Goodbyes...

Hey everyone, so this is my final post from here, oh. my. life!

In Kathmandu atm, quite nice actually as I've travelled through with Loulou and Katrina 2other volunteers who are around today and tomorrow to hang out with so makes Kathmandu that little less lonely.

It's been a strange week of goodbyes, mainly because it still doesn't seem real, like I'm a bit numb to it all and waiting for emotion to tide over me.  The kids were really sweet this morning and had all drawn me pictures and letters then gave me lots of tikka and flowers, felt heavy heart leaving them wondering about their futures and how much they will grow and change in the coming years. I feel ready to come back and see you all but Im leaving behind some amazing relationships without knowing when exactly Ill be able to come back...I've really been blessed with meeting some amazing people and gaining a Nepali family, for me those relationships are the most important part of my experience here and something I want to invest in even when I'm back home.

I had a really chilled last week of coffee shop times reading, writing and meditating something I have tried to also treasure as I get back into business of life back home.  Also managed some bike rides, boating and catching up with some volunteer friends who are still around.

Nepal really is such a beautiful and amazing country, I'd recommend you all to visit one day.  God has been soo faithful throughout my time here and I really feel like I've been refreshed in many ways ready for new experiences and challenges ahead.

I feel like there is potentially sooo much more I could say but I'm out of words...will try and get some pictures online asap when I'm back so you can link my blogs to those hopefully :)

Much love to everyone
Namaste x

Terrai Terrai...oh my.

Ok so I had the opportunity to visit the Terrai last week with Dilu as that's where the other half of her family live.

So we arrived after a mammoth journey, 18 hrs of hot stickiness and little sleep, got there at 5 in the morn and was really beautiful, very flat area but had a completely different feel to pokhara and kathmandu or trekking areas I ve been.  The houses have there own style (Tharu) which I really liked some looked a bit Mediterranean I thought.  Dilus house was lovely, lots of open space and have mango and lychee trees all around.  I love that about here how much natural food you can get from your own back garden!  We ate lots of mango chutney that week with dahl bhat which was lush although I think I reached a point where im actually getting a bit sick of eating rice and curry now, do you know what veg ladies finger are, well we had them alot last week and really dont want to see them again for a while!  

I think I may have mentioned but it was sooooooooo hot, 43 deg I think at times, so makes it hard cos you just want to be in the shade or having a shower ha at first I thought how am I going to stand a week of this, but there was a storm and rain for a couple of days whcih was a real relief half way though the week.  Oh its even more basic in that region, most people don't have toilets and you use hand pump for getting water but I quite liked that part.  Dilus family are lovely younger sister Jugal and brother nandu, Mum was really welcoming and wouldn't ever let me wash up or do any jobs ha.  

Ok some of the weeks highlights...going to watch a women's empowerment maths lesson where lot of village ladies are learning to read write etc, walking in the 'jungle' having a lush motorbike ride off one of her friends who took us to a national park area and I saw a rhino but not enough time for elephants as a big storm came in! Visiting many neighbours and friends, cycling (really lush there as all flat roads), going to Nepali cinema, going to school and taking a few lessons with kids.  This was really interesting actually as much more basic school than eve where Ive been, dilu managed to just have a chat with the headmaster and get herself a job for 8 months teaching ha! if only was that easy in England.  Got some massive bites that week from some random insect but literally the biggest ive ever had!  Also interesting to watch the visit of two 'holy' men who stayed for couple of days...Overall a really great week and reminder of real Nepali life I think because sometimes that gets lost being in Lakeside with all the tourists and facilities.  

Was great to see the kids when I got back and already this week is flying, lots of goodbyes to volunteers/friends Ive met here so will be a bit strange next week when noone is around...Can't believe I only have 2 weeks left now, I'm excited for what is ahead but sad at the thought of saying so many goodbyes...

