Jan 25th-
This morning started and progressed much like every other morning here in my village home save one change. I have started to add some instant coffee to my morning tea. I was going to try and quit caffeine for a while, but that just didn't happen. Mixing coffee and milk tea tastes great and the mother and father here even slipped a bit in their cup. I hope I don't get them addicted.
Following my daily language and cultural class, I took a walk to the nearby town Gwarko to write some emails. When I first set off on this trip I was going to try and limit my contact with the outside world (for what reason I don't know), but have realized that my family and friends are much too important to me and I want to remain in semi-close contact with them throughout the next 3 years. There will be periods of my trip where internet access will be extremely scarce (such as my two months of trekking in the himalaya) so I want to take advantage of the facilities when I have them easily available. I'm not sure why I just rambled about that. I guess I just want everyone to know that even though I won't see you for 3 years or more (except for those adventurous enough to join me at some point) I still want to remain a part of your lives. Moving on...
During my walk home I ran into one of the neighbor families and one of their children (seemed to be about 3) insisted on holding my hand until we got to my home. I can't describe how great it was to have physical contact of any sort with a human being. The Nepali culture is not very physical, and that's tough to get used to after having such a physically affectionate family back in the states. She was the cutest thing.
Later that night my host dad took me for a silent walk down the street to a local shop where he and his friends gather to bullshit and smoke. I understood very little, but was honored to be invited to such a gathering and enjoyed listening to them laugh and talk. Every once in a while I attempted to join in the conversation with some of my Nepali and this especially got them laughing. I most likely have more money than any of these men, but they are undoubtedly richer than me in terms of the soul.
Jan. 26th
Today my host family had a remembrance ceremony for their grandfather who died during the past year. When I woke up I could here Hindu scripture being recited upstairs. I put on my sandals and went up to observe. There were many plates made of large leaves on the ground and in them lay many types of spices, flowers, and rice. One man who I'd never seen was reading the scripture, and another man dressed in a white robe was making an extravagant rice ball mixed with all of the spices and flowers. It was a very interesting display.
In all there were probably 8 people here at the house for the small ceremony. Afterwards, we all stood around and had some of my coffe/tea concoction. Around 11:00 am we sat down to a large, very tasty meal. The best part of the meal was a coconut/rice pudding. Soooo good. They eat a large meal on this day so that their dead grandfather will eat well in the afterlife. Strange concept.
Following another confusing language class, I visited Nava Ratna English Boarding School. It's where I'll be attempting to teach English to Nepali students. After some tea and a short meeting with my new boss, the principal, I was taken to the room I would be sleeping in for the next few months. It turned out to be much nicer than anything I expected. Very clean, and quite comfortable feeling. AFter being shown my room, we took a short tour of the facilities. The class rooms are small and quite dirty. Not what an elementary school classroom should look like, but they can only make best of what they've got. All of the children were very adorable in their uniforms and in their attempts to speak to me in english. In all there are about 200 students in grades KG-8. This teaching thing is going to be extremely tough, but I'm excited to give it a try.
I spent about an hour at the school then caught a tempo back to my part of town. Tempos are 3 wheeled vehicles with seating for about 8 people, but it's possible to squeeze at least 16 people in it. I've seen it done.
It was still early in the afternoon when I returned, so I decided to take another aimless walk through the streets. This city is so large and I plan on walking most of it by foot before I depart. There was a particularly beautiful sunset of purple and pink on this day.
Jan. 27th.
This morning went by like all the rest, and I spent a good part of the day reading and enjoying the village life. Around 3 in the afternoon an unfamiliar man arrived and my host Mother sat me down to have tea with him. At first, not much was said but eventually we had a good conversation going. It turns out he's a teacher and his english was very clear. We talked for almost 2 hours about teaching, politics, economics, etc.. About this time I was really curious why he was here. We got along well, but there had to be more reason for his visit to the house.
He told me the reason for his arrival. Later that evening he would be meeting his "possible" fiance. Arranged marriages are still the primary way of tying the knot here in Nepal. This practice seems odd to most westerners (myself included), but it is surprisingly successful. I may be inaccurate, but from what I've read and heard, the divorce rate sits around 1-2%. Astounding figures.
Why the meeting was taking place here, and not at his parent's house, I'm not sure. He was an extended family member, but that still didn't explain things to me. Anyways, the whole afternoon and evening was a bit odd. Odd to me that is. Soon more family members arrived and us men sat down while the women served us food and tea. By this time, the possible wife-to-be had arrived and was also helping with the preparations and serving.
After the meal, the men sat around and talked while the women cleared the tables and washed the dishes. The tradition of complete male dominance and in Nepali society is impossible for me to agree with and very difficult to tolerate at times. The women here are so stron and undoubtedly the backbone of the country. They should get the recognition and respect they deserve, but it will be some time before that comes.
The night drug on and I could tell that neither the man or the woman wanted to be here. He refused to talk to her, and she was forced to wait in a spare bedroom until he felt like talking. Very intense situation. I felt extremely awkward be caught in the middle of this drama. It even seemed like he was using me as an excuse not to speak with her. I felt sorry for both of them though. What a position to be put in.
The night ended with no decision being made. They never said a single word to one another. What a strange night. Everyone just left.
And that is where I'll end this journal entry. To be continued someday...
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