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.

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