COUNTRY: Nepal - Pokhara
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Community Healthcare, Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Angelisa Marino and Rebecca Green
It's our last blog so we'll keep it short, sharp, interesting and shiny! As we sit in the comfort of our own homes we bring back a little of Nepal with us and sip Nepali tea as we reminisce on the good times of our final week in Nepal!
Our second to last weekend was spent in Chitwan National Park where they have tigers, elephants, deers, bears and rhinos but the scariest of all leeches and ticks! Luckily the home remedy of rubbing vix on your shoes kept those scary insects away! However Gia and Bec took the home remedy a little to seriously and rubbed two tubs of vix on their shoes and legs until their skin began to sting and burn. Friday afternoon was spent Elephant riding where the boys guide went a little too crazy and decided it would be fun to chase a rhino through the jungle. Funnily enough the rhino decided to turn around and chase the elephant back. We enjoyed the traditional dance of native people of Chitwan that night and when we were nice and full on popcorn the dancers grabbed us up one by one to join them in their dance. Being swung around on a full stomach in the sweltering heat was not ideal nonetheless, we all laughed ourselves silly and had a joyous time. The next morning we were reminded of our school camps while we were woken up at 5.30am for a safari nature walk.
As we dodged leeches we saw the beautiful panorama of Chitwan. The highlight of the experience was seeing a sixteen day old elephant become familiar with its surroundings, it was so gorgeous! We were reminded for the last time that Nepali time and Aussie time are totally different. This was when we had to wait Nepali time ten minutes (real time an hour and ten minutes) for our bus to take us back to our home, Pokhara. We were beside ourselves when we stepped onto the bus to see no chickens and not a sweaty person in sight. As you see our bus was fully equipped with air-conditioning and water supply. We were all so happy we felt like it was Christmas and took a celebratory photo!
Being the only ones who hadn't yet seen the mountain Fishtail, we were pleasantly surprised walking thought Ratna Joti to notice this stand still, snow topped, luscious mountain peaking out on top of the clouds. So much so we became lost in its beauty making us an hour late for our lunch date in Lakeside.
Thursday was our last day of school spent with tearful goodbyes, fair well tikkas and signing autographs for the students. Teaching these students was the most beautiful and memorable experience of our lives. Not only did it help us grow professionally but we gained so much awareness and knowledge of the difficult circumstances that these students are educated in. If we could, we would have brought them all home unfortunately that is not possible but we hope one day we will return!
In Nepal the month of July is known as Mehindi (Henna) festival where young girls put this on their hands as a sign of good luck to find a future husband. Brianna, Sahreet, Bec and Gia decorated their hands and feet to celebrate this festival.
Leaving each of our host families was difficult after we had become so attached to each and every one of them. We will miss them all very much and we are so appreciative of the knowledge and memories that will be kept forever close to our hearts.
George, Bec and Gia were so envious of the other group members who had witnessed Mount Everest so they decided to head back to Kathmandu a day early and experience this once in a lifetime flight for themselves. The flight was incredible and the sights we saw were breathtaking. Each person was invited up to the cockpit for a clearer view of the Himalayas. That same day we decided to head for the Dubai Square to catch a glimpse of the Living Goddess. An ancient tradition which chooses its goddess based on a perfect physical appearance and the one who can withstand headless animals for bravery. The Living Goddess is then housed in a palace with her family until the day she has her first menstrual cycle, then is cast out back to reality. This young girl is kept in the palace everyday and only permitted to leave on one occasion per year which celebrates her deity. We arrived just in time to see her beautiful face and was forbidden to take any photographs. Instead we looked into her sad eyes and felt nothing but pity for this young girl and this barbaric tradition.
Adam, Brianna, Sahreet and Jessie visited the Boudha Stupa in Kathmandu the day before they were due to come back to Australia. Within a week of arriving back home we received the devastating news of a monk who self immolated on the same steps they visited in protest to free his country, Tibet. This event has stuck in all of our minds and is a constant reminder to all the struggles and challenges Tibetans face on a daily basis, to fight what we believe in and to put our everyday "problems" into perspective against people who are less fortunate than ourselves. Our thoughts are with this man and all Tibetan people who are so frustrated with their circumstance. We sincerely hope that Tibet will one day be theirs again.
Our last Beka is awarded to the quieter girl of the group who thought by telling us this story would escape the humiliation of being crowned Beka. Unfortunately for her dancing upon your host mothers request and responding to the name "baby" was bound to receive the winning nomination. Congratulations Niamh you are Beka! Fabulous!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our beautiful travel buddies and to tell them how much we loved meeting them and sharing such an amazing experience. We would also like to thank Antipodeans but especially Kathryn for all the incredible work and support she has provided for this experience to be possible. Thank you to our in-country partners for being such wonderful tour guides and would lastly like to thank our beautiful families for taking us in as their own, and being so hospitable for the past three weeks. The experience has been unforgettable and we will treasure the memories and be forever grateful for the people we have become. We will miss them dearly and we hope to meet again one day soon.
Love Bec and Gia xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment