It has been a very slow week leading up to Halloween but finally it is here and Maggie and Anjali made it back just in time.  We broke the kids up into groups so that each volunteer could focus on just a few costumes.  I have a pirate, a cheetah, a little batman, and a scary ghost.  I pulled off most of my costumes by buying a little bit of black fabric to make capes for batman and the "ghost" of sorts and just  pulling together some items from around the house.  The girls went a bit further and sewed together some elaborate pumpkin, witch, and fairy costumes.  Tonight each of the volunteers will set up in a room in the house with an activity and some treats for the kids to collect.  I hear last year that Jeff scared the living daylights out of one of the kids accidentally.  The kid got scared upon entering the room and dove under the bed, where Jeff was already hiding.  Naturally this unexpected presence under the bed (the safest place in all of childhood) only escalated things so the kid ran out crying.  Maggie has borrowed a mannequin from a store in town today as well.  I am not sure yet what her plan is but I am definitely curious.  Whatever I end up doing I want to make it scary but I certainly don't want to induce tears.  I am excited to see everyone in their costumes and to see who wins the scariest costume, the most creative costume, and who has the most Halloween spirit.  It will be a fun night.

Oh and by the way,  I'm being a puppy.  Face paint pictures to come.



The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent Blinknow's positions or opinions.

This past Saturday we decided to do something really fun for the kids (and the adults actually).  We hopped on a small bus and crammed everyone else into our car and headed over the mountain about 45 minutes away from the house.  The beach is what they called it, but unlike any beach I've ever been to, the body of water was a river.  It did have plenty of sand though.  The drive there reminded me of a much shorter version of the drive I took from Kathmandu to Surkhet on my first day in Nepal.  It was fast and reckless, unyielding, bumpy, and along some very steep cliffs without guardrails.  For those volunteers who wisely chose to fly into Surkhet rather than take the bus, it was quite the thrill.
To me it felt like nothing compared to the 19 hour drive I took, so this time I was able to just take in the sights.  Most of the kids are not used to driving, especially longer distances, so many of them got car sick.  Thankfully only one kid puked on board, and just as we parked.  Once we got to the beach however, things got much better.

The kids immediately ran off toward the water.  By the time I got off the bus and walked over to them they were all either half dressed or completely naked and in the river.  Kids were running all over the place, jumping, splashing, throwing rocks, crawling buck naked through the sand.  Some wore life jackets because they weren't great swimmers, including some of the uncles and older kids.  I watched them play for a while until I could feel the sun beginning to burn.  I chose to go in even though the water was frigid.  Once you jumped all the way in though it wasn't so bad.  Swimming to the other side of the river was pretty much impossible because the far side had a very strong current.  Riding the current a little down stream was fun until we realized that there was a family down stream that was about to cremate somebody and send them down the river.

So instead of swimming across, up the river a ways was a suspension bridge to the other side that I obviously had to try out.  It was mostly metal but in some places it was just planks.  It seemed well built however and felt safe enough.  From the bridge and on the other side of the river you could get some great views.

A little while later we played some frisbee, which the kids love and are pretty good at.  I also taught some of the kids how to skip stones.  We even had a few guests visit us.  I believe it was some friends and family who just sent their relative down river but they didn't seem too torn up about it.  They seemed very curious to meet us.  One older man, who was clearly drunk, just kept asking us about ourselves and then asking us for our rupees.  Some of the teenagers seemed infatuated with the female volunteers.  They took pictures with their cell phones and even crowded around them as they tried to rest on the beach.  I don't think the girls were too flattered.  Most of their vocabulary consisted of, "What is your name? I love you." At least they liked the girls however.  They seemed amused by the guys' pale white bodies and utter disregard for looking cool.  While we clowned around with the kids in the water they strutted around in packs, mean mugging, pointing and laughing, and bugging the girls;  a common occurrence in the area and one that we have gotten used to at this point.

All the while the aunties were off in the woods cooking lunch under the shade.  It was a special treat that day.  They fried the roti instead of just putting it over a flame so it was like a very oily tortilla, with a side of some very fatty mutton.  It was almost too much fat and grease to handle but it was still delicious and a good break from the norm.



By the time we were left all of the kids and adults were beat.  Many fell asleep on the short drive home.  It wasn't the most eventful day but it was definitely one of my favorite so far.

