Eeeep! Sorry about the long time since I last wrote. I havent had easy access to the internet, but its cheap… only less than an a dollar per hour. I am in Nepal and I really really really like it. But lets back track… shall we?
So as I was leaving Koh phangan, almost two weeks ago… to put my laziness in posting in perspective… I had some mishaps in getting off that lovely island. I lost the receipts for the bus/ferry and plane, and I never even picked up the ticket for the train. (its complicated to get off the island and to my next destination chiang mai, involving taxi, ferry bus,airplane, train, and yet another taxi). So I repurchased the ferry and bus ticket, I didnt need the receipt for the airplane and the travel agent was nice enough to reemburse me the cost of the train.
While in the Surat Thani airport departure lounge, I saw a mother arguing with her teen-aged daughters in Thai. after watching for a while, I realized that she was trying to convince them to put on their face masks that they thought were uncool, (they are… who are we kidding?) I at that moment had a slight tickle in my throat, which caused me to sneeze, nothing major, just a little sneeze, like mouse sized. I havent ever seen so many masks go on so fast in all my life! They even pointed at me. I think there may have been less of a reaction if they saw flashing lights and heard a ticking noise coming from my bag. Note to self, dont sneeze or cough in airports.
So in Chaing Mai, I arrived in the early early morning, about 4 am, before my hostel reception opened. but it was dark out and i was being eaten by mosquitoes so I came up with a solution and went to a hotel nearby that was super fancy-pants. They were very kind enough to bring me some complimentary banana bread and let me sit in their lobby. However, if you recall I just took 5 different form of transit and had been travelling for more than 24 hours… I felt like a grubby little dirt bag in comparison to my posh surroundings, so i left when it was light outside.
I met my friends that I ha made at the begining of my Thailand trip at the hostel Annette and Eric (Erica and I spent more of our thailand trips together, shes an amazing travel buddy). We did some hiking, I went zip lining! Saw some waterfalls, ate at a Thai BBQ where you grill/ boil your own food, the unfrefridgerated meat and seafood sitting out on tables for hours being being eaten was super sketchy, but none of us got sick, which was good. Chiang Mai was fun and at the end Annete , Erica and I went our separte ways and had a super sappy and girlie good bye.
I flew out of Bangkok and got to my final destination, NEAPL! Beacuse its monsoon, everything is so lush and green. Everywhere there is the sound of honking cars and motor bikes! They love their horns and use them to communicate all their automotive related messages. quite noisey, but im getting used to it.
NEVHO, the volunteer organization picked me up from the airport after the long wait to get my visa, which turned out to be 100 US as opposed to 30$. but oh well. The volunteering enabled me to stay in a hotel their friends owned which was quite nice, and a luxury in comparison to my dorm rooms. there is a trekking company in the hotel owned by a guy named Thakur, and I ate dinner with him. Hes a friend of the NEVHO people too. Nepali food isnt that spicy but they keep warning me about how spicy its going to be… maybe they’re holding out on me?
The next day I went to my little village about 40 minutes drive out from Kathmandu, Godawari. I have been struggling with a fair bit of culture shock here. Just seems that all of my instincts are the opposite of what im suppiosed to do. But they very nice to me here. I stay with a nice Nepali family who help me in any way they came. The mother and father seem to be in the their late 20′s and they’re names are Namrita and Depis respectively. They have a 20 month year old daughter, coincidently named Nikita. shes very adorable, but quite naughty. their mother and father live there too, but i dont know their names, I just call them mama and baba. my surrogate family. :~)
The orphange is very hard to be at. But as hard as it is, the children a really well emotionally adjusted and very sweet. they call me sister. they range in age from 2- 16 and the big kids hep to look after the little ones. My main job there is to just help the little kids, to be a ‘big sister’ and to help with their homework. the problem is that their english is so good, i can barely help them. They correct sentences that I see nothing wrong with. the 2 year old can count to 100 in english. there are 2 year olds in canada who cant do this! in school back home the kids write such arbitrary sentences to practice like “the house is red.” Here, they are so practical… writing things like “how do you know if you have dysentery?” and “which water sources are safe to drink from?’
I am trying to learn some Nepali, but my guide book doesnt really tell me how to say the kinds of things I need to say, like: ” do your homework” “can i fix your hair?” and ” dont eat paper”
I am really liking being here, but its been a hcallenge so far. There are somethings I dont like. Like they hit the kids quite a bit, the kids hit each other, they lock the toys up in a cubbord, they wait way too long to get the kids medicine and so on and so on. plus im not totally satisfied with my volunteer organizations allocation of money. but alas im already here, so ill keep going. :~)
anyhow, they have daily power outages in nepal, sometimes 2-3 a day, and Im super paranoid about losing htis post, so im stop here and put it up… really no editing, sorry.
PS!!! I booked a flight home and will arrive in Toronto on Friday September 4th at 12 noon ish. more details to come.
lots of love, nic
