A Day in the Life

In case anyone is curious about what I've been up to for the last 6 weeks:

4:30 AM: My day begins with the sound of a rooster crowing very, very loudly outside my window.  I hate this bird more than words can express.  Since I love almost everything else about Nepal, however, it doesn't bother me too terribly much.

8 AM: Breakfast with my Nepali host family.  About three weeks ago I moved in to my permanent living arrangement - a little house on the edge of the city that I share with my Nepali parents and two teenaged brothers.  The house is small and simple, and the family is incredibly gracious and welcoming.  Breakfast usually consists of a boiled egg and some Nepali-style pancakes, but sometimes we have fried potatoes, chow mein, or rice and vegetable curry.

9 AM: I arrive at the MCC Nepal office for a morning of language study with my fellow volunteer.  There are five staff at the office: one Canadian, one American, and three Nepalis.  The main language spoken at the office is Nepali, so we get plenty of practical language practice as well as book-learnin'.

12 PM: Lunchtime!  Every day our office cook prepares a delicious meal of traditional Nepali food: daal bhat (rice and lentils), tarkari (vegetable curry), saag (boiled green vegetables), and achar (spicy relish).  My rice-eating capacity has probably quadrupled since I arrived in Nepal!

Taking a tempo (one of the many forms of sketchy but extremely fun Nepali public transportation). 

1-4 PM: My fellow volunteer and I have language class every afternoon.  In theory, I'm capable of having extended conversations in Nepali.  In practice, I tend to panic a little when confronted with the prospect of actually speaking it.  My teacher, my family, and my Nepali acquaintances are very patient with me as I practice speaking their language, although I think they also get a kick out of hearing my atrocious accent and some of the ridiculous things I accidentally say.  (For example, when I tried to say that someone had gone to the bathroom, but actually said that she was a toilet!)

Walking home from language school

4:30 PM: I arrive at home.  After having chiyya (tea) and khaajaa (snacks) with my host family, I have an hour or two to kill before dinner.  I sometimes go for an evening walk in the big open field below my house, or sit in the rooftop garden to read a book.  Sometimes I help my host mother with dinner (though my task is usually just to watch and learn).  

8:30 PM: Dinnertime!  Dinner is usually more or less the same as lunch - daal bhat and tarkari.  Nepalis say that if they go a day without eating daal bhat, they feel like they haven't eaten anything.  I thought that it would bother me to eat almost the same meal twice every day, but it's actually sort of comforting to always know what's coming.

9 PM: Time for a bucket bath before bed!  We have running water in the house, but water is very precious, and has to be carried in by hand to a tank on the roof, so I almost never waste it by taking a real shower (or by using the western-style toilet, which doesn't work anyway.  Instead there is an "Asian toilet" in a shed behind the house).    

9:30 PM: Time for bed - not only for me, but seemingly for the whole city of Kathmandu.  By this time the normally bustling streets are almost empty of traffic.  I guess everyone needs to go to sleep early, considering the roosters.

The view from  my street at dusk.