Oh, Kathmandu

This past week, we’ve done a bunch of random stuff in Kathmandu but have had a great time along the way. It’s weird that we only have two weeks left of our trip but if these upcoming weeks are anything like the past three in Nepal, it’s going to be great.

 

Ilam to Kathmandu Bus Ride

Locals celebrating the festival at one of the bus stops

Homes and businesses  decorated for the festival

The bus ride from Ilam to Kathmandu was everything I expected and more. It had beautiful scenes throughout the hills, we saw lots houses decorated with lights for the Tihar festival that day, it was quite bumpy, and it lasted longer than we were told (18 hours instead of 14-15 hours). While it may seem like we were disappointed by these last two things I mentioned, we definitely weren’t. Segments of bumpy roads are a given in this country and frankly, we’ve also learned that Nepalis are terrible at estimating the amount of time it takes to do something - and that’s okay. Being precise with the amount of time something will take is not valued here like it is in the US (correct me if I’m wrong, Nepali friends) and I value and respect this quality.

The bus had an added bonus because it had a big TV at the front of the bus which played Hindi music videos (many of which were quite provocative) as well as one Indian movie. The movie was in Hindi though so we couldn’t follow the story. Oh, and we were able to be on the same bus as our friend, Amol, so it was also nice talking with him at the various stops as well.

 

Shekhar showing off his inflatable couch

Our Friend, Shekhar

Once we arrived to the crowded and dirty city of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, we went directly to Shekhar’s home. Shekhar was another friend whom I met during last year’s summer course in Nepal and it was great to see him again. He is especially an incredible friend who will go way out of his way to help any of his friends. It was also nice to stay at his home because he lives in a quieter, cleaner area of Kathmandu that is actually planned well with wide streets and decent organization overall. Shekhar or his sister also cooked all of our meals for us and we were overwhelmed by their great hospitality.




The dinner set-up in Shekhar's room which was always delicious

Shekhar and Amol have been best friends for almost ten years so it’s also awesome to see them interact like brothers. In addition, we had the pleasure of meeting their friend, Chandiraj, who completed the group to make them the “Three Musketeers.” To no surprise, Chandiraj is also a great person and we were able to have some great conversations with these guys talking about our favorite things these days – Nepali governance and politics, America’s development and influence on other parts of the world, and such.

Hanging in the neighborhood




Shekhar showing off the bracelet I gave him







We joined Amol, Shekhar, and Chandiraj at this river to drink tea



Tihar Festival Dancing

The “Three Musketeers,” Stephanie and I decided to drink our first night in Kathmandu and then to our surprise, the rest of Shekhar’s apartment began dancing outside to celebrate the Tihar festival. It was quite a small space between the gate of the apartment and the front entrance, yet around 20 people still happily danced to the Hindi and Nepali music. As you can guess, it was a ton of fun and I’m super happy that Stephanie got to experience this. Last year, I was able to experience a spontaneous Nepali dance party, which I knew Stephanie would have loved, so I’m glad she could be a part of the dancing this year.

 

Having a Cold in Nepal – You Can’t Do Anything Right

Stephanie doing an aromatherapy treatment prepared by Shekhar's sister

Stephanie caught some sort of cold where her nose was seemingly constantly running. This was a great concern to our Nepali friends, especially Shekhar’s sister, because they didn’t want their guest and friend to feel this discomfort. So to help her out, they smothered her with advice: don’t drink cold water, don’t have sugar in your tea at night, don’t sit on the hard ground – sit on a cushion on the ground, don’t keep blowing your nose – it’s bad for your health, don’t have ghee (kind of butter) on your food, and the list goes on. Our friends were saying all of these things because this is all of the stuff that they all learned from their mothers but after a little bit, it was a lot of advice to handle. We did find it interesting though because at home, the first response to Stephanie’s sickness would be: “I’ll drive to the store to get you some cold medicine” and that’s that. I guess it shows how sickness are treated differently throughout the world and in the end, it was an interesting learning experience.

A delicious zucchini pie and salad

Moving to the Thamel

After staying at Shekhar’s place for three days, we decided to move to the touristy area of the city named the Thamel. The Thamel is bursting with backpackers and trekkers, oozing with Tibetan knickknacks, stuffed with Western-ish restaurants, and littered with every sort of fake North Face or other hiking equipment imagined. Sounds like an interesting place, huh?  

One of the restaurants in the Thamel

So why’d we decided to move to this crazy area of Kathmandu? Mostly because Shekar began work after his holiday break and we wanted to get out of his hair. We also could easily get some things we needed, we were able to put our dal bhat streak on hold, and it’s also an area I’m familiar with from last year so it was kind of comforting to come back to a place where I had a lot of memories.

 

Visa extension

Upon entering Nepal we got a 30-day visa for $40 USD even though we knew we would be staying for 35 days. With this, we had to go to the immigration office in Kathmandu on Monday to get a visa extension so we didn’t have any troubles with the immigration people at the airport when we leave. We had to get a 15 day extension visa which cost $30 even though we would only be using 5 days of it. This was a cheaper option than paying for the 90-day option for $100 though and we had the added bonus of experiencing a Nepali government office.

