Monday, August 26, 2013

Nepal #1

Hopped on a plane to Nepal and here I am!

Immigration was super slow. It made me about an hour late getting out of the airport. Some of the people processing my passport were confused as to why I had the middle name, "Durga," listed Nepal as my birthplace, but could not understand Nepali. I had to whip out my Nepali one-liner that I'm sure I will use more often, "Ma-lai nepali bhulna aldena," which means, "I don't speak any Nepali." "Ah, so you're a foreigner?" was the reply.

I got to Nepal 1 day earlier than the program starts, so I arranged to stay the night with my birth family. This is well-timed so I don't have to juggle meeting my program and also meeting up with the family on the same day.

My birth family was waiting outside: Prem, Smita (sister #3), Sommaya (sister#2), Sommaya's husband, and her daughter came to pick me up. we drove to where Kanchan is currently staying - at a brother of Ashis'. For reference, I am sister #6.

I noticed some things driving to the house. People drive on the left side of the road, but only when there is on-coming traffic. I realized that I will not be running or biking on Kathmandu roads because there is no space or safe area. I am hoping my homestay will be about a 15-20 minute walk from school so I'm forced to  figure out how to be a pedestrian and get some exercise.

One pedestrian we passed had a shirt that read "Hey girl I want French kiss." I'm betting he doesn't know what his shirt says. I thought it was funny.

Then, I saw a car pulled over with a policewoman talking to the driver. I can't imagine what he'd be pulled over for because there are no rules for the road. Maybe he didn't honk his horn enough when making a left turn or cutting off some pedestrians.

Finally, there seem to be very few large-road intersections. I noticed this because at the 2 intersections we passed through, there was a uniformed man on a raised platform directing traffic. At the second intersection, there was no platform. The man was just stopping cars with his body and waving others through.

On the way to the house, Prem noticed my ganglion cyst on my wrist. Everyone was fascinated. They wanted to make sure it didn't hurt before they felt it and tested how hard it was.

At the house, I met up with Kanchan (sister #4), Janaki (sister #1), Janaki's son, and 2 aunts. They were very generous. First they brought out about 5 scarves and people put them around my neck saying "welcome to Nepal." Then they brought out a cake they had made and put a huge candle on it, which turned out to be a mini firework.


More food followed with a lassi (milky drink), bread, and fruit.  Kanchan gave me a shirt. I feel bad taking all this stuff! There was some conversation, some was...awkward. Only Smita and Kanchan could speak English. Prem said I looked thin. Then he noted my ankles were large, like Americans. An honest man. I was also eating the bread with my left hand until he showed me that food goes in the right hand and drink goes in the left. Curse of the lefties: accidentally using the dirty hand. They asked about Maya, my parents, and Kyle ("is his name....Sky?").

We then took lots of pictures before Prem left to go back to the village.

A good candid one

Aunt, Aunt, Prem, me, Sommaya, Sommaya's husband.
Kanchan, Smita, Janaki.

Looking for similarities in our feet.
Me and Prem
Janaki, Sommaya, Smita, me, Kanchan. Notice who is the tallest.

Prem was done taking pictures.

That's it for now. I'm going to dinner with Kanchan, Smita, and Smita's husband. Smita was married a few years ago. We thought she just had a boyfriend. Whoops...

1 comment:

  1. great pictures! Glad customs didn't give you TOO much of a hard time:)

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