Anyway hope you are all well, get in touch! 

much love

5 little monkeys

Hey everyone so I thought it's about time I gave a little update on Orphanage life...

I moved in just over a week ago, there are 5 kids in the home so its pretty small (apparently there are 82 orphan homes in lakeside altogether!).  There are 4 boys, Arjun, Amrit, Sanjay and Ajay as well as one girl, Amrita.   Sanjay &Ajay are brothers and Amrit and Amrita borhther and sister.  The ages range from 8-12.  Arjun is like the big brother of the house and helps Suki out alot (that's the house mum who is only 23!).  Usual routine of the day is get up and have cup of tea at 7, read for about one hour, do some colouring/painting until 9 then eat dahl bhaat and go to school.  From about 9:30-3:30 I'm free for the day which is a very different routine to what I'm used to but really enjoying the space to read, write, cycle and spend time applying for jobs.  It is pretty boiling over here now so usually try have some sort of siesta or cafe stop at midday heat time.  Once we've picked the kids up they have tiffin (snack) and do homework until about 5:30 then if the weather is still ok (has been quite stormy and rainy alot of afternoons) then we head to the park for volleyball and badminton.  We usually eat dahl bhaat at 7:30ish and then watch a film, kung fu panda is the current favourite!  The kids are lush, and seem to function just like one big family.  Suki the house mum is such a happy and positive influence for the kids it creates a great atmosphere for them to live in.  Have enjoyed spending some time chatting to her this week.

Overall I'm really enjoying a different rhythm to the day and building relationships with the kids, it sometimes feels hard as they are so used to having volunteers that you are just one of many so what can you give or bring that will be different?  I want to create some memorable experiences with them so hoping to do some batik making and visiting the bat caves on Friday.  All of the kids are really open and like to be affectionate so I think its important to just be able to love them. 

 There is also a new volunteer from Colorado called Lisa who is working with me at the orphanage so its good to share the experience with her.  Its amazing how easily you meet up with more volunteers once you're living in Lakeside!  Off to Nepali cinema on Wednesday eve with Lorna and a group of people, apparently 6D cinema....

Its exactly a month now until I will be flying back home, oh my.  The time really seems to be flying now so trying to make the most of what is left.

Has been sooo great to receive letters/emails and messages from everyone so keep it up want to know how you all are :)

Much love x

whirlwind weeks

Hey everyone, post title because that's how fast past couple of weeks have gone!  So last time I posted we were still in Kathmandu, had a really great few days there didn't cram too much in, was a good mix of chill and sight see, Boudhanath and monkey temple visits.  One highlight was finding a great little jazz place on our last eve in Kathmandu, I've found so far here that the live music is usually a cover band of classic rock so to find a jazz club with amazing musicians was a great end to our time there.  Ok so some highlights of Pokhara - Staying in sarangot with Krishna's parents, hanging out with Bikram, Dilu and Suman back in the village, Tom teaching an environment lesson at the school! Then finally we also decided to do a small trek.  Ended up going to do the Mardi Himal trek, we had fewer days than you would normally take to complete the route so first day gained a lot of height and stayed at Low camp about 3000m.  Second day was beautiful as we quickly were up on the ridge and views early in the morning were stunning, Fish tail and Annapurna south dominated the skyline.  We headed up to the furthest viewing point past high camp around 4900m, the altitude really started to take effect more after high camp!  Third day we were originally aiming to reach a place called Astam but ended up resting in Lwang and then staying with a family there.  This is what I love about the Mardi Himal trek, its very unspoiled and you don't have westernised tea houses all along the route, the homestay in Lwang was lovely, I suppose the sort of trek that enables you to have a small glimpse of 'real nepali life'.  The fourth day we arrived in a beautiful eco village in Astam, again would highly recommend this as a spot to visit if any of you ever make it to Nepal one day...The village is situated on the top of a hill so great views of fish tail, Mardi Himal and Annapurna when it's clear, we managed glimpses of this at sunrise.  Its really good to see projects like this in Nepal, they had a rain water collection system, solar pannels, recycling facilities, and a beautiful garden with ingredients for your dahl bhaat or camomile tea!  Overall a really great two weeks :)

I'm looking forward to the month ahead, will be moving into the orphanage in the next few days s feels like a new chapter here, will be strange being based in lakeside and want to keep regular visits to the village to see my nepali family and friends, hopefully somewhere in there will be a trip to the terrai...Anyway more orphanage updates to come.

