Daal, Death threats and Dancing!!

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the delay, and that this is now likely to be one long waffle! Here goes...

I have spent the past week staying in Chetana Kendra Training centre, just outside the town of Banepa. It has been good to have a change of scenery. The centre is in the middle of a little village, where lots of children want to practise their English on you, ranging from the usual 'hellos/goodbyes/ where are you going?' to....'give us money/ give us a biscuit!'. We seem to be the only foreigners in town, which explains why kids shout to us from across fields, or just gawp at us from doorways. As well as lots of little children, there are lots of different animals roaming around. The smell of car fumes has now been replaced with cow dung - a little healthier at least!

I have had 6 hours a day of language lessons, and am beginning to make progress. We have been sent on tasks including shopping, and talking with local villagers. We thought that chatting with two elderly ladies would be the safest bet to begin with, but after a few questions we were left feeling very awkward. We asked questions based on the topics we had just learnt, so...their families? they didn't have any. Their house? they didn't have one. When they found out where we were staying they started saying how we have so much food, whereas they have none. With no other questions up our sleeves, we moved on, but with a sense of unease and sadness. Further down the road, we spotted 3 other ladies, took a deep breath and gave it another go. This time...success! they had houses, families, and very warm smiles. They asked us to sit with them, and didn't want us to leave, saying that if we come again the next day they will teach us more Nepali. By the end of the conversation 12 others had come to sit with us, and friends had been made!

Aside from language lessons, we were given talks on Nepali culture, including what to expect from our village stay in mid December, when will be living with a Nepali family for a week. Although it will be hard as they won't speak any English, I am so excited to have the chance to live in their home and experience something completely different. An opportunity I wouldn't get anywhere else. Other volunteers however, are already complaining at not having warm water/showers, not having enough food or disliking the food that will be cooked for them. I wish they could hear themselves and how ungrateful they sound, after all, it is only one week of their year away, whereas it is life for people here.

On Saturday, a small group of us decided to go for a walk up the hill opposite us to see what we could see, hoping to spend a few hours relaxing with a book and enjoying the sunshine! The walk took us through people's back yards, past goats/cows/hens/gawping children. Across rice fields, where people (mainly women) were busy working in the scorching sun, digging the soil and preparing it for harvest. At the base of the hill we bumped into a small boy called Sanjit, who said that as he lived at the top of the hill he would show us the best route for getting there.By the time we reached the top 8 other kids had joined the group. They enjoyed sitting with us, and let us practise our Nepali, though when it came to us continuing on our walk they would not leave us alone. Three of them continued with us, further into the forest, and though we kept telling them to go back home, they weren't having any of it. Though they started off very friendly, the mood quickly changed and they began asking us for money and food - we refused. A few hours later, they finally gave in, and we breathed a sigh of relief at being able to have some peace and quiet. Oh how mistaken we were, the little brats had not left us at all, but had decided to hide in the trees and pelt rocks at our heads, shouting 'you won't give us money, so we are going to kill you'. Our kind hearted guide and his chums had moprhed into a very angry and bitter bunch who continued to chase us to the bottom of the hill, where we found ourselves scrambling down muddy paths and onto a huge paddy field - now the workers starting shouting at us. We did our best to scurry around the outskirts, clasping our hands together, bowing our heads and 'namaste-ing' as much as possible to show them our respect and apologies. A relaxed day, had turned into a bit of a bonkers one, and it did not end there......

The night time was equally as eventful, and turned out to be a very fun (yet unexpected) evening. A conference had been taking place at the centre over the weekend, and the dancers who had been performing there kindly said they would dance again just for our group in the evening. While we were waiting, someone suggested we get up on stage and sing our national anthems - enjoyable to hear others, embarrassing to sing my own! Despite there only been 15 people in the audience this time, the dancers still put on all their traditional costumes and make up, and treated us to an hour of traditional Nepali entertainment. In between songs, the children would tell jokes in English, better than I could ever tell them, and would explain the meanings behind the dances. After they finished they invited us up on stage to learn a few dance moves, such good fun until the tables turned and it all got a little strange (!)..... they asked if I, as the only English person, would show the group some 'english' dance moves. They said they had some English music to help me. so...I got up on stage all alone, and waited for the song to begin. I thought that it couldn't get any worse, but i was wrong....the music began....it was heavy metal (what they think we all listen to) and I was requested to head bang - i'm still laughing just thinking about it. My moves have been caught on camera, but alas...there is no way of uploading them at the min, so that is a treat you will have to wait for!! A very surreal night, but one that I will chuckle about for a long time to come!

So in summary - my week has involved rice and Daal for breakfast/lunch/dinner, language lessons, death threats, and head banging!

Thinking of you all,
Love,

H x