Lamjung

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..Okumaya devam et