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Asia-Pacific 2017

January - May 2017
A 127-day adventure by Kirsti Read more
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  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 8

    Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 18, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Another good day today. Though I thought that being away from the pollution would have helped my cough, it only seems to be getting worse.. But, maybe I has to get worse before it can get better!

    At the school today was more rehearsal of dance and song for the performance. I really should find out when that is. In the afternoon all the students participated in a number of different games to keep active. Running races, soccer, volleyball, anything to get the blood moving. The cutest thing was the little kids games! The parents tied balloons to their legs and had them stomp them out, adorably. Wish I had had my phone on me to video it or take some pictures! But my phone was "dead" today. Too many students wanted to use it to play games. Looking at photos of home, okay but not games and movies and fighting over who gets to use it. So tomorrow maybe I'll forget it at home ;) After school two girls showed me a different way back that was literally a walk through the Jungle. So cool! The only problem with the place is that it's so hard to photograph, nothing looks as good in the photos as they do in real life!

    Oh, I should mention that I also learned to eat with my hand today. Actually much easier that I'd have thought! And clean. And actually somehow tastes better than using a spoon as I had been previously.. Maybe because now I'm feeling the food in addition to tasting it? Who knows! Next task to master will be the squat toilet... Or not. Maybe I'll just keep some of my western ways ;)

    I also had my first experience chasing a baby goat.. They aren't as heavy as you might expect. And it's day 3 of no coffee, no meat, no alcohol, no processed foods, only eating what is grown here. I look forward to seeing how well I feel after a few weeks of this!    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 9

    Parent Day, Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 19, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Today was what they called Parent Day at the school. Parents were invited to come in the afternoon and see their children participate in a sports day type event.

    I learned that the school once had 200 children in attendance but now only has 50. This is because of young folk leaving to the city for further schooling and employment opportunities. As a result, there are many empty homes in the villages. This is also the oldest school in the area, being about 63 years old. The Nepalese use a different calendar than we do, while we are in the year 2017 they are in the year 2073. The first school system was set up in Nepal only about 75 years ago by Americans. If you're interested in the Nepalese calendar this link explains it: http://www.ashesh.com.np/nepali-calendar/

    So, to celebrate the school's anniversary students from two neighbouring schools came to us for activities. The students walked for 2 hours to get here. The activities started out with a "trivia" game where students from the different schools answered questions related to their studies in a contest... Why can't I remember the name of the show it reminded me of? First team to get the answer presses a bell and then answers? Anyway, the students were very into it and got quite noisy cheering.

    Next a girl from our school, Susana, performed a traditional Nepalese dance. It was beautiful! All the practicing they were doing all week really paid off. Part of the dance was for audience members to come up and put money in her hair while she was dancing. Most of the money ended up on the floor but it was the idea that counts right? Next a boy did a traditional dance and the same idea with the money. Wish I could have taken a video or something. But they sure know how to move! Dance and song is very important to their culture, they could hardly believe it when I said that it isn't really something that we do at home..

    After this there were some strength games involving a Bamboo pole that students and parents (and they tried to get me to do it! I dunno, seems like it would be bad for my knee...) had to climb to the top. Once a number were successful at reaching the top they put oil on the pole to make it more difficult. Not a single person made it to the top after that ;)

    Finally, there was a role call type event and all the students received gifts of money, new books, etc. They were all very excited! I hear that tomorrow will have even more people there to celebrate.. That will be interesting! I kind of just go with the flow here, not really understanding much. I am noticing that while people here pronunciate English very well and have a basic understanding, as soon as you say something slightly different then they have been taught they freeze and walk away. I think that some encouragement is needed to make them more comfortable with the language and not just speaking scripted conversations. Seems like they have only had one or two English teachers in the past that were fluent, most only had a basic knowledge.. So I need a game plan!

    Oh, one of their games was to hold a lit Candle and walk across the playing field without it going out! I've said it before, we're too uptight in Canada/US. These things would never fly, nor would the steep cliffs next to the school and playing field without any kind of walls to stop students falling. It's a learn by experience culture and breeds common sense.

    Satya was also as the celebration and we walked home before it was officially over to tend to some chores around the house. She showed me how to make Nepalese tea! Really quite simple, but delicious. Added to the kettle and boiled: water as required, 1 spoonful of raw sugar per cup of tea, about a tsp of tea leaves for 3 cups of tea. Pour through a strainer and serve! I took a picture of the tea that they use and will try to find some to bring home.

