Half way

Well, that's us at the halfway mark with our trip - 27 days till we get on the plane home, and somehow I think they'll go more quickly than the first 27.

The kids finished their exams today and are on two weeks' holiday now. Quite a few of them are going home for the holidays - those that have one parent, or other extended family to stay with, so the numbers will be lower over the holidays. Our favourite kids (no, we don't have favourites, of course not - well, ok, we do) are going to be away over the holiday so hopefully we'll have time to catch up with them again once they're back for school. We're hoping to spend as much time with the kids as we can over the fortnight and then maybe try again to help out with those that are being home-schooled for the two weeks before we leave. There are a couple of trips planned I think, including swimming on Monday at the local health club. We pass the health club on the way down the hill to the supermarket - it looks like a construction site, so that'll be an interesting day out I'm sure!

We went shopping to the big (and very swanky) supermarket at Bhat Bateni the other day (it has escalators - ooohhhh!!) and amongst other things Alison found hula hoops (the sort that go round your waist, not the sort in packets - we miss them) so we picked up a few. We took one down to Babita's house (there are 30 girls there and there's no garden, just a roof terrace). The kids had never seen one before and thought it was hysterical - they were all having a go - think we're going to need to go back to the supermarket and buy more! We've also bought some story books to read with the kids and to form the beginning of a library for them - Lauren, a Professor of English who's volunteering here has also bought books, so hopefully they'll have a wee library that future volunteers can add to. The kids don't seem to read for pleasure very much - the focus is all on study.

We've nearly finished our blanket washing duties - only another three to go and they'll all be done. Not sure I ever want to see another blanket in my life, particularly not one that has to be washed in cold water in a bucket...but it's been good to be useful.

There was a huge thunderstorm tonight with sheet and forked lightning and really loud thunder. We all watched it from the roof terrace until the rain started and we had to take refuge. It was amazing. Five new folk have arrived today - from one of the most exclusive private schools in Switzerland - think we've all got culture shock (they're very clean and shiny!) - so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. I think they're going on placement to Bigu sometime in the next few days (which is where I'd go if it wasn't so far - it's a Buddhist nunnery up in the mountains and looks amazing). They're looking at whether they can start a programme of sending a group of students every year to volunteer in Nepal, which would be really good.

Anyway, it's way past my bedtime - it's 9pm for goodness sake - we're usually in bed by 7.30pm - and I now have the cold that Alison has generously passed on to me, so I'm going to head for bed and some more Beechams.

Will probably have photos to post sometime into the holidays, so will catch up again then.

Ann & Alison
x

Who to choose?

We were thinking that we could take some of the kids out for a treat.At first we were only going to take Anu and Anita,but then it turned into Anu,Anita,Ramila and Shushmita!

There is a really nice little restraunt that sells pizza and stuff so we will take them there.Then we will take them for ice cream.Then we will take them to the garden of dreams!

We will tell you how it went.

Alison : )( :

Photos from the picnic

The line of 130 kids on their way to the picnic


Lucky, one of three dogs the kids have


Alison, Anita and Anu


Ramilla and Shushmita looking cool


Just a quick post to put some photos on from the picnic on Wednesday.

It's howling a gale here today but also incredibly hot, so at least all the washing's drying really fast - we're in charge of washing all the blankets in the house before they're packed away for the winter - in a large bucket with cold water and soap powder - wahey! Mind you, it's that hot that the water from the tap on the roof is warm!

Must also remember to try to take some photos of the roads and transport here - our last journey into Thamel was in a 'micro' (a 12 seat minibus) with a total of 26 people on it...two hanging out of the door and the guy who collected the money somehow hanging on behind them. There are no traffic lights so turning out of junctions just means risking it and trusting that the traffic coming the other way will slow down for you - it has to be seen to be believed!

Food beyond our wildest dreams

Having posted about our food cravings, we ended up going out for dinner to say cheerio to two volunteers, Jake and Carlyn, who are off to Dolpa for a few weeks to teach in the village school there (it's up in the mountains and looks beautiful). Jake decided we should go to the 'all you can eat buffet' at the Hiyatt - a 5 star American chain hotel on the outskirts of the city. We wandered in looking like star-struck hicks from the sticks - it really is a 5 star hotel - from the foyer through to the swimming pool in the garden! The food was wonderful and needless to say we all ate far more than we needed to - a couple of the boys had five trips to the buffet!

