The boys had a soccer game against Bul Bule Academy today, a school just around the corner where I believe the house kids attended before Maggie built Kopila Valley school.  There was a light drizzle but the boys were very excited and we had a great turn out to support the team.  They played well in the first half, moving the ball well and getting some solid opportunities against a much larger team in stature.  Bul Bule had kids up to 10th grade on the team while we only had a handful of 8th graders.  Unfortunately Kopila Valley could not capitalize and at one point they had a defensive breakdown which put two of our defenders on the ground and opened up the box for Bul Bule.  They took a shot and snuck it in past our keeper.  It was a lucky opportunity and it made our team look somewhat defeated for the rest of the first half.

John, the boys coach, Principal Deepak, some of the captains and I gave the team some words of encouragement at halftime.  They needed to be reminded that they were only down one goal and that they had been playing a better game than Bul Bule up until that point.  In the second half they came back with a vengeance.  They began hammering the keeper and following up on their shots, taking advantage of second opportunities.  They scored 2 goals on rebounded shots, one scored beautifully off of a cross from the outside, and one last one scored off of a corner kick.  After being down 1-0 in the first half the boys came back to beat Bul Bule 4-2.

It was a very exciting morning which boosted the boys' confidence in themselves.  They have some tougher opponents coming up soon I believe.  It was good to see them play somebody other than themselves for a change because now we can focus on their weekpoints in practice some more and improve the team as a whole.

I'd just like to say congratulations Kopila Valley and Coach John for a job well done today.


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

Yesterday the other volunteers and I learned a little something new.  We learned how to give subcutaneous injections of lidocaine and how to suture up a small wound.  Our resident med school student and soon to be doctor gave us a crash course because he will be leaving in about a week.  We began by making some small cuts through the skin of some volunteers.  They were some very brave and trusting oranges.  We then took some syringes and learned how to properly fill them with lidocaine, flicking all of the air bubbles to the top and pushing the air out of them with a little squirt of the lidocaine.  Yes just like in the movies.  We then practiced injecting into the skin of the orange around the wound without going all the way through.  The trick is to pull back before you push so you can be sure you aren't in a vein.  You only want to be injecting just below the skin and into the fat (hence the word subcutaneous).  So when you see that you aren't drawing in any orange juice, or blood, then you know its safe to inject.  We then practiced suturing up the wound and tying the proper knots which was simple enough.  Its kind of self explanatory if you've ever sewed anything in your life.  Its just a different kind of fabric.

Then came the fun part.  It was time to start "stabbing" each other with needles.  Mallory, our early childhood development fellow, made it sound so professional and non-violent.  We basically did the exact same thing we did with the oranges to each other, just without giving each other wounds first.  By the end a bunch of us had a bunch of numb spots on our forearms.  I volunteered to let Kelly inject me with a little lidocaine and as she was lining up her injection sight she decided to look me in the eye and tell me how nervous she was.  I told her she wasn't allowed to be nervous and that despite how much my trust had just been shaken that she'd do just fine.  I watched her practice on the orange and she didn't kill it so I figured I'd be fine.  Everything went as it should have and we were no worse for the wear.

It was fun to learn a little something new.  Not just how to perform minor procedures like those, but like who was afraid of needles and who not to trust with them.  If it came down to it I'd trust any of them, but I'm not so sure everyone would have trusted themselves.  Something about a small and very sharp object that pricks people the wrong way.


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

Things here are normal as ever.  It began raining the other day and has been a bit gray since.  We have been in the middle of exams this week.  The food has been refreshingly good so I haven't found the desire to go to Zeyana's as often as I used to, but then again I've only been back for about 2 weeks so far.  Things are good.

One of the 2nd grade classes' teachers has been absent for a few days during exams this past week.  Someone thought it no big deal to tell us she was out because of her heart.  Being such a young lady we were all shocked to hear that she had issues with her heart but it came as a relief to find out seconds later that what actually happened was lost in translation.  It had nothing to do with the organ beating in her chest.  The lovely young lady fell in love and was getting married.  That was surprising too, but for a much different reason.  But as it turns out, her marriage was actually one based in love, rather than being arranged.  This morning, a few days after we found out about the surprise marriage, we learned that she would not be returning to Kopila Valley to teach.  I don't think a two week notice is a thing here.  So we are now short a teacher but with so many new volunteers here it was easy to get someone to fill in for a month or so until we are able to find a new full time teacher.

In other news, exams are done at the end of this week, results will be in next week, and then we can identify which students really need extra help and where.  Then I will be able to get into the full swing of things and have a regular tuition schedule.  Let the games begin.