    After tea I helped Satya carry rice meal down to a neighbours place where they processed it on the spot to get rice! It was neat, I didn't know that's how it worked to be honest... This has been a real experience in really learning where food comes from, it's been great! There were streams of people bringing bags of rice meal for processing and I don't know how they measure how much rice you return with or how the man charges his customers but somehow we ended up with 2 bags of rice out of the whole thing. I also learned that the scarves the women wear serve a dual purpose and they use them to protect their heads from the ropes they use to carry the heavy sacs. Or, to makeshift a carry rope for a sac. The ropes sit on the top of your head and loop around the sac that is sitting on your back. So that the sac doesn't slip off you need to walk slightly crouched, but honestly you hardly feel the weight when it's carried like this! There was even a woman with a cane carrying a large bag.. Useful facts. The way of life here is full of things like this, useful, barebones, no fills living. Back to basics and I love it.

    For dinner Babita (mom of the house I'm staying at) made rice pudding, a special treat here. It's different than the rice pudding my dad makes, but equally as good! It is served hot and is literally rice cooked with milk and sugar. She also made a green leafy vegetable with garlic that honestly is my favourite. I think it's leaves from carrots? I'll find out..    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 10

    School Anniversary, Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 20, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Today was the big celebration at the school, celebrating the anniversary. The field was decorated with flowers and banners and looked quite nice. We showed up around 10am and I helped one of the teachers with editing some certificates that would be used later on in the celebrations.

    Around noon people started to arrive. From neighbouring schools and he community, looked like there were close to 400 people at one point? Maybe more, I'm not great at judging numbers. Even Satya and Grandma made their way down! It was quite the event. There were even people who had to travel by bus for an hour then hike 2 hours that made it. I found more people to talk with today as more people from cities made their way up and wanted to practice their English.

    The celebrations started with introductions of all the teachers that had made it from other communities. Then the remaining "guests" were invited up to the stage area to watch the festivities. I was included in that and was given a badge noting my guest status and a garland of flowers.

    The first activity was the pole climbing again! Except this time far more people participated, from the very young to the older gentlemen. I'm not sure who won the contest, I couldn't quite follow but I gather that's what drew a lot of the people from further away.

    Next, was dancing. I thought that yesterday's dancing was great, but today's was the real deal! Two girls danced, 4 girls sang, and one boy played a drum. That was what they had been practicing all week and they nailed it. Afterwards was a trivia game played by the women of the community, apparently relating to history, religion, etc. Clearly I couldn't follow but it seemed challenging. There were lots of uncertain responses and wrong answers it seemed. After the trivia was another dance performance this time with a boy and girl dancing in traditional dress. In both dances the audience members came and placed money in their hair while they continued to dance!

    I left before the festivities completely ended as it was more that I couldn't understand. I really wish I had a better aptitude for learning languages, would come in handy about now. I brought some biscuits back for Satya and grandma and made them tea. We found a "Intro to Nepali" book that I've been trying to study in the evenings.. But not working so well it's sounds are so different to anything I know. Dinner was good as usual and afterwards we sat and watched some tv for a while. Something about the history of the Hindu religion that I couldn't follow of course. Maybe soon!

    Tomorrow is a "holiday" equivalent to our weekend, though I think they may only have one day off. Satya leaves for Chitwan tomorrow which is actually quite sad, I enjoy her company! I had hoped to walk with them to Bhotewodar, the town at the base of the hill where she'll catch a bus, but my knees are giving me problems... Both are now painful while walking instead of just the one. I've been trying to take it easy and I really haven't been doing much but it doesn't seem to help. Wondering if part of it is all the sitting cross legged and squatting/crouching to sit and wash dishes etc I've been doing? In any case this is the worst possible place that it could happen. Not that I'm going to let it ruin my trip :)    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 11

    Free Day, Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 21, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today was a "holiday", a day off of school. So I spent it by walking into Bhotewodar with Satya. She had a bust to catch back to Chitwan, back to reality I suppose! We chatted on the walk down and didn't rush too much. When we got into town we visited with someone Satya knew with whom she had also left some items she needed to bring to Chitwan with her. During our conversation we made plans that I will visit her in Chitwan, a large nature park in Nepal where I'd be able to see some wildlife. I'll have to figure out how this will work; debating skipping Singapore this time around so that I might visit her. It will all depend on if I can even change my flights of course.. Anyone have any thoughts?

