Miracle Oven

It would seem that for people living overseas a blog post about their Christmas baking is a must. So here's mine...

I decided that today was the day to try my Miracle Oven for the first time. Is there such a thing? Yes, absolutely. It was invented by some smart person in Nepal for baking on a gas stove, since most people in Nepal don't have ovens. The electricity is so hit-and-miss here that having an oven would probably not be useful a lot of the time anyways. Pretty much everyone has a gas stove. Hence, the miracle oven.

Now, I realize that this may not look very miraculous to you. It didn't to me either. But it does a pretty good job. It's basically an iron ring that sits right on the gas burner, to keep the rest of the oven away from the direct flame. Then there is a circular pan and lid, and an aluminum liner that is removable. You bake things with the lid on, as in the photo. You can do a lot with the miracle oven...pies, cakes, bread, cookies, casseroles, etc. They do end up round with a hole in the middle (like a bundt cake...is anyone else having a flashback of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" right now, or am I the only one who loves that movie??), but they taste alright. I've eaten things that have been made in the miracle oven, but hadn't yet tried it myself. Until today.

Today I decided that the 2 essential baked goods around Christmastime for my family are Swedish gingerbread cookies, and these Swedish sweet buns called Lucia buns (for St Lucia Day, which is Dec 13 in Sweden). My mom ALWAYS makes them at Christmas, and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without them. So I got the recipes from my mom, and decided to give them a try.

The first challenge was getting the ingredients, although in the end pretty much everything was available at the nearby supermarket that is as close to a western-style grocery store as they come. I don't think there is shortening in Nepal...I couldn't find any, anyways. And the cookies don't roll well with butter or oil, apparently. In India they use a lot of ghee, which is some kind of fat product, and we have that here, too. It's quite fattening and rich. I decided that might be a decent alternative to shortening. And then I had to go on a hunt for yeast and corn syrup (I eventually settled for honey instead), but I found both. And I also stumbled across icing sugar. Perfect!

All in all, I'd say things turned out pretty well. They don't taste QUITE like they do at home, and I don't think the yeast was very "active," so the buns are a bit dense, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. Can you tell that those are stars and Christmas trees on the cookies? (The correct answer is yes, by the way!) Yup, roughing here in Kathmandu!

And there you go! My first Miracle Oven experience. I'd say it was a success. The other first for today was that I got up the courage to stop at a little roadside stand and buy a deep-fried dough ring that they sell everywhere. Okay, so maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal. But let me explain. As a westerner, the kind of shopping I'm used to (likely the kind of shopping that we're all used to) is the kind where you go into a store, prices are nicely labelled for you, you go down the aisles, put things into your cart, and then go to the cash register where they ring it all in, and you pay the set amount. That's what's normal and comfortable for me. Fortunately for me (or perhaps unfortunately), at the supermarket near my apartment, the shopping is pretty much like that. It's easy, and it's comfortable. Great! The problem is that then it becomes really easy to just keep doing that, rather than venturing out and shopping the way most people shop in Nepal - at roadside stands, and in smaller shops, where you have to talk to the shopkeeper or person at the stand, ask the price, maybe bargain a bit, etc. I have done that in other countries, but here it was just so easy to not do that, and it made me a bit nervous, so I wouldn't do it.

But that's not how you adapt to a culture! The key to adapting is to dive right in and do it, rather than withdrawing into what's comfortable and familiar for you. For the last few weeks I've noticed all these stands where they sell deep-fried dough rings, and other treats, and have kind of wanted to try them, but have been too chicken. It doesn't help that the numbers in Nepali have no pattern to them, so you have to learn each one's name individually. It's not like once you can count from 1-10 you can count to 100. At this point I can still only count to 35! So I was nervous to go and ask how much something cost, and then not be able to finish the conversation. Which is silly, since pretty much everyone in Kathmandu speaks English anyways. But yeah, it was one more thing stopping me. Anyways, yesterday I decided that I needed to get over that and just force myself to do it. So today on the way home from class, I stopped at one of those stalls, asked how much they cost each (a whopping 5 rupees, or about 7 cents), and bought one. It was very yummy! And that was that. A small thing, but I was very proud of my accomplishment!

