Girl Nomad

Alive & Well...

eve — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 04:00:00 GMT

I don’t have any good excuse for my failing to maintain regular blog updates!! I’ve just been busy & then lazy by the time I get home. Also, you know when you leave something so long that it turns into this big deal & a bit of a monkey on your back…so tonight I shoo the monkey off!

Also I guess I have settled into live in Kathmandu now & what seemed like a life less ordinary in the beginning has now become the norm…

So typically my day begins at 6.30am. I wake up (of late with mozzie bites from top to toe!) and ease into the day with a few tunes from my ipod…Shirley tends to feature quite prominently in these little sessions – ah ‘Big Spender’…always puts me in a good mood!

I then make my way to the kitchen to fix myself an omelette or eggs of some variety, making sure to stop via the bathroom to switch the hot water on – very important!

At around 9.30am I make my way down the four flights of stairs and out the gate, where my day really begins. I come out onto the road near the ‘Shree Bijesowri Secondary School’, to manoeuvre past the noisy school kids. If I’m not expected to respond to any exclamations of ‘Namaste’ from the children, I continue on down the road between the chiya pasals and Buddhist prayer beads shops heading towards the steps of the temple.

Before the decline, I might be lucky enough to receive a confession of love from the little 10 year old boy who has taken a shine to me. I’d ordinarily respond with ‘I love you too’ before proceeding down the steps leading to the main road into town…I think his feelings for me have grown over time, as of late he has been saying ‘I love you so much’, as opposed to just simply ‘I love you’. Ah cute!

Once below, I then cross the Bungmati River, taking special note to suck in as much air as possible before crossing & trying hard to hold my breath until I’m on the other side in safe distance from the stench of the sewage & garbage which has been left to flow into the waterway.

I then continue on up the road, passing the children having their morning karate session and people preparing their morning vegetable stalls with produce yet unwiltered from the muggy heat. I pass the gentle old man selling his bamboo wares, whom I bought my 150 rupee bargain laundry basket from. He’s usually falling asleep on his belly, but on the odd occasion he’s not we exchange a familiar wave.

Eventually I make it to Chetrapati Chowk, an intersection of six separate roads all melting into a mess of rickshaws, taxis, bicycles, pedestrians & car horns. If I am not held up in a traffic jam (yes, even though I’m on foot!) I reach the entrance to Thamel to make the final leg of my journey.

Each time I pass this point I am reminded of a game I played one day on the way into town with Jenny…when we reached this point she said lets see how long it takes before we’re asked if we want 1. A rickshaw, 2. Tiger balm and 3. A pashmina. No sooner had she finished her sentence did a rickshaw sail by us with the driver asking if we wanted a ride, we were then met by a man coming the opposite way, selling his Tiger balm, enquiring as to our need for it & then we were abruptly ‘finished off’ by a pashmina selling shop owner! Too funny! We were both in hysterics by that stage!

Once in at the office, unless heading out to one of the homes, I tend not to leave it until about 6.00pm, when it’s time to repeat the reverse journey home.

Any additional field trips have been a welcome relief, such as the night Cin, her man Jeff, Sujan (12 y.o boy who lives in the apartment below us) & I headed up to Swayambu to engage in the ‘Kora’ around the base. It was a beautiful balmy evening with hundreds of Tibetans out improving their karma by completing the suggested 13 laps of the temple which takes about 30 minutes each.

Sujan & I partnered up and found ourselves giggling at each other when we nearly stood on one of the monks who had dropped to the ground directly in our path to complete his prostration (apparently you can elect to ‘prostrate’ your way around the base once instead of walking it 13 times). Oops, that would be definite bad karma if I had stood on the monk! Yeeks!

So we completed one lap & elected to head home as it was way past our bed time (10.30pm!). The rest of the people we left there doing the kora until 7am, including Kali (our new Health Coordinator), so we found out the next day. She eventually confessed it wasn’t so much her desire to improve her karma, but rather to kill time as she had been locked out of her hotel!

