Kama Sutra & Cremation.

I'm trying to write this as quickly as possible before it all leaves my brain, but it's pretty tricky as I've learnt so much in just a few hours. 

Today was by far the best day I've had in Kathmandu. After yesterdays HUGE storm which basically turned all of Thamel into a mud bath, today was a gloriously hot sunny day and perfect for a bit of final sight seeing before the volunteers arrive tomorrow. I had only one place in mind, Pashupatinath.

Having had enough of being ripped off by taxi drivers I decided to walk the 5km to Pashupatinath, home to a beautiful temple but also the location of the Kathmandu Crematoria. That's right, I took a day to go and watch people be cremated, and my God it was incredible. 

I managed to navigate my way there easy enough and it helps that almost all tourist attractions here are surrounded by shops and monkeys, so as soon as you start to see the sale of 'singing bowls' and Tibetan prayer flags, you know you're close. Having saved a fair amount of money by avoiding taxis, I decided to hire a guide, Sumit, and was really glad I did, without him I probably wouldn't have had a clue what was going on, plus, he was a bit of a babe. Not sorry. 

Our first point of call was the Pashupatinath Temple, which non-Hindus are not allowed inside, but you can see a fair amount from the outside, up with the monkeys. Inside the grounds of the temple is a huge golden bull, which symbolises the vehicle of Shiva, and the gatekeeper for Shiva and Parvati. Inside the temple is a huge phallus statue, which is apparently a very common representation of Shiva. 

From here we headed down to the water, where the real intrigue began. As we walked up to one of the many terraces looking down to the river, I was met with the first body. Well, to be fair, I couldn't see this one, it was quite far into the process. At this point we were to the left of a bridge crossing the river, the side where the 'normal' people are cremated. Over on the other side, for 5,000 rupees more, that's where the people of 'importance' are cremated. It's also the side where the bodies are washed but I'll get to that in a bit. So from where I was standing I could see about 10 little stone platforms at the side of the river. It was relatively early so there were only 2 that were in use. Sumit explained to me that once the bodies have been washed, they are brought over to a platform and put onto the wood. The family then walk around the body 3 times before the eldest male starts the fire. During this time the family do not cry or get upset, because Hindus believe that that stops the soul from leaving the body. The body is covered with straw and the fire is started in the mouth, because this is where the last breath left the body. 

I should probably add in here that up until 1925, wives would jump into the fire with their dead husbands. If they weren't killed by the fire, then they were beaten to death by the family. And this was only made illegal less than 100 years ago. I've added it to my mental list of why it sucks to be a woman in Nepal, which I shall be blogging about soon. 

According to Sumit it takes around 3 hours to cremate a man but 4 for a woman, because 'old Nepali women are very fat'. He did however add that I would only take 2, so that's nice to know. When the body has completely cremated, the ashes are thrown into the river, which much further down the line goes into the River Ganges.

After watching one of the Professional Burners (genuinely their actual title- you think your job sucks?) poke the fire for a little while we crossed over the bridge to watch the preparation of a body. 

Now, I never intended to ever see a dead body, here or anywