A trip to India

According to what people say, Nepalgunj is the hottest place in Nepal, but the last few weeks it has not been warm at all, I have to say. I can't remember when I last felt so cold. The cold is due to the mist that comes down like a wet sheet over the Terai, the flat land on the southern border of Nepal, and not even in the middle of the day do the skies clear. Day after day has passed without the sun coming out once and that makes it very cold and damp, both outside and, and especially, inside the houses. You have to wear a lot of layers and make sure you have a good down cover in your bed!


I had a most wlecome break from the cold and the mist when I went to Jaigaon in West Bengal, India in January. I have been there once before, to conduct a training for the the teachers at Ebenezer Academy. That was back in January 2005 and now they had asked me to come back to do a follow-up, and to conduct a new training or workshop.


The school is in the same compound as a small church and the director of the school, Mr Lama and his family, are actively involved in both the school and the church. The Headmistress, Mrs Sharma, is a Hindu from Nepal, living in Bhutan (Jaigaon is right on the border to Bhutan) The staff at the school is a great mixture of people of Nepali, Indian and Bhutanese origin, Hindus and Christians. Actually the whole town is a fantastic blend of old and new, different nationalities and religions. The most amazing thing is that, though the town is at least four hours drive from the Nepali border, Nepali language is understood and used almost everywhere, and that makes it ever so much easier for someone like me!




The training was mainly on Maths and "Values", i.e how can we make the children talk about what they think and feel, and make them discuss values and ethics. The school had sent me a list of subjects they wanted me to cover already in October and I found it could be summarized into two questions or issues: "How to make Maths teaching fun and interesting?" and "How to you handle kids that are different". Well, the actual wording was "How to handle unruly kids?" and I realized fairly soon that what they meant by "unruly kids" was not exactly what I understood it to be!

I'm not sure what the teachers really made out of my "Value activities" or whether they will be able to use them in their work with the "unruly kids", but I do know that the teachers thoroughly enjoyed the Maths games that we played. Even the games that involved using playing cards they liked and thought were good- but if they are brave enough to use them with the students, I don't know. Parents can be fairly conservative and cards games are definitely not counted as something good in any subculture here!




Although I felt well prepared before I left for India I had to spend most of my free time preparing for the next session of the training. Most of the time I did that at the hotel were I was staying. I think the staff there found me a bit "particular" as I was spending so much time in my room, at the computer. Maybe they thought I was some kind of spy?


I ate a whole lot as well. Every day Mrs Lama prepared and served a great meal at lunch time. It was Nepali and Bhutanese food, and very tasty! I had as much as I possibly could and I really enjoyed it. Last time a was in Jaigaon I was not well and I couldn't appreciate the food so this time I was trying to make up for that!


Also at the hotel I had a lot of good food. One night I ordered a "thali" and got all this. I must admit I couldn't finish it all. Some of it was pretty hot, or "piro", as well, and not at all adapted for foreign "tourists"!


The flight home was something extra! On the way down to the border I had seen Everest from the plane but it was not at all as exciting as the flight back to Nepalgunj from Kathmandu. What a country this is! I took more photos during that than I had done during the whole week in Jaigaon. Even if some of them are not that good, they were shot through the rather greasy window after all, they tell you something of the beauty - and the hardship- of Nepal.

Walkabouts

One thing that is good about the Terai, the flat land in the southern part of Nepal, is that is easy to walk and cycle about. I have done quite a lot of walking and recently I bought a bike to get a bit further.

One morning in November I decided to talk a walk in the forest behind the army camp. I had been there before and my intention was to take the same path as before even if it wouldn't really take me in to the forest properly.

When I got to the open area just behind the army camp I met some of the soldiers and, as usual, they were interested in were I was going. They told me there was another path through the forest and said it was easy to find and would take me back to the airport. I decided to give it a try and set out on the path.

To start with it was quite easy to follow and there were lots of birds and I was happy. It was so peaceful in the forest and cool and fresh.

After awhile the path got smaller but it was still no problem to follow it. It got increasingly difficult to see the birds though as the bushes were growing denser and denser.

Then it started to become difficult. The path divided and it was becoming more and more narrow.

Suddenly I came to an open space in the forest. The only problem was that I couldn't find the path going out at the other side! I was trying a few possible options but they all disappeared and could not be followed. In the end I decided that my only option was to go right through and try to find the river that must be somewhere near.