The 5^th of June, being World Environment Day was also a notable occasion. We organised a tree planting activity out in Bistachhap which all VSN staff, current & new Volunteers, the BFCH children and many people from the local community got involved. We planted 140 trees around the perimeter of the soccer field after a rather official ceremony where my baa (council elder) and Emma (director of VSN) planted a tree each together, once Devendra had delivered a speech.

I then spent the next 30 minutes planting trees on a 60 degree slope! The first five minutes of which had me holding onto Little Bishnu (an 8 y.o girl from BFCH) who was threatening to tumble down the slope on top of the recently planted trees below – not a good look!

So now with Kali coming on board as the Health Coordinator, I’m happy to be taking my first official break since arriving, as up until two weeks ago I was the temporary Health Coordinator as well as the Vollie Coordinator. I’m really excited & looking forward to having Jacs & Brett (two friends from home) arrive this Friday before heading overland via jeep to Tibet for 8 days…with any luck, the anti-altitude Homeopathic I have will work its magic as we make our way across the highest plateau of the world. Yeehaa!

I will report back on the trip in my next blog update…reluctant to promise when that will be!!

Much love to all, Eve xxxx

Happy New Year 2064!

eve — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:59:00 GMT

It’s now the year 2064 in Nepal, which makes me the ripe old age of 86! New Years day was last Saturday & to celebrate I went back to Bistachhap for two nights to stay with my family & spend the day with the kiddly winks at Brighter Future CH.

On Friday after the Unity health check I was showing the health team my ‘korta’ (special Nepali outfit) which I borrowed off my housemate Cindy to wear to the NY day party. The Unity manager, Bharat (pronounced Borat, aka. Ali G) was there at the time & commented that the orange & blue colours of the korta were typical of that worn in Rajasthan. Pondering on this thought, I made the typical bimbo Eve comment of ‘Oh, I wonder if they’ll think I’m from Rajasthan’. Monty (a Vollie from the UK) replied back, rather matter of factly ‘I don’t think they’ll think you’re from Rajasthan Eve’.

This is one of many bimbo comments I’ve made of late; another when sitting in the Buddhist Meditation Centre with Cindy the other day having a coffee before work I was looking around, enjoying the peaceful garden setting & so intelligently stated ‘Buddhism is so nice’ to which Cindy replied ‘Peace out man!’.

I’m blaming these lapses of sense on the altitude...along with hangovers, forgetfulness, any tripping over that I do & any other general idiotic comments I make!

So I was enquiring as to where I might catch the local bus on the ring road in order to get to Largenkal to catch the connector to Bistachhap. Ali G said he would take me, thinking he would walk me to the bus stop; I’m was surprised when he arrived out the front on his motorbike & proceeded to drive me the entire way to Largenkal – so half way across Kathmandu! Such a nice man (he’s Buddhist, so any wonder! Ha).

We drove through Patan which I’m definitely going to have to schedule a trip back to. It was so beautiful with old wooden facades on the buildings, little alley’s & side streets with handicraft shops dotted all about. There were prayer flags flyer high all over the place & a lot of activity with tourists & locals scouting the market stalls in

Durbar Square

We drove right through the middle & came out the other side near Largenkal. As I was getting off the bike Ali G offered to drive me the whole way & I firmly refused. With the current fuel shortage, forcing prices sky high & the fact that he is attempting to raise 100,000 rupees in order to move his kids to a better home, I couldn’t possibly allow him to take me any further and already felt bad that he had taken me that far, knowing he would not accept any money. So I thanked him & jumped on the jam packed, rickety old bus to make the bumpy ride out to the village.

Arriving just after 5.00pm I stopped into my brother Utam’s chiya pasal for a quick milk tea. I then wandered down through the village, revelling in the peace and quiet, fresh air & genuine greetings of ‘Namaste’ from each person I passed along the way! I arrived to my family’s house to find my 15 year old bahini (sister) on the porch. Having not yet seen her since arriving back in Nepal, I gave her an excited embrace at which point she began to cry! Although I would prefer her to be all smiles & happiness, I was touched that she was moved to tears & soon put on the water works myself!