    After Satya caught her bus I wandered around a bit but didn't get too far. I was uncomfortable with everyone staring at me and just wanted to be alone for a while. I picked up some sugar, oil, and chicken for Beda & Babita, and a beer for myself before walking back up. Round trip was just over 8km with almost 650m of elevation gain. When I was close to the top I stopped at a lookout point where I enjoyed my beer and listened to some music. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon, I really enjoyed the downtime and haven't felt happier in a long time! Eventually I decided I needed to head back to the house and made the final climb which was the most intense part of course.

    When I got back home I had a "shower" with a bucket of water. Really makes you realize how much water we waste when we shower at home. We could definitely be more conservative! But, that doesn't change the fact that I'm looking forward to a proper shower again ;)    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 12

    Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 22, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    School again today! And I felt somewhat useful this time around ;) Now that the celebrations are over at school, classes are back to normal. Classes run in 40 minute sessions from 10am to 4pm. Much more logical time for classes to run than we had in school. I suppose it's partly because those are the middle of the daylight hours and apparently some of the teachers walk from town to school everyday.. That's dedication.

    I was given an English class and a Math class to teach; though I ended up being needed for something more urgent so didn't really get to finish either. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get to finish a class ;) Today I was needed for photo taking & editing for the "Class 8" passport photos. Then I was needed for internet research on a college website that was only in English and couldn't be translated. Honestly seems to be that my greatest skills to offer are those with computers and technology. I think mostly because the operating systems and instruction manuals for everything are in English so I'm able to navigate things easily. But, it's nice to be able to help! I struggle with the English lessons though and communication I'm general, I'm reminded of how I was taught French and how it wasn't really all that successful. Learning from books and learning to read text is all good but conversations need to be had as well! I try to engage students in conversation outside of classes and some respond very well and are eager to try and understand and others have no interest. Guess that's to be expected. Anyway! My own learning of the Nepali language is not going so well. I've been studying the basics but have such a hard time picking out words during conversations, most of what I get out of conversations is from body language. I do really like it here though! The teachers are lovely and I always seem to keep occupied somehow, even if it is just in deep thought ;)

    I'm starting to miss home a bit, mostly because I haven't had an in depth conversation with anyone since the random stranger on the flight to Kathmandu. Otherwise, being here is fantastic. I could see myself living this way to be honest. Maybe some principles will come home with me. I really haven't had any digestive issues or anything since arriving in Sirubari until today, some familiar pain returning. Must be either the alcohol or the meat that I had yesterday! I'm learning towards the meat though... Or the oil that it was cooked in. In any case, it's clear that I've managed to mostly eliminate my triggers and will have to keep it up at home! Randomly, writing about my day and what's going on here with me makes me miss home less. Knowing that there are a few people reading what I'm writing helps keep my sanity and English skills up to date ;)    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 13

    Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 23, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Today I learned exactly how inflexible I am. I've always had issues with flexibility but I didn't think I was bad as I am until trying to squat-sit for 3 hours... My back is killing me, my hips are sore, I need to stretch stat. It's just unusual positioning for us I suppose! At least I've accepted my limitations and can laugh with the locals ;)

    Today before school was corn husking.. The corn was from last season's harvest and has been sitting in storage so is dried out. It will be used to feed the Buffalo and make some flour and popcorn as well. Between grandma and I it took about an hour to get down to the cobs. Then after school we proceeded to take all the kernels off the cobs. That took 3 of us almost an hour and a half! Next step is to brig it to the mill but I think that'll have to wait until tomorrow as it's dark now. Like I said, I've really started to appreciate how much work goes into processing the food we eat on a daily basis.. In a way it's therapeutic to do it all yourself though I can't imagine ever having the time at home with our busy lifestyles. Especially when I decide to go back to school and work... Won't that be fun. ;) Another useful tool that they use here is... Not a clue of the name, but you can see it in the picture. It's a curved blade that you hold between your feet to cut things instead of using a knife. It is so much easier and works so well! Except of course that I can't see anyone at home using it in that manner. But, definitely works better than knives, in fact I don't think I've even seen a knife in their kitchen now that I think about it, I'll have to look at dinner.

