bringing the kids out today

it's been a couple of days since my last entry coz the last few days have just sort of whizzed by and just didn't have the chance to come online. yesterday was the last day of Tihar festival which means all offices / schools will resume tomorrow. it's been quite fun seeing how people celebrate the festival here. the 5 days of celebration here have different meanings. first day was a day dedicated to crows, 2nd day to dogs, 3rd day to cows, 4th day to lakshimi (wealth god i think), and yesterday was for brothers. (meaning people give puja to their brothers at home.) sugandha's family didn't really celebrate the festival coz his mum passed away 2 months ago and they are supposed to be in mourning for one year.

however, yesterday we had a pleasant surprise coz whilst me and chase were just cleaning up / stoning in our room, susanna came to call us to join them in their uncle's house (the house next door which has a connecting door to ours). they were singing and dancing in nepali with guitars, tablas, and all the uncles, aunties, cousins were all there. they couldn't have a formal celebration, but having a small gathering was fine. we joined in for a bit, and ate newari food. the food was quite tasty.

after that, ajit (susanna's cousin) showed me pictures on his computer - then only i realised how big Tihar festival is coz in last yr's pictures, their family had such a big-d0.

anyways, another interesting thing about Tihar is that all the people's houses are lit up with flashing bulbs like christmas and kids form small groups to go singing from house-to-house, asking for money in return. even in thamel, these kids go from shop to shop to ask for money. quite amusing coz most of them get turned away but they still continue for the fun of it.

speaking about thamel, we went to thamel last saturday to stay for a night in one of the guesthouses since saturday is our off day. apparently this is what all the volunteers do, so that they can take a nice hot shower and sort of recharge themselves. sylvia wanted to bring us to a nicer guesthouse but now's peak season so the nicer ones were booked out. eventually we settled for a dodgy looking one but at least it had hot shower and it was really cheap. showered twice and really scrubbed myself!!! we treated ourselves to some nice pizza in the afternoon, had a nice dinner at a restaurant called pilgrim's - vegetarian food but absolutely awesome, great environment as well. met up with kelvin for a bit, coz he happened to come to kathmandu for a holiday. after one full week of chaos here, it felt really good to see a familiar face...very comforting. thamel looked really beautiful with all the lights and candles lighting the shops, less cars, less dust coz it rained in the day, and for the first time, I really understood why this place attracted so many hippies as it really had its own beauty and mysticism that I originally didn't see amidst the chaos and poverty of this city.

about the orphanage, we went with anne to her orphanage last sunday, and was even more appalled at the conditions. the kids here are much younger and most of them don't go to school yet. there were 3 babies that were just left crawling all over the room, peeing all over the place and no one really seemed to bother. the kids here are very different from our orphanage coz they are more attention-seeking and will grab you, pull you for your attention. there's no piped water to this place, so they have to take water from the communal water area and thats why i guess the kids don't really clean themselves. hung around for a couple of hours and the 3 of us were really so exhausted after that. but the kids were just lovely, u really need a lot of patience teaching them their ABCs. or even how to spell. den was also at our orphanage for the remaining days, giving them pencils, notebooks etc, helping them with their spelling, playing games, singing songs, etc. oh yes, the kids here don't blow their noses, i think for the simple reason that most places don't sell tissue!!!! i had to stock up on tissue whilst i was in thamel at one of those foreign supermarkets. for those who remember, you should know how sensitive my nose is. anyways, couldnt resist giving tissue to the kids to get them to blow their noses but failed attempt as they just smudged mucus all over their face. sigh...

managed to do a bit of sightseeing amidst all that. went to patan (another old city area - didn't really like it coz it was just too dusty and dirty). and also managed to go to swoyambunath (a stupa on top of a hill, had to climb steps like batu caves to reach it, and its a place filled with monkeys. got some really nice pics)

generally, a lot of things been happening and the days just been flying past. i do understand why sylvia's been complaining about this place coz she's been here for 2 months and its really quite emotionally taxing. on one hand, u have to juggle your volunteering placement, and on the other hand you got to deal with all the chaos happening around you. to get to thamel, we need to change 2 buses. only costs 9 rupee per ride. it was quite an experience and novelty to blend in with the locals, but i guess after 2 months of it everyday, (she needs to do it everyday coz her placement is teaching english at a monastery somewhere close to thamel), it does get to you. the pple will try to hassle you, stare at you, but most of all, its just the polluted air that really hits u.

thankfully, according to sugandha, my teaching placement is within walking distance from our house, so thats not too bad. will only start teaching on friday coz thats when school starts. but at least now its holidays, so got to hang around with the kids at the orphanage a bit more.

well, wanted to keep this post short, but i guess it will never be coz there's just so much thats happening here. me and anne decided to go for a 4 day trek at the edge of kathmandu valley, in 2wks time, coz we felt it would be nice to get some clean fresh air after all this. won't be going to solokumbu (mount everest regions) coz its quite far from kathmandu, need to fly or take a full-day bus to reach there.

anyways, thats about all that i can remember for now. probably might be able to come online a bit more in the next couple of days. till then......appreciate the hot showers back home!!!!!