After spending time catching up with my family, feasting on a fabulous daal bhaat, and after a chat with my bahini, I tucked myself into bed with that warm, comforted feeling you get when you feel at home. I slept like a baby that night & could have continued to keep sleeping had my alarm not woken me at 6.30am in order to get ready for the days events…

At 7.00am Sharon, a volunteer from NZ came to collect me & my two younger bahini’s Sushma & Ratcha (whom I renamed. Jemma & Jessica for ease of reference and because Sushma reminds me so much of my niece Jemma I thought it a befitting name to bestow…I couldn’t just name one of them though, so Jessica for Ratcha – don’t ask me why!).

So all dolled up in our kortas we met the BFCH kids on the road leading up to the temple. They were adorably & proudly dressed up to the nines in their brand new clothes; the boys in new jeans & t-shirts and the girls in bright pink & blue kortas. We playfully wandered up the road to the temple above Bistachhap village to receive New Years tikhas (wet dye on the forehead). The kids were happily going about the ritual of the temple, squeezing through the ‘cave’ to come out the other side ‘cleansed’. They then in turn came up & gave both Sharon & myself flowers and threw petals in our hair.

We then meandered down the hill back to the home to have a day long feast which Jaggu (the manager) had arranged. It felt like Christmas day all over again with about five different sittings! In between food servings the kids danced & played and in the afternoon they demonstrated their Karate skills which had been taught to them by Sharon & David (a husband & wife couple who are experts back in Christchurch, NZ).

Just before dusk we ended the day by having a quick game of cricket on the new playing field I helped start digging last November. It was great to see it finished & to see the kids make use of it, but more importantly it was good to see the kids interacting with other children from outside the home!

If having a progressive, five course smorgasbord that day wasn’t enough, my aama served me up another plate of daal bhaat that night when I returned home – just for good measure!

So the next day, after feeling completely rested, somewhat full and feeling as though I had been in the village for a month, I took off after morning daal bhaat to catch the 9.00am bus back into town. I could hear the horn tooting and rushed to catch the bus but of course I was too late…somehow, life always tends to get hectic when leaving Bistachhap!

As I had made plans to meet one of the Vollies in town I couldn’t wait the extra hour for the next bus, so my only option was to walk across the valley to Godawori to catch a bus from the main road. So I set off through the terraced fields laden high with maze and barley crops, stopping to ask directions from the locals carting bricks on their heads along the way...

I finally made it to the road and came out right near a brew house (though I didn’t know this at the time). A rangi changi (slang name for a drunk person – also means ‘colourful’) made a vline for me as I was standing patiently awaiting the arrival of the next bus. So he mumbled his way through an introduction, shook my hand, nearly bowled me over with the smell of booze off him, at which point I thought it best to keep walking in the direction of Kathmandu. The bus came shortly after & I made the trip back into the busy, smoggy city.

So that was my little adventure back to Bistachhap over with. It was nice taking time out, as that was really my first break since arriving & with the pace of Thamel I was starting to feel a little bit of burn out. My batteries are now fully charged again & I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Anzac day BBQ & fund raiser.

I’ve booked out G’s Terrace in Thamel for playing games of Two Up, mini cricket, listening to Aussie & Kiwi music and eating lamingtons. Let’s see how it compares to last years in St Kilda!

I hope this finds you well.

All my love, Eve xxxx

Second installment...

eve — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:15:00 GMT

I’m sitting here on my low to the ground bed, candle ablaze beside me and a view of Swayambunath outside my window, held suspended in amber light against the dark backdrop of the night sky. It almost looks like it’s levitating outside my window…

With this as my vantage point whilst laying in bed, I decided a week ago to start sleeping with my blinds open & so I fall asleep to this view each night (subject to load shedding) and then I wake up to the temple’s white-washed facade in daylight.

I feel very lucky to have this view from my bedroom window, in fact I feel pretty lucky full stop! Although it can be tiring here at times & work is very full on, I don’t regret having come back for a second and am loving every minute of it.

So the last week has been jammed packed – I must try to update this blog a little more regularily, as so much happens in even a few days, it’s hard to report on everything! Unfortunately load shedding determines the extent of my internet usage however, as we are now up to 6 hours a day, with different areas of the city affected at different times, so I am often at work with no electricity & then by the time I walk home it’s our neighborhood’s turn!