    School today was a bit more productive and back to a normal routine it seems. I can't be certain, but it seems as though there are more classes than there are teachers. The teachers were in a staff meeting for the majority of the morning so I was off with Class 4&5 going over some English (and a few math) things. When there isn't a teacher for a blocked out lesson students self teach themselves from workbooks. Which personally I would have loved at school, but some of the students of course take advantage and just copy their classmates homework. Remind you of your own school days? It's challenging teaching the younger kids English I will say that! At the beginning there were some communication issues but I think I've figured out their level now and we had smiles going by the end of the class because they were mostly understanding the material. I was also able to put my computer skills to good use again today! And I was told that I need to stay longer so I can continue to help, felt like quite a compliment considering I don't think I really did all that much :)

    One of the highlights of today was finding a spot at the school that was private and also had a great data signal! Typically, I only get E for internet and it takes a good minute to load a simple Google search. And about 5-10 minutes for these posts to upload. But now I know the sweet spot so maybe I'll be able to call home more often! I talked to Mom for a bit and it was great to hear a familiar voice and to have a conversation in fluent English <3 Because of the time change it was about 9:00pm for her, if anyone else is ever available at that time let me know ;) Over WhatsApp or Messenger! Actually I think I can call regular numbers too using Hangouts.. I'll look into it    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 14

    Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 24, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Another day at school! Special food notes: Babita made this donut type thing called "sel roti" it was a nice treat first thing in the morning with tea! Spoiled again in the afternoon after school, she made popcorn from the kernels that were a result of the work we did yesterday. (Beda took the whole kernels to the mill first thing this morning) oh, and apparently I can handle more spice than I thought! I think I impressed the staff at lunch by eating two chillies without even thinking about it. I guess they're not used to us volunteers liking hot foods!

    A highlight of today was having the chance to talk to Alanna and also to Karolina! Short as the conversations were it was nice to hear from home, I'm going to have to find a way to sneak away from school longer so I can talk more!

    I definitely am enjoying school much more these last couple days, teaching English and helping with computers is exactly what I love doing. The computer part especially ;) Word + Excel + good company? Why not. It's fun! Mom sent me some photos of home yesterday so that I could show some students who were asking to see where I lived. They all say that it's a beautiful home, which I suppose it is! Sure does look nice in photos, though I thought I left my room cleaner than I did...

    Something that bothered me today was 4 girls saying that they were ugly because of their skin colour. That they wanted whiter skin to be prettier. I can't believe that that's still a thing. Four young, beautiful girls with self esteem issues because of their colour?! It makes me angry that they think that... I made sure to tell them they were beautiful of course but if I remember being their age, what I say won't change their minds.

    I had a chance to talk to Beda today about how long I'll be here for and I think I finally have a plan sorted unless things change again of course, which I'm totally open to, flexibility is key this trip ;) I'm going to Chitwan to see Satya from February 11-15 which gives me 2 days in Kathmandu before I leave for Singapore. I need those 2 days to do some shopping I've been putting off, to find a post office to mail some things home, to do some laundry, and to maybe maybe do a flight to see Everest and maybe maybe a downhill bike tour! I know I said I wasn't going to because of my knee, but... If it's holding up okay I really can't pass up the opportunity!!! Who knows when I'll get the chance to get back to Nepal, though I can tell you already that I would love to come back. The people are so peaceful and the life so healing that I would definitely come back. I also think that I will try to visit Pokhara in the next few weeks before I leave for Chitwan. Apparently only a day is needed to visit, though it is about 5 hours away (walking + bus). It's another city in Nepal that hosts the 2nd largest lake in the country and apparently is quite beautiful. I'll try to time it over a Saturday so that I can only miss 2 days of school instead of 3. Getting there will be interesting... The bus system seems chaotic. I'll have to ask for help! The time seems to be slipping by, with one Saturday dedicated to Pokhara (hopefully) I only have one free day to fill! And that will probably be filled with doing laundry... I do hope to be able to hike up to the top of the mountain range here as well though and take in the views. Maybe I'll see if one of the teachers would be interested in showing me, if I can communicate my request of course.

    Anyway, I've already said far more than I thought I had to say! Oh but a fun fact for you Gary, no I haven't found any of your herbs, but I did hear a rumour about mushrooms growing around here...    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 15

    Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 25, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Doing more and more teaching at school it seems. Today was math and computers! There is actually a computer lab here with 3 working computers. Students are supposed to be practicing typing but are more interested in drawing pictures on Paint. Getting them to focus on a task with the language barrier is difficult, but I suppose we manage to get things done. I should add though, that both Math and Computer classes are taught entirely in English.