Once we arrived to the office there was plenty of stuff written on the walls with various visa information, none of which had specific information for the visa-extension application process. So after guessing what line to stand in, we discovered that we were actually supposed to begin in a different line. Then we thought we knew what line to stand in – wrong. So we waited in the proper “line,” handed our passport and application, stood in a different “line” which had no order, paid for the visa, then returned to the place where we turned in our passport and it was finally done. It was a lot more confusing than I described but luckily we were able to get it all done probably within 30 minutes or so.

 

Our Friend, Sumeer

On Monday evening we met with my friend, Sumeer, who is another person I meet during last year’s summer course. From what I remembered from last summer, Sumeer was a crazy student because he seemed to always be on the move and was quite goofy. So when he showed up that night in a business suit, it was so weird for me. I knew he was dressed professionally because he just got off work from his government job, but it still seemed weird to see this goofy guy look so put together.

Luckily, I quickly discovered that it was the same ol’ Sumeer under the professional clothes and it was great to hang out with him and his friend. We joked about the past, discussed what we’ve been up to since and also talked about other stuff. I knew Sumeer would prefer to eat dal bhat for dinner rather than some of the normal food around here, so Stephanie and I let him decide on a restaurant we could have dal bhat at which made everyone happy. Overall, it was great to see yet another Nepali friend who is like another brother.

I forgot to take a picture with Sumeer this year but this is a picture from last year that I think accurately describes him. No...he didn't actually eat the bug.

Bhaktapur

On Tuesday, we went to the old city of Bhaktapur which is outside the city Kathmandu but still in the Kathmandu Valley. A fun fact is that at one point in time, there were three kingdoms that all resided within the Kathmandu Valley, one of which was Bhaktapur, but then one day they all got taken over by the seemingly invincible Gorkha Army from outside the valley. The Gorkha Army are still known as the toughest hand-to-hand combat army and are quite interesting to read about.

Anyway, Bhaktapur is an old city with lots of old buildings, temples, and villagers. The best way I could describe it to Stephanie before we went was that it’s similar to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI in that it’s a big area with lots of historical buildings and such to look at. But it’s really not that similar as you can tell by the pictures. We walked around for about three hours, denying every offer for a tour guide, and enjoyed the sites of the old city. It was somewhat refreshing to be back in a touristy setting because we haven’t done so for so long.  

And the Staff Meetings Begin – Next Year’s EDC Course

On Wednesday, my work for next year’s EDC class (the summer course I keep talking about) began. To my delight, I was asked to be a staff member again for next summer’s course which will be somewhere in Nepal. I found this super exciting because I wasn’t sure if I would be invited again as a staff member, which I would have been okay with either way, but I’m looking forward to not only being back in Nepal next year, but also having the opportunity to try to make the course even better.

By coincidence in a way, the first coordination meetings in Nepal occurred this week in Kathmandu. The original plan was for both Barry from Colorado and Yael from Israel to come and meet for a few days however Yael got really sick and had to cancel. I was bummed by this news because Yael and I became good friends in China this past summer and I was really looking forward to seeing her again. But it’s okay, we’ll meet again next July!

The first meeting I was a part of discussed the possible partnership with NCDC to help facilitate the course in many ways. With this, it was great to be back with the NCDC family with Barry (the one who volunteered in the Peace Corp a while ago and then later conceived the idea of NCDC), Amol (my friend from last year’s EDC course), Nikkie (a new NCDC friend) and Kaji (the NCDC CEO). Oh, and Stephanie was an awesome friend and sat in all of these meetings throughout the day. We discussed a lot of logistics stuff that I don’t want to type (and I’m sure you don’t care to read) but it was nice to get the ball rolling for next year’s course.

Throughout these meetings I’ve had a key acronym stuck in my head: WWYD? – What Would Yael Do? I know Yael is very bummed she can’t be here because she’s the main course administrator, but I’ve done my best to think of the questions and comments Yael would ask to try to still keep her presence here.

Meeting With Paras

On Thursday, we were able to meet with yet another friend from last year’s EDC course, Paras. I give Stephanie a lot of credit for letting me drag her around to all the friends I’ve been wanting to meet again but she has seemed to enjoy it. Of course this is no surprise because she’s a social person and enjoys meeting new people – especially the people I talk about so much whom she’s never met.

Paras works and lives in Western Nepal with his wife and nine-year old son but he’s been in Kathmandu the past two weeks or so to work on stuff. We met at an Indian restaurant to catch up and we also were able to get a bit of advice from him about our upcoming time in Dhulikhel and Pokhara. In Pokhara, he specifically advised us that if we chose to go paragliding, we should not wear “half-pants” nor drink before going. He did both when he went paragliding there and said it was very cold at the high altitude and he also felt like he was going to puke. We found it to be funny advice but I think we can feasibly manage these two things if we choose to paraglide there.

Following dinner, Paras suggested going to a bar with live music so we decided to go. It was at a place where he knew the owner and it turned out to be a fun night. There was a live rock band that played Western, Nepali and Hindi songs and it was a great atmosphere overall. People were even dancing in the small space and people of all cultures and ages (well not kids) were there enjoying the atmosphere. I had to leave around midnight though because I had an early meeting on Friday for more EDC stuff.

This is the best pictures I could get with Paras. I learned he has an impressive skill in ruining almost every picture and therefore this is the best we could get.

