Hello and greetings again from Nepal,
After a long and cold winter spring is busting out all over. Okay, actually the winter wasn't that long or cold compared to an Iowan winter, and if I were in Iowa in December reading me complain about days where it usually got to the upper 50's and the nights rarely was below freezing, I would laugh a very cold, bitter laugh. However, when you don't have heating and it doesn't get above 40° at night, it tends to make one feel the cold more than in the heated dorms, even if it is -20° F outside. Luckily, this won't be so bad in the following years because of the coming heater, consider yourselves lucky. However, the memories of the cold are quickly fading as the flowers on the trees are starting to bloom, and the buds are coming out. My body is basically convinced it is late April, even though it is really only early March. It is going to be really confused when I get home and it is only June, and not August, oh well.
Things are progressing nicely here. The third term has been the easiest so far. I feel as if I have finally established myself at home, at work, and at school. And I have finally gotten the swing of Nepal. It seems almost cruel to make me leave just as I am getting the hang of it here. I am definitely on Nepali time and expectations. The other day I was drinking a coke from the bottle at the pasal (store) across the street from the school. I saw a foreigner walk by in shorts and a tight tank top and almost choked on my Coke. So I'll have to get used to that one when I get home. One example of Nepali time was last night. Andy and I went to a concert that we thought would be over by 8:00 so that we could be home by 8:15, 8:30 at the latest. It became clear that we would not make it home at that time when the pre-show documentary started at 7:30. We were looking at our watches and sweating it. We realized we were not going to be able to catch the bus home and would have to take a taxi, and that it was getting late enough that people might worry about us. We finally had to leave the concert without seeing the group we had come to see at a mind-numbingly late 8:50 and didn't get home until 9:15, baphray (one of the great Nepali expressions, roughly meaning oh goodness), so late. Needless to say your time resets when you are here. We have to be at school pretty early, and most people here get up around 5:00 a.m. and go to sleep around 9:00 p.m. I used to love to sleep to noon on weekends, now I feel lazy if I sleep until 9:30. Also, living with a family means you have people who worry about you, and Andy and I don't like to make them worry by staying out later than 9:00. If we are staying out later, we tend to stay with friends in Kathmandu or wherever.
Let me stick a side note about how we found out about the concert here. Andy has a subscription to both the Nepali Times and the Himalayan Post that will continue for a little bit into next year. I would highly recommend that the Fellows get these subscriptions. They are better written, though not as amusing to read. Sometimes the English in the major papers is worse then my 7th graders writing. Another good thing about these newspapers is they provide a less biased picture of what is happening here and elsewhere. Also, they are great for concerts, movies, and the like. It is because of these publications that we found the Russian Cultural Center, which shows a movie maybe every other week. These aren't always your modern movies. For example, last week Andy and I saw The Hunting Accident the late 1970's Russian movie of the Chekov play. Fairly obscure, but it was still a nice chance to get out. Social life in Nepal can be a little off the beaten path, but it is still a lot of fun, and can provide you with unique opportunities. For example, we went to a Nepali film shown at the Russian Cultural Center last week. Occasionally the attention we get for being foreigners in normally Nepali settings can be a little disconcerting for someone like me who sometimes likes to be able to blend into the crowd. However, if you dare to go out, people really appreciate it and you get to meet really interesting people. We got to sit in front of the director and the leading actress. Andy and I have also been quoted in the newspaper for seeing a Nepali movie (which delighted the kids to no end), interviewed for a television show because we saw the recording of the Nepali dance version of Star Search and I recorded a jingle for a radio station, not bad for 8 months. Now where will I get chances like these in the States?
