I arrived at the airport at 5am *yawns* still feeling intoxicated and very tired from lack sleep. I can't believe my flight was this early. I am flying to my next project which is in Nepal. There isn't a direct flight, so I have to fly into Bangkok and take a connecting flight from there. Bye Singapore.
I was so tired that I slept through the plane rides. After two plane rides, I have finally landed in Kathmandu, Nepal. I had been warned by my program co-ordinator that once I get to Kathmandu, to strictly not allow anyone to handle with my baggage. When I got out at the arrival gates after collecting my luggage I was bombarded with so many Nepalese men asking whether I needed a taxi, where I was going, which hotel I was staying at etc. I was a little nervous as this was my first time in Nepal. I didn't speak the language and I didn't know who was picking me up nor did I know where I was staying - I was getting so scared. I waited for about 30mins before calling my coordinator. After a few phone calls, I finally got through to her and advised her that I have been waiting for some time now and that I do not see anything holding up a place card with my name on it. She told me that she will phone the Nepal coordinator and will get back to me ASAP. While I was waiting, I had the same questions vein thrown at me, it made me feel extremely comfortable and I felt like bursting out in tears. After a few minutes, I received a call from my coordinator to advise that someone will pick me up in 10 mins as they are running late. Minutes had past and a smiley cheerful Nepalese approached me and asked if my name was Sandi, at that point I was so relieved. I knew he was the right person as he knew my name and mentioned 'Travel to Teach'. With him, he had Mareika, another volunteer who stood at the arrival gates holding up the place card with my name on it. I wouldn't of seen that because I had already walked past that section. Nonetheless, I was just glad to be in safe hands. Mareika is from Germany and arrived yesterday, she is also staying in Nepal for one month.
It's always slightly unnerving arriving in a foreign country under the cloak of darkness. You don't know what to expect. It was yet another culture shock for me driving through the hustling and bustling streets of Kathmandu. The first things I noticed were the pollution, the dust, the colourful saris the women wore, crazy drivers and bicycle rickshaws. It is such a busy busy city. In saying that, I don't mind none of that at all - it's not like I've never been to Asia before, but Kathmandu is definitely very different to the likes of Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand to name a few. I'm really looking forward to my time here.
On the way to the 'Happy home" (a home stay) we picked up Jack - Asim's (the Nepal Coordinator) son. He is a charismatic boy. As soon as he hopped into, he greeted me and asked where I was from, what my name was and how old I was. He is 10 years old and has excellent english. I was VERY impressed.
Apparently, I had come to Nepal at a very awkward time. A lot of political things are happening and there will be strikes over the next few days - this will mean that transport and businesses are totally shut over these days. The whole commotion is about the country demanding the resignation of the prime minister, as a deepening political impasse threatened to unravel the peace process in this Himalayan nation. This relates to commands of writing a new Constitution that would restructure the national government and create a federalist state. All this political stuff is just all too confusing for me, but Ramesh was nice enough to fill me in with what is happening in Nepal.
The drive to the happy home took around 30minutes from the time we left the airport. We finally arrived at this beautifully architecturally designed 3 storey home boasting balconies on each level. Driving through Kathmandu, I just couldn't believe how big the houses were, and very colourful. When I arrived, I was greeted by the host - Namrata which is Asim's wife. I dropped my bags in the same room as Mareika and was asked to go to the kitchen to get served some food. I was expecting traditional Nepalese food (whatever it is) but was served with a delicious cheesy pasta. It was extremely tasty. Ramesh advised that I should rest up seeing that I had a long flight and he will pick us up tomorrow morning and take us to the office. The homestay was beautiful. It has many rooms and a bathroom on each floor. When volunteers arrive, they stay at this homestay with the Asim and his family. I didn't get to meet Asim as he was away in India on a business trip, but his wife Namrata was such a wonderful host. Once I got settled in, I blogged for a little while before dozing off. Mareika dozed off too. I've learnt that in Nepal they have a power cut situation, power is not available during the whole day therefore approximately 10 hours a day there is no electricity. The neighbourhood consists of many vacant land and lots of other houses similarly built like the homestay I'm staying at the moment. Nepal is more developed than I thought.
We got woken up for dinner around 7:30pm, I tried Dal Bhat for the first time. Dal Bhat is a staple dish for the Nepalese consisting of steamed rice or sometimes cereal bhat (bhat means rice) and lentil soup - Dal. It is generally eaten twice a day, breakfast and for dinner. Dal may be cooked with tomatoes, onion, chilli, tamarind, garlic and ginger in addition to lentils or beans. It always contains herbs and spices such as coriander, garam masala, cumin and turmeric. Dal but is often served with vegetable tarkari - a mix of seasonal vegetables. My meal was served on a thin metal plate and my water served in a metal cup. I was not given any cutlery and Mareika started to eat with her fingers. So I tried that too but was so hopeless with it, they offered me a spoon immediately. Nepalese people eat dal bhat mixing the components and digging in with the right hand. In the Nepali culture, the left hand is considered dirty no matter how much you clean it. It is also rude to pass something over to someone during a meal with your left hand. This I must be mindful of. It was really interesting to see the family eat their food with their hand, I was really intrigued. I hope to try that one day. After dinner, Mareika and I went to bed. We had no power and had nothing to do, so sleep was the only option - we were however both really tired from our flights anyway.
Good night world.
XOXO
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