Various Comments

·         Okay, it’s finally hit me. I’m getting tired of writing these blog posts. I’m surprised I’ve lasted so long writing these but I’m glad I’ll probably only have maybe three more posts or so. I’m surprised I’ve gone a whole 11 weeks enjoying writing these posts though, so I’m calling it a win.

·         Today’s Halloween but I’m so relieved I don’t have to bother with the whole costume thing and all of the shenanigans that are involved. Halloween was fun as a kid but I’m just not creative, nor motivated, when it comes to making costumes. So this is one holiday I’m happy to be out of the country for.

It'll be nice to have a washing machine soon.

Caroline’s Song of the Day

23-Oct Amazing Grace by Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corp

24-Oct Come on Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners

25-Oct Lost In My Mind by the Head and the Heart

26-Oct I’m Yours by Jason Mraz

27-Oct Ways To Go by Grouplove

28-Oct Across the Universe from the Across the Universe Soundtrack

29-Oct Creator by Santigold

30-Oct Galanton by Lura

31-Oct Red Rabbits by the Shins

Hanging in Ilam

Since returning from the village of Namsaling we have not been incredibly busy in Ilam. This has actually been nice because Stephanie and I have had time to do a lot of reflecting regarding our future careers. Stephanie has been thinking about what area of work she would like to pursue and I have been looking into a few grad schools and beginning to prepare my applications. We’ve also hung out at the NCDC office each day for a few hours to learn a bit more about the organization and also hang out with our friends for a bit.

My Friend, Amol

This is Amol, ignore the sign.

This week has especially been nice because I’ve been able to hang out with my friend from last year who is incredibly sweet, Amol. We’ve been able to reminisce about last year’s Engineering for Developing Communities (EDC) course, I was able to tell him how this year’s EDC course went in China, and he was also able to tell me about the few months he spent in Sweden this past year. It was especially great to hear about his time in Sweden because he seemed to really enjoy the course he took and he also told me about the job he had while he was there. He shared how he was a dishwasher and he was surprised by how different their method of dishwashing was so different compared to the method in Nepal. In addition, he also said he worked at the coat check at a club twice a week and said how he wouldn’t charge co-workers as well as pretty girls and after the club would close he was able to get free food and drinks.

Two months after Amol returned from Sweden, he was recruited to join the NCDC team and has enjoyed his time with this organization thus far. Amol works in the governance sector at NCDC where he works on the socio-economic areas relating to the creation of Sustainable Development Plans (SDP) for villages in Nepal. With this, Amol was able to inform us about the process of creating a SDP for village which we found quite interesting.

I would share the details of this process but I don’t think the majority of the audience for this blog would be interested in reading it all. To summarize though, NCDC first assists villages with creating their own SDP by collecting and interpreting household interview data throughout the village. Then they facilitate a discussion with community members so that they can develop their own goals for a 5-year plan. The community members then work on developing a detailed plan for each of their goals which includes a timeline, budget, resource list, etc. Finally, NCDC will publish the SDP (in Nepali of course) and hand it over to the village for them to implement on their own. Ideally, the village will be able to do this whole process on their own five years later to create a new plan without the assistance of NCDC.

Migrant Nepalese Workers

Following our discussion about SDPs, we also discussed an interesting fact about Nepal in how 3 million of its people work outside of the country (Nepal’s total population is nearly 30 million). Many work in the Middle East, Qatar being a popular location; or they will work in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia. The reason this happens is because the young laborers who are often unskilled can get work abroad that will pay more than they would receive in Nepal and then they can send this money home. Unfortunately, many of these people face very poor working conditions or get tricked into bad situations, but this is not how all of the migrant work is.

I had heard a lot about this last year and felt quite concerned about this. Because much of Nepal’s younger adults outside of the country, it has resulted in less support within Nepalese communities, especially within villages. On the other hand, Amol was able to share a different perspective in that it’s okay for these people to be abroad because otherwise they would simply be unemployed within the country of Nepal and would probably cause many uprisings or instability. Nepalese are also able to see how it is outside the country and may also be able to eventually come home with new ideas and sometimes more motivated to improve things. So overall, there are both positive and negative aspects regarding the Nepalese migrating to work abroad; and as long as the government remains in the condition it is, (without a national constitution as well as little order) this migrant work with continue to exist.

NCDC Office

View from the NCDC Office

It has been a pleasure to spend the past 1.5 weeks with the NCDC staff. This past week, we have spent a good amount of time at the Ilam NCDC office and it’s a wonderful place to be. The office feels quite homey and you can tell that the workers here are like one big family. Overall, I feel honored to have been invited to spend time with NCDC and now feel a part of the NCDC family.




View from the top floor of the office looking down

View from the top floor of the office, looking left

Lunch time with our friend, Pradeep

A Fun Night With Friends

On Tuesday, we suggested to hang out with a few friends from NCDC that night because we were leaving Ilam on Thursday and thus had a limited time with our new friends. We especially wanted to hang out with our friend, Pradeep, because he was awesome to hang out last week in Namsaling, but we weren’t able to see him a lot during our time in Ilam.

Motorcycle ride up to the restaurant

This ended up turning into a fun night where eight of us went to a restaurant on top of a hill and were able to eat a bunch of snacks and drink a bit. Stephanie ordered some beer but I decided to order some rum because I thought it would be better on my stomach. I forgot though how it would be served to me straight and the only mixer I had was warm water. But I was somewhat use to this style of drinking because this is how we had to drink the raksi last week. It would’ve been lovely if I had some Coke or something to mix with it. but I guess I’ll just wait to get home to enjoy some good ol’ rum ‘n’ coke.



