Author Archives: Tlell Elviss

when a villaged opened their hearts

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It has been 7 days since we returned from our week in the small village of Chanku Besi – I have sat many times blankly in front of the computer screen wondering where to start.  How to appropriately capture the moments, the emotions, the surprises, the faces, the kindness.  It is not an easy task, to be sure, but my hesitation is partly a yearning to be accurate with my words and leave unspoiled the vivid images that will live with me.  I want to honour the wonderful people whom I met.

The village sat upon a long and incredibly steep set of rice terraces with my house being at the top of the village, shrouded by leafy trees, jungle, and orange trees.  The cold was intense.  The nights were pierced with winds whistling through the cracks in the mud and beam structure.  I had the bedroom to myself while next stoor my new Nepali family (amaa, baa, bhai, and 2 bahinis) cuddled up in one bed.  Mornings were spent with dawn hours around the small kitchen fire drinking chiyaa, laughing, and snuggling with the goats who lived downstairs.

From the doorway, the darkness inside fools one into thinking of dampness, dirt, and discomfort.  But rather the house was immaculately clean and comfortable.  The only discomfort was the blue stinging smoke during hours of cooking – no chimmney desired as the black soot covering the roof beams protect the wood from termites.

We spent a full 5 days living with our families and then abrubtly on the day of our community project we learned that there would be a bandha in the nearby town the next day – it was called for 3 days which meant we wouldn’t be able to get out in time for Christmas.  There was concern for our safety and we had to make the difficult decision to leave that afternoon.  It was a very difficult way to leave and with such a rush the goodbyes were not at all what we had meant them to be.  With garlands of marigolds around our necks and thick red tikas on our foreheads, we departed.  Sadly, heavily, and with much regret.

So rather than paint more pictures with words, I will gladly post some images of our brief and exciting stay in the village. My thanks to H-Bone who took all these photos and a whole bunch more, and painstakingly uploaded all of the them so that I was able to steal them 🙂 Photos from Rex and I coming soon too.

The village of Chanku Besi seen from the top of the rice terraces
The tree where we hung a tireswing the day before we left.
A few of our talented team in front of the school we painted on our final day.

Needing less, learning more

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Tomorrow our small but dedicated group of volunteers moves along to a small village 1/2 hour outside of Dhulikhel (find a map of Nepal and look east of Kathmandu, east of Banepa, and you will find Dhulikhel).  We will be living with a small (or in Rex’s case large – 11 people to be exact!) family for one week to gain a better understanding of rural life in Nepal. This is an absolutely incredible oppportunity to embrace all that life in Nepal can be and challenge ourselves to live without some of the comforts we consider to be essential but that are actually quite unnecessary – everyday hot showers, 3-4 meals a day including snacks, power at all times of the day, and indoor plumbing.  We assume that life without these things is impossible or so diffult to be completely unenjoyable.  But, in fact, my sense is that we will suprise ourselves and flourish in such a warm and hospitable environment.  And we all have tucked away into our bags some small comforts – myself I have grabbed photos of family, a book, and some small sweet treats – those are the comforts I needed.

The families are just as excited to meet us as we are to meet them.  My family has mother, father, one son, and two daughters, very much a mirror of my own family.   I will be back in Kathmandu on Christmas Eve and have plans to make loads of phone calls on Christmas day to wish friends and family well.  Until then, consider me off the grid and soaking in the essence of Nepali culture, language, and spirit.

A special hello to my Mom (Monika), Dad (Randy), Sister (Emmie), Brother-In-Law (Blaine), Brother (Alfred), Nephews (Cole and Isaac) and 2 Nieces (Elise and Natalie), whom I am missing very much during the holidays.  I will think of you all often over the next week as I introduce you all through pictures to my new host family.  Love you all so much and miss you tons.  And Mom, your package has arrived this week…we will be able to open it on Christmas which will be such a wonderful treat…thank you! 

Lots of love to all – namaste!

Redefining Normal

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Sometimes what takes the longest or is the hardest or makes you saddest is when what is normal has changed.

What was, is no longer. How things were knew, are no longer. When things we, are no longer. And then, suddenly, normal is normal. A new normal for sure, but not new since it is now the measure of normal.

I am waiting for normal to kick in.

Daily Mundanities

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A few people have asked for a more detailed account of life day to day while we are in training – I promised that I would not turn this blog into a public daily journal, but just this once I will oblige…

We wake at about 5:30am, not because we want to or because we have to, but rather because we have no choice 🙂 The dogs, the birds, the blaring Hindi music…life begins with the sun. After a restless hour of trying to sleep through the chatter we resign ourselves to the fact that awake we must be.

Our small room does have a small bathroom with shower (one kind of showers over and around the toilet so the whole bathroom gets rinsed) so Rex and I take turns having a quick shower. We have the luxury of hot water but it doesn’t last long and with 13 volunteers, the race is always to get the hot shower first. Breakfast is at 8am in the big dining hall – usually semi-toasted toast, toasted over am open gas flame, perhaps a hard boiled egg or some rice pudding, and always some curried chick peas, beans, or potato. And as much chiyaa (tea) as you could want – with milk and spices or black and piping hot.

At 9am we start class in groups of 3-4. We have been in the same groups for a number of weeks so have gotten to know our teachers well. After learning about 20 new vocabulary, 6-10 new verbs, and a new sentence structure we break at 10:45 for chiyaa chuTTi (tea break). This is the time to bask in the sun and warm up…perhaps even remove one of the fleece layers that we added immediately after waking.