Love x 

Kathmandu calling...

Hey everyone, so I'm updating you this time from an Internet cafe in Thamel.  I didn't think anyway could get much more touristy than the central strip in Lakeside but I was wrong...Thamel is crazy tourist center, I think it seems more intense because everything is packed into a smaller space, the streets are much narrower than Pokhara, obviously there are alot of beautiful clothes, jewellery and general gifty things but I feel almost immune to it now, this part of life seems so far removed from that of the village and I guess the 'real/normal' people.  I know for many in Kathmandu this is their normal life but its just sooo steered towards westerners...anyway I'm super thankful I've been able to experience both sides and would encourage anyone visiting Nepal to try and see some of the more remote areas as they are just stunning.

Before I left had a really great week think I mentioned some things in last post...I ventured up to a viewing point near Bagar about 1440m with Dilu and Suman, this was bit of an epic, actually didn't think we'd make it to the top with enough time to return and do other things we'd planned for that day BUT once we could see the viewing tower it seemed to spur us all on a little more.  After arriving at the top however a lovely thunderstorm came in, this was pretty amazing actually when looking at the view on our way down as half of the sky was grey with flahses of lightening whilst the other half had streaks of orange sun peaking through...luckily we managed to catch a bus back for most of the way and finished the day with a delicious ras malai at our fav indian restaurant!

I've officially finished at the school now which feels like bit of an anti-climax as I wasnt able to be there for the 'leaving party' but I'm planing a visit with Tom when we head back to lakeside.

Right off to explore, much love everyone x

oh my life...

Hey everyone, above title to post because STUPID  INTERNET!!! raaaa, only just realised that my last post didn't publish online :( can't even begin to delve back that many weeks ago to what was happening which is frustrating...

Ok the highlights from the last post that I do remember, Wedding - managed to get a random invitation to a wedding (its a come one come all affair here) so I borrowed a kurtha off Dilu and we headed there for the afternoon, only stayed a few hours but managed to do some Nepali style dancing and eat lots of curry and rice (obviously).  Actualy I've never seen such HUGE pots of curry, rice, chutney etc, they basically have to make enough for hundreds of guests but really great food.  The atmosphere was lovely, really relaxed and everyone having fun, the colours were stunning sooo many beautiful saris!  Pictures to follow one day soon I hope...Ok second thing I remember is Holi - one of the festivals here, had such a great day.  I came through to Lakeside with Dilu and Suman armed with a stash of coloured powders and water, we managed to join in with the parade and were completely covered in an assortment of colours, the atmosphere was great though as locals and tourists were all joining in and of course there was alot of dancing! Warning t anyone who manages to be in India or Nepal for Holi in the future...cover your hair! I still have pinkish streaks in mine and this is a month on with washing hair everyday, oh dear. 

Now to more recent events...I have officially finished at River Dale school, when I got back from trekking I only had about 2 weeks of teaching and then pupils started their exams.  Now everyone is on a 'summer holiday' so I've had a couple of unexpected free weeks.  So what have I been doing with my time...well I've done a few more exploring walks around the hills of the village and found some stunning views.  Had some scooter lessons from Izzy who hired one for a week (definitely the way to travel here), I learned to make some Nepali style food
( actually never seen sooo many pekoras!).  I've been in lakeside a couple of times meeting up with trekking friends and new volunteers, so been really nice to keep networking with different people, met a new volunteer today from Whitburn!(North East people will understand this).

