Chitwan!
Soooo lets start with how Kathmandu ended. I was in my cab trying to cry as I just left Olivia (who was crying) and there was a boy in the back of the cab asking for my e-mail and I was trying to tell me you need to leave me alone right now because I just left my 12 nepalese children and I am a little upset right now!
Then I passed a store called Fabulous Fab World and I was a little happier.
It had been a good last day though. We celebrated Holi Day. A day where people thow Tika paint at you and you love it. At first Liv adn I were not sure we wanted to because no one in our house were going to because no one in our house plays because it is a Hindu religon. But at we sat up on the roof top and watched all the other families playing throwing water balloons from the roofs colorful people running through the streets playing music and we sat with our silent Christian family watching ike Debbie Downers, i then decided that I could not miss out on the fun! So as Olivia and I stepped outside it was as if these entire town had been waiting for us and a crowd of 20 people came running twoards us with red and yellow tika and that was the moment when I ingested about a pound of tika.
It was sooo much fun and I am thrilled that we did it, even though the kids were a little wary of us afterwards but you can't blame them, they ahve been tought that it is sinful act. But I'm all for the sinful acts so I got into it! After we cleaned up a little bit and got my bags together and said goodbye to the kids. They were fine (I was not) but apparently Karouna slept in my bed the night I left. This broke my heart a little.
But now i am in Chitwan.
ahhh Chitwan, how I describe Chitwan. Well lets start with the bus ride. Once I got of the bus from Kathmandu I then met up with the people from Hope and Home that stay here. Sonjiv and Bicas. Two very quite guys btu I was told that I will spend all my time with them and that they will soon become like brothers. There is one American who is from West Point and took 2 years off to be a missionary... my heart stopped for a minute and I thought...oh no. Another David. But he is very diffrent. he would love to talk baout it with me and will debate things but he doesn't preach which i truly appreciate. Then there is Will from england. He is 19 on his gap year and I just want to knpw why it is that every kid from Europe does this but we don't. I feel like I did the whole college thing wrong because I didn't do "Gap year". Anyways we then got on our bus to take us to Padam Phokari, the villagewe will be living in. To get there we had to climb on the top of the bus and ride with everyone on there. I was told to watch out for branches (sorry mom and dad I know this is killing you but everyone does it, I broke under peer pressure!). Along with branches I was told to watch out for more Tika ( holi day last for 2 days) and since I haven't been able to shower in 3 I am pretty foul! My hair is red again and it's also dreeded. Just how I want to make first impressions.
So after the bus ride I went on the 45 minute long walk down a rocky road. Carrying my luggage was just sooo much fun! the guys kept offering to help and I said no and they just kept saying "crazy American girls." I guess I should have said yes because now my hands are all blistered. Whatever I look tough!
So we get to the town and I walk over this beautful river and immediatly realize... there is no honking, no smog, no burning trash smell. Everything is clean!!! Baby goats run everywhere along with puppies! Everyone is waving hello and not asking me to buy stuff! And apparently the water is clean so i can drink straight fromthe well.
It was at this point I realized I was in heaven. Warm 80 degree clean water filled heaven.
The houseI am staying at is called the library house. It's a library because it has about 5 books in it, 3 of which are fromthe Twilight series. But my room is wonderful! Mike it looks like it's outof a little princess! With bright colors and canopies! and this is the house apparntly that all the voluneers come to hang out at, so last night,not only did I get to hang out with people playing cards and drinking (tea of course) but I also stayed up till 11. Crazy since my bed time these days is usually 8.
Right now I am the only volunteer in the house but this afternoon more people are coming. 2 Mikes and an Emma. Pretty easy to remember. Apparently here, I will not be working in an orphange but helping tutor kids who will come to the library house to study before and after school. I tried to explian to them "I went to art school. NO MATH OR SCIENCE!" So hopefully that won't be an issue.
Sonjiv's mom lives in town and she is the person who cooks all of my meals. And yes it's still Dalh Bhat, but it's so much better then the stuff back in Kathmandu. This had cutrries and a bunch of veggie sin it and some how just tastes soo amazing. She cooks on a wood stove that is on the floor as she cooks me dinner and sit in her yard and help feed her baby goats that were just born. I know I keep repeating myself here and that it is only the 2nd day. But I am heaven. Today Sonjivhad to go into town to get the other volunteers and he was like, go hang out with Aama (mom) and take care of my baby goats and I was like "OK!!!"
Now I am not Maria, I'm Hiedi tending to Grandfather's goats. Except in this case Grandfather is Sonjiv's uncle who at 10 am in still drunk from the night before and I try to tell him in Neplai "Khnane Khnane Bhiyo!" which means eat something!