I can confirm that the doctor saga as reported in last entry still continues…during our second round of health checks we were preparing to leave the office in the jeep with ‘The Doc’ to follow on his bike. Of course I took a little too long upstairs & as I just made it to ground floor I see the jeep taking off. I motioned to Marnie & Andrew (couple from Melbourne who are the health check Vollies) to wait, but MB (the driver) stood on the gas as I’m running after them trying to get them to stop…The Doc appears beside me on his ‘gallant steed’ (motorbike) telling me to climb on back *initiate 80’s porn music here*. So I reluctantly climb aboard, making certain to grab a hold of the back of the bike this time as we take off from the office!

Luckily Marnie had managed to get MB to pull over around the corner & I wasted no time in jumping off the back of the bike & hauling butt into the jeep! Through a big cheeky smile and in his broken English MB says ‘I thought you going on bike?’

Marnie later confirmed that MB & The Doc had been conversing in Nepali shortly before I arrived downstairs & just before MB put pedal to the metal…hhmmm, I smell a rat…a big Nepali one who drives a motorbike in fact!

In all fairness he’s actually a very nice man who genuinely cares for the children & I’d say he’d be quite a catch, but alas I’m not interested in serving dal bhaat for the rest of my life!

So it was kind of lucky that I didn’t end up on the back of the bike because due to a Maoist rally in Ratna Park that day, the city was not uncommonly, grid locked. The next three hours were spent sitting in the jeep attempting to maneuver our way around the city in time to get to the two homes we had health checks on in that day.

Several hours of exhaust fume inhalation and a massive head ache later, we finally arrived at Unity to do the Vollie visit (The Doc & Andy having gone ahead on the bike in order to complete the two health checks). So I met with Monty who is from the UK and Belinda who is from my neck of the woods in North Fitzroy (Melbourne).

After the home visit I then popped into Belinda’s host family, which was across the road) and left with a tummy full of roti and takari (vegetables) and a tikha on my forehead. Her family was so excited to have Belinda’s saarti (friend) visiting they would have kept feeding us if we hadn’t have said ‘peugyio’ (enough) before heading back to Thamel.

Saturday I was up at the crack of dawn (6.30am) to meet Marnie & Andrew in Chakrapath (north of the city & opposite side to where I’m living) in order to get to Shining Stars for their health check. We stopped for a quick chiya (tea) and discovered Nepal’s answer to potato cakes – sliced potato dipped in a curry batter & deep fried. Not the healthiest of breakfasts I know, but they were delicious (I ignored the man standing dangerously close to the vat of batter with his burnt cigarette threatening to drop ash into it)!

In at Shining Stars The Doc, Marnie & Andrew completed health checks on the 28 kids in residence, whilst I sat cuddling a little 3 year old girl named Mina who seems to have taken a shine to me and me to her. I have visited that home three times now & the minute she sees me she comes running up & latches onto me like a little Koala and doesn’t let me put her down until it’s time for me to leave. She’s adorable and I find myself growing more and more attached to her with every visit.

Sunday, after doing a bit more work in the office I managed to grab some free time & headed to the Indigo Gallery with Cindy (housemate) and Jenny (a Physio from Yackandanda who is staying with us for a few days until she heads home….Shelly I’m sending some pressies for you to distribute for me!). Anyway we grabbed a bite to eat at ‘Mike’s Breakfast’…I’m not sure who ‘Mike’ is, possibly he was the man with the big fringed, orange toupee on top of dark brown hair (noice) who was serving coffee, but I can’t be sure!

We then reflected on the photographic images taken by Achinto Bhadra in the ‘Another Me – Transformations From Pain to Power’ exhibit in the gallery upstairs. The girls and women depicted in these photographs had been in the care of Sanlaap, a NGO in India which assists females as young as eight and up to twenty-five, who are survivors of sex trafficking, rape or abandonment, or are the children of sex workers.

The girls and women were assisted with a counselor to narrate their personal histories and identify an imaginary being into which they most wanted to transform in to. I found it interesting the different perspectives given and how on one hand one was quite vengeful, wanting to ‘hunt down & kill those who have hurt’ her as Ma Mansha The Snake Goddess yet another was wanting ‘to give the shelter of a flowering tree to any girl who needs it’…it made me wonder how I would feel if I had come from the same experience…

Next day continuation…(I got tired and had to go to sleep!)