NCDC friends

Following the restaurant we went to the community’s bingo which was a lot different than what we expected. It was outside in the sort of town square and people sat around with their bingo pieces of paper. The board itself was also different than what we were used and we couldn’t really understand the scheme of it all because it was all announced in Nepali, but we still enjoyed the atmosphere. People of all ages came together in the faintly lit area to listen to the call of numbers in hoping they would win big. Our group seemed a bit hopeful because last week, one of our friends won 9,000 NRS ($90) and they were hoping to win again.

It's difficult to see, but this is where bingo was located

This bingo event happens every evening for about a month during the time between two big festivals here. The first festival already happened and it was around October 6 and the second festival is happening now and will end on Saturday. This current festival is special because people will hang lights, kind of like how we do for Christmas at home, so the bingo scenery also had a few sights of these sort of lights.

Overall, it was a great time and we were glad we were able to experience it with such great people.

How To Eat Dal Bhat

As mentioned in the last post, dal bhat (rice and lentils) is the staple meal of this country. With us eating it twice a day for about ten days now, we feel we have almost become dal bhat experts and would like to share how to eat dal bhat (or at least how we eat it)

 

1.       Receive dal bhat from the housekeeper, Ganga, hot off the stove. Try to spread out the steaming hot rice with your fingertips, but don’t let any profanities slip even though you may think you’re fingers are going to burn off with how hot the rice is.

 

2.       Pour the dal (lentil soup) over your rice

 

3.       Mix the dal and bhat (rice) with your finger tips. Maybe also mix in the side vegetables of either greens or the sweet pumpkin/squash

 

4.       Grab a small bunch with your fingertips and place your thumb at about the second crease between your middle and ring finger

 

5.       Push your thumb up and to allow the food to enter your mouth; repeat

 

6.       Ask Ganga for more dal bhat

 

7.       Risk burning your fingers again by spreading out the rice; repeat steps 2-5.

 

8.       Finish your dal bhat

 

9.       Finish your hot water (it’s hot water because it had to be boiled because our Western tummies can’t handle the water over here).

 

Various Comments

·         Last Tuesday was my 100^th day away from home. This is obviously the longest time away from the Mitten, but it kind of felt weird when it hit triple digits.

·         Today is my Grandma’s birthday. She is 89 and I miss her dearly. I made all my NCDC friends take pictures with this sign in hopes of wishing her an extra happy birthday.

Me

Stephanie

Nikki

Bhupal

Pradeep

Kaji, the CEO

 

·         Throughout this backpacking trip I have read seven books with the most recent book being the Kite Runner (which I recommend). I’ve never read this much in a two month period and it has been quite nice. I hope I can continue to keep up this reading to some degree, even after this trip.

·         After my last blog post, Amol asked why I only put the pictures in a line and did not embed them in the text. I responded frankly and told him it was because I was lazy and posting pictures already took enough time, I didn’t want to also spend the time rearranging them. He suggested I do so anyway so the arrangement of this blog post is dedicated to him. Amol, I hope you approve.

 

Caroline’s Song of the Day

19-Oct Bad Body Double by Imogen Heap

20-Oct Stars by Fun.

21-Oct Heroes by David Bowie

22-Oct Lisztomania by Phoenix





Isn't this a nice picture of Stephanie? I think so.

Our Week in the Nepali Village of Namsaling

We are now in Nepal and have had a wonderful time thus far. This past week we have spent our time with a Nepali non-governmental organization (NGO) named Namsaling Community Development Center (NCDC) and have basically become a part of the NCDC family. These two sentences basically summarize our past week and Nepal so if you’re in a hurry, there is really no need to read the next 4600 words. If you have time though, and would like to read about our wonderful time in a Nepali village, with a great organization and lovely people, please go ahead and enjoy this blog post.

Journey to Nepal

Our travel plans to Nepal changed a bit when we decided to not go to Varanasi, but rather stay in Rishikesh for a week longer. With this, instead of crossing Nepal’s border on its southern side, we decided to cross on Nepal’s eastern border because it was closer to our desired destination of Ilam, Nepal. Even though this plan was more costly because it required a flight from Delhi to Bagdogra, India, it was a good investment and saved us a lot of travel time.

Our journey to Nepal officially began by taking a 6.5 hour night bus from Rishikesh to Delhi. This was a bit of a weird experience for us only because we were finally leaving Rishikesh after 3.5 weeks and we also had to say goodbye to Hannah, who was basically our big sister for 2 weeks. Once we reached Delhi at 3:30 am, we got an auto rickshaw to go to the airport straight away because we had no desire to stay in the chaotic city of Delhi.

Following the 15 or 20 minute auto ride, we then arrived to the airport, waited for our flight (mostly people-watched) for nine hours, and then took our two-hour flight. Soon enough, we arrived to Bagdogra, India and had to figure out a way to cross the Nepali border about 40 minutes away. We decided to take a pre-paid taxi (which is convenient because you have a lower chance of being ripped off) to the Nepali border town of Kakarvita. This 30 or 40 minute taxi ride only cost us 430 Rs (~$7)

We then arrived to the Indian border patrol at around 5:00 pm and faced our biggest problem of the day: mosquitos. They were attacking us from every way but luckily we were able to swat them away with our border crossing paperwork. We then walked across the border, arrived to the Nepali border crossing post and the process was quite easy; just as I expected. We handed them our paperwork, $40 (which had to be in US dollars, not Indian nor Nepali currency) and received our visa sticker.