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

So I am back at Kopila Valley where things are happening.  There is some construction well under way  on the house.  They are adding another story to make a women's center.  At the school we are practicing soccer with the boys and volleyball with the girls.  The boys have a game against the military academy coming up in November and need to work on spreading the field and making smart passes.  John and I will be working with them while Kelly and Nena will be working with the girls on their volleying skills.

In other news I have changed rooms once again.  I am now on the first floor with all the bed wetting boys.  The office is now my room and is actually quite comfortable.  It just gets really loud early in the morning when the kids wake up and feel the need to express their enthusiasm for the day through shouting.  It also smells a bit like pee on this floor from time to time but we are working on that.

We have a dog that hangs out on the premises now too which is great.  It's one of the masons' dogs who is working on the women's center so I don't know how long it will be here but his name is Tiger and he's 15 years old.  He barks at strangers and otherwise just hangs out all day.  Nothing like chillin' with a good dog.

I think I am going to have my hands full pretty soon with tutoring.  We have compiled a list of students who need some extra help and they range from 4th to 8th grade.  I look forward to the challenge, but it will be just that; quite challenging.  They need help in pretty much every aspect of English.  Spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing, etc. (if this list is even capable of continuing).

Anyway, its great to be back and see so many smiling faces.



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

Back in Kathmandu!  After a fourteen and a half hour flight and about an eighteen hour layover in New Delhi I'm finally back in Nepal.  Even though I'm sitting in a hotel room ready to take a nap in dirty ol' Thamel, it feels good to be back.  It's different this time, seeing as I know what I'm doing now.  I was in and out of the Kathmandu Airport like a fast food restaurant.  I'll be flying to Nepalgunj tomorrow morning and then taking a bus ride to Surkhet so I can see the kids again.  The travel agent told me that Maggie is in the states again which took me by surprise but then again he also told me that Johnny Depp died three days ago, and that turned out to be a false rumor.

Also, the car that was supposed to pick me up from the airport turned out to be a motorcycle, which we took through Kathmandu to get to Thamel.  Sorry mom and dad!  But it was a free ride and I wasn't about to tell my travel agent to shove it.  Fun too.



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

Well its been a few weeks since I wrote a new blog post and I thought I should get back into the swing of things.  I'm still in Chicago right now but I will be going back to Nepal on the 21st and couldn't be more excited.  I just hope the kids have missed me as much as I've missed them.  I managed to skype in once over my break to say hi to a few of them which was great.  It gave my family a chance to peak into that world and to meet a few of the kids.  Its been great being home for the holidays but even after just a few days I realized how much I missed the kiddos.

The blog will be back in full swing in about a week and I will try to update more often.  I'll focus some more on the day to day life and talk about the things that seem mundane over there but as I have been told, are actually the more interesting parts of life in Nepal.  Again, please let me know what you think and tell me what you want to hear about.  Your opinions are always appreciated.



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

Well so far I've been writing about some of the bigger events and goings on at Kopila but Sarah Kay, the poet who visited last week, told me I should focus some on the smaller, mundane things that have an impact on life here.  For example, Ben and I  took her into town to pick up a few things and he and I were casually discussing the merits of certain brands of peanut butter that are sold in the different stores when Sarah began laughing at us.  She found it funny because of how serious we were about such a seemingly trivial conversation and yet how important it is in our daily lives here.  "Oh, this peanut butter is the best because its creamier and less expensive."  "Yea the other store carries that crap thats kinda dried out and inexplicably more expensive."  "Yea I don't know why I've been going to that store all this time..."

This was the conversation that prompted her to tell me that this is the sort of thing I should be blogging about.  The stuff that I would otherwise forget once I left this place, the odd details that litter each day with peculiarity need some attention too.  The things that future volunteers would find interesting and at the same time helpful.  Everything from which peanut butter to buy to the different methods of defecation, which has actually been discussed here at length.  Don't worry I'll spare you the dirty details but for the curious few, the debate centers around the different toilet styles.  Believe it or not, the rest of the world does not all use the pots we are so accustomed to parking our rear ends on.

Well, to sh*t away from this poo centered log post... I mean shift away from this poo centered blog post, sorry, I thought I'd mention that this will be my last post for a few weeks as I am returning home for Christmas and New Years.  In the mean time I will be pondering what other seemingly trivial things I can pay some attention to, enjoying some quality time with my friends and family, and hopefully packing on the pounds I have presumably lost in my time here away from my good friend beef.

Thanks for reading, I hope you have enjoyed thus far.  Please feel free to leave comments, questions, constructive criticism, etc.  I am curious to see how the blog is being met.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years everybody!



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