After an attempt at a conversation in Nepali with my almost-non-English-speaking house-helper this morning, I THINK that tomorrow afternoon I'm going over to her friend's house, where she and her friend will be cooking all day for a little Christmas party that evening. I'm pretty sure that what we decided was that after my language class was done, I'd get in a taxi, phone her, hand the phone to the taxi driver, and she'd tell him where to take me. From there, I will join in with her and her friend and their families, for some yummy food involving rice and coconut milk, and we'll be dancing and singing Christmas carols. Nepali Christmas carols, mind you, are NOT the same as English Christmas carols, so I won't be able to even hum along for most of them. I know 2 at this point. But it should be fun. As I say, based on our very broken-up conversation, I THINK that's the plan. I'll let you know how it goes!

5 Things to Know About Winter in Nepal

1. Temperature: In Kathmandu today the high was 17 degrees Celcius, and the low is going to be 2. Over the next few months the lows may go a little lower than that, but probably not by much. Don't let the numbers deceive you. It's COLD here! Sure, in Canada the outside temperatures get much colder, well into the negatives. So what's my problem? Nepalis are asking me that, too. The difference is that while in Canada it may be -20 degrees outside, inside it is 20 degrees. Here in Nepal, when it is 2 degrees outside, it is also 2 degrees inside. And in the afternoon when it is 17 degrees outside, it's still 2 degrees inside (or maybe 5). That brings me to point number 2.

2. In Canada you go inside to get warm. You bundle up when you're going outside, but inside you take off your jacket, hat, scarf, mittens, and maybe some of your layers. Here in Kathmandu, at least during the day (on days when the sun is shining), you go outside to get warm. Inside you're wearing multiple layers, a jacket (or possibly 2), hat, scarf, shawl, etc. Outside if you're in the sun you will likely take off (or at least unzip) a few of the outer layers. A few weeks ago I was in a t-shirt outside and about 3 long-sleeved layers inside. Now it's not so warm, even in the middle of the day, so I'm definitely not wearing a t-shirt. But it's still warmer than inside. It is not at all uncommon to see Nepalis on their roofs, or in their front yard - or wherever they can find a patch of sun - during the day. It's the warmest place there is. I'm told that in a few weeks it will start raining and then it won't be warm inside OR outside. During those weeks, everybody is just miserable.

3. Showers are overrated. Okay, so I haven't QUITE convinced myself of this yet, but this morning I was getting close. I do have warm water, because there is a gas heater (known as a geezer) that heats up the water when you turn it on, and you get a nice hot shower. But as soon as you turn off the water...BRRR!!! I think I'm going to at least change my showering time to the afternoon when I get home from my language class. Washing in the afternoon is actually a very Nepali thing to do in the winter anyways. Mornings and evenings are just too darn cold for a shower!

4. Hot water bottles and shawls are underrated. The hot water bottle is an amazing invention. I have a couple with me. I boil some water on the stove, pour it into the hot water bottle, wrap it in a towel, and put it in my bed under the blankets while I'm getting ready for bed. It makes the bed much warmer. And then I put it at the foot of my bed and it really helps to keep the bed toasty for a lot of the night. The water is actually still warm in the morning when I pour it out (into the bucket of toilet-flushing water, of course...not to be wasted!). It makes a huge difference! The other thing that makes a huge difference is a shawl. Pretty much every Nepali woman (and some men) that you see these days is wearing a shawl. The traditional shawl is made of yak wool. I have one, and it really helps to keep you warm. I've taken to wearing a scarf around my neck, and then actually wrapping the shawl around my waist when I'm in my apartment. I might look goofy, but at least I'm warmer!