The next step in the process was to find a hotel; and after considering three different ones, we settled on one for 500 NRS (Nepalese Rupees) which is equal to $5. The room was actually our most spacious room thus far and it even had a dining room-sized table. We would have liked to go directly to Ilam that day but the sun sets so early here, maybe around 5:30, so getting to Ilam that day was not possible.

“I like Nepali Boys"

On Sunday, October 12, we took a bus from Kakarvita to Charali (about 10 km) and then took a shared taxi from Charali to Ilam. This taxi ride was quite interesting because it lasted three hours and was in a shared Jeep that fit about 13 people plus the driver and his assistant (who sat on the roof). A bonus to this taxi ride was one Nepali woman who was quite loud and seemed to be quite interested in Stephanie and me, especially me. The woman repeatedly tried to speak to me in Nepali saying, “malai Nepali keta manpercha” over and over, even though I responded with an incredibly confused and surprised look each time. Soon enough, a different man in the car told me that this meant “I like Nepali boys.” So for their entertainment, I wrote this phrase in my little notebook and repeated “malai Nepali keta manpercha” which made the whole car laugh. Later, this same lady also had the courage to repeatedly say, “Nepali sange biegarsu” which means something like, “I will marry a Nepali boy.” Again to entertain my peer passengers, I wrote this one down and repeated it in the car.

While it sounds like I may have been annoyed by all of this, I was not. I was simply reminded of why I love Nepali people. They love to laugh and they will also take you under their wing as if you are a brother or sister to them; even if they barely know you.

The car we road in to get to Ilam

 

Eventually, we arrived to Ilam, and were greeted by the Namsaling Community Development Center (NCDC) staff at our guesthouse. This was especially great because I was able to see my friend, Amol, who was in the same study abroad course when I was in Nepal last year. Amol now works for NCDC and it was great to briefly hear about the work he has done since being an employee with NCDC. He had to leave after a short time though because there was some sort of bingo event that seemed to be a big social night for the community. I thought it was a bit funny because at home, I only associate bingo with either kids in elementary school or old people.

Our first night in Ilam was also special because while we were eating our dinner, I was surprised to see another friend, Bhupal. Bhupal has been a staff member of NCDC for over 30 years and was a staff member of the study abroad program that Amol and I were a part of last year. Bhupal is one of those people who brings a smile to your face without even saying a word. His warm heart and also goofy-ness makes anyone feel comfortable as if they have been life-long friends.

Later, he suggested that Stephanie and I join him in his field work the following day and since we didn’t have strict plans for our time in Ilam, we decided to join him. He said that we would be visiting the village of Namsaling and that it was four or five hours away. Him as well as the other gentleman who was with him, Hom Nath (who I will talk about more later), kept repeating how it was a long journey, over four or five hours, but this didn’t seem too bad to us because we were used to long travels by road. Little did we know, they meant that it would take over four or five hours by foot! But this still seemed fine to us because we’ve never traveled in this way. So Monday morning, we tried to pack as light as possible (still not light enough, as we later discovered) and made our way to Namsaling with Bhupal and a new friend, Pradeep.

Monday - Walk to Namsaling

After leaving our homestay, our first stop was to visit the main NCDC office in Ilam where we met all of the staff and got a tour of the area. It was great to see the different sectors of the organization and especially to hear about their efforts relating to alternative energy. They promote about nine or so different types of alternative energy sources, such as biogas and pico-hydro set-ups, and have each technology available to show at their office.

Soon enough, we left the office with Bhupal and Pradeep and made our way to the village of Namsaling. We were told that the journey would first consist of a one-hour walk down-hill, then we had to cross a river and then walk uphill for the remaining four hours or so. This all sounded fine and dandy at the beginning of the trip but we later found out that the journey was much tougher than we expected.

The beginning part of our journey

Stephanie and Bhupal

Pradeep and Bhupal heading down the hill

 

We made one stop at a little shop before we reached the bottom of the hill and unfortunately my hamstring was beginning to hurt. While drinking cold Fanta and eating a spicy puffed rice snack, Bhupal then asked us if we needed a porter to carry our bags up the hill after we crossed the river and I decided to request a porter for my backpack. While I would normally be too proud to do so, I did not want to reinjure my leg for a third time so I decided to listen to my body and accept that I am not a Nepali and therefore not used to climbing hills consistently.

The little shop where we took a short break

 

My second favorite part of the journey that day was crossing the bridge at the bottom of the hill across the rushing river.  It reinforced the reason why I love bridges because they can make transportation, and thus access to resources, a lot easier. Bhupal also said that before they had the pedestrian suspension bridge, there was only a small, unsteady bamboo bridge to cross the river and it took a lot of time and effort to pass the river. Now, it has become a great resource to the Namsaling community because they can reach the municipality of Ilam much easier.

Our first view of the river

We made it to the bridge!

