So I've had this lingering thought about the Nepalese people and then I actually read something about it in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, so I thought I'd share.  But first to put it into context, just walking around town can be a bit of a shock.  There are roads and stores just like every other city, but these roads are unpaved, uneven, covered in trash, infested with stray dogs, and shared with free roaming goats, cows and chickens.  It is not always a pleasant smell either.  But when you get over all of that and lift your gaze to the people and their shops you begin to see something else, something intangible.  Sure there are a lot of people who seem to be just sitting around idly, but then again many of them are sitting in front of a small hut turned shop, or even a larger store, bakery, hotel, pharmacy or bank.  There are N Cell stores selling cell phones, other stores selling Nike and Adidas products, people enjoying fruit, chips, and various kinds of street food.  There is a functioning economy here.  As difficult as one might think life here in Nepal is, these people don't stop trying.  They see that there is more out there, a better quality of life, and although they may not always seem to know the best way to achieve those things (ie bathing in the sewer water) they have a very distinct drive about them.  "Most of the people who live in this rugged country seem to have no desire to be severed from the modern world or the untidy flow of human progress.  The last thing [they] want is to be preserved as specimens in an anthropological museum," (Krakauer).  While Krakauer was talking about Nepali sherpas who climbed Mount Everest as a means to support themselves and bring money into their country, the same principle applies to the citizens of Surkhet.  Here, in one of the poorest regions of Nepal they struggle to keep up, but at least they struggle.

On another note, I began tutoring yesterday.  Yesterday I worked with a group of four third graders on their english for an hour.  I had each student read a short story to me so that I could identify the words that they struggled with most.  Then I helped them to understand how certain letter combinations such as ch, ou, and ie sounded.  This morning at 7:15 I began to work with a large group of seventh graders on their english.  This did not go as smoothly.  I began by trying to figure out what areas of english they needed the most help with.  We started working on adverbs until the students told me that they really needed work on their conversational skills.  I really had very little sense of direction when I began today so I just had a few students practice their conversation.  If I heard an error I would try to jump in and correct them but it didn't seem to me to be the most effective sort of practice.  I will be working with them every day now so I will have to come in tomorrow with a better plan.  I think a few of the students can smell new blood as well and have taken advantage of my ignorance.  After the tutoring session I realized that I recognized that grin on their faces when they told me that they had somewhere else to be.  I won't make that mistake again tomorrow.  Things will get better and at least I have more to keep me busy now.  I will go online and see if I can't find some appropriate lesson plans.  It feels much more like teaching than tutoring, but maybe I am splitting hairs.  Anyway, there are only a few weeks left before the students have a month off for holiday so I have to quickly figure out how to do this effectively.  It will be a good challenge.  I did learn relatively quickly how to be disciplinary.  Two days ago I was playing with one of the smaller girls who can be a bit of a trouble maker at times when she hit me in the face.  I have no idea what the reason was but when I couldn't get her to say sorry and I didn't want to write her up in the book and extend her toilet duty even longer I resorted to time out.  I did not actually expect her to stay in her room but apparently she did, for two hours, missing dinner.  I had completely forgotten she was there when a few of the other girls came to remind me.  I guess she took the punishment to heart.  I felt awful but we got her some food and we are back on good terms.  It's not easy bein' the disciplinarian.


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