5. Layers, layers, layers! I never owned proper thermal underclothes when I was in Canada, but I bought a whole bunch to come to Nepal. Layers are key, both to keep warm, and to help deal with the fact that when you go outside you might get warmer. Today my language teacher was wearing 3 shirts and 2 jackets/coats. Yup, it's not just us bideshis that get cold! My only dilemma with the thermals has been (up till now) whether to wear them or not, because I get really sweaty in them when I walk to my language class during the day. But then they make a huge difference once I'm there. Today for the first time I decided it was worth it, and it definitely was. It seems to be getting a bit colder every day, and even the sun is less warm every day. I'll be thankful for every extra piece of warm clothing I brought.

Finally, on a totally unrelated note, I want to share my 2 favourite Nepali words that I've learned so far:

1. Things = cheej-beej

2. Colourful = rungee-chungee (make sure you roll the "r," pronounce each "g" as a hard "g," and bob your head from side to side with a happy smile, and you'll get the effect)

Ke garne!

Today there was yet another situation for which "ke garne" ("what to do?") was an appropriate expression. I was at the children's home again this weekend (have I mentioned that I love it there??!!), and the plan for today was that I was going to go with the house mother to buy some kurta suruwaals, the traditional clothes for Nepali women. [As a side note, I did end up buying 2 such outfits, but I don't have photos at the moment, because I bought the non-pre-made kind, so they won't be ready until Dec 22. Stay tuned...]

Anyways, the plan was that we were going to leave at 10, catch the bus into Kathmandu (about a 45-minute bus ride), and go shopping. Well, true to "Nepali time," we weren't really quite ready to go at 10, so we decided to take the 10:30 bus instead. Which was fine, until the 10:30 bus didn't arrive. We waited for awhile, and then decided to walk to a place where more there is more traffic and you are more likely to be able to catch a bus...about a 30 minute walk away. To be honest, I didn't mind the walk. It was SO nice to be out walking in fresh air, where you are not worried about being hit by a car every 2 seconds, and there isn't constant honking at you. It was quite relaxing, I thought. But you can see how if you are living every day with the uncertainty of whether or not the bus will actually come it can get a bit tiresome. It's especially a challenge for kids who usually take the bus to school. No wonder school attendance is a bit unpredictable!

Anyways, we got to the bigger road, and there was actually a bus waiting there, which wasn't full, and we were able to get on right away. That in itself was amazing. Last week we had encountered the same situation, and waited for a long time while several full buses passed us (more on full buses in a minute), and there didn't seem to be any hope that we'd be able to get a bus. That is, until my Nepali friend recognized one of the bus drivers driving in the other direction and asked him to turn around and take us, which he did. Great for us...not so great for people waiting for a bus to come in that direction :) Ke garne!

So we got on the bus, and started driving. About 5 minutes later, we stopped behind a truck that seemed to not be going anywhere. I couldn't see what was going on, except that I knew we weren't moving. We sat there for quite awhile, and I could see that motorbikes were passing us, but we were stuck. I eventually found out that a truck up ahead had run out of gas (or petrol, as they call it here), and it couldn't move, which put all traffic except for motorbikes at a standstill. Roads in the Kathmandu area (and maybe in the rest of Nepal as well) are VERY narrow. There really isn't space for 2 vehicles to be side-by-side in a lot of places along the road. This, apparently was one of those places! I have seen people try to pass each other in those narrow places, and it's not pretty. They get alarmingly close to each other! Sometimes they manage, and sometimes they give up. I guess there was no hope of success here, so there we sat. A few people decided to get off the bus and walk, and others (including us) did the typical Nepali thing: shrug, and say, "Ke garne?"

Eventually (it actually wasn't that long, maybe 10 or 15 minutes), traffic started moving again. I never saw the vehicle that had run out of petrol, but something must have happened to it. First the traffic coming in the opposite direction got through, and then we were also able to go. And we did eventually reach our destination. My friends took me to a hole-in-the-wall shop, where you can get the same things you can get in touristy areas for about half the price. Thank the Lord for Nepali friends!