You now must ask, “If that was your second favorite part of the journey, what was your favorite part?” Well, my favorite part was talking with Bhupal and hearing his stories. Bhupal told me about the various cash crops of the village, about how he had come to become a respected NCDC worker among the whole Namsaling village (now over 1,000 households) and also various stories about Dr. Barry (who I will talk more about later as well). This conversation, complimented by the wonderful forested scenery, again reminded me of why I was so happy to be back in Nepal; and also excited about my time here with NCDC because I was sure that I was about to learn a great amount from this organization.

There’s no use in hiding it, the walk up the hill kicked our butts. Bhupal and Pradeep however were incredibly kind and patient and even offered to carry Stephanie’s backpack for a good portion of the way. We are incredibly thankful that they were understanding for why we were so tired up the hill and it made us further recognize the strength of Nepali people with their way of zooming up and down the hills. The last 20 minutes of the journey was the most difficult, not only because it was dark out, but because we had walked so long and it was a continual uphill journey.

Taking a brief break from walking uphill

Pradeep leading the way

The first water source protection spot that Bhupal designed

Jungle area

A swing made by the locals

 

Soon enough, over six hours after we left Ilam, we made it to our homestay and were incredibly relieved to finally relax. We were greeted by the husband and wife of the house, a local English teacher, and a local politician. We were also greeted with a small glass (or two or three) of the local alcohol, raksi, made by the wife of the home. Afterwards we ate dinner without silverware, only our right hand, and continued to chat for a while.

As we were sitting and relaxing I couldn’t help but smile and be thankful for my opportunity to be in the Nepali village. While the home we were staying in was very basic, it still felt homey because it was filled with loving people and much laughter (mostly thanks to Bhupal). Yet again, I wish I could describe the feeling I had at the time in a better way, but once again, I have to give up trying (I wonder how many times I’ve said, “I wish I could describe the feeling better” in all of these blog posts).

Stephanie and I then washed our faces and brushed our teeth at the faucet, which was a bit more of a challenge than it needed to be thanks to the local alcohol, and then went to the bathroom in the outdoor toilet. I actually enjoyed this process though because I was able to slowly introduced Stephanie to the “village-way” of doing things based on my one-week village experience last year in a different area of Nepal. We then fell asleep on our beds, basically a table with a comforter over it as a mattress, and was greeted in the morning by the sound of roosters.

Tuesday – A Laid Back Day

The only thing we had planned for the following day was to prepare for a few hand-washing events that NCDC was arranging. For Stephanie and me, this basically meant we followed and watched Bhupal and Pradeep as they arranged things in Nepali.

My favorite part of the day though was visiting the home of one of Dr. Barry’s (again, I’ll talk about him later in this post) best friends. His name is Laxmin Nepali and is in the “untouchable” caste. Dr. Barry talked about him while I was in China and he said that even though he only has a sixth grade education, he is one of the wisest man he knows. While we were there he was sewing many shirts on the porch of his house and Bhupal described to him that I knew Dr. Barry in Nepali. Because Laxmin does not know English very well, the only way I could communicate with him was showing him a few pictures of Barry and that seemed to make him happy.

Laxmin and me

NCDC Namsaling Headquarters

We had some time to kill

Eating chaat patay as a snack

Chaat patay

 

For pretty much the rest of the day we played Rummy 500 which seemed to turn into the game of the week. We played two full games, had dinner and raksi like the previous night, and then Steph, Bhupal and Pradeep played another game of Rummy 500. I was tired of playing cards by that time though because I’ve played so many cards growing up and now I feel like I have a time limit per day when it comes to cards. Bhupal and Pradeep are crazy and even played another game which I think is nuts.

Wednesday – the Day the Toilet and I Became Best Friends

In the middle of the night, I unfortunately wasn’t feeling well and had to puke. Then in the morning I had some severe diarrhea (maybe too much information for you Western folks?). So I told Bhupal in the morning and we decided it would be best that I stay at home that day. So basically all I did that day was sleep, venture to the toilet, and read.

Around 3:00, the mom came up to my room and spoke some Nepali to me. I only recognized one word that sounded like “eat” so I replied with “hajur” which is yes in Nepali. I think she also called for the English teacher to come over to do some translation work which was quite helpful. He was able to tell me that I would have raman-type noodles which sounded great to me. He quickly left though because he had to go back to work (or something). I then ate the noodles at a glacial pace while listening to a handful of Nepalis talk in Nepali. I was curious about the name of my food so with a timid voice, I attempted to ask what the name of my food was by saying “yo ke nam ho?” I said it timidly because I wasn’t sure if the grammar was correct. But they then laughed and seemed to be surprised by my one Nepali phrase and responded with “chauchau.” I later found out that the grammar was correct but they were actually unsure how to respond because they didn’t know what to call the noodle meal.

The kitchen. I took this picture earlier in the day, before I had the chauchau.

A picture of the front of the house

 

While I was at home, Stephanie, Bhupal and Pradeep went to the International Hand Washing Day event in a different area. Stephanie seemed to love the event because she was able to venture through the deep jungle for an hour, play with a bunch of the kids, spend time at one of Bhupal’s close friend’s home, and was also able to see the whole process of the community coming together to learn the six-steps of hand washing. A link to show these six steps is here.

Thursday – Second Hand Washing Event

On Thursday I was feeling a lot better and was able to attend the second hand washing event in a different area of the village. Throughout the day though, I felt like the whole village became aware of my diarrhea the day before because Bhupal seemed to tell all of the Nepalis. I wouldn’t have known because my Nepali is very limited, however diarrhea is the same in Nepali as it is in English so I was able to understand when he was telling someone. It’s okay though because it seems like talking about these kind of health issues is no problem in the village.