It's a beautiful day today so went for an explore around the lake and then enjoyed some iced coffee and reading time, what bliss...Izzy leaves tomorrow so we are going out this eve with alot of her Nepali friends, I've also only got abut a week left in the village and then head to Kathmandu.  Will be sad to leave but ready not new ventures.

I feel like there's alot more I could say but because I have left it sooo late those fresh feelings and emotions are lost slightly therefore I will try my best to get updates here sooner.

As always let me know how you're all doing.
Much love x

Trekking part 2!

Hey everyone ok I'm back and ready for part 2...

Left off at day 10 I think pass day and had the epic journey up and down.  We finally reached Muktinath and joined the rest of the 'family'.  A hot shower here never felt sooo good!  The weather was amazing for the whole day so we spent the rest of the afternoon on the roof of our hotel reminiscing about the day with again stunning views to inspire.  Had out first celebration beers of the trek that night but everyone was completely wrecked!  Had such a great night sleep being back down at lower altitude that night so very refreshed for the next day.

D11 - The original plan for today was to walk a few hours to Kagebeni but Hem was a bit worried about Amy's little finer which was pretty swollen still and had no sensation in the tip.  So we stopped at a health post on the way, two women there were lovely but they recommended we go straight to Jomsom, so plans changed and we managed to catch a truck ride the rest of the way, this side of the trek landscape wise was quite different, still great views of the mountains but the landscape is much drier.  The hospital at Jomsom was a completely contrasting scene to what you'd see in England, just a few guys sitting round in the ER room chatting and then a guy who looked like he was about 18 'the doctor' took a quick look at Amy's finger and said it was early stages of frostbite but the finger would be fine.  Relief! We managed to join Sarah and Sue in one of the guest houses and then joined by johan and Andrea later so second round of celebrations that evening! (Oh almost forgot, I woke up with botox like lips today, hilarious, combination of the sun and cold I think but managed to go down after a couple of days)

D12 - Bust for about 4 hours to Tatpoani...oh. my. life...I thought the bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara was a little hairy but serious;y thought we were going to tip over a few times on the way. Any way we made it in one piece and parted ways with Sue and Sarah, we stayed in such a beautiful guest house with orangery and greenery all around, a real difference in temperature here too we could sit comfortably in t-shirts!  We also, big surprise, met the Swedish boys here, (this was the case all the way around the circuit, kept meeting up with the different groups).  The rest of the afternoon was spent in the hot springs there relaxing :)  That evening the rest of the groups caught up with us and looked liked we'd be doing the same route all the way to Pokhara (which for me and Amy was a relief to not just be with our guide).

D13 - Big ascent up to Ghorepani.  It was boiling for the first half of the day but really beautiful scenery trekking again, reminded me of the village I stay in.  We had to ascend about 1800m today but managed to arrive in Manang by 4ish.  Enjoyed a fun evening with the brit boys, andrew and Marianne, I think the end in sight...Was strange after the pass because everyone felt like that was it you'd achieved coming through, the end.  But there was still a whole second half of the trek to go!

D14- Early rise at 5 to walk up to Poonhill for sunrise, alot more tourists here than we had sen throughout the trek so far but enjoyed some delish masala tea while waiting for the sun to rise.  Really beautiful views from Poonhill, hard to capture it all on camera really, pleased we got to visit there though as its a famous viewpoint and felt more special to know you'd really been through some of the mountains you could see. Descended the rest of the day to a village called Hile before the final day.

D15 - A gorgeous trek to NayaPul, passed alot more trekkers now heading up to Ghorepani or en route to Annapurna base camp.  It was a beautiful end and then bus back to pokhara.

There's soooooo much more I could say about each day but don't think I do it justice so wait for photos and more stories when I return.  One of the biggest highlights was meeting such an amazing group of people, very varied in backgrounds but good to share the experiences with others.  Had some fun times picnicing on the lake with everyone back here.  I'm heading back to Tupke in a couple of hours, was really strange saying goodbye to Rin and Amy, will miss everyone alot but hope that it's not a permanent goodbye.