A word about buses. Picture a nice big spacious bus, with enough seats for everyone, air-conditioned in the summer, heated in the winter, well-kept, etc. That is NOT a Nepali bus! Nepali buses, for the most part, are actually called micro-buses. They are really large vans (probably would be a 15-seater van in western countries), and some are in better shape than others. Their horns work well, though. There is a driver, and then a guy who usually looks to be in his teens or early twenties, who works the door and collects the money, and who stands at the door as the bus drives along the road and announces to everyone the bus's final destination. To someone who doesn't understand Nepali, it sounds very much like an auctioneer doing his thing at the top of his lungs. There does seem to be some sort of system for where the bus does or doesn't stop, and sometimes they stick to the system, and sometimes they don't. I haven't quite figured it out yet. The other job that the boy has is to cue the driver on when to go and when to stop. He does this by banging on the side of the van, or by doing a funny whistling sound that I can't imitate.

So you get on the bus, and then if you're lucky there will be a seat available. They have the usual seats that a 15-seater van would have, and then have added some benches along the side and wherever they can, to cram as many people as possible onto the bus. It is not uncommon for there to be 25-30 or more people in one of these micro-buses, and when it's really full, they might actually be kind of hanging out the door, holding on for dear life. I can imagine that it wouldn't smell very good in there in the summer! There is an old joke about how many people you can fit on an African/Indian/Nepali/whatever bus (one more). That is definitely true here. Unless the bus is packed full in the driver or the boy's opinion, they will keep picking up more people and then order you around, telling people where they can squash one more person. If the bus driver is in a hurry, he might not actually fully stop for you to get on or off, so you have to run and jump a bit.

That is the public bus system here. You do usually feel like a sardine, and sometimes you're not sure you'll make it out alive, but it's actually quite efficient. And cheap. The 45-minute ride from the children's home to Kathmandu costs 20 rupees (about 25 cents). Can't really argue with that!

This is a photo I took of a little roadside shop - pretty typical shop for Nepal. Not a great photo, but gives you a bit of an idea. There are LOTS of these little shops around. I wish I could show you a picture of a packed microbus, but I haven't figured out how to take one discretely yet.

Back to Nepali lessons this week. They've been going well, and I'm enjoying them. I can now conjugate verbs in the present and future tenses (same for both), and probably will learn past tense this week. And I have some more vocabulary. Going to the children's home is GREAT practice for me. The kids speak English, but they are very excited to help me learn Nepali. They have taught me several Nepali songs, as well as some vocab. And yesterday one of the 9-year-old girls made me read her a children's book in Nepali (which I could read painfully slowly but couldn't really understand), and then she was quizzing me about it, and making me write words down, etc. It was great! The house mother speaks some English, but is also great to practice with. They are all very patient, and also rather relentless with me, which is good. Sometimes I have to tell them that my brain can't handle any more Nepali and I need a break! My didi (house-helper) is also a good one to practice with. I've been trying to have some semblance of conversation with her every time I see her. She is also very patient, which I appreciate.

Well, I'm off to a Christmas concert in 15 minutes. There are some Christmas things going on around here, though for most of the country Christmas is just another day. It was declared a national holiday a few years ago, though, when Nepal was declared a secular country (as opposed to a Hindu Kingdom), so they do get the day off. I will be spending Christmas Eve with other bideshis (foreigners), and then on Christmas Day I will go to the children's home and join them in putting on a big program and celebration for their community. Should be fun.

Bandh

Today there was a strike (bandh) in the part of Kathmandu where I live. It was called by the local chamber of commerce in response to the murder of someone at a Goldsmith shop the other day. What does this mean? Well, it means that no vehicles (cars, buses, motorbikes, even bicycles) are allowed on the road(s) where the bandh is taking place. Any vehicle that disregards this is very likely to be vandalized...rocks thrown at it, tires set on fire, etc. Bicycle tires may be slashed, and you may very well be mobbed and forcefully thrown off your bike if you're on it. There are no issues for pedestrians, though it certainly is best to keep a low profile and avoid crowds/mobs. If it's a transportation bandh that is the main restriction. If it is a general bandh then it also means that shops are shut down, and you really can't get anything done. A bandh can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The longest one that I know of was in 2006, just before the king agreed to reinstate parliament. That bandh was 21 days long (I think), and was very violent, full of demonstrations, etc. You can imagine that with 21 days of closures of shops, etc, it became a very serious situation for people. There were severe food shortages at that time, and there were days when the restrictions were lifted for a few hours, but a bag of rice cost 100 times what it usually cost, and the supplies were extremely limited. It was a very difficult time in Nepal's history! But out of it democracy was born...