However, our karma must have been watching us because it was a school holiday today (a religious festival - something to do with blessing houses I think?!), and we were invited to go on a picnic with all the kids. It involved a very long hike down a big hill and then up another big hill to an open space with trees and grass where the kids could play. Added to the fact that it's ridiculously hot it was just a bit of a struggle - we've definitely walked off our dinner from last night!!

The electric's just about to give up the ghost for this afternoon, so I'll post some photos from today when I can - most of them were taken by Ramilla (who has discovered a tendency to chop people's heads off in pictures) and Anu Maya (who's got a real knack with the camera). The minute you take a camera out of your bag the kids are all desperate to look at the screen on the back to see all the photos, and then to take more.

Hope everyone at home is well and life is good.

Ann & Alison
x

Kids, kids, kids

I've been unable to post anything for a while because in addition to the electricity supply being erratic, the internet has decided to start playing up as well. One minute you're connected and the next minute you're not!

We spent Saturday and Sunday up at the top house playing with the kids, which was great. Saturday is the only day that they have off school (no such thing as a 'weekend' in Nepal), so they should have been back to their exam schedule on Sunday. However, the ex-Prime Minister died on Saturday so there was a national holiday on Sunday for the funeral. Amazingly, enough electricity was found to enable it to stay on all day – so the funeral could be televised!

Alison's made some good friends, particularly with some of the younger girls who live up in the top house. Anu and her sister Anita are lovely, gentle girls – Anu has taken to sitting beside me and getting a cuddle whenever she can – heartbreaking when she looks up at you and tells you she doesn't have a Mum. Ramilla and Shushmita are cheeky monkeys – full of wicked charm and nonsense. Ramilla in particular has a really dry sense of humour – beyond her years – and loves nothing more than a good laugh. They spent most of Saturday and Sunday playing skipping games and games with stones where you throw one in the air and have to pick others up at the same time (needless to say, I'm hopeless at it!). Alison was shattered by the time we got back to the Volunteer House from all the skipping and running round.

Outside of being able to spend time with the kids on Saturdays, we're struggling a little with the volunteering side of things, though, to be honest. There is a group of girls that aren't ready for school yet (various ages – some very recently rescued Kamlari) and we've been trying to help out with their home learning because it seems that this is where there's most need at the moment. They meet in a small room down in Anita's house and it's absolute bedlam. There's lots of talking and shouting, and running around, and it's impossible to know what they're actually supposed to be learning from their jotters. Also because their English isn't good yet, it's difficult to try to talk to them and help out that way. Education here is strange in that the kids are taught everything by rote and repetition – so you can have a child who can spell fairly complicated words for you, but has no understanding of what the words mean. It makes it really difficult to feel that you're doing anything constructive, and understandably Alison finds it hard going. Right now I'm not sure what we're going to do till the school holidays (a week and a half away) when it will be easier to spend time with all the kids and play and chat with them. I know that any time with the kids is valuable in helping them learn that adults can be trusted and not all adults beat kids or are bad to them (which is what a lot of these children have experienced so far), but I feel frustrated not being able to be more actively or obviously helpful.

Aside from the kids, the main topic of conversation lately has been food! While what we get here is good, there's a limit to how much your taste buds can deal with rice, lentil dahl and vegetables – we now dream daily of bacon sandwiches and cheese toasties! We were in Thamel yesterday to change money and do some shopping and found an Italian restaurant that made pizza that actually tastes like pizza – you couldn't have found two happier people – until we went into the supermarket across the road and found marmalade (from Dundee!), crisps and proper chocolate. We've both lost a little bit of weight (and our appetites have definitely shrunk) but I can see us pigging out big time when we get home – oops.

Kids' photos

Shushmita (not sure how well this picture will come out - looks a bit dark on this computer!)


