero Nepali Pariwaar ra School (My Nepali Family and School)

Nameste (I bow to the divinity within you = hello),

I have now been in Nepal for a month! It is absolutely amazing! The transition into Nepali society and daily life has been a smooth one, and I am enjoying every aspect of of this adventure so far! For the first two weeks I was living at the Pitzer program house and intensely studying Nepali. Now I am living with a host family and still intensely studying Nepali.

Prepare yourself for a long blog post... The entire country of Nepal is "load-shedding," which means that for 14 hours a day there is no electricity. Nepal gets most of its electricity from hydro-power, and because it's not the rainy season there is a lack of energy. Since I am in school nine hours a day, it is hard to get to an internet cafe during the hours that there is electricity. Therefore, the stories have piled up and I have so much to share with you! This post just a tid-bit of what my life has been like here.

Pariwaar (Family):
I am living in a pink house with my Aamaa (Mother), Didi (older sister), Daai (older brother), and a dog named Tulgi. They have all been very welcoming! My Aamaa works at home and in the fields around our house during the day. She is an amazing woman and is always smiling and cracking jokes. I am becoming very close to her and my Didi. Here is an example of one of my Amma's jokes: Every Saturday is "family day," which means I have a day off from school, but I am required to spend time with my family. Saturdays is also when I shower and wash my clothes (I will have to write about this process another time). Last Saturday, after my shower, my Aamaa and I were sitting on our rooftop terrace and she was brushing and braiding my hair. She kept telling me that I had lice! I would say, "what! Are you joking? No I don't!" The she would reply, "no, just kidding," pause and tell me again that I had lice. This want on about five times and in the end I really do not have lice...I promise!

My Didi is 23 years-old and my Daai is 21 years-old. They both are waiting to hear results from college exams, so they are not working or in school(my Didi is waiting to hear how she did on her nursing exam.) This means my Didi is usually helping around the house and spending time with friends. She is usually around after I come home from school, so we hang out, chat, and help Aamaa cook dinner. My brother however, is never around. He is usually hanging out with his friends when I get home. He comes home just in time to sit down with us for dinner, which is around 7 PM, and then literally sprints to bed afterward. Therefore, I have not spent much time getting to know him, but when I do see him (other than at dinner) he is usually playing with our 11 and 2 year-old neighbors and very kind.

Next door is my Sano-Hajurbaa (little-yes dad = little brother of my grandfather)house. He lives with his son and son's family. In Nepal it is traditional for the parents to with their eldest son's family. The means that every first-born son knows growing up that they are stuck with their parents forever!!! His house has the 11 and 2 year-old boys. They are pretty cute. The 11 year-old always tries to speak English to me and everyone gets made at him, which is pretty funny. The 2 year-old always comes over during breakfast and is around to play with (we probably speak the same amount of Nepali).

A few blocks away is my Baa's (father, who is deceased) parent's and younger brother's house. My Kaka (uncle) and Hajuraamaa (yes mom = grandmother) come over to my house fairly often. Usually my Hajuraamaa comes over in the morning for chiyaa (tea)and to give us fresh milk. However, she has been sick for the past few days and has been unable to come over. My Hajuraamaa is a character though, and only has a few teeth! She usually comes to our house to sneak a cigarette and drink lots of chiyaa. One morning I came down stairs for breakfast and she was sitting at the kitchen table, and told me she was on her fifth glass of chiyaa. My Amma then joked that Hajuraamaa has no teeth because she drinks too much chiyaa with too much sugar and that she smokes. My Hajuramma then smiled in agreement! I typically only see my Hajurbaa (yes dad = grandfather)and my Kaki (aunt) when I go to their house. My friend Ana also lives at their house, so we walk to and from school together.

Just to note, I am the tenth Pitzer student my family has had. They are very good about speaking slow enough for me to understand and using Nepali words to help describe words I do not know. Also, I am pretty sure my Didi and Dai know English, but are keeping it a secret from me, which I appreciate because I am trying to learn as much as I can.

School:
School is about a 30 minute walk through mustard, potato, onion, etc fields from house. Every morning I wake up 7 AM, eat roti (a flat bread that looks like a pancake) and vegetables, and leave for school around 8:20 AM. School is typically from 9 AM to 5 PM, but sometimes runs a bit late. We have four hours of Language class in the morning, with a short chiyaa and biscuit break in between (I will have to devote an entire blog post just to food and how we eat...). In our language classes we are not allowed to speak in English or take notes because our teachers are trying to teach us Nepali as if we were learning it as our first language. It is difficult, but this learning style really works! I am legitimately able to have conversations with my family and get around the city on my own. I would say I know more Nepali now then I know Turkish, and I studied Turkish for 5 months. There are three main language teachers, and we switch teachers everyday. The classes have two or three students in them and they change after every week. After class we have a guest lecture to us about an important Nepali topic. So far we have learned about the Caste System, Nepali History, Current Political History, Natural Resources, Foreign Aid and Development, etc.

This program has also allowed for some alternative learning and field trips. Last week we each went to different NGO's and interviewed their directors about what they are doing and why. Then we shared with each presented the NGO's to our class. I went to an NGO named CDO that deals with the brick factories in Nepal, which have very poor conditions. The workers and children lack sanitation, education, health care, food, and basic life necessities. CDO helps provide all these resources through a school, scholarships, health seminars, workshops, and a mobile health clinic. I was able to tour a brick factory site and it was pretty eye-opening! Our field-trips are not your average elementary school style trip... We have a lecturer come with us and tour us around a site. We have had a historical tours of Kathmandu, Patan, Pashupati Temple, a big Stupaa, etc. Both the cities of Kathmandu and Patan have large squares filled with Hindu and Buddhist temples because at one time the kings of the two cities and one other city were in competition to see who could build the most temples. So you could imagine (or google and see) how beautiful their squares are - both squares happen to be named Durbar Square. The primary religions in Nepal are Hinduism and Buddhism, but I will have to save religion for another post...

It's important to note that there are only eight bidyaarthi (students) on this program. We are all girls! Six are from Pitzer, one from Pomona, and one from Vassar. Everyone is interested and dedicated to learning Nepali and about Nepali society, so we all motivate each other and push each other to practice our language skills.

Well folks, that's about I'll I have time to write about... Tomorrow I leave for an eight day trip to Chitwan and Lumbini. In Chitwan National Park I will get to ride an elephant and go on a safari ride! Lumbini is where Buddha was born, so I am sure I will see a lot of beautiful temples. Of course, I will let you know what happens!

Suppaadin (have a good day)!

P.S. I saw Mt. Everest as I flew into Nepal!