Anyways, most bandhas these days are fairly short, and as long as you respect the restrictions and don't do anything stupid you're fine. It takes longer to get places, and some shops are closed, but overall it's not too serious.

So today, as I said, there was a general bandh (which meant that shops were closed as well as roads). I should also mention that there are often rumours of upcoming bandhas, and they don't all materialize. So we'd had warning about previous potential ones, but this was the first one that actually happened. I knew about it because there is a great security guy who works in the office where I do my language classes who sends e-mails about things like this. So I knew that it was best to avoid the main road. Though I suppose it would have been one of the few times you can actually walk along the main road without encountering heavy traffic! But I avoided it and took the back way. At each major street leading to the main road there were several police officers in riot gear, and anyone on a motorbike who tried to go up the road would be stopped and told they couldn't go there because of the bandh. Other than that, where I was walking, there wasn't much sign of anything going on. I'm told by one of the other language students who did venture to walk along the main road that there were multiple people marching with placards, shouting loudly whatever message they were trying to communicate. And he did see a mob almost run down a guy on a bike, but they stopped when he got off his bike.

I had heard about these bandhas, but after having seen one today it left me with some questions, so I started asking around a bit, both foreigners who have been here awhile, and Nepalis. It seems that anyone with enough manpower behind them (which doesn't have to be all that much) and some sort of cause they want to stand up for can call a bandh. And they decide how restrictive it will be. They do have to notify the police ahead of time that they'll be doing it, so word does get out. And then there are always police there enforcing it, though I wouldn't necessarily say they always support the cause. It seems to be more out of self-preservation, and also to protect the public that they enforce it. But I'm told that they will sometimes just stand by and watch while protestors burn cars, etc. I'm not sure if that's because of indifference, or because of fear of getting hurt in the process. It's often political parties that call them, but not always. Today, for instance, it was a group related to finances and gold that called it.

I was asking several Nepalis how they feel about these bandhas. To me as a westerner, and as a newcomer, they seem like very negative things. But most people here seem to shrug their shoulders and say, "What else can they do?" Granted, that is a VERY common attitude in Nepal. "Ke garne" is an expression that means, "What to do?" and it is used A LOT in all kinds of circumstances, usually accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders or some other similar gesture. It's something that is encountered in health care too. There is in general a much more fatalistic attitude about things here, much of it rooted in the Hindu belief system.

So yes, I get the idea that people here think that bandhas are an inconvenience (sometimes a big one), and that they can be dangerous at times, but that they are really the only way for people and groups to be heard. I'm not sure how much good it does, but it does give them a voice, albeit a somewhat violent one. And, as my language teacher pointed out today, it really was not a good thing that someone murdered that Goldsmith, and so they SHOULD protest what happened. Sure, the police may be looking for the guy who did it, but it's good to make a public statement as a group that this is not okay. At least that seems to be the type of conversation that goes on between locals here. I think they see these bandhas as a necessary inconvenience. I'm probably way oversimplifying things here, but that's the general sense of things that I got today. And certainly the demonstrations that happen these days sound like they are much tamer than they were in previous years. It can be pretty disruptive, though, because there are all kinds of groups who want to be heard, and these things apparently happen with some regularity.

As I was reflecting on it, it occurred to me that it's not really all that different from the strikes we have back home...people making a statement when they don't feel there's any other way to do it. And things can get nasty if people try to cross picket lines, etc. It's really a similar thing, just on a larger scale. It was good to get some Nepalis' perspective on it to balance out my more negative point of view. Not that they're saying that bhandas are a good things, but they're not entirely negative either.

If you're interested, here is the link to the article about the bandh in the Himalayan Times (also a great online newspaper in case you're fascinated by Nepal news!).

