Home

When I was small, I had a poster hanging in my room that read "Home is Where the Heart Lies." (Although the picture accompanying that saying was a kitten sleeping in a potted plant, I think the words are what is useful here.) The one house in which I grew up, complete with loving parents, a fireplace, pets, and my own room, will forever be the home with which all other places of inhabitance will have to compete. We all have that one place that is not just where we reside, but is our real home. In that home we can always feel comfortable and find comfort. We know where the cozy blankets are kept, which cupboard the dishes go in, and which toilet handle needs an extra jiggle. But eventually we grow up and leave our homes, and if we are lucky, we may again find a place where we can lay down our hearts. You cannot choose this new home so when you realize you have found one, it may surprise you. For me, it happened in Nepal.

Nepal is quite literally on the opposite side of the Earth and about as different as you can find from my original home. This is a country of contradictions. The cities are polluted and heaving with traffic, but the villages are quiet and made by hand. The biggest mountains in the world are a snow capped definition of majestic, but the trek to see them is a bone-jarring test of will power. The holiest river in the Hindu world is a trash filled stream with a smell that can turn your stomach on a hot, muggy day.

In Nepal, people will stare at you, ask astonishingly personal questions within the first moments of meeting you, comment on the oh-so taboo subject of your apparently daily weight gain or loss, and absolutely crush our western ideal of physical boundaries. And at the same time, they are the most generous hosts to any guest and as affectionate as your own family.

Public transportation requires that you be a contortionist as you jam your too long legs under some bus seat that is made for only two but is shared by at least three adults along with the occasional child that you might very well be expected to hold. You eat rice twice a day, everyday, and in proportions that you didn't imagine yourself capable of. "Pugio" – or I'm full – actually means give me another plate full. A shopping trip can be a single stop at the local tiny store front shop that produces an endless spectrum of items from unseen back rooms, corners, and shelves. Or, you can end up on a day long quest depending on which deliveries are late, which vegetables are in season, which shop is closed for a family wedding, or which festival happens to be tomorrow. The language contains sounds that a foreign tongue can hardly hope to produce. With numerous indistinguishable words, getting on the correct bus or ending up in the right place can be as impossible as a hole-in-one.

You also learn that this is a country where a person will have no need for schedules and day planners. If you arrive on time to anything, you will most likely be the first one in the room. Guests will show up unannounced or two hours late. Work will be called off tomorrow for a national holiday that was just announced or an expected day off disappears when you are told to work through the weekend, which is only one day to start with. And let's not forget about the strikes, the threat of strikes, the cancelling of strikes, the postponement of strikes, or the extension of strikes. The perpetually squabbling government parties really love their strikes.

After living in this seemingly upside-down world, I have learned that this chaos only exists in the eyes of a foreigner. With some time and patience, the extraordinary becomes just plain ordinary. The polluted city gives way to the tree covered hills. The curious stares become the smiling eyes of friends. The eventful, crowded bus rides become unremarkable. You begin to recognize the cows in the middle of the street and are given credit at the local store.

Recently, I returned to Nepal after just a four day trip to India. I immediately found myself on the local Kathmandu bus. The previously undecipherable yelling of the bus runner (which could rival a good ol' fashioned country auctioneer) clearly reached my ears with my intended destination. I crammed onto a seat at the front of the bus with three other people. The music was blaring and the horn honking constant. At the next stop, a family piled into the already full bus. I was handed a small boy as the mother openly nursed a baby while sitting at my feet. A familiar song came on the radio, and we were all hanging onto our seats as the driver seemed to be in some kind of race with the bus in front of us. In that moment, I realized I was not caught in some snapshot image of 3rd world chaos that tourists love to share with their friends. This moment was so much more than that. It was an ordinary moment being shared amongst the very real lives of ordinary people. It was the moment when I knew I was happy to be HOME. The sights, smells, and sounds were all familiar. I felt content, relaxed, and hungry for a heaping plate of rice.

I love Nepal, and even more I love its people. I have laid my heart here, but I am not the worse for it. The pieces I will leave behind in Nepal have already been replaced with all the love that has been given to me. Home is where the heart lies, and I was lucky enough to find mine in this tiny, complex enchanting country buried at the feet of the giant Himalayas.

Can you REALLY play football???

The major sport here is some good old fashioned football (yes, its a ball you kick with your foot...how did American's come up with the word soccer). If you can play it, you rock. If you are a teacher and you can play it....you are a hero (not me). Being that I don't understand the concept of foot-eye coordination, even the small students had amazing skills in my eyes. They could create a game of football with everything from a rock to a tiny pencil sharpener. I rarely saw them get to play with an actual football. I have no idea how to control a tennis ball or cricket ball with my feet...but these kids sure do!

Last Day of School

A final memory with my homeroom class....Class 4B.

And a little extra time for being silly!

Science Exhibition

At the end of the school year, our school puts on a big exhibition including math, science, art and computers. Which for me meant....let the chaos begin. I taught all three sections of Class 4 science along with one section of Class 2 science (my roommate taught the rest of Class 2).

Coming up with projects, selecting and organizing the kids into teams, keeping track of their progress, and being done on time....well, it was a challenge, but the final product worked out just fine. My roommate came up with the idea of doing a whole theme for Class 2...so we learned about 6 organs of the human body. The choices for Class 4 were: plants, the 3 states of water, soil erosion, the rotation of the earth, nutrition, and air is matter.