So yesterday we had planned to revisit Brighter Futures in Bistachap, however due to a ‘bandh’ (strike) all transport was halted so I spent the day in the office clearing out the messy store room and attempting to ignore the rat droppings all over the place (flash backs to my last rat experience in my room in Bistachap). Monty & Belinda dropped in and I ended up going to New Orleans for lunch with them. I actually had better run because I’m meeting B for breaky again this morning!

I hope this finds you well & thanks to everyone for your updates on the blog. I love getting messages & hearing your news so please keep it up!

All my love, Eve xxxx

Back in the hood...

eve — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 05:27:00 GMT

After a somewhat stressful departure from Melbourne, having sold my car on the 11th hour to a lovely couple in South Yarra...Chris and Mandy, with Chris being the ex-CEO of Powercor (something in common off the bat). They were my angels sent from heaven and didn't muck around by haggling on price, even with the knowledge that I was leaving that night, but knowing the details, they were happy to take Terry (Toyota) off me for the asking price without haggling. *SIGH* Mandy even gave me a kiss goodbye and a hug with well wishes for a safe journey (bless)!

My nerves could definitely not have taken a negotiation at that point that's for sure. I was already feeling the pressure of departure, saying goodbye to friends and family (a teary goodbye to Mum the night before), organising the last minute finer details, boxing up remaining possessions, yadda, yadda...so the flawless flight to Kathmandu was a bit of a relief and time to enter into the time capsule of little thought & non-responsibility for a few hours...

So I've now settled back into Nepali life well...with the comforting sounds of numerous and unnecessary car horns, views of colourful prayer flags flying high from the roof tops, manoeuvring past the traffic in dusty streets (until it rains - then it becomes jumping puddles), sights of merchants selling their home grown fruit and vegetables in road side stalls, the relentless asking of rick shaw drivers at any hour: "Lady, you want rick shaw?" and the moving lullaby-like sounds of Tibetan Incantation music drifting out into the streets from Thamel shops...

I feel like I have actually never left and the last few months at home were but a dream...I began work literally the day I arrived, going into the office to see Emma & meet Andy for handover. The second day we had the monthly Volunteer meeting and evening dinner to welcome the new recruits. I was in a bit of a daze for that and elected an early night (not much like me, but hey - I'm getting old!). The next few days were spent completing health and volunteer checks on each home we serve.

As one of these visits fell on a Saturday we had to arrange our own transport out to Godly Prayer Peace Mission (to be referred to hence forth as GPPM). Well Andy had employed the services of a Nepali doctor to assist with health checks on the children & given he had his own motorcycle, it was decided that a ferrying of staff out there be the easiest & most efficient method to adopt. So next thing I know here am I on the back of his motor bike zooming my way through the streets of Thamel, all the while concentrating on the fact that I didn't have a helmet on (this fact not to be shared with Mum!) & reasoning this to the thought that well the driver is a doctor & if we crash he's sure to administer CPR on the spot!

Anyway, I failed to realise at the time (identifying this later as a bit of a cultural blunder) that I was clinging to the 'doctor' around his waist rather than holding onto the back of the bike. OOPS! So I now find myself as the butt of the office jokes, with daily teasing of me being married off to the doctor before long...family, you thought I might get hitched to a Sherpa - will a doctor do? Better get your outfits organised! ;o)

I also managed a visit back out to Bistachhap, however I'm yet to see the kids but did see my two daais (brothers) who have insisted that I come back soon to stay the night & enjoy daal bhaat with them - absolutely! I also saw the completed soccer field I had a hand in beginning during my last visit as a School & Community Maintenance Volunteer in November (Steve, Will & Taylor I will send photos soon!).

Although I am enjoying the company of old and new friends and this challenging new work environment, I'm also looking forward to catching some down time over the coming weekend. Swayambunath (temple) is calling me like a beacon on the hill just up the road from where I'm living. I hope to visit one morning to watch the sunrise over the city...

Until my next instalment, be well and keep in touch.

All my love & wishes, Eve xxxx