Want to hear how you all are now please :)
love x

Trekking epic!!

Helloooooo everyone, oh my can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I blogged feels like tooo much to say and such little time as always...ok so incase you didn't know I've been away trekking for the past 2weeks, the Annapurna circuit trek to be exact.  Will do my best to summarise all the highs and lows of the past 15days!

Ok, so I went trekking with 2 other volunteers, Amy a nurse from Perth and Rin a geologist from Belgium.  We also had a guide (Hem) and porter (Ram).  I feel soooo thankful for how amazingly well I got on with both Rin and Amy, we really gelled as a group from day one which is lucky as I've been sharing a room with Amy everyday since!  Oh will mention actually Rin is 85%blind, so for him I gues even more of a challenge although he had trekked many times before.

Day1 - We started at a place called Besisahar and walked for about 3hours to our first nights stop in Ngadi, this was a really beautiful day and idyllic guest house, quite lush scenery on the way. D2-3 we went up to Chamje and then on to Bargachap (2160m).  On the way I passed two volunteers I'd met at the school i teach in (think Ive blogged about them, asaf and lisa!) what are the chances hey!  Landscape wise the first two days were very pretty, D3 was ok but more road walking and rocky views.  Its crazy actually as the long term goal is to have a road going all the way up to Manang, will completely change the trek and feels like a real shame but there's no stopping the development...

Ok back to D3, had a beautiful lunch stop in place called Tal and chatted to some travellers who had come down from Manang as there was too much snow to pass higher up. D4 was absolutely amazing walking, after a quick ascent to Danaque the views of the Manasalu range were sooo stunning then after lunch a glimpse of Annapurna2, our final stop for that night was in Chame.

Oh so far I've not really mentioned much about our guide...Overall he was responsible and knew his stuff but he was quite unprofessional towards me and Amy, which put a downer on things a first but in the end I think it made us more determined to enjoy the trip and rally round as a group.  Our porter Ram or Rambo as we liked to call him, carried two big bags for most of the way, totally mountain machine, really lovely guy though.

D5 we arrived in Upper Pisang, Amy felt really rubbish all day, had caught some sort of stomach bug so was really hard work for her.  The temperature had really started to drop now as we were walking through more snow.  We were lucky as most people stay in lower pisang but because we were so high up the views of the Annapurna's from the guest house were awesome, seemed sooo close!

D6-7 Rins birthday! celebrated with pringles, mayonnaise and toblerone...Amy felt much better so it was a great day trekking through the snow to Manang (3540m) Oh have to mention, Amy had never been in snow before so this was quite an experience for her!  We had a birthday feast on arrival in Manang around a big heater and felt really happy that so far none of us felt any sort of effects from the altitude.  The next day was rest day for acclimatisation but it didnt look good for going higher as snowed most of the day.  We met Andrew from the US here and spent most of the day playing cards and drinking tea!

D8 - Hooray, sun is shining! We were really pleased as woke up and the sky was clear so Hem decided we should head up to Yak kharka, this as a great days walking, its hard to describe how amazing the moutains were pretty much all the way from D4 onwards.  The snow this day was getting deeper which made it harder work, you could slowly begin to feel the effects of altitude from this height I'd say, mainly just more laboured walking.  It was great to arrive in Yak Kharka just before snow storm began again, from here also I need to mention the formation of 'the family'...

Basically all the way up we came across groups or individuals who were doing the same route as us, it was in Yak kharka huddled round the heater that we started to get to know each other even more.  There was Sarah interior designer from Sweden trekking with Sue from Singapore, 2 Swedish guys, Andreas from Germany who we met in Manang, Johan from France, Andrew - US, Jack and James - UK, Marianne - UK, Anker - Holland, German couple and Paulo from Chile.  There is way too much I could tell you about all their stories so you'll have to ask me another time!