Ramilla (left) and Jenny Rai trying to look angelic - even though they're cheeky monkeys! If I could get Ramilla in my rucksack, I'd steal her!


Skipping




Anu and Anita skipping




Alison and Anita

Elephant washing at Chitwan


Elephant washing me at Chitwan!



More washing...!




The cement crew on a house at the back of us in Kathmandu - they formed a chain that moved pans of cement up onto the roof all day in the baking sun.



Elephants at Chitwan waiting for us to get on!

As you can see, we've survived the plane ride to Chitwan and back (it turned out it was with Tara Air, so no yetis!). It was really hot and humid but quiet compared to Kathmandu. The first evening we went for a nature walk and encountered a large rhinoceros (our guide called them rhinosaurus, which was hysterical) having a wash in the river - we stood on the bank and watched it for a while (warily - apparently several people have been killed in the last few years by angry rhino!). The elephant safari the next morning was great - you climb up a huge set of steps to a ramp and then get onto the elephant from the back, with four people to each howdah. Our elephant was a female, aged 25, called Jampack-koli (or something like that). We were out in the jungle for about an hour and a half and saw two crocodiles, two rhino (up very very close), different types of deer, monkeys, and lots of birds. After a quick break, we went down to the river to bath the elephants, which was just brilliant. It's very easy to forget when you're on top of an elephant being sprayed withwater from its trunk that there are half a dozen of them who've all been to the toilet in the river (euw). I don't have any photos of Alison being 'bathed' because the guide was trying to take pictures of us and also of another couple who were on the trek with us, but I'm hoping there might be some on the couple's camera - they've kindly offered to email us any pictures that we don't have.

The hotel in Chitwan wasn't quite what we'd expected - I think we got the worst room in the place and when Alison opened the window the content of an ants' nest landed on her arm, eggs and all - yuck! We got moved to another room which was spotless, though, and there were no more beasties. The staff were lovely, and the grounds very beautiful with fruit trees and humming birds. Unfortunately, we were struck with a dose of 'delhi belly' for a day while there and missed a canoe trip, but you can't come to Nepal without having at least one 'horror story' and if that was ours, we're very lucky! The best part of the trip for me was the fact that the hotel was located quite close to the Government elephant centre, so in the evening all the elephants came down the main street of the village to go home for the night - really amazing watching an elephant wander down the street with its keeper, alongside people, bicycles and horse carts (very few cars, which was nice).

We're now ensconsed back in the volunteer house in our old room (the dungeon, as it's been nicknamed), and feelig more at home. Heading up to give the kids a hand with homework in a couple of hours and then they have exams scheduled for 2 weeks from tomorrow. We're going to help out getting them ready and walking them back and fore from school because they're on a split rota, half in the morning and half in the afternoon, so it's a bit chaotic without some assistance. I've also been helping Emma with some administrative stuff (there's no escape from work, eh?) and we're looking forward to the school holidays. Despite occasionally considering changing the flights (ups and downs are normal here), it looks as if we'll be here for the whole duration, which is really good.

Will sign off now - electric only on for another hour so shouldn't hog the computer!

Ann & Alison
x

Off to Chitwan

We've had trouble getting access to the computer over the last few days so haven't been able to post. Thought I'd try to squeeze in a quick note before breakfast at half eight.

We're being picked up at half ten this morning for a half twelve flight - with Yeti Airlines no less - if I can post from Chitwan I will so that you know we made it in one piece and it wasn't actually a yeti flying the plane....

It's been busier here, we went up to play with the kids on their day off and ended up spending nearly all day with them - Alison's made some good friends and we went up to help with homework a couple of days ago too. There are school holidays soon so we'll probably spend most of our time with the kids over that fortnight. In between times we're going to go to the small baby orphanage in Kathmandu (about 20 kids under 4) with one of the other volunteers here to see if we can help out. I fully expect it to be upsetting, but it feels like a good thing to at least try and Alison's up for it.

We survived our trip down to Thamel the other day. Had a good wander round and some lunch (chip butties - yummy - who said I was going to lose weight on this trip?!). We did a little bit of souvenir shopping - well, it has to be done - and managed to find a slightly quieter corner of Thamel with a small Buddhist temple and some lovely shops with good prices - less haggling and no hassle, which was a joy.