The hand washing event was interesting because it took place outside and people of all ages were there. Stephanie and I, along with three other people, were designated as “special guests” of the event so we had to sit at the front, facing the crowd, for the whole thing. There were then many speeches, none of which we understood given the language barrier, and it concluded with all of the children taking turns learning the six steps of hand washing. Bhupal gave this introduction and he seemed to do a great job at it because he made the audience laugh a few times.

Bhupal took Stephanie's jacket as a joke

Pradeep and Bhupal taking a funny picture while eating guava

Hand washing event

Our view from the "special guest" section

Bhupal demonstrating the six steps of hand washing

Kids practicing the six steps

 

Thursday ended in an interesting way because about six more NCDC staff members arrived to the home we were staying at. This basically turned into a big party where we drank a lot of raksi (maybe too much) and then played more Rummy. It was great night though, because even though we were with a few founding members, the CEO and other important NCDC staff members, it was like being with family with so much laughter.

Friday – NCDC General Assembly

The reason all the NCDC staff members came to the house the night before was because they had their annual general assembly in the Namsaling office. There were maybe 60 or 70 people at this event and each attendee got a shoulder bag with a small notepad, pen and a packet with information about NCDC written in Nepali.

The day consisted of a two-hour morning session where (I’m assuming) they announced about NCDC’s progress this past year. They also seemed to give a few awards. We then had a snack for lunch and everyone also had to practice their six steps of hand washing. Following, there was a two hour discussion time where (I think) they discussed the budget and also stuff for next year. I don’t really know what was said because the entire thing was in Nepali. While it was probably our most boring day because we couldn’t understand anything, it was still good to be there because we experienced what a general assembly was like for this NGO.

Inside the assembly

Practicing hand washing before lunch

Stephanie also practicing hand washing

 

We then had to leave the home we were staying in, said goodbye to the mom and dad of the house, and walked down to a different house to stay at for the night. We moved to a place more downhill to make the commute the following day a bit easier.

The mom and dad of the home we stayed in

 

After about one hour, we reached the home which probably had between 16 and 20 people, most of whom were from NCDC. This was great to be a part of because again, it felt like a family atmosphere around Thanksgiving time back home. Others played Rummy while I kept score, we drank raksi, and soon enough had dinner. Overall, the day ended in a great way and we were again happy to be with the NCDC family.

Saturday – Journey to Ilam

We woke up to Bhupal’s deep voice at 6:00 am to hear that we were going to leave at 7:00. A group of about 10 then left the home and walked downhill for almost two hours. The walk downhill wasn’t too bad because we took the road path down which wasn’t too steep to walk down.

We then reached the river and crossed a different bridge. To my surprise though, once we crossed the bridge we continued to walk down. Then all of the sudden, people started to take off their shoes and walk across a portion of the river. We then found out that we had to walk up the river for a short distance to reach the area where a jeep would pick us up. While this did hurt my feet with all the stones at the bottom of the river, it was still a cool experience.

 

Happy that we crossed the river

Happy that a jeep is coming

Soon later, a jeep arrived to the bottom of the hill and the 10 of us packed in the car. Stephanie and I were incredibly happy that a jeep was arranged to take us uphill because walking up the steep hill would have sucked. We then made it up the hill along the bumpy road and within 30 or 45 minutes we soon arrived to our homestay in Ilam. We then took a much needed shower (because we didn’t shower all week) which felt amazing and had our breakfast meal.

Packed in the jeep

 

 

***To me, the entire next session is important so I will not pick and choose parts to bold. If you’re interested in learning about the origins of NCDC, please read ahead.***

NCDC’s Origins

Even before we arrived to Ilam and Namsaling, I had heard a lot about NCDC and a bit about its origin. Since being here though, I’ve really enjoyed piecing together all the stories I had heard before and learning about the organization’s interesting story. The story first begins with Barry.

Dr. Barry

Dr. Barry Bialek was a staff member of the the Engineering for Developing Communities (EDC) study abroad course I took in the summer of 2013. Throughout the course, we learned about the successes of NCDC as an NGO in Nepal and later learned that Dr. Barry was the one who conceived the idea of NCDC.

Almost 40 years ago, Dr. Barry decided to volunteer with the Peace Corp and was placed in the village of Namsaling in Nepal. His assignment was to be a math and science teacher at a school in the village which required that he quickly learn Nepali and become fluent in the language. With his two years of service, he became very close with the community and formed a deep connection with Namsaling.

Following Barry’s time with the Peace Corp, he decided to go to medical school in North America yet his heart still stayed with Namsaling. He then thought of an idea to develop a Namsaling Community Development Center within the Namsaling village which could bring the community together, and to also have a Namsaling Community Development Foundation (NCDF) in Canada to support NCDC. Barry then decided to suggest this idea to a friend of his, Hom Nath Adhikari, who was also a teacher in Namsaling while Barry taught.

Hom Nath

Hom Nath liked Barry’s idea of having a community development center and decided to help Barry further develop this idea. Even though he was busy with his teaching job, he continued to work hard to develop the organization.