The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent Blinknow's positions or opinions.

Four days ago, on October 16th, was the wedding that Matt and I were invited to by one of the 5th grade boys who lives in the neighborhood.  We got dressed in our best clothes that day and donned our topis, which are traditional Nepali hats, typically formal wear.  We walked up the road to Raju's house a little before noon and arrived to find that most of the procession, including Raju, was at the temple, presumably at the wedding ceremony.  Seeing as we arrived a few minutes earlier than Raju told us to I believe we were not actually invited to the wedding ceremony, which is unfortunate.  I would have loved to see how they do it here.  It could have just been a communication barrier but I didn't see any way to right it.  We asked Raju several times what time we should be there and he repeated several times that we should be there by two elve o'clock (a common mispronunciation).

Anyway, we hung out for about an hour with some of the kids and a few adults who seemed entertained by our cameras and the fact that we were the only ones wearing topis.  I'm not sure most of them had any idea why we were there but you get used to the awkwardness that comes with certain pieces of information being lost in translation.  Most of the adults stood around a large pot over an open flame, cooking for lunch and dinner while we sat entertaining the kids and keeping them away from the gift we brought for the bride and groom.  Around 1 o'clock everyone began returning from the temple.  We stood in the small alleyway along the side of their home as everyone funneled into the backyard where the festivities were being held.  One of the women stood at the entrance putting tika on everyone's forheads as they entered.  The bride and groom were first of course, and were then carried down the alleyway on two of the mens's backs.  Then everyone else followed on foot, one at a time.

We were seated in a big and colorful tent set up in the backyard and among the first to be served.  It was very similar to the lunches that we get at school, though in my opinion not quite as good.  But it certainly wasn't bad either.  It was mostly rice and beans, some vegetables and and a cup of some very watered down and sugar free yogurt mixed with diced red apple.  Not my favorite but I figured it was much safer than the water; and again, not bad.  The meal did not last long but the company was good.  We sat with Raju and several of his friends.  We tried, rather unsuccessfully, to talk with some of the giggling young women before it was time to go congratulate the newly married young couple.

We managed to see just one or two other people approach the couple before we were whisked to the front of the line.  I think they were eager for some more awkward entertainment.  They wanted to see how much the Americans could embarrass themselves in one day.  I was holding their gift but had no idea what to do with it.  I hadn't seen anyone else present them with anything, even though we were told to bring a gift.  I walked up the two steps of the front porch, as it were, that they were seated on and tried my best to plaster more tika to their already covered foreheads as the man before me had done.  I'm not sure any of it stuck, most seemed to fall right back to wear I picked it up from.  I had never even officially met them before so I'm sure they were just as confused as I was.  I then very awkwardly handed them the "wall watch" that we had wrapped in town.  That was clearly the wrong thing to do as they gave me a bewildered look but it didn't seem to amount to much.  We did not know what to write on the card so at the last minute we decided on "May your marriage be fruitful and may the force be with you, From Matt and Ian."  The clock that we gave them was pretty nice and was suggested to us by a trustworthy source.

Then it was time to hang around and fraternize some more so we did just that for quite a while.  We were told before the wedding that there would be dancing but until this point there was only music blaring from some sizable speakers.  Around 6 o'clock the power went out, as it often does in the area at this time.  Much of the crowd at this point began loading on to a bus to leave so Matt and I decided it would be a good time to go home as well.  It didn't seem as if there was going to be any dancing and we were exhausted anyway.  Back home however, as we were going to sleep, we could hear the party starting back up.  The music got quite loud from up the road and we were probably missing the dancing.  At that point it just wasn't going to happen for us so we resigned to our beds, still satisfied with our experience on the whole.

The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent Blinknow's positions or opinions.

A few days ago I finally got a taste of some of the wild life in the area.  So far it has only been a few crows and hawks, and what the kids believe are eagles.  I am fairly certain there is a difference between crows and eagles but my explanations have largely been lost on them.  I did see a huge cockroach my first day here but that was hardly exciting.  The streets are crowded with goats, cows, and stray dogs but that really has been the extent of my experience with the animals until we decided to venture away from the house.

