A fish out of water in Nepal

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak - Kathmandu
PROJECT: Health projects
WRITTEN BY: Liana Ross

Greetings from Nepal

I'm sure that all the girls would agree that at one time or another this week we've felt like fish out of water and have wondered what the heck are we doing here? First impressions of Nepal have been that it reminded one of landing in East Africa again and another said it was like being in another world. Thankfully Rajesh managed to find us all safe and sound.

The first two nights were spent at the project house, where the majority of us stayed in the bottle house. A house made from cow poo and glass bottles. Only in Nepal! The first day was spent together as a group at project house learning about religion, the customs of the Nepali people and learning some basic language skills. We then gave an offering to which ever god we wanted and said a prayer. Rajesh then proceeded to place red goop on our foreheads. We were measured for a traditional outfit and visited the school where we have been fundraising for a new toilet block.

This week we have also becoming accustomed to the cold, cold showers, electricity never working and beds as hard as concrete! The pollution is terrible! The traffic is crazy, it seems to me that people here think if they honk there horns then somehow they will go quicker. Most of us are also getting the hang of the public transport system as well. We have also been lovingly welcomed into our host families and have been made to feel right at home.

The first weekend away together as a group was spent hiking to Nagarkot. Thankfully a local guide was organized for us ‘Kussi’ who showed us the way. We walked in total of about 10km (most of the way was up hill) to reach our hotel for the night, we were very thankful to have a soft bed, lukewarm showers and we enjoyed sitting around the fireplace to have our dinner. A crazy few got to watch the sunrise – which I hear was beautiful. We got the bus back into town and enjoyed lunch together at a bakery as a group in Thamel. Wondered lots of shops before we headed home to our families.

Stay tuned next week I’ll talk about how our placements are going, Thamel and Chitwan National Park