On another note, we have now started into "load shedding" time. Which basically means that there is not enough electricity to go around, and so it gets shut off for so many hours each day to conserve it. As of today, there are 6 hours per day of load shedding (no electricity). I haven't quite figured out what those hours are yet, but that's the deal. Fortunately, there is an inverter system in my apartment that kicks in when the general power is off, so there is always some power here...lights, computer, etc. Just nothing that produces heat (microwave, kettle, coffeepot, hairdryer, space heater) ...it would blow the system. It is pretty early in the load shedding season, so the hours per day will likely increase as the winter progresses, but we'll see. It depends a bit on rainfall. The more rain there is, the more water in the rivers, and the more power we have. There are usually rains in late December/early January (which makes for a miserable few weeks, because it's cold and wet, and you can never really get warm), and that sometimes brings more hours of power for awhile. So we'll see what happens this year.

Finally, I am very amazed to report that the Christmas package that my mom put in the mail for me 10 days ago arrived today, untampered-with. Apparently that's a record for Nepal...both that it arrived in a timely fashion (or that it arrived at all, in some cases!), and that it hadn't been tampered with or opened in any way. I had been unsure if it would arrive at all last week, when I heard that there had been an issue between Canada Post and Nepal where some agreement between them had run out and they had forgotten to renew it! So nothing could get from Canada to Nepal or vice versa for a few weeks. I found that out after my mom had already put the package in the mail. I e-mailed the guys at the Canadian embassy to ask about the status of things, and they assured me that the situation had been resolved. Which meant that there was as much of a chance of this package arriving as a package from any other country (which is certainly not a 100% chance!). And it arrived in a very timely fashion, it seems. No guarantees that that will ever happen again, but I'm very happy to have this one in hand. Thanks, Mom!

As easy as ABC (sort of)!

I am proud to announce that I am now literate in Nepali. Which means I can, theoretically, read anything in Nepali that you throw at me. Of course, it will be PAINFULLY slow, and I almost certainly won’t have a clue what I’m reading, but I can read. I’ve been going around reading storefront signs, and everything else I can find to practice with. It’s kind of like when a kid first learns to read and is sounding out every word they see. Yup, that’s me! The interesting thing that I found yesterday as I was reading storefront signs, is that a lot of the words are English words just spelled in Nepali (using the Devanagari script, as it's called). I spent about 5 minutes reading the sign at the NMB Bank Limited, only to realize that the Nepali words said “Enembee bank, leemeeted.” Another one that I saw today said “Loreeyal byootee parlar.” And then there are the signs at the shops where you can buy recharge cards for your N-cell SIM card. They say, “Reesharj kard.” I know...I'm a language geek...but I think this stuff is cool! To give you an idea, here is a photo of the page of consonants from my language book. There are also vowels, which look different depending on whether they're standalone vowels or attached to a consonant. And then you can do half-letters, which are the consonant symbols basically cut in half. And sometimes 2 consonants combine to make a different one, which is another symbol. But, as I've mentioned before, it's not Chinese, and there is a finite number of symbols/characters.

There is also the fact that a lot of the sounds are similar, but distinct. Like there is the "k" sound, and then the aspirated "kh" sound, which is basically "k" with a puff of air. Almost all the consonants have their unaspirated and aspirated sounds. As for "t" and "d," there are 4 different ways to say them: with your tongue at the roof of your mouth (aspirated and then unaspirated), and with your tongue between your teeth (again, aspirated and unaspirated). So it gets confusing, but it actually really helps to know the symbol for each one.

Now that I have mastered (sort of) the alphabet, I am on to grammar and vocabulary. It’s interesting - I can be really struggling to remember a word or a concept, saying it over and over to myself, and then I leave it for a minute, and when I come back to it I can’t remember it for the life of me. I have had certain ones that I get hung up on and can't seem to remember. Then I get a good night’s sleep, and somehow in the morning it’s there in my brain. If that’s not a plug for getting enough sleep I don’t know what is.