We did a walking tour yesterday afternoon with Emma, the Volunteer Manager and two of the other volunteers, Ann and Kim (from USA) from Durbar Square to Thamel through a lot of the older streets that you wouldn't normally come across. It was fascinating seeing the old squares that the town was originally built round - really quiet even though they're only a minute off the main road - and all the shops that locals use as opposed to the tourist mayhem. Then nearly all the volunteers from the house met up for dinner in a Lebanese restaurant and we sat on cushions on the floor scoffing falafel and houmous - Alison and I came home after dinner even though Jake (one of the Australian volunteers here) was trying to corrupt her and get her to go up to the pub with them and be on his pool team! The volunteers here just now are all really nice, although it's marginally depressing that just about all of them are young enough for me to be their mother - ugh! I"m amazed by how confident and brave some of them are at 19, 20 and 21 to be out here on their own and off on placements in the middle of nowhere, it's fantastic. They've all really taken Alison into the group and make her feel involved, which is lovely.

I've been making Alison earn her keep, though- she's found a liking for stomping washing in a bucket with her feet every morning, so she's become the laundry queen. I'll post a picture as soon as I can! Having found my camera cable, I've managed to lose it again, so I won't be able to post any photos till we get back from Chitwan and I can launch a full-scale search for it - there are too many pockets in rucksacks!

Anyway, breakfast calls - I've just been handed a mug of tea (black, two sugars - I"m becoming hooked) and I can hear sizzling and frying sounds from the kitchen upstairs (kitchens in Nepali houses are on the top floor - a bit inconvenient for carting things up, but cooler and with a roof terrace outside). Will post from Chitwan if we can and if not will try to get online on Tuesday night.

Bye for now,

Ann & Alison
x

Very quick post

Local construction work - there's lots of development in this area - lovely bamboo scaffolding!



Swayambunath god (not sure which one!)



Main temple, Durbar Square


Large prayer wheel at Swayambunath (we twirled it to improve our karma!)


This is a very quick post to stick some more photos up - electric's not on for long and we're about to be very brave and head down into Thamel (the main tourist/shopping area) by ourselves (oohh!) to do a bit of shopping and wandering around....here's hoping I can find my way back!

We're booked to go to Chitwan National Park on Saturday till Tuesday, with elephant safari/elephant washing, jeep safari and other very touristy stuff in the jungle. We've decided to fly (30 mins as opposed to 7 hours on the bus) so although I'm looking forward to it, I'm simultaneously petrified - it will be a very small plane. The hotel we're staying in looks quite good (western toilets - yay!) so hopefully it'll be a nice few days away from the noise and the dust here.

Thinking about volunteering at the large government orphanage for under-5s during the day once we get back next week - going to maybe go for a visit before we leave this weekend to have a look.

Anyway, will go - there are others needing to get onto the computer before the electric gives up for the remainder of the day. Hope everyone at home is well.

Ann & Alison
x

Photos at last

Alison in rooftop restaurant in Durbar Square

Alison washing clothes - had to be seen to be believed!!

View from the roof of the Volunteer House

Kathmandu city from Swayambunath temple

Yesterday morning was spent trying to learn some Nepali phrases (badly), and then we went down to Durbar Square which is the old part of Kathmandu, full of temples and impressive pantomime sadhus (one of them in leopard print, no less!). This morning we booked a trip to Chitwan National Park for 3 nights/4 days - we leave on Friday morning this week and come back on Monday afternoon. We'll be going on an elephant safari, a jeep safari, a canoe ride and hopefully helping to bathe the elephants in the river. It'll be hotter there than it is here, but hopefully not too many flies or mosquitos yet - apparently they get quite bad nearer May.

Anyway, we're going to keep this short because the electricity goes off in 20 minutes (although it mysteriously stayed on for hours last night after it should have gone off) and I'm going to try to upload some photos just now. We're off to play with the kids up at the big house this afternoon - they all have the day off school because it's International Women's Day.