D9 - We were sooo lucky to be with many groups from here on up as I'm sure otherwise Hem would have turned around in Manang.  Anyway it was decided to carry on up to high camp. Again the morning was beautiful and was a stunning trek up to throng phedi (4540m) we lunch stopped here before the 400m ascent up to high camp.  his may not sound too bad but the hours walk up after lunch was a killer, due to the altitude it just made every step sooo much harder and you were out of breath much quicker.  Me and Amy finally arrived in high camp only to hear that Rn was really struggling on the way up, had been sick and couldn't see very well, this was pretty worrying as seemed like altitude symptoms.  He managed to make it up to high camp but was really uncertain for the next day...That night at high camp was probably the worst I've every slept, it was soooooo cold and I had a pretty bad headache here not the start you want for the night before pass day...

D10 - PASS DAY! woke up at 4:30 and had to be ready to set off at about 5, apparently groups try and do the trek early as it can get pretty windy after midday.  I can't quite explain how difficult this ascent was...nothing can prepare you for wind chill (-20!), I had pretty good equipment but was still such hard work as your extremities are freezing and your out of breath so easily!  Amy was really struggling with her hands on the way up so we swapped gloves for a bit and I managed to put some spare socks i had over her gloves, she actually ended up getting early stages of frost bite in her little finger but more about that later...I think what kept me going was when Hem said only 45mins left and it was the first time I stopped to look around, actually the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, hard to take many pictures up there as I was sooo cold.  Once at the top (about 5460m I think) a few groups were there but only stayed for about 5 mins to take quick pic!  The descent was another epic in itself....Oh almost forgot! Rin that morning decided that he wouldn't be able to go up so our group split from there and he descended the way we came with our porter while Amy and I went on with our guide. We were really sad to have to part ways but it was definitely the right decision.  Anyway on the descent down I'm pretty sure i spent more time on my backside, the snow was mega deep so many section just decided to slide down!  The first tea shop stop we had was such a relief, couldn't quite believe we'd managed to do it!

Phew, I'm gna leave it there for now and finish blogging the second half of the trip later :)  Will try and get pictures up as soon as I can!

Hope you're all well, much love xx

Sugar cane and Sunsets

Hey everyone, so I'm typing this for the first time from Tupke!!!!! School is half day on friday and Im trying out the internet cafe while the electricity is still here.

Once again this week seems to have flown by, I'm really enjoying having the company of Izzy and Miguel, Bikram has really taken to having Miguel around and has created their own comedy topi club (this is a nepalese hat that all the old men wear!).

Ok so highlights of this week...on Monday I had some really great discussions with both students and teachers about money, politics and religion in Nepal.  They are such a tolerant country with regards to religion even though most are Hindu. Overall our conversations always seem to revert back to how corrupt their government is and how frustrated they are that their resources can't be properly utilized because of the greed of many in politics.  I do wonder how this will change over the next 10-20 years...Anyway that same day i tried sugar cane for the first time (sooo delicious) whilst watching the colours of a wedding up the street where we live, amazing sounds of drums and crazy trumpets will all the neighbours flocking for a sight of the bride and groom, i'm really hoping i'll be invited to a wedding while im here! After this i had a little hike up the hill to watch the sunset and read my book, such bliss.

Tuesday we were all off school for Puja so I went with Izzy and Miguel to a firends house.  The younger sister (suman) then showed me around the area and she made me my first roti (like a ticker chapati).  Suman also goes to the school I teach at, she's lovely but has major eye problems.  Her eyes have been deteriorating since she was born so that now she has only partial sight in one eye.  I think she just has cataracts and its frustrating as if she was in England the problems would have been easier treated much earlier on in her life.  She has now to start thinking about the possibility of her future being without any sight, I know this gets her down as you can imagine.  Izzy is taking her to a specialist eye hospital in Kathmandu soon to see if there's much they can do or how she can be supported for her future, so watch this space and pray!

