Wednesday 20 July 2011

Our Gappers are settling into Village life in Nepal


The first blog from our Gappers in Nepal...


Namaste! It was with enormous excitement (and a hint of nervousness) that the 2011 Nepal Gap Year group met on Tuesday the 5th of July to commence the trip so much preparation and anticipation has been invested into. An A380 took the majority of us to Changi Airport, Singapore, where we spent an uncomfortable night sleeping in a hallway, before our second bout of transit the next morning, flying us to Kathmandu. Our first impressions of the country were mixed. The nation’s renowned relaxed approach to life was evident in the way I had left my camera in my pocket, setting off the metal detector, and yet the guard gave me a look to say “oh well” before returning to his magazine. The journey to our hotel was chaotic to say the least - after getting harassed for tips we were split up into two taxi loads and although myself, Will and Virginia arrived safely and promptly, we were left waiting for 30 suspenseful minutes as Meg and Michael were still yet to turn up. Nonetheless, our fears were put at ease as they eventually arrived (there had been a mix-up in the hotel drop-off zone) and we were able to bask in the fascinating surroundings we now found ourselves in. We spent four days in the city, whilst admittedly smoggy, still full of colour and life. Our time was occupied by exploring the area, shopping (especially the girls’ fascination with ‘happy pants’), partaking in the local cuisine and importantly, our placement orientation course, which offered valuable insights into the Nepalese culture, fragments of language, expectations of village life and measures to ward off the many viral oddities the country has to offer.

Then on Monday, the big day arrived, where we were to make our way to the Dulal village, our home for the next three months. Two hours of bump-ridden driving, road blocks and beautiful scenery later, we arrived to find a cluster of houses residing amongst the greenery and rice paddies characterising the Kathmandu valley area. We were divided into two households. The boys were allocated to a household consisting of 9 people, including four inquisitive, playful children, a great-grandmother and a stark lack of English. The girls had similar lodgings, with a large family, several family cows, a spectacular view of the area and a much better quality of dinner time conversation, due to many family members speaking English. The days here start early (5:30am to be exact, with our host-father’s daily chanting and ceremonial horn practise), before a breakfast of tea and dal bhat (quite the staple in Nepal) and then a 15-40 minute walk along mountain tracks to our respective schools. Whilst ultimately daunting at first, we’re finding ourselves adjusting slowly to the challenges of teaching in a village school. Subjects range from English, to maths, science and even computing class (one of the schools has a basic computer room). Despite not always attentive, the children are invariably eager to learn (more so when stickers are offered) and apart from when goats and scary looking dogs burst into the classroom, things generally run smoothly. Especially in the boys’ household, where communication is limited, daily Nepali classes have proved very helpful in politely refusing third and fourth helpings of rice (with the exception of Michael), in complimenting people on their cooking (when not awkwardly confusing the phrase with the similar sounding way of calling an individual obese) and Elliot’s requested Nepali translation of the ‘extremely important’ phrase “you are very beautiful”.
Our in country agent Shamila is hugely warm, knowledgeable and helpful, always there to ensure our safety and wellbeing (fear not, parents!). Overall, we are all finding the trip a hugely rewarding, insightful and enjoyable, with everyone getting along famously and a lot more experiences ahead of us to look forward to.
Until next time, from Aidan and Will.









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