We drove about 10 minutes to where the new new high school is going to be built which is further up the mountain a little ways.  Though it is only 10 minutes away it has a distinctly more rural feel.  Strangely enough, once we got there I realized it was exactly how I pictured the area before I even left for Nepal.  Where the house and school are currently has more of a suburban feel and the city/market is only about a 10 minute walk or 5 minute drive in the opposite direction.  The location of the high school to-be is currently a few multi level fields of rice on either side of the road surrounded by jungle and a few small houses.  Some of the aunties live there.  I kind of like this area better.  It is further away from the main road and so is quieter than the house and is on the hillside so it has a beautiful view over the valley.

We decided the road in the middle of the fields wasn't giving us enough of a feel for the area so we took some very narrow paths along the edge of one of the levels of the rice paddies toward the jungle.  On the way we discovered a few things.  One was a series of massive webs woven into the trees, inhabited by some very large spiders.  The other was that a member of our group is terrified of spiders, especially ones so big.  They were, depending on your point of view, beautiful or horrifying.  Suffice it to say horrifyingly beautiful.  I wasn't over eager to reach out and grab them but some of the aunties who are better acquainted with these creatures had no qualms with plucking them from their extravagant homes. This calmed my nerves immediately as I surmised that they were not harmful.  This did not help all of the other volunteers however.  One was quickly identified as the squeamish one and was then targeted for the duration of the trip.  The aunties would throw these large, harmless spiders at the poor fellow, pretend to drop them down his shirt, and follow him around with their hands behind their backs and huge mischievous grins on their faces.  To be fair, these things did look frightening.  They had long yellow and black bodies with maybe 4+ inch wing spans, so to speak.  Their webs were several feet in diameter and there seemed to be small colonies of them living in the trees.

Fairly certain it is called a Nephila Madagascarensis

Anyway, those were the most exotic things I have encountered so far.  The following day however we went out for some more adventures.  At first we went to pay a visit to some of the turkeys and goats that I believed would be future meals.  Its a good thing the turkey is huge, ugly, and a common sight even in New Jersey.  The goats can be be relatively cute when they are still kids but as they get older their eyes bug out more and they get funny shaped bodies.  They always seem to be glaring at you as if they resent the relaxing lives they are given before their number is called.  Anyway, these animals were not very exciting.

Neighboring our turkeys and goats

We then took an impromptu trip to an ancient temple ruin.  Apparently no one knows when it was built,  though I find it hard to believe there are no estimates.  We were told they are trying to rebuild it at some point.  They have many ornately carved pieces of pillars and walls stored in shelters surrounding the base of the structure.  There wasn't too much wildlife on the drive and short hike through the jungle there unfortunately, but the sight was still incredible.

Part of the base of the structure

Various pieces being stored

A view from the jungle over the valley

Keep checking in, apparently I will have a chance to see some Rhino's and maybe some other exotic animals over vacation in a few weeks.

The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent Blinknow's positions or opinions.

Today was another average day for the most part.  The kids had exams in morning until about noon, at which point they were let out to go home, play soccer, throw a frisbee, play a game that looks like a mixture of cee-lo and botchie ball, or do whatever else their hearts desired.  For those of you who don't know, cee-lo is a back alley sort of game involving dice and gambling.  There is no gambling going on in the kids' games but I'm pretty sure marbles end up exchanging hands.  Those seem to be a hot commodity here and are the cause of much controversy.

For the past few days one of the class five students has been inviting me and some of the other volunteers to his house.  We did not know where he lived so we asked him to meet us at the school one day after exams so that he could take us there.  Two days of failed plans went by before one of the other volunteers and I decided we were going to surprise him at his house.  We had another student take us there when we found out he did not live far.  We walked up the road just a little ways to until our guide pointed at a very small house with some older women sitting out front.  It was Raju's house, but we did not see Raju.  We walked up asking for him, in mostly english.  The women understood his name and  probably figured we were looking for him but they seemed flabbergasted by seeing the likes of us approaching them.  Soon we heard Raju's voice calling to us from the back of a small truck.  He was finishing up some simple chores, just sweeping out of the back of the truck.  He was very surprised to see us but also clearly excited.  So much so that he did not know what to do with us.  Eventually he brought us into his house which was a very small, very simple structure.  It had two front entrances, no doors, and a single wall dividing the house into two.  We went into his parents side where there was a small bed and a single cabinet with a television.  They have the choice of watching Nepali, Hindi, or American TV, though I suspect a limited number of channels.  We did see some VH1 though.  We sat on the bed and were introduced to many family members.  At first everyone was shy and sat outside the house, peering in at us.  Raju told us to stay there while he went to get us some Cokes from his fathers tiny roadside shop just out front.  It felt like we were on display for his family.