Ann & Alison

x

x

Being tourists

We've got electricity today until 4pm so managed to get onto the computer for a quick update. The electricity is on for two slots each day, at different times and for different amounts of time, so we're getting used to eating dinner by candlelight and going to bed very early!

We ventured out to Swayambunath yesterday, it's a big temple on the outskirts of Kathmandu - Bill and I went there when we were here 14 years ago. It's been extended a lot since then, with three huge statues of gods and smaller temples at the back. It sits really high up on a hill and you get a great view of the city, which has expanded as far as the space in the valley will allow.

Swayambunath is also known as the Monkey Temple, because it's home to loads of monkeys. Lots of them have babies just now, so Alison had a good time spotting them all and taking photos (which I will get on here soon, I promise). We managed to come back in rush hour (that was an experience), and Alison spotted some of the decorated trucks - one with 'No Time Fore Love' painted on it and one with 'My God, Please Save Me' (appropriately enough, given the driving!).

Kathmandu is incredibly busy and incredibly dirty - there is rubbish strewn from one end of every street to the other - even the compost heap down at one of the kids' houses has plastic mixed in with it - not sure that's going to help much grow. We're not sure quite what we're going to do for volunteering - we've met the smaller kids who aren't at school yet, but they're being home schooled quite formally during the day so it feels a little awkward to be with them. There's a 'free day' up at the biggest house tomorrow where I'm hoping Alison might make some friends and we can then maybe see about her going to school, although at the moment she's not keen. There's also a government orphanage in town for under-5s and we might go there during the day with a couple of the other volunteers from here. There are other placements available, outside Kathmandu, but I'm swithering at the moment about putting Alison through the travel, so we'll see.

Alison was very homesick initially, but that seems to be wearing off now. She has handled all the things that I expected to phase her - the smells, the dirt, the chaos, the rice and curry for breakfast - really well, and likes Nepal. She's even getting used to being stared at whenever we're out - the area we're in doesn't have many tourists and she's a bigger novelty because she's a child. She's quite intimidated at the thought of being with lots of other kids, so I hope that tomorrow breaks that down, or we can find some activities that she's comfortable with, otherwise you may see us back earlier than we thought....

Anyway, all will be well I'm sure, and if it's not well, we gave it a shot! Off to sit in the sunshine until dinner. Hope it isn't too freezing back in sunny Scotland.

Ann
x

We've arrived!

After a very long journey, we're finally here. Spent our first night in the volunteer house last night and slept well. Woke up to our first helping of dhal bhat for breakfast - yum. Then we had the typical Nepalese experience of stench - drains being unblocked - lovely. There are two roof terraces here, though, with great views out across the city and then the hills so we escaped up there for some fresh air.

We haven't met the kids yet -think we're going to go over after they get in from school. There are 5 other volunteers staying here, three from the US, one from the UK and an Australian; all very nice and friendly. People come and go to different placements so there will be some changes. At the moment we're still thinking we'll go and stay in the house with two volunteer rooms so that we're with the kids more, but we've got the option to do either.

We have taken some photos of the view from the roof here (construction everywhere - brilliant, shoogly bamboo scaffolding and people wandering round roofs with no safety equipment of any description), but I forgot to bring the cable that links the camera to the computer - I knew there would be something that would be left behind!! Will try to get another one here as soon as we can and get some photos on.

Alison is doing well - she counted 2 cows, 13 dogs. 3 monkeys and 36 Coca Cola signs between the airport and here last night. We've decided to play 'spot the Buddhist monk' to see who can collect the most sightings - I'm ahead, but only because there was one at Heathrow airport! The taxi journey was mad from the airport - crammed in a tiny Suzuki literally squeezing between vans, cars and motorbikes - the driver made me laugh, though, because he insisted on beeping his horn at every larger oncoming vehicle as if he had more right to be on the road than they did! Alison spotted some ingenious truck repairs made from half a plastic bottle and some sticky tape, and she reckoned the driving would never be allowed in Inverness. She also spotted an ancient Land Rover in the yard of the house across the road - her dad would love it.

Anyway, we are off back to our roof in the sunshine - quote from earlier 'it's too hot out here' hee hee hee!!!

Bye for now!

Ann & Alison
x