Barry and Hom Nath then developed a 100 year plan for the village of Namsaling which gave sort of a vision for the community. They then figured that NCDC would be a platform to implement this 100 year plan and amazingly to this day, the village is on track with this 100 year plan. This plan included different sectors such as education, water, energy, communication, transportation, etc. According to Hom Nath, Barry facilitated this development of this 100 year plan and thus played a key role in the organization’s development.

When NCDC was first developed, the Nepali government was a Panchayat sort of monarchy system. And a government approval from the Namsaling Assembly was required to officially make NCDC an established NGO. This took some time but soon enough, they were accepted by the government.

When the organization began, Hom Nath requested that the village leader require each household give just 5 Rupees per month as well as a few days of labor for the organization. With there being 500-600 households in the entire village, this gave NCDC some money to work with. The organization was then able to work on various collective projects that helped improve the community’s economy, health, sanitation, etc.

Five years after NCDC began, they faced some troubles because when Nepal’s government changed to a multiparty system, the community then became divided regarding their feelings towards NCDC. Some political parties didn’t like how NCDC was working and this made it very difficult for them to work. Despite these difficulties, Hom Nath as well as other political party leaders then decided to make NCDC a platform for the different political parties to discuss their opinions and differences and this then created the first board of NCDC.

Afterwards, NCDC continued to grow and become successful where they then needed their own full-time employees to manage the organization. This was because the people who were running NCDC already had their own full-time jobs, Hom Nath as a teacher for example. So then along came Bhupal.

Bhupal

Bhupal first became interested in NCDC when he was about 13. He would listen at the door of meetings and consistently hear the updates about NCDC’s projects. His interest continued for another 10 years or so and then finally, a job posting was advertised for NCDC’s first full-time position. To his delight, he was selected as NCDC’s first official employee.

Even though he was only paid 50 Rupees a month, which many people harassed him about, he loved his job. He worked day and night to improve the organization and soon became much respected among the community members. He even created the first community health post which was actually at the same house we stayed at during our time in Namsaling. Barry later came back to Namsaling and saw Bhupal’s incredible dedication and they soon became very good friends.

Bhupal has been successful in his job because he is a very social and also caring person. Just by walking with him throughout Namsaling, we could tell that he genuinely cared for the various households in the community. The community also seemed to respect him a great amount because we could stop at various people’s houses and would be greeted with tea. In addition, Bhupal has a great sense of humor which makes it very easy and pleasurable to travel with him.

Something that I would not have guessed is that Bhupal only has a 5^th grade education. I learned that when he was seven, his father died and he then had to stop school so he could help at home. Despite this, he continued to be interested in learning various things and I think this curiosity is what has helped him most throughout his life. He was curious about NCDC and then became a successful employee. He then wanted to communicate with the foreign partners in English so he worked hard to learn English. Later, he became curious in photography and now he’s very proud to have his own camera. And the list goes on. Hom Nath also helped with Bhupal’s education through the years because he also saw great potential with his incredible work ethic.

Overall, Bhupal is a very inspiring person and I feel honored to call him my good friend.

 

Various Comments

·         There are basically only two meals here a day at 9:30 and 7:00ish and a midafternoon snack. EVERY meal is dal bhat (lentils and rice) and the only variety is the type of vegetable that is served with it. Even though Nepalis have the same meal every day for every meal, they still absolutely love the meal. To my surprise, I haven’t gotten sick of the meal but I know I will enjoy having a non-dal bhat meal when we get to Kathmandu next week

·         Barry comes back to Nepal quite frequently and is a much respected person among all of Namsaling and also much of Nepal. Sometimes, it even seemed like Barry was a celebrity in Nepal because he would even speak and sang songs on the national Nepali radio at times (in Nepali of course).

·         It was a pleasure to interview Hom Nath about the creation of NCDC because his face would light up and his eyes would sparkle when he spoke about NCDC’s development. You can tell that he is very proud of the organization’s progress and that many people also respect him for his great work. Even when we walked with him from Namsaling to Ilam, many people would greet him with a smile and addressed him as “sir.”

·         There are two children at our homestay and both are incredibly cute. One is a 1.5 year old boy who is incredibly clever and is learning both English and Nepali. The other is an 8 year old girl who is very active and hangs out with us a lot. She has incredible English and is also very curious with most everything we do. I normally don’t like being around kids for a super long time but I have enjoyed hanging with her because she is now like a little sister to me.

·         We learned that Hom Nath was married when he was 9 years old! Can you believe it? They didn’t have their own home until they were maybe 20 but they were officially made husband and wife by their parents when they were so young. How incredible!

·         Dear Mom, when you pick me up from the airport can you have a vegetarian Jimmy Johns sandwich (with light mayo) ready for me? I’ve been dreaming of one this week and I think that’s the first think I want when I get back to the States. Thank you!

 

 

 

Caroline’s Song of the Day

10-Oct Hello, Goodbye by the Beatles

11-Oct Latika’s Theme by A.R. Rahman Feat. Suzanne D’Mello

12-Oct Rather Be (feat. Jess Glynne) by Clean Bandit

13-Oct Weepy Donuts by Danny Elfman/Steve Bartek

14-Oct I Found You by Alabama Shakes

15-Oct Waiting… by City and Colour

16-Oct Water Fountain by tUnE-yArDs

17-Oct You Got It On

18-Oct Into The Mystic by Van Morrison