    Instead of eating lunch at the school the female teachers and myself went into the Village to a Wedding Party. The ceremony itself was yesterday from what I understand, and today was the party where the entire village was invited to participate. The couple was seated in front of a circle of offerings, bowls made of leaves filled with money, food, and flowers. Above the offerings was a very pretty knit cloth suspended by four Bamboo poles also covered in leaves and flowers. Seating with the couple were two older gentlemen, who were reading something from a book. For obvious reasons I couldn't take pictures and no one I was with spoke English well enough to explain what was going on. It was pretty though! At some cue that I missed we were invited to eat. And oh man was there a lot of food! The Nepali sure know how to eat... It's too much for me to be honest. But of course to refuse or not finish everything on your plate is offensive. I've eaten more each day here than I typically do in two days at home.. At least it's all healthy foods. Hoping that I don't gain a bunch of weight as a result.. I'm not really worried though, all the people here are so thin and they eat like this all the time! After school, some of the male teachers went down to the celebration. I was invited to go again but I declined. Oh! On our way back from eating at the party, myself and one other woman were walking back along the stairs in the picture, and were nearly attacked by monkeys! She grabbed a stick and started waving it at them and they backed off.. If I had been alone I don't even know how I would have reacted because I didn't know they would have approached us! Wish I had been able to get a photo, yes apparently I'm one of those people ;)

    In the evening, one of Beda's relatives, cousin I think, came over to talk to Grandma. She speaks no English and I speak no Nepali but we were trying to communicate. Eventually I pulled out a book for those learning Nepali and she showed me the pronunciation of a few words so I now know a whole 10 words, better than the 1 I did before ;) Actually, in writing the language is starting to make sense but I still can't translate what's said orally. Probably the day I leave is the day I'll make progress :P    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 16

    Senior School Festival, Sirubari, Lamjun

    January 26, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today started as normal, breakfast, walk to school. Go to classes, sneak away for a phone chat with Kris and Anita, then as I was on the phone one of the teachers walked by me and invited me to go to a festival at the senior school. So I went, and acheived one of my goals of walking up to the top our our mountain peak! The walk was 1km in distance with 250m elevation gain. All stairs really, and hot!

    And, I cannot even begin to describe how amazing the mountains are. It's just not possible to capture them on camera either though I did try.. I thought that because we grew up with the Rockies in the background I'd be hard pressed to be awed by another mountain range, I wasn't really by the Alps when we were in Switzerland. But the Himalayan mountains are something else. In part I think it's because of how dynamic they are, there are peaks and valleys everywhere rather than a more consistent line. Or maybe it only seems that way because I'm right in the middle of them, but I don't think so, it's completely different than our mountains at home. Another thing is how the mountains have been tamed. There are settlements and farms carved into every hillside that you can see. I think that's what amazes me the most: the sheer durability and resilience of the people who have made these mountains their own.

    The senior School is much larger than the basic school I've been at. It has two levels and probably 30 classes? There were a ton of people there. There's also a couple small markets carrying the basics that people might need such as soap, notebooks, snacks, shoes, etc. The festival itself was very similar to the one our school had to celebrate it's anniversary. There were 3 different groups that danced: one traditional with two girls, one more modern with four boys, and a lovers dance with two boys and two girls. The students doing the traditional dancing were older than our students and a bit more fluid and synchronized with their movements. Both were lovely though! I really enjoyed the dance by the boys, they just had so much energy and creativity. I can't think of what to compare the dancing to, but it was like something you'd see in a music video but to Nepali music. The lovers dance was super cute, and it looked like the couples preforming it were slightly nervous which made it even better. It was a slower dance and was more similar to dancing we know at home with partners moving together as one rather than two separate people doing the same dance. The dancing is definitely a highlight of these festivals for me considering that I can't understand anything else. I am starting to differentiate between words now and can pick out words and recognize sentence structure but I don't know what any of the words mean! Which means I still haven't a clue about what they're speaking about.