I'm off to visit a temple tomorrow with one of the teachers from school so really looking forward to that although think we're travelling like 3/4 hours outside of pokhara valley!

Ok, will leave it there for now incase internet cuts off! It's been sooo lovely to hear from you all so please keep emailing me.  Oh also I'm off trekking in a weeks time but more on that next week...

Peace and love xx

Almost a month...

Hey everyone so that's right it's almost been a month in Nepal which is crazy, this week sems to have flown by as ever in the daily rhythm of daahl bhaat and school!  Im back in Lakeside for a sly hot shower (soooooooo good) but don't pan on actually being here every weekend just we had 2 full days off again.

Ok so highlight at school this wek was the visit of a few people from the 'mountain trust'.  Fromn what I gathered they financially support a few of the students and are all about promoting awarenes in education and health care...The main couple were from Middlesborough would you believe and so typically British ha!  But Alan was exaplaining that they want to support the Nepalese more by sharing skills and training up others rather than just throwing mone at them.  I agree with this although somehow there is a fine balance in doing that where you aren't just presuming our ;wetern way' of doing things is better...I know in the ontext f the kids education the idea was to develop higher level thinking skills so they would begin to question  mre rather than just look for right/wrong answer which seems to be the case with thei textbook teaching.  Anyway, also with the couple were 2 volunters, Asaf from Israel and Lisa from Sweden they were a lovelycouple who had metand travelled from India, they were contemplating spending a wek at the school so will wait and see i that happens.  Oh the kids put on a cultural dance performance for the 'guests of honour' (I was included in this!) which was really beautiful to se.

Izzy and her brother Miguel arrived on Thursday so it was great spending the evening chatting with them, Izzy is ike a celebrity in the village, it's her thrid year visiting and she can understand/talk Nepalese really well!  I'm looking forward to having them around the next 3 weeks and Izzy might be back after that one Miguel has flown back to Colorado.

The weather sems to suddenly have changed alot seriously hot today and the mountains were soooo clear when I arrived yesterday.

Right I'm off to walk around the lake, I hope everyone has had a joyful week.
Love x

Tapaiilai kasto cha?

Hey everyone (above title means how are you in Nepalese) I'm back in Lakeside for a few hours because we've had a 2 and half day weekend (normally only 1 and half) and decided to bring Bikram and one of his friends through for a trip.  This week seems to have gone pretty quickly i guess I'm in more of a routine.  I'm pretty lucky as only teaching 4 lessons a day feels quite straightforward.  Although having said that I was trialling out some discussions for conversation practise with the older classes (14-16yrs) but they just get totally embarrassed!  I mentioned earlier perhaps that class 2 i have were a bit tricky but this week they've bee pretty lush (due I think to the persuasion of stickers)  I normally get home from school at 4 ish so have time to explore, read or write almost forced reflective time which is great.  The weather has changed and got much warmer sun shines all day but still pretty cool in the evenings and not inviting in the morning to have a cold water bucket shower!

Bikram went away for a couple of days this week so it was just me and ama (mother), I hadto try and speak some more nepalese and we managed!  Will be interesting how much I can speak by the end of 5 months...

Yesterday was a glorious day, I set off to explore further into the local hills, such beautiful scenery.  About 2hours in I heard a voice shouting 'Melina!" and realised it was one of my pupils.  She invited me in for a cup of tea and I couldnt believe what her daily walk into school must be like (at least 1 and half hours walking she said!).  This open hospitality is very typical of the Nepalese I've met so far.

Not much else to report right now and time as always is ticking...I think a volunteer from America (Izzy) Is coming this week with her brother so look forward to more company.  Keep me posted how you're all doing and will try and get an address as soon as poss for sending letters!

