Birthday Memories

I was not sure of what to expect for a Nepalese birthday. It was just like home. Ramita and Rabindra made chicken drumstick, fried potato fingers, rice and some other chicken thing then I had a birthday cake!!! With candles!!! So excited and a little overwhelmed, the kids sat around and Mama (Rabindra’s mom) led the Happy Birthday song. It was the most heart touching thing. Mama and I, despite our language barrier (we play sharades with everything), share nothing but laughter and spend most of our time with the four kids - Patrike, 9, Palista, 4, and the other two, 9 and 14 months. I still can not pronounce their names, let alone try and spell it.

Birthday aside, I have mostly been working on this outdoor school project. There is so much to learn and so many people to meet that I’m usually ready for bed by 7. I have already met a handful of the wealthiest Nepalese (excluding NGO’s and government officials) and discovering the true Nepalese life. I live with the family in Gwarko Village – the village is separated from Kathmandu by a road so it may appear who it sounds.

Each day I walk about 20 minutes to the centre of Patan, the world heritage sight of the most beautiful, live-in structures I have ever seen. The three foot wide alley ways, the 4 foot high doors, the wood carved temples, homes, and random structures. I sat in a café and took a photo out my window. Surrounded by western lifestyles and tourist wealth, the people here place little interest in the mountains other than their 33 million gods...and for most, the Internet is just another god. I feel that tourists forget that they are in a third world country. The money that comes from tourism goes only to the wealthy like government – international funds seem to solely go to the UN, or other international Aid agencies who cash in from the World Bank. It would be ironic to think that the average Nepalese in the mid-upper class has more money in the bank than the average mid-upper class Canadian or American. Ironic and true.

My walk throughout Patan offers the radical images of poverty, happiness, and simplicity. A skinned goat’s head on the butcher’s window, the baby taking a poop in the street, the dogs taking claim to territory, the WWF posters and swimsuit girls, the nine year old carving stone for the local hotel, the tiny kid riding a 21” bike, and of course, the beautiful smiles from all the kids I pass.

So next week, I am off to visit Pokhara and Chitwan about 200km west of Kathmandu. I am excited to get out of the city again and back into the natural world.

To Joe:
Hey Joe, I met one of the bosses for Nepal tourism and he is offering me all the resources they have developed regarding eco-tourism and sustainable village tourism. I am for sure having a blast meeting some of the most locally influential people in Nepal. I leave this weekend to meet the location of our water activities (canoe lessons) and to the Jungle for Forest Projects. Fun fun!
Cheers,
Carly