Though the academic in me knows it’s fantastical, seeing the same man in the moon (in Nepal!) that I was taught to see by my parents when I was little was incredibly gratifying. When you’re in a foreign country without your family for Christmas (and admittedly slightly homesick), any little reminder that you’re still connected with home is a blessing. The moment was improved even further when my young host nephew, Saigaon, burst into a cheery rendition of “Jingle Bells” that the previous Fulbrighters had taught him. Merry Christmas from Nepal & Happy Winter Solstice!
So many different things have happened since I last wrote, that I think it may be best to just include bits and pieces of the last few weeks. In no particular order -
Last week I received two packages that made my week! My wonderful family sent a package with long johns (that I’ve been wearing non-stop; it’s COLD in Nepal and there’s no indoor heat!), almond rocha (made by a fabulous family friend! Thanks Barb!), instant hot cocoa with marshmallows, and a few other goodies. The almond rocha is nearly gone, as is the hot chocolate, but the thrill of the package remains! Karen, my awesome friend from Great Falls sent the second package which came with gloves, a spinning daisy pen, candy and other items. The daisy pen’s a little crazy – apparently you’re supposed to wind it for it to spin, but it seems to have a life of its own! Thank you guys SO much for sending Christmas cheer to Nepal!
Saturday, Christmas cheer was evident once again in a Fulbright Christmas party hosted by Kerry, which included the Nepali food staple, daal bhat, loads of chocolate, great decorations, Christmas sweaters and Dirty Santa. It was wonderful spending time with friends, celebrating Christmas and taking a little time to relax. The day didn’t end there though – later that night found many of us pub-crawling our way around Thamel (the touristy area of Kathmandu) with other foreigners, decked out in santa hats, tinsel, and other Christmasy things, decorating each pub that we entered for Christmas. Hats off to the organizers – it was a really fun time!
Another night, Anu (my research assistant and I), attended talks by departing Fulbrighters – one on local sign language in Nepal, and another on NGOs in the Shangri La (Humla) region of Nepal. The talks were both incredibly fascinating. The first presentation gave me significant background for my own research and taught me lots about what’s going on the villages where education hasn’t yet reached. Fortunately I was able to pick Mara’s brain at dinner later, and she has been a valuable resource. I look forward to working with her in the future once I have a firm grip on my own research! The Humla talk was an eye-opening one. Humla is the poorest district in Nepal, despite (or possibly as a result of) many medical and food camps. The presentation laid out some of the problems that can come with the food and medical camps, particularly in regions as poor as Humla (e.g., people being given medicine on empty (starving) stomachs or becoming dependent on food donations), and gave several ideas that could improve the effectiveness of NGOs in the area.
I finally got my Indian visa! I had scheduled a bit of time to spend getting my visa because I’d heard that it can be a bit difficult here, but finally obtained it with relatively few issues. The Indian consult has a separate place where they issue visas due to the number of people needing them, and seem to have a system in place. It takes at least 2 days, but because I had done the first step back in December, I was able to get the visa in one day. I can’t wait to go to Goa, India for the Fulbright conference in March– I’ll be presenting a paper on my work up to that point.
Anu and I have been fruitlessly working our tails off on the schedule. Even though we have to do it, it’s hard to get motivated since our schedule has changed at least 20 times in the last 2 weeks! We had planned to go to a town north of Kathmandu, Barhabise, today, but received a call from a teacher there yesterday telling us that the school had exams and then a short winter holiday. With the exams, winter holidays, national holidays, and programs, we can’t seem to catch a break! Fortunately, another large deaf school in Kathmandu is open tomorrow until Friday, so we’ll be there. We did have a breakthrough with scheduling today though – we met with our mutual Rotary friend in Banepa who was instrumental in helping us plan out our first “elephant trip” beginning the first week of January (“elephant trip” is Anu’s term and extremely appropriate since we hope to take a day off and ride elephants at the Chitwan National Park!). The trip is planned to the Terai (southern Nepal) and will span 18 days and 6 schools. Thanks to connections, we have families to stay with in every town! Whew…. Here’s to hoping that we can keep that itinerary stable at least!
I was thinking about the numerous ways I've traveled since I've been in Nepal today. Lots of walking, tempos (electric rickshaws), local buses, tourist buses, scooters, motorcycle, cars, etc. Pretty impressive list...but the funniest time was with 3 people and a toaster oven crammed on a scooter. Very Nepali! Though we didn't even come close to the most crowded motorbike I've seen - a mom, dad, 2 kids and a dog! Who needs a car when you can cram that many people on a bike?
My Christmas plans are not as exciting as some, but I’m looking forward to attending Christmas Eve Mass at the Assumption Church in Kathmandu with friends, going to a Christmas Lunch at Laurie’s house and hopefully making a short trip to Daman (on the way to Mt. Everest) for a day or two afterwards. I wrote this last night before finding out that there's a valley wide bandh (strike) on Christmas Eve and all of the transportation will likely be shut down in Kathmandu. So, Christmas Eve will be spent at home playing Christmas carols on my guitar most likely! But hopefully the rest of the plans should stay relatively intact... It should be a very Nepali Christmas, but I will miss my family and friends from home.
I hope everyone’s Christmas is full of family, friends, food and happiness!
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