Much love x

Moments and memories

Hey everyone! Finally a chance to update, I'm back in Lakeside in an internet cafe and it's freezing here!  Last time I updates I was still living here so will update on some stuff we did...There's a famous viewing point at Sarangot near to here so at 5:40 last friday we left to watch the sunrise.  It was super cold but absolutely stunning.  As the sun was rising it cast a pinkish glow over the towering Himalayas, they looked sooo majestic, I was in total awe of our creator.  Later that day we (Jess & Brighton two volunteers from California and Jackie and traveler from Oz) went up to the Palace Peace Pagoda (famous temple) which again had amazing views and was great to share the experience with others.  Other highlights of Lakeside so far... drinking masala tea, watching paragliders in a cafe whilst being serenaded by some beautiful guitar sounds...lush.  I managed a quick visit to the orphanage too and was great to meet the 5 children staying there -Suki (the 'mam') is amazing and all the people involved have such a heart for the children.  Hopefully I'll be spending my last month at the orphanage.

Ok so rewind to last Sunday, I moved to a place called Tumke with a family there's the Mum (still don't know her name just call her ama - mother), gran and 13 year old Bikram.  This was a big shock at first and although very basic living (hole in ground toilet, bucket shower etc) it was being far away from Lakeside and the other volunteers that I found the hardest. This has definitely got easer as the week has passed but I look forward to catching up with other volunteers.  School was off for a couple of days so Bikram became my tour guide and showed me the local area.  I really enjoyed meeting more of his family for a cousins birthday (celebrated much like in England with a big creamy cake!)  and I met his uncle Shivash.  He is involved in research into HIV/Aids children in the country and how money can best be spent in order to advise the government.  He is a great contact as he lives in Kathmandu and has offered to show me the sights and sounds which hopefully I'll get the chance to do before I leave.

It's been mega cold here the past few days but apparently that is a sign that it's soon going to get very warm!  I'm suprised to say that I'm still really enjoying Dahl Bhat twice a day(even in the morning!) also loving Buffalo milk and rice and as mentioned above masala spicy tea!

I had my first few days of school this week and everyday I teach English 4 out of 7 lessons. It's fairly straightforward no mega planning like in England. The most challenging class for me are the 7 year olds as they still have very little English and there's about 42 pupils altogether!  I'll be at this school for 2 months until their academic year finishes so watch this space how it goes...

That's it for now I guess, this week has had many ups and downs, I'm still getting used to many new things but ever thankful for the opportunity to be in such a beautiful country.  Love to you all (email me your updates please - melarnymel@hotmail.com)

Namaste x

Arrived!

Hey everyone :) So I have finally arrived in Pokhara phew!  Journey to Kathmandu was long but very peaceful so praise God for that. I was collected from the airport by Raj who owns the guest house I stayed at, he gave me a speedy commentary of Kathmandu as we travelled to the guest house.  The streets in Kathmandu are buzzing, there was just sooooo much to take in at first.  I had a little time to explore the area around where I was staying so ended up meeting a guy called Subash in one of the side shops who invited me for some milky tea (very sweet but lush), we chatted for a long time about our different cultures and lives.  Subash is a prime example of many Nepali people I have met so far, very welcoming and friendly.

I had a 6hour bus journey today to Pokhara which was fun, very interesting to see people about their everyday lives and we travelled through some amazing scenery.  As we approached Kathmandu you could see more clearly the Annapurna range - amazing! Pokhara seems less manic than Kathmandu it feels a bit cleaner and more spacious I think.  I've got 2days ahead of language training and exploring with Krishna so I'm looking forward to getting to know Pokhara more.  Oh the background picture of my blog is of Pokhara - it really does look that beautiful.

Once my training is finished I'm off to stay with a family about 6km away from Pokhara centre and don't have internet access so will only be updates when I can travel back to Pokhara.  I hope you're all well, remember to keep me posted how you all are and what's happening back home.

Much love x