In other news, I have now figured out (well, after being shown 3 times by someone else) the back way to where my language classes are. This means that I avoid walking along the main road, which is a really good thing. There is less dust/pollution (a lot of people in Kathmandu wear masks when they walk outside, or the women shield their mouths with the scarves/shawls they’re wearing). There is also MUCH less noise (I’ve just about had enough of people coming up right behind me and honking in my ear!), and it seems a lot safer. You’d think that walking on the sidewalk should keep you safe, but even there sometimes there is a motorbike or two that decides it would be faster to bypass the traffic and drive on the sidewalk. You also avoid the big Bagmati bridge, which crosses over the Bagmati river (which smells of rotting trash, sewage, and stagnant water…lovely!). So it’s nice to avoid all that. The trade-off is that you go along all these twists and turns in these narrow little streets so that you feel like you’re lost all the time. And the smaller footbridge that you use to cross over the river looks so rusted that it might drop out from under your feet at any time, and then you’d end up IN the river that smells of rotting trash, sewage, and stagnant water. But at least it’s a shorter distance to cross! The back way takes about 10 minutes longer (40 minutes instead of 30), but it’s worth it. And I’m proud to announce that I have walked it twice myself now and haven’t gotten lost. I’m not the most directionally gifted person in the world, so it feels like quite an accomplishment. The other challenge with getting around Kathmandu is that there are no street names. So instead you use landmarks…turn right at the temple that is after the motorcycle shop and across from the bank. And then turn left on the little dirt path that goes downhill instead of up. Look for the school with the gate that has Tom and Jerry painted on it and turn right after that. And so on…

I spent Saturday through Sunday morning at the children’s home again. I love it there, and come back to my apartment with a huge smile on my face! I’ll be spending Christmas with them. Yesterday I was playing hide and seek with the younger kids, and one of the 5-year-old boys (the one beside me with the red hoodie in the photo below), who is rather a dramatic child, was loudly yelling, “RUN, SISTER, RUN!!!” to encourage me to get away and hide in time. I laughed pretty hard! Here are a few more kid photos. And there was a lovely sunset last night, too.

Tomorrow I start back into language classes. 3 hours a day now of lessons, and then we’re supposed to spend 3 hours of time outside of class studying and practicing, so it’s pretty intense. I’m really thankful that I have a few languages already under my belt, and that I enjoy learning languages…it helps a lot! But it's still slow-going. Starting from zero means I have a long way to go. I just keep reminding myself that it's only week 3 and it really is okay that I'm not fluent yet :)

Dinner, Nepali style

Tonight I had dinner at my house helper's home, along with the couple that lives in the flat above me. (Because I am house-sitting for a family who has lived here for the past 2 years, I have the benefit, not only of the use of their furniture and household items, but also a fully trained house-helper, or didi) Trying to communicate with her about our plans was a challenge, since she hardly speaks any English and I speak VERY little Nepali. It started on Sunday, when my didi was talking to me to invite me to her home. What I understood at the end of it all was that I was to go to her home on Wednesday for dinner. I was pretty sure Jodi and Matt upstairs were also invited, but not entirely sure. I knew in general the area where she lived, but had no idea how to get there, except that there was some bus you could take. And I think the conclusion was that we would touch base by phone to firm up the plans, and that her 12-year-old son could help, because he speaks English. So I talked to Jodi and asked if she could call her, which she did. During the first phone conversation, Jodi apparently kept telling her we'd come at 4:00, when she actually meant 6:00 (the 2 numbers are said very similarly), and she didn't realize it until she hung up the phone. So she called her back, and said that actually she had meant 6:00. Jodi thought all was clear, but today at 4:15, she got a call from our didi, wondering where we were! Ah, the joys...

Anyways, we arrived at 6, and our didi met us by the main road and then took us to her home. As always, we took our shoes off at the door. Her 2 sons, who were seated on the bed watching TV, were told to get off the bed, and that's where we sat. For the next 45 minutes or so, we sat and tried to have conversation. Thankfully, her 12-year-old son really does speak pretty good English, so that helped. And, also thankfully, our didi is an absolutely lovely woman (seems to be a theme that Nepali people are lovely!), and so it was pleasant, even though it was awkward given the language challenges.