Raju returned and we shared a few Cokes.  The other volunteer and I taught him the parameters of a toast and then things got better.  Soon he was playing Justin Beiber and Akon songs from his cell phone and pushing us to show him some dance moves, though his were probably better.  Soon all of his siblings and cousins were gathered around the door, pointing and laughing at us, as we likely deserved, and things felt much more comfortable.  Even his parents, aunties, and uncles were laughing at us.  We made sufficient fools of ourselves and next thing we knew we were being invited to a wedding in a little over a week.  Obviously we accepted the invitation, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't coincide with our family vacation.  If it doesn't I am thinking that I will get some traditional Nepali wear tailored for the event as I would likely be under dressed in my American clothing.  Raju's cousin is getting married and she, Raju's father, and several other adults all asked us to come.  I think they want to watch us dance and embarrass ourselves again.  I think it is a fair trade however when you consider that I will be getting an extensive look at some intimate Nepali culture.

Anyway, long story short... branching out was fun and well worth it.  Raju wants us to come back often.  Next time we will have to treat him to some Cokes and support his father's shop.

The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent Blinknow's positions or opinions.

Yesterday was my birthday here in Nepal and as I celebrated another year of life under my belt our neighbors across the street mourned the loss of a beloved grandmother.  I enjoyed yesterday's celebrations very much, as simple as they were, but now as I write this I can't help being more fascinated by our neighbors' proceedings.

I am not sure how long they have been outside or if they even went to sleep last night, but the number of people has grown dramatically.  At first it seemed to be only immediate family, or those who lived in the house or near by, but now it is a much larger gathering.  They are crowded around something in the yard, possibly their loved one, and have begun a communal prayer led by one individual.  Their method and tone seem quite familiar, with the crowd repeating after the leader.  At the end of the prayer the crowd all threw some sort of plant leaves into the center of the crowd.  Prior to the prayer it had been very quiet except for the intermittent blowing of a wooden, bulb shaped horn, a long, deep, and steady tone.  After the leaves were thrown the wailing began.  There were a few who were distraught but one woman was very clearly heart broken.  They lifted their grandmother up, who was wrapped in a traditional cloth, on two pieces of bamboo and carried her down the road, away from most of the crowd.  Now, all that is left is a few lingering members of the procession, a few lightly sobbing, and the fading sound of despair chasing after the somber horn.  Even a few of the aunties here are shedding tears as they go about their work.  It is a very sobering experience, especially following such a joyous occasion.  It just makes you appreciate what you have that much more.

Today is one of the kids' birthdays and after watching that experience across the street I feel the need to make this celebration meaningful.  Birthdays are not typically celebrated in Nepal, and many do not even know the actual date of their birth.  But seeing as the kids of Kopila Valley live with Americans they are at least aware that there is some sort of celebration that is accompanied by gifts and/or cake.  While this is great, I would love to impart on them the purpose of these celebrations.  It is the celebration of the continuation of all that you have.  Not the possessions but the world of opportunities at hand and the ones that you love and love you back.  The celebrations and the gifts are simply a reminder of that and accordingly, should be treated so.  This is why yesterday, though possibly the simplest birthday I've ever had, may also have been one of the most enjoyable ones I've ever had.  Seeing how much all of the kids have enjoyed having me here is truly heartwarming.

In the morning, my seventh grade class all brought me flowers they had picked for me and then spontaneously sang me a slightly different version of Happy Birthday before we began tutoring.  I don't think I've ever enjoyed my birthday that early in the morning before.  Then, throughout the day students brought me pictures they had drawn, some with very endearing notes and happy birthday wishes.  That evening I went with the guys to Zeyanas to gorge ourselves on different chicken based meals.  It was fun and when we got back the girls had wrapped up a few gifts for me, namely oreos and peanut butter and a few other goodies.  They had a very clever birthday card for me too, in which they wrote several different funny things that the locals have said, whether it was broken english or just funny word choices, but it was great to feel that sense of closeness in such a far removed part of the world.

The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent Blinknow's positions or opinions.