Wednesday, March 30, 2011

When Everything Becomes Normal...

I've had a difficult time figuring out what to blog recently as since I've been stuck in Kathmandu working on writing projects. Why? The beginning of March is exam time, and mid March-mid April marks the end of the school year break, with schools resuming around April 20th. I had grand plans to go on a number of lengthy field visits, but when the schools are closed...

This leads to a quandary regarding blogging because everything's become so normal to me in the valley, that I'm not sure what to blog! Usually I look for things that are uniquely Nepal, or that catch my fancy, but when you've been here so long - it begins to feel like home, which means that things are no longer making me run to my computer to write about how there are cows on the streets, or how I'm pretty awesome at bargaining down taxis to a fare price. Or even how I saw a two men on a motorcycle, and the one on the back was holding a full length mirror in which I could see his face all the way down the road (while that was hilarious, I see funny motorbike scenes on a regular basis now, so it doesn't jump out at me like it would have before). But I felt like a blog post was needed, so I began to really think about the last several weeks and decided some things are worth sharing! Below is an amalgamation of things that stick out in my mind.

Swetha and I found a nice rock climbing wall in Kathmandu! We've been having a blast trying to tackle the routes and made friends with the guy who works there. He may even be happy to see us when we show up now! The wall's outdoor, which is difficult when it rains, but it's a great wall, standing at 51 feet, and has several walls made to trip up beginners - one is pretty easy until 15 feet in the middle where there are maybe 3 good holds (don't know who designed it, but they're hard to like when you get stuck there)!

Speaking of making friends, the wide-open friendliness of Nepal never ceases to amaze me. Some examples: There's a wonderful place where my friends and I sometimes go to get massages - they understand though we're foreign we're not making all that much money so we get Nepali prices - and last time we were there, the manager invited Swetha and I to a local restaurant. He wanted to share with us, and introduce (me), to thongba, a warm millet drink that is common amongst Tibetans (see more about it below). Not only that, but it turned out that Rosan (the manager) was from a small village Swetha needs to go for research, so he was a great resource. Another day, we went into a local fabric shop near our apartment and walked out with a discount at the local Pizza Hut (the store owner's daughter works there) and Swetha's promise to bring the owner's son his graduation gift (he's finishing school in Baltimore) when she returns there this summer.

About thongba. It's basically a small barrel filled with fermented millet and a straw. The server then pours hot water in the barrel which mixes with the millet and somehow makes a hot, alcoholic beverage. It's no wonder it's such a popular drink with people from Tibet - from what I hear, it's really cold up there! The small local restaurant where we went was packed to the rafters with people - forget about getting your own table, you grab a chair where you can find it! In the craziness, a guy from Slovenia joined our table, and we all ended up having a great conversation! Some pictures of thongba below:




Work this month (other than presenting in Goa) has pretty much consisted of working on organizing data, editing a proposal for the Syangja school funding, working on developing professional development materials, and verifying schools we won't get the chance to see in person.

April should be a breath of fresh air (literally!) as Swetha and I head to Dolpa - a very rural district bordering Tibet - for a combined research trip on migration patterns (Swetha), and a village with a huge deaf population (me). We still haven't managed to pinpoint the deaf village, but we're working on it! Hopefully when we're in Dolpa someone will have heard of it. Lots of trekking and no technology ahead in the next few weeks! And...almost as soon as I get back, my folks are coming! I am SO excited for my first visitors - especially mom and dad.

More posts coming after the trip to Dolpa - I can promise lots of pictures, it's supposed to be gorgeous!

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