The Nepali custom is to sit and talk before the meal. You don't really talk during the meal, and then when the meal is over it means that the visit is also over. So we sat and talked for awhile, and then we had dinner. It was dal bhat - lentils and cooked rice (the Nepali word for uncooked rice is different). Most people in Nepal eat dal bhat twice a day. As a side note, most Nepalis only eat 2 meals a day - one in the mid-ish morning, and then one in the evening. And they might have tea or a snack in between. Along with the dal bhat you also have some kind of curried vegetable dish (known as tarkari), and since today was special we actually had 2 vegetable dishes, and one meat dish (curried chicken). It was yummy! Most Nepalis eat with their hands, but we had spoons today. My guess is that that's because we are bideshi (foreign) guests.

Eating with your hands is not as easy as it sounds. When I was in India in 2003, I tried it, and they just laughed at me and told me I wasn't doing it right. What can be so difficult about eating with one's hands? Well, I guess there's a technique. I must have figured it out, though, because I did eat with my hands at the children's home on the weekend. They gave me a spoon, but I felt funny using it when everyone around me was eating with their hands...right hand only, really. They were happy to see that I could eat with my hands, and they told me I was doing it right. So either I've mastered it, or Nepalis are just too diplomatic to laugh at you (which is certainly possible, as they are VERY polite and don't want to offend you or hurt your feelings).

Anyways, we had our dinner, with second helpings (it would have been rude not to take seconds). And I am very full now! And then that was the end. We said our thank-yous, and walked home. It was a nice experience, and good to get into a Nepali home.

I started into my more intensive language lessons today. Had 2 hours today, and starting tomorrow it'll be 3 hours a day. I learned the remaining 20 consonants today, and now am trying to keep track of them all. Better go practice a bit before I go to bed...

Oasis!

I wasn't going to post again so soon, but I wanted to share briefly about the oasis that I just experienced in the Kathmandu valley. It's a children's home that I have known about and been indirectly connected with (through friends who have been there multiple times) for years. It is outside of the city, about 45 minutes by bus. I went there yesterday and spent the night. What a breath of fresh air, in so many ways! Very literally, the air is much fresher and cleaner. You won't find the pollution of the city out there - it is rural, much cleaner and greener, and much more peaceful than the city. At night-time, instead of all the city noises I've been trying to get used to sleeping through, all I could hear was the sound of water running through the nearby irrigation ditch. And during the day, you can hear children's voices, but that's it. Compare that to my apartment in Kathmandu, where right now, I'm hearing a plane flying overhead, construction noises, some sort of children's choir practice at the school close-by (at the moment they're singing the Nepali national anthem...jaya jaya Nepala!), honking, dogs barking, a really annoying bird crowing, lots of yelling, etc. SO nice to get away from that! And the night sky was amazing - I could actually see stars....LOTS of them.

I was welcomed in as part of the family immediately. The kids all speak pretty good English, and so communicating is fairly easy. I had young children sitting on me and close to me, and some playing with my hair. Nepal is not a touchy-feely culture at all, and I am a bit of a touchy-feely person, so that was great! I had some of the younger kids giving me Nepali lessons (and they were excellent teachers, I must say!). And I had a chance to spend time with the older kids (teens, up to age 20...about 10 of them) after the younger kids were in bed. I think there will be some good relationships developing there. The house parents have asked me to spend time with the young adults, mentoring them, etc, which I'm quite excited about. Speaking of the house parents, they're lovely! I was welcomed with open arms, and they said repeatedly that they don't want me to feel like a guest, because I am Family. How wonderful! I have also been told that I can call them anytime, day or night, if I have any problems here, and they will help me.

They have a bit of a farm...some pigs, chickens, ducks, large gardens, etc, which give them food, but also some income. Last night the mother pig delivered 12 piglets, of which 8 survived. The house father stayed outside (brr!) all night to help the pig, and make sure the piglets were okay. They will keep them for a month and then sell them.

The photos below show some of the younger kids with the house parents, and I am with the house mother in the other one.

I will probably go there most Saturday afternoons, spend the night, and come back to the city on Sunday mornings. I am really looking forward to spending more time there, and I think it will be a mutual blessing!