I’ve been trying to post for a week, but the internet has been absolutely terrible and I’ve had no luck getting any photos up on the blog. Anyway, I have to give up on the photo thing for now because otherwise I’ll never post again. Hopefully, I’ll make it back into the tourist district soon, where I can get a better internet connection and also real coffee – a nice two for one deal.
As I wait for my photos to load, I am sitting at my desk watching my coworkers debate about the soccer shirts they’ll be wearing on Saturday for the big soccer game between the older and newer ECCA counselors. It’s infinitely more interesting than the work I’m doing at ECCA this week – researching the types of U.S. funding available for the organization. Though this is the agreement I made with ECCA as part of my internship experience, it’s by far my least favorite part of my time here. I am thankful, however, that this work is not the norm for me here. Most days I am traveling to schools or attending workshops or working on various projects. I’m also taking some time off from ECCA once or twice a week to visit the work sites of several of the Canadian volunteers that I traveled to Chitwan with. Tuesday, I visited another orphanage on the outskirts of the city – an experience that was heartbreaking and maddening – and tomorrow I am spending half of the day at the day care center that I wrote about earlier. I’m also going to be visiting another orphanage and several other centers for malnourished or conflict-affected children.
I am looking forward to Saturday’s soccer game (I’m watching – I can’t imagine that my complete lack of soccer experience would be useful to either team) – but it’s still amazing to me that everyone is willing to spend their one day a week that they have “off” with each other at various events. Last Saturday there was a tree planting campaign, this Saturday is the soccer game, and next Saturday is “ECCA Day,” where they celebrate 22 years in operation. There’s no such thing as personal time here, but everyone is okay with it except for me, the foreigner who definitely needs her space. One of my coworkers is getting married this week (it’s a process that basically takes a full week), so I’ll be spending several evenings with everyone at these events as well. I’ve always thought of myself as a social person, but this can definitely be draining, though less so, when you don’t speak the language well and thus, aren’t expected to participate in most conversations.
I’ve lost track of how many weeks I’ve been in Nepal, but I have just about a month left before the adventure ends and I return back to my “real” life in the U.S. Though I continue to adapt and love the experience, I’m a little worn out from the heat, the rain, the load shedding, and the effort it requires to get things done around here. What’s more, about a week ago, my stomach decided that it disagrees with Nepali food. How fantastic! The last five or six days, I haven’t been able to stomach anything remotely related to rice or curry. This means that I’ve raided the grocery store near my work for anything with an English label, in hopes of forcing my stomach to recover by eating familiar foods. Unfortunately, the selection of American options is less than ideal. However, this has not in any way stopped me from purchasing the following items:
Pringles Potato Chips, Lays Potato Chips, Movie Theatre popcorn, Macaroni and Cheese, Nutella, Peanut Butter, Cup a Soup, Nescafe, Cereal, and Sprite
Of course, my stomach doesn’t exactly love these foods either, but it’s the lesser of two evils at the moment. Hence the reason I’m having a peanut butter and nutella sandwich and a Cup a Soup for lunch today, instead of dal bhat. My coworkers are amused and also slightly disgusted. Also, thanks to the huge number of off-limits cows that are roaming the streets of Kathmandu, I've never wanted a steak so much in my life.
I feel as though this blog post is kind of everywhere today, so I’m going to end it here. I have a lot more that I could write, but it’s so much easier to write about it when you have pictures to illustrate what you’re talking about.
Love, Lisa
*Also, Happy 4th of July! I was planning to celebrate the 4th in Nepal by going to a bash at the U.S. Embassy, which advertised “barbeque, fajitas, desserts, and drinks.” Because nothing says Happy Day of American Independence like Mexican fajitas, right? I didn’t end up going, but I still celebrated by eating ice cream and playing badminton, which is about as close as you can get. I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends and ate a lot of fantastic American food!
Hang in there!
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