More class until 12:30 and then lunch. Lunch is baat (rice), daal (lentils), tarkarri kauli and alu (curried potato and cauliflower), saag (usually radish or mustard greens), achaar (a pickle of some sort) and papads (papadums in Canada). After lunch is almost always a chance to sit in the sun for 1/2 hour and let our minds rest. PLUS…I think we all believe that somehow we can store body heat and release it at night when we are freezing!

Final block of class in the afternoon which is often more of the same, but sometimes a lesson in Nepali script (so we can read signs and perhaps even write a few words) or a culture class on do’s and don’ts, how to use a pit toilet or bathe in public (yes, we do get lessons on that), understanding temple symbols, understanding the caste system, how to eat with your hands etc… All very interesting indeed. And sometimes, if we are very lucky, we have a game or activity. For example, this week we had a Nepali pictionary class and last week we had to go out into the village and chat with people in Nepali.

Usually we end around 3pm and there is a race to the internet cafe for everyone to check email. If we are lucky it is working and we all get a comp. If we are unlucky there is no power or poor connectivity, then we stroll around the town. We buy oranges from the local street vendors or poke into small shops and dig through a strange assortment of things (anyone for olive oil or shaving cream? Plastic flip flops or a metal canister?)

By 6pm it is always dark so we rush home and sit either in the dark or with the gas fumes tingling our senses from the on-site generator…I think I actually prefer the dark. Or candlelight too…that is nice. At 7 we eat..usually the same thing as lunch too…but by dinner we are hungry again so anything tastes good.

After dinner Maybe an hour of BBC news if the power and cable are working, and usually an hour of homework…revising sentence structures, learning new verbs and vocab, or pravcticing our conjugations. Bedtime is usually around 9pm…early early early.

And that’s a day in the life…for now. Next week we leave to stay with a village family for a week…the daily schedule will surely be different.

Public bathing

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Like many majority countries (and by majority I mean not where power IS held but rather where the majority of the people in the world live and where equivalent power SHOULD be held) much of what we would consider private life is conducted in public.

In some cases there are cultural roots for why public over private and other times it s simply out of necessity. With only one tap of clean running water in a village it may be the only place for village residents to bathe.

And as such, it is important to know how to bathe in public. Today I bought a lungi which is really just a large piece of opague and patterned fabric which one wraps around oneself to remain decent while bathing. With some clever tying, pinning, or stitching one can remain fully dressed for the duration of the public bathe…genius really!

Morning…bihanna

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The fog sinks deep and thick over wooded hills.  The terraced rice fields, brown and scrubby after harvest, steam from the weak sunlight that manages to pierce the fog.  Damp clothes swing from clotheslines dripping the dampness from their stitches.  I too swing dampness from my limbs.  And yet, the anticipation of the heat and warmth beyond the fog brings everything from their warm beds.  There is rice to be sown, corn to be dried, and dust to be swept.  There is not a morning without the hallam (noise) of magpies and crows awake in the fog.  By lunch, the fog has been swept clean behind the hills.  But for now the fog rests heavily and I am hidden within it.

Load Shedding

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Ackk! We have been experiencing regular efforts to decrease power consumption in Nepal which means peak hours without power…which means few entries to my blog 🙁  So, consider this a chance for you to load shed yourself…read only once a week instead of once a day 🙂  And, sadly, with an overwhelming number of spam comments, I have changed the settings to require approval from me…not ideal but will prevent all of us from having to read about the latest casino offerings!

We are currently in a moderately-sized town called Banepa taking intensive language classes during the day and then climbing into cold sparse rooms to catch some sleep at night.  Much like camping but with the added smells of pit toilets in your room…quaint 🙂  However, the people have made it so much more pleasant than it sounds.  We have a fantastic teacher, Krishna-ji who is incredibly patient as our mouths struggle with complex reflexive and palative sounds.  And the other volunteers are just so interesting.  We are a true complex patchwork of experiences, cultures, and personalities.  Tossed together into a fairly intense experience has meant that everyone connected fairly quickly. We have 3 folks from India (Varanasi, Delhi, and Bangalore), 2 Dutch, 1 American, 1 Brit, 2 Filipinos, one other Canadian and 1 Ugandan.

So while I am here in what feels like volunteer residence mixed with a pretty rough summer camp, I send everyone lots of love and good wishes.

Namaste!

Bandh

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Today is my first bandh. A bandh is a strike, by a organized group of workers, ethnic minorities or a union, to remind the political wheels of their desires and needs.  It can involve large demonstrations, many road closures, which shuts and entire city down.  Not unlike a strike in Canada in fact, except that it is announced about a week ahead to notify the citizens.  We were scheduled to have class in the VSO office today but the bandha road closures have prevented staff from getting to work, so we have the day off!

This weekend I have been asked to attend a 2-day workshop entitled “Quest for Quality Education” which is organized by a number of local NGO’s.  This will be my first opportunity to meet the partners who form the coalition, the Global Campaign for Education, Nepal, for whom I work.  Nerves, anticipation, anxiety, and excitment abound – will I have the right skills?  Will I be of use?  Can I do this work?  Nothing I can answer yet, but hoping this workshop will put my mind to rest a little bit.

Bistaarai, bistaarai

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Firstly, thank you to everyone for the comments – they bring me many smiles (especially since I am usually sleepily checking my email at 7am…we wake up super duper early here).  A special hello to all my friends at UBC and family around Canada – miss you all very very much.  Also a special congratulations to J&J on their wedding….so wish I could have been there to celebrate with you.

Bistarai, bistaarai is the phrase I referred to in my last post which means “slowly, slowly” and it couldn’t feel more like a mantra.  Everything is moving slowly for me – time passes slowly, life passes slowly, culture shock is passing slowly.