Pictures:
The pictures are of the volleyball tournament. The bottom picture is my friend Rojinaji (Rameshji's wife) and their beautiful little girl. The black around the child's eyes is to protect her from evil spirits entering her soul as the eyes are the windows of the soul.
Yesterday I was privileged enough to be invited to go to the first deaf volleyball tournament in Nepal. As the volleyball tournament was in Jawalekhel (an area on the opposite side of Kathmandu), I had two choices: take a taxi (very expensive) or take a couple of buses (terrifying!). I chose the latter. The tournament was supposed to start around 11, so Swetha and I walked to the Ring Road (a road that goes around the city; similar idea to 495 in Baltimore, only a VERY different experience) to catch the bus. We finally caught the bus after the conductor waved at us to run and meet it! We were on the bus for about 30 minutes when Swetha had to get off, and she informed me that my stop would be about 10 minutes later. 10 minutes later, when I had seen no sign of where I was to get off, I asked the bus driver if he was going to Jawalekhel. He said the bus didn’t go there and that I should get off and catch another bus! I caught that bus after a kind local pointed me in the right direction and FINALLY made it to the volleyball courts.
The volleyball tournament, as I said before, was supposed to start at 11. When I arrived, I was informed that the start time was now 11:30. Actual start time? 1. While I waited I got to meet a number of deaf individuals from various parts of Nepal, including the Secretary for the Paralympics in Nepal, and the first deaf member of the Nepali Constituent Assembly (Parliament). When Rameshji and Rojinaji arrived with their darling little girl, I found myself a guest of honor at the games (I was introduced and given a special badge), and a member of the Lalitpur volleyball team! The games were very exciting, and I enjoyed playing with the Lalitpur team. In the end, the team from Naxal, Kathmandu took the crown, and the Kavre-Banepa team came in second. While I was watching the finals, the principal from the Kavre-Banepa School arrived (the school where I will be observing and researching for the next several months) and before I knew it, I had become the new volleyball coach! I haven’t played volleyball competitively in years, but apparently this was the first game the students had ever played, so I make an ideal coach! I can’t wait though, I think it’ll be a blast!
When it came time to get home, I was thoroughly exhausted, sunburned and nervous about finding the correct bus. Fortunately, the Naxal team came to my rescue! They were headed back to the school and said I could come with them (the school is about a mile from my apartment). The students from Naxal were high on their win, excited to be of service and full of questions about America. We made quite a scene on the normally solemn bus! Most of the bus riders not in our little party of 10 stared at our group of signing adolescent males and a white woman. If they learned that deaf people are just like them, then I’m more than happy to be the object of attention for a while. I look forward to going back to the Naxal school this coming week to do some observations before I head to Banepa later in the week.
Today I had an enjoyable (though language-inept) time purchasing a new kurtha. I’ve been looking for some red fabric (red is considered a sacred color) for a new kurtha so that I’ll be ready for festival season, but haven’t found any I like yet. So I wandered into a small shop in Hadigaon today to look. First of all, shopkeepers here won’t let you simply “look”. They start pulling out fabrics left and right, and overwhelming you with choices. This is actually a good sales tactic – you’re basically guilted into buying something! Anyway, after the initial communication breakdown, complete with the shopkeepers’ entire family laughing on numerous occasions, I finally found kurtha material I was happy with. Now came the bargaining. The price was ridiculously high for what I was purchasing so I shook my head and told them I could get the same at a number of shops down the road for a much better price. Finally after haggling for a while and the price changing a few times, we finally found a compromise that worked for everyone. I’m just happy to have successfully bargained, but bargained in a way that was fair for both the shopkeeper and me.
“new” is finally becoming the “normal”!
No comments:
Post a Comment