    During the festival there was a man dancing in the background to all the student performances who appeared a bit... Off his rocker. He later approached me and starting talking to me about things and then said that he likes me, loves me, wants to marry me. I would have been uncomfortable had Bobita not been sitting right next to me laughing. She later explained that he's just "mad" and not to pay any attention to him. It was entertaining at least I suppose! On the walk home I received a second offer from a different gentleman (who was also joking as he's married and has grandchildren) to marry. I'm beginning to think it's a common theme because of our limited language skills; every woman I meet also asks if I am married. I didn't walk home with Bobita, but with another woman from the village and when we reached her home she offered me tea and water. Her children are students at the school so we tried to talk a bit but my Nepali sucks! From her house I somehow made it home... It was a new route for me and by some miracle, or a better sense of direction than I thought I had, I made it home first try, picking all the correct paths at forks. That was kind of fun though! Maybe I'll start exploring a bit more around here. The only worry I have is accidentally ending up in someone's yard. When I was walking with the locals we wandered through so many random people's properties, and I do see random people pass through our property too, but alone I wouldn't be comfortable doing it.

    I made it back from the festival later than normal, and Beda and Bobita followed shortly afterwards. Bobita from the festival and Beda from town. Bobita had a couple friends over for dinner and she made rice pudding again yum! Beda had gone to town and bought some chicken and some Nepalese wine. After dinner Bobita went down to the village to a friends house and Beda, one of his friends, and myself shared some of the wine. And for anyone considering trying Nepalese wine in the future, it is not wine as we know it! Oh boy that has a kick. He bought it direct from the person who makes it and it came in a big plastic bottle with no label. It was fresh so it was warm when we were first drinking it and I think I actually prefer it that way strangely.. To drink Nepalese wine you must also have some snacks that you eat along with it, "slowly slowly" so that the wine doesn't hit you as hard I presume. We had some carrots, spinach, and chicken as our snacks. And while snacking you talk. The card games came after the eating and drinking was done. Apparently, they usually play for money but because I'm learning we skipped it. Thankfully.

    Anyway, back to the wine. It's not wine as we know it, it's made from millet and the percentage is somewhere between 20 and 30 I think. The taste is different. Reminded me of a cross between Grappa and Sake. Maybe with some hints of Port in there... For those of you who know me, none of those drinks are something I enjoy the taste of, but I preservered and began to enjoy the taste after the first cup was finished ;) Thankful for those afternoons of Scotch tasting right now! Didn't enjoy that either at first and now love it soooo maybe this will be the same. But, because you have to walk over an hour one way to get the wine and then carry it up, I can't imagine that it'll be a common occurrence. But, the evening was quite nice and relaxing! Definitely much needed. Reminded me of home and hanging out at the kitchen table just having a good time..    Read more

  • Kirsti MathiasenAsia-Pacific 2017
    Day 17

    Sirubari, Lamjung

    January 27, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Today it rained! And I loved it. It cooled down to what I considered a very comfortable temperature, but the rest were complaining about how cold it is. Cold enough that we were brought tea partway through the day by one of the ladies at the school :) Turns out Friday's are half days, so school ended about 1pm. I spent the day helping one of the teachers with some custom formatting in word/excel for report cards. New stuff for me too actually, but figured it out quickly enough!

    At home we had a quick lunch before the real rain started. In the time before the downpour, the sky was so clear that you could actually see across the valley to the other mountains! I hadn't realized how hazy it is here at other times. Pretty amazing. Then there was thunder, lightening, wind driven rain, and power outages. Pretty awesome actually. I love storm watching! After some time of watching the storm, Beda and I played a game of chess while he waited for the rain to clear so that he could go and cut some grass for the animals. I lost. But not horribly.. Just badly.. I think that it's been about 10+ years since I last played with Dad. But, oh well, it was good anyway, strategies will come back to me I'm sure.

    When the storm broke I was feeling restless and decided to go for a bit of a walk. I didn't go far but really wanted to just get out and move around. Starting to feel a little bit cooped up, not enough to do. But then at the same time, when I'm truly truly alone I absolutely love it. Like when I was walking and there weren't other people around or now when I'm writing just sitting alone. I really am happy with my own company. Good thing too else I'd be completely bored I think. With my luck, the rain started again while I was still walking. So when I got back home I curled up on my bed and got warm again, reading my book until dinner. After dinner I chatted outside with Bobita about random things for a while before heading to bed. Was good bonding time, she invited Mom and Dad to come visit as well!    Read more

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