Meat

Posted on February 28, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“Forget all the reasons why it won’t work and believe the one reason why it will.”

Though Nepal is certainly not a meat eating culture (the cow is sacred and other meats are expensive) when there is meat for sale it is always interesting to see. Fish in huge piles on the side of the road, chickens, sometimes still alive, waiting to be killed, and heads of animals who have already been slaughtered on display. There is no hiding the meat in dainty packages nicely cut for consumption in this part of the world.

The Other Side of The Coin

Posted on February 27, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“It is better to travel well than to arrive.”

During my stay at Hopeful Home I befriended the oldest boy, a seventeen year old who will be leaving the home after his exams are finished in a month. His story could be told as a success story, a young boy from a poor village who is now on his way to becoming a doctor. But there is another point of view, his point of view, which doesn’t often get taken into account.

Writing Amongst Monkeys

Posted on February 26, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.”

I have taken to writing my blog while sitting at the moneky temple, and here are a few of the guys who keep me company.

Same Same But Different

Posted on February 24, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“Always be a little unexpected.”

“Same same but different” is a funny phrase that I hear all the time from Nepalis, and in my opinion, accurately describes the relationship between India and Nepal.

Hopeful Home: The Girls

Posted on February 23, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

It is hard to believe I have already been here at Hopeful Home for almost a month. I have fallen into an easy routine: I help the children, notably the three girls in grade four, with homework in the morning and evening, and do my own thing for the afternoon while they are at school. My crew has become the girls (six of them) and the two youngest boys as the rest of them are self sufficient young teenagers and can do their homework on their own. I have spent many evenings after dinner in the girl’s room, laughing, dancing, and singing, as well as letting them look through photos I have taken. Like girls everywhere, they love to dress up and have their picture taken, and as they don’t have many of themselves, I have promises to print some out and give them as gifts once I leave.

Introducing Kickball

Posted on February 21, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“I’m old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway.”

At one of the schools I visited, where an American expat lives and teaches, the forth grade boys have fallen in love with kickball. Since there are no fields, they use a small courtyard for their game and have incorporated the surrounding buildings into their play. For instance,if you kick the ball over the fence you are out, and two of the bases are drains hanging off of adjacent buildings. The best part about watching them was just how excited they got! I guess it’s true, boys everywhere love sports.

Back To School

Posted on February 19, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day, to have a new and different sun.”

I’m sitting in second period with the fourth grade class at Paradise, the English medium private school my children from Hopeful Home attend. There is chaos, the children are running around from classroom to classroom, and some have even left to go play in the courtyard. I ask one of the girls where their teacher is, and she replies, ” I don’t know, Australia I think.” Wait, your teacher is in another country? How long will she be gone? “Oh, for the rest of the year probably. I don’t know.” And that’s not the worst of it. Though the children still have a month of school before their exams, the three girls in class four told me the other night that they are now down four teachers, meaning they only attend half of their daily classes. This is a private school, and at fifteen to twenty dollars a month, an expensive investment for many of the families who hope to give their children a better future. It is hard then to imagine what the government schools, notorious for being much worst, are like.

Nepali time, Swiss time, Canadian time

Posted on February 16, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“Do not squander this time. You will never have it again. You have a crucial opportunity to invest in the next season of your life now. Whatever you sow, you will eventually reap. The habits you form in this season will stick with you for the rest of your life. So choose those habits wisely.”

Time is relative. “Be here at seven” means something completely different depending on what country you are in. In Switzerland it means be here before seven (if you arrive at seven you are late) whereas if you are in North America it means that five minutes early or late is no big deal. And here in Nepal, as well as in any other developing country I have visited, be here at seven could actually mean eight, nine, ten… or even the next day. A person’s sense of time and punctuality seems to be dependent on the organization of their country. Switzerland, being absurdly organized lies on one end of the spectrum, while developing countries such as Nepal which tend to be slightly unorganized to say the least, are clear at the other end.

Puja… Again

Posted on February 16, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

There is always some kind of festival or holiday going on here in Nepal. For the last month, a few of the children at Hopeful Home have been reading out of a Hindu book, something they apparently do for a month every year. I was raised to believe that during prayer it was important to be silently respectful, but apparently that isn’t the case here or in the rest of Nepal for that matter. After dinner every night a few children would gather around the burning candle and book, while the others in the same small room would be dancing, singing, and doing homework. Even those listening would often talk or get up, making the whole prayer deal very informal and almost a joke.

All About Food

Posted on February 14, 2014 by The Wandering Nomads

“If you can’t learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.”

-Rice and dal is the most common dish in India and Nepal, and locals typically eat it twice a day (breakfast is at around ten, and dinner is at six or seven. There is no lunch, usually just some biscuits and tea). Dal is a broth with a few lentils or beans and occasionally chickpeas, potatoes, or pumpkin. Usually with this dish you also get a small portion of curried vegetables which are always amazing. In India, this comes with roti (Indian bread) though in Nepal this seems to be much less common. This dish, which is always all-you-can-eat, costs anywhere from 70 cents to 1.50$ depending on where you are.