I could have done with a machete or something but in the end I got through anyway- only to find that the bank of the river was very steep and that it was only possible to follow it south, which was not really the way I wanted to go.

I followed the river south and eventually I got a place were a road crossed the river. I followed a man who was walking up from the river and came back to the place were I had met the soldiers before.

It was now about 3,5 hours later but the soldiers were still there and they came up to me and asked why I was coming that way, I should have been at the airport by now? When I told them about my adventures in the forest their reply was: Didn't you bring a map?- I didn't even now that such things as orientation maps existed in Nepal but apparently the army had one for this particular area. I don't think it would have been of much help actually.

"You should have turned left, not right at that open space in the forest", they told me....


Some weeks later I decided to cycle to the new bridge across the Rapti River. I had been there once before but that time I had come from town on a motorcycle. This time I iwas going to go through the field and the small villages along the dirt roads I knew must be there. I checked it all out in Google Earth first and wrote down the turns and distances on a piece of paper. I soon found that the roads had changed a bit but I was able to ask people about the way and I had a great trip. It's so easy to cycle and even if the road was very rough in places I managed to get were I wanted.

I wasn't alone on the road and along the road I met a lot of nice people. I saw eight vultures as well which was a great sight. It turned out there was a dead cow in the village above which I had seen them.

When I got to the main road, that is the road going from Nepalganj to the river I was surprised to see so many people heading the same way I I was. There were horse drawn "tongas", motorcycles, cycles and tractors. Lots of people were walking as well. It turned out there was a "mela", a kind of fair, somewhere near the river!

In the small river before Rapti (the same one as the one I followed when I was out walking) I saw one of the rides you could have at the fair; the tractor was driving at high speed and the water was splashing all over the people in it. Lots of fun it looked like.

I never went to the mela. Considering the crowds I say going there I thought it would just be too much. Instead I had my lunch at the shores of the Rapti and as I was eating a boy came and talked to me. he told me about the bridge, about his exams, about the flu in Nepalganj and about the tractors loaded with rice from India that were standing there waiting for the strike, or "chakka jam" to be lifted. He was really nice.

I cycled back home through the fields and was glad to have had such a nice day.

A day in Nepalgunj

I have now been here in Nepalgunj for about six weeks and I thought it would be nice to tell you something about my life here. This is the story of an ordinary Friday. It could be any weekday for that matter.

I wake up around 5.30 - 6.00 and my day always starts with me checking my email and the new enteries on Facebook. I do that while I'm still in bed and waiting for the water to get hot in the water heater. It's only around 16 - 20 degrees outside during the night now so I need hot water for my morning shower.





Breakfast is prepared. It usually consists of yogurt with pieces of apple and sultanas. As I can't get any bread here I usually have an egg as well. Well, since last Friday I actually have a miracle oven and can make my own bread so that is going to change my breakfast habits a bit I guess.



I usually have my breakfast on the roof as it is a very good birdwatching spot. It's also nice to see the the neighbours getting ready for the day. A lot of the life is spent outside here.

At 8.55 am I set out for the office. It's only two minutes walk away so usually I'm the first one to get there, or the second one as Lalita is usually there to sweep the floor.



As the "Advisors" that work here spend a lot of their time in the different "clusters" that UMN have the office can sometimes be rather empty. This particular day it's only me, Sunita and Lalita there.





I have so far spent most of my time at the desk reading documents and trying to understand the work UMN is doing in different places. It has been OK but in the long run it's getting a bit boring……

At around 12.30 it's time for lunch and I walk the way back home again. I usually have something out of the freezer to eat.





In the afternoon my room in the office gets very hot and it is a welcome break when Sunitas son and his "didi" turn up.



By 5 pm it's time to go home and then the sun is already on it's way down. It's not quite as hot anymore. Back home it's time for emails and Facebook again.





I cook most of my food myself and every evening I have to go and buy vegetables. I usually cook daalbhat and I always have "saag"!


One of the vegetable shops on the road


About 1 dollars worth of vegetable.


My handy little rice cooker


The daal in the pressure cooker


The saag being prepared


The daalbhat of the day

When the daalbhat is eaten the only thing that is left to do is the washing up. By 9.30 pm I'm usually in bed.