Packing it in

Friday Nov 12^th

Time for our introduction to the Naxa orphanage. First impressions were of a poor but well-structured and stimulating environment, with posters, photos and pictures on the walls, and toys in the rooms. Once again, photos on our digital cameras were good ice-breakers with the children. Previous volunteers had left good evidence of their work behind, in the form of boxes of materials and childrens' personal records. There were even two computers.

The board of governors was supposed to meet with us there but they didn't turn up.

We had an excellent Nepali language lesson later from Ram Devi. The others have almost caught up with me in one lesson!

Shopping triumphs were finding local gin for £5 (instead of Gordons for £20) and tea bags for 80p (previous best £5), celebrated by G & T's all round before dinner.

The electricity down-time is only two hours a day at the moment and hasn't been an issue so far but will increase considerably from now on as the dry season means hydro-electricity is low and the winter means increased demand.

Saturday Nov 13^th

We rearranged our guided tour of Durbar Square from 3 pm to 9.30 am today and had an excellent morning looking at and hearing about the vast number of temples and palaces crammed together in this centre. 

We visited the Kumari Bahal which houses the living goddess. She is chosen from a particular caste of the Newari and must be between four years old and puberty. Her selection from amongst the many candidates depends on her stoicism when confronted by various trials, such as masked dancers and the slaughtering of hundreds of animals in front of her. The one who remains calm and unafraid is chosen as the living goddess and confined to the Kumari Bahal, apart from half a dozen ceremonial days. The current Kumari Devi is six years old and makes regular appearances at an upper window at certain times. She looked singularly unimpressed by the crowds of people staring up at her from the courtyard, hitched up her knickers and scratched her back, then disappeared again. A most ungodly goddess.

At lunch in the hotel garden we got talking to an interesting American lady who was in the company of her husband, a young Tibetan woman and her son, and an elderly lama in saffron and red robes. The Americans were neurosurgeons who had set up a neurosurgical unit in Kathmandu and made friends with the Tibetan family. Now back in USA, they were over on a visit and introduced us to the young woman when she heard that we were going to be helping at Samata school. She lives very near the school and knows it well, so she has invited us to call on her. We are thrilled at the prospect, as you can imagine. 

In the afternoon four of us hired a taxi to Swayambhunath, visiting first the three enormous gold statues, constructed in 2003, which are currently being repainted in gold by hand. The path up to the stupa is thronged with Tibetan pilgrims, prayer wheels, shrines, hippies, hawkers and stalls, and monkeys everywhere. Tourists make the climb in the afternoon to watch the sun set over Kathmandu, but it was cloudy and there was no glorious sunset. I will probably give it another go later, as it is an exciting place to be. We even had a singing bowl demonstration, using a very large bowl with deep resonances held near but not touching so that the vibrations can be felt running through you. It's supposed to be relaxing but not when you are wondering how to escape without buying one, and whether your friends have gone off without you. Margaret couldn't resist trying one on!

Sunday November 14^th

Spent the morning at Social Tours organizing the trips we want to fit in during the month and having our second (and last) Nepali lesson. Two hours should be enough, right?

Then a three hour walk through the old market of Ason. Some wonderful old buildings and courtyards, and some grotesque modern(ish) constructions on top of really old ground floor or two-storey buildings. The usual chaotic and colourful market scenes. Some begging and hawking but nowhere did we feel threatened.

Tomorrow is our first day "at work". We would expect to have had our briefings by now but we have met the project teams from neither the orphanage nor the school yet, so we have little idea what we will be expected to do.