I think this is a magical place.
Then I passed a store called Fabulous Fab World and I was a little happier.
It had been a good last day though. We celebrated Holi Day. A day where people thow Tika paint at you and you love it. At first Liv adn I were not sure we wanted to because no one in our house were going to because no one in our house plays because it is a Hindu religon. But at we sat up on the roof top and watched all the other families playing throwing water balloons from the roofs colorful people running through the streets playing music and we sat with our silent Christian family watching ike Debbie Downers, i then decided that I could not miss out on the fun! So as Olivia and I stepped outside it was as if these entire town had been waiting for us and a crowd of 20 people came running twoards us with red and yellow tika and that was the moment when I ingested about a pound of tika.
It was sooo much fun and I am thrilled that we did it, even though the kids were a little wary of us afterwards but you can't blame them, they ahve been tought that it is sinful act. But I'm all for the sinful acts so I got into it! After we cleaned up a little bit and got my bags together and said goodbye to the kids. They were fine (I was not) but apparently Karouna slept in my bed the night I left. This broke my heart a little.
But now i am in Chitwan.
ahhh Chitwan, how I describe Chitwan. Well lets start with the bus ride. Once I got of the bus from Kathmandu I then met up with the people from Hope and Home that stay here. Sonjiv and Bicas. Two very quite guys btu I was told that I will spend all my time with them and that they will soon become like brothers. There is one American who is from West Point and took 2 years off to be a missionary... my heart stopped for a minute and I thought...oh no. Another David. But he is very diffrent. he would love to talk baout it with me and will debate things but he doesn't preach which i truly appreciate. Then there is Will from england. He is 19 on his gap year and I just want to knpw why it is that every kid from Europe does this but we don't. I feel like I did the whole college thing wrong because I didn't do "Gap year". Anyways we then got on our bus to take us to Padam Phokari, the villagewe will be living in. To get there we had to climb on the top of the bus and ride with everyone on there. I was told to watch out for branches (sorry mom and dad I know this is killing you but everyone does it, I broke under peer pressure!). Along with branches I was told to watch out for more Tika ( holi day last for 2 days) and since I haven't been able to shower in 3 I am pretty foul! My hair is red again and it's also dreeded. Just how I want to make first impressions.
So after the bus ride I went on the 45 minute long walk down a rocky road. Carrying my luggage was just sooo much fun! the guys kept offering to help and I said no and they just kept saying "crazy American girls." I guess I should have said yes because now my hands are all blistered. Whatever I look tough!
So we get to the town and I walk over this beautful river and immediatly realize... there is no honking, no smog, no burning trash smell. Everything is clean!!! Baby goats run everywhere along with puppies! Everyone is waving hello and not asking me to buy stuff! And apparently the water is clean so i can drink straight fromthe well.
It was at this point I realized I was in heaven. Warm 80 degree clean water filled heaven.
The houseI am staying at is called the library house. It's a library because it has about 5 books in it, 3 of which are fromthe Twilight series. But my room is wonderful! Mike it looks like it's outof a little princess! With bright colors and canopies! and this is the house apparntly that all the voluneers come to hang out at, so last night,not only did I get to hang out with people playing cards and drinking (tea of course) but I also stayed up till 11. Crazy since my bed time these days is usually 8.
Right now I am the only volunteer in the house but this afternoon more people are coming. 2 Mikes and an Emma. Pretty easy to remember. Apparently here, I will not be working in an orphange but helping tutor kids who will come to the library house to study before and after school. I tried to explian to them "I went to art school. NO MATH OR SCIENCE!" So hopefully that won't be an issue.
Sonjiv's mom lives in town and she is the person who cooks all of my meals. And yes it's still Dalh Bhat, but it's so much better then the stuff back in Kathmandu. This had cutrries and a bunch of veggie sin it and some how just tastes soo amazing. She cooks on a wood stove that is on the floor as she cooks me dinner and sit in her yard and help feed her baby goats that were just born. I know I keep repeating myself here and that it is only the 2nd day. But I am heaven. Today Sonjivhad to go into town to get the other volunteers and he was like, go hang out with Aama (mom) and take care of my baby goats and I was like "OK!!!"
Now I am not Maria, I'm Hiedi tending to Grandfather's goats. Except in this case Grandfather is Sonjiv's uncle who at 10 am in still drunk from the night before and I try to tell him in Neplai "Khnane Khnane Bhiyo!" which means eat something!
I think this is a magical place.