Home is also starting to be more normal. I know I will crave Dahl Bhat (A lentil gravy and rice, the Nepali main food) when I get home considering that I have eaten it almost everyday, twice a day for the time I have been here. I am used to Anju trying to get me to eat more, and realising that is just how Nepali mothers show affection and respect. I am used to not speaking much at dinner because most of the conversation is in Nepali, though this might be different when both Fellows speak the same level of Nepali. I understand a fair amount of Nepali, I can usually have an idea of what is going on, but not well enough to be able to understand an advanced conversation. I am used to hearing the slippers shuffle up the stairs to my room as either Nishima or Ashima prepare to disturb me in my work, and I look forward to these distractions. I have become okay with things taking longer to get because the family is on Nepali time, and I, like I said earlier, am getting there. I am used to walking into the main floor and seeing a person who must be a relative, and not being introduced to them other than saying Namaste. Introductions aren't really a big thing. I am used to not whistling in the house or cutting my nails inside because these things bring bad luck. Occasionally I will be shooed out of the kitchen because it is a holy day and my presence in the kitchen might pollute it, this doesn't even phase me anymore.
I am also getting used to school. I finally feel like I have a hold on the classroom and that they are having fun and learning. Every now and then, I get indications that I am actually teaching them something. For example, I can speak in an almost normal speed to my class 7 kids and they understand me. And if I am giving them directions like shut the window, I can even say it fast and they understand. My fourth and fifth graders are like this as well. At the beginning of the year I had to speak so slowly that I felt like I was on a tape at half speed. The result was that whenever I was with someone who spoke English really well, I would snap into fast-forward, as if I could make up for speaking so slow, and average my speaking speed. I am also able to see results in their reading and talking skills. Their writing is my last and hardest thing to tackle. Part of the problem was that I didn't realise how much I really needed to get on them for small writing mistakes until later in the year; but now that is starting to improve. The thing that is hardest is trying to teach them English format for essays to the 7th graders. I have to make them write in a way that is different then they read in the Nepali-English papers, and write in their science classes (oddly enough they would write great lab reports). It can be very frustrating, but it is worth it when I can finally easily read their papers. I realise now that it is small signs of improvement that you have to look for, and not huge. The kids will forget 90% of what I teach them and probably half of it by the next day in class. When I have to review something for the 5th time I just keep repeating to myself something my 7th grade Social Studies teacher said. He said, "you have to learn something seven times before you really learn it." So on my fifth time reviewing something, students can sometimes hear me mutter, "five down at least two to go." I have accepted that my fourth graders will probably not remember much about Robin Hood. The grammar teacher for the 6th grade will probably have to teach my 5th graders all over again about adjectives, and my 7th graders will most certainly forget the details of David Copperfield. But the things that they really learn from me, like my speech pattern, and to not use "I" in formal essays, they won't forget and those are definitely the most important anyway.
The kids have also taught me a lot. Most have been good. I have learned to laugh faster than cry because it makes teaching easier. I have learned more patience than I ever thought possible. When I have to repeat the same instructions three times I don't even get mad. On the fourth time I get a little frustrated, but can laugh at the face the kid makes when he or she realises his or her mistake. It isn't until the sixth time that I get really frustrated, and by that time, I think it is about the right time. But it is hard to stay mad at kids who serenaded me at the beginning of class. I have learned how to memorize 200+ names and organize my classes to the minute to keep better order than yelling at the kids, or asking them 50 times to be quiet. I have also learned how to play table tennis, a game that is extremely popular here, and how to speak Nepali English. I believe Andy has his dictionary of Nepali English on his update this time. Nepali English is useful here, but amused both of my parents when they came, as I occasionally slip into it. My Mom just stared at me when I said, "Oh Mom, he is so, so Danger." I can imagine the thoughts that were going through her head as she heard her child, who she worked so hard to teach grammar to, dump everything she learned by the wayside. My spelling has also received a shock. I can't remember if I should spell color with or without a u and it is hard for me to type realise without a z. The kids are still the best part about this experience. I love walking past the hostel and have all of the kids yell out, "Mam, Mam, come in! come in!" I have kids whom live close to our house, whom on days off they will come sit outside and wait to talk to me. I also amuse them with my Nepali. They are surprised with what I have learned, and are always amused when I talk in Nepali to them. I think it makes them happy that I am trying to learn their language while they try to learn mine. Without a doubt, I will miss my little mentors.
I hope all is well in Iowa, and I will be back there soon - probably sooner than I am ready for. Take care.
-Molly