Class 2 group for the human eye....exciting!

The full body picture AND science lab mannequin...even more exciting!

And....Class 2: The Human Skin

Class 4....showing how water washes away soil when there are no plants.

And the winners of Class 4: Food and Nutrition! (I may have gotten some extra help from my own nutrition teacher back in junior high...thanks Karen!) The kids explained to all the parents what a balanced diet means and what it should contain using foods available in our village here in Nepal.
And...this creative contraption was used to show how the sun (or a kerosene lamp) shines unevenly on the earth (cricket balls) which causes the 4 seasons as the earth rotates.

Darjeeling....#2

A little more sightseeing around Darjeeling....

This is the Japanese Peace Pagoda built just outside of Darjeeling. The Japanese have built a number of these in different places around the world to promote peace, and in person they are really stunning.

The Ghoom Monastery is one of the oldest and most holy monasteries in the region. Although I'm not a Buddhists, the insides of the monasteries I have visited are something to appreciate. The artistic ability and detail in the paintings, carvings, and wall hangings are incredible.
Both of these pictures are from the main Hindu temple that sits on tip of the main hill in the center of Darjeeling. I think the pictures speak for themselves in showing the atmosphere and color.

I had to throw in one picture of myself so that you at least believed I went in person and didn't just take all these pictures off the internet (and no, I have no idea how to use photoshop). You can see in the background how big the city is and in the top left you can also see some of the mountains. And in January....it was FREEZING.
The people of Darjeeling and the surrounding area have been fighting to be an autonomous state for many, many years. I don't know much about the history, but from asking different people there has been a demand for Gorkhaland since the time of Indian independence. The region is currently part of the very large state of West Bengal and people are unhappy because they have no real voice in the government, plus things like the roads are falling apart.

My visit was great...even if I was alone. I couldn't believe how much of an influence still existed from the British. The area was nothing like the rest of India, but the people were friendly and the mountains were awesome so I was happy!

Darjeeling! (That's India)

Yes, I know I'm a little behind on the timeline of things, but a least I'm still working on keeping you updated!

Way back when....we had our winter break, I took a solo trip. We had a month long break because it's too cold to be in the school. So, my destinations: Jhapa and Darjeeling. I had to choose somewhere that I could get there and back in a few weeks and wouldn't cost too much money.

First, I headed on an all night bus to the southeast corner of Nepal to a region known as Jhapa. It was amazing to see how completely different the southern part of the country is from the hills where I live. It is flat and hot without a big town in sight there. I had heard amazing things about the two schools that the Jesuits run in Jhapa so I thought it would be a good place to visit. I got to see the schools, a totally new part of Nepal, and could stay with the Jesuits. One of the schools is a St. Xavier's school with classes 1 through 10 where the students are taught in English. The second school is in a village surrounded by tea gardens and was built to serve the children of the tea workers as well as the small local farming village. The experience showed me so many new things....from bicycle rides through tea plantations to students running around with no shoes!

After Jhapa, I hopped on a bus to the Indian border so that I could head on to Darjeeling. Darjeeling is a famous hill station that was built up and visited during the British colonial days as a place to escape the summer heat of south India. I had heard a lot about this place since arriving in Nepal, and being that they even speak Nepali there, I thought it would be a perfect adventure.

Once the bus reaches the Indian border, you have to walk to take a rickshaw across this bridge, which is literally the border. The river bed below is a huge expanse of emptiness where you cross between two very chaotic border cities.
I was the only foreigner in site that day and therefore, the only person stopping to get my passport stamped at the two check posts. This one is on the Indian side of the border.
After another bus and a three hour ride in a jeep up a winding, bumping road hanging onto the sides of the hills, I was amazed to see this huge town built into the hillsides. But, the best part was the backdrop, Kanchenjunga, the world's third tallest mountain peak.

Darjeeling was built up during the British rule and although the city is old now, the British influence is still very clear. The road and even the tiny railroad were all originally built during that time. I could not believe how far we had traveled and how big the place was so far away from any other city.
And yes, I was kind of scared of the monkeys.
One of the main tourists sites is the zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. It was the most exciting place I've ever been, but it was interesting. I most excited to see the snow leopards and even though they were in captivity, I can see why people in this part of the world are so enamored with the beautiful animals.

Below is another picture of the mountains from a walking path around the city.

An Extra Taste of Life

Just thought I would put up a few more pictures from the daily side of life.

My class taking the class photo for the school yearbook. We are class 4'B'.
View of the Himals....from school! This picture is not doing it justice. If you have time you should open it up big on your computer. Some of our students get this view from their classroom. It's crazy!
Table tennis is big here! And out of my class 4 boys....I hear that Sandeep is pretty awesome.
They are also extremely excited if I ever attempt to play with them!
Mmmmmm.....one of the tastiest things in Nepal....hot chiya (milk tea) from our very own chiya didi at the bus park stand by our house.
Nothing like grading papers by candle light. We are currently up to 12 hours a day with no power, which conveniently always happens to be all during the day....and then they give us electricity from something like 1am - 7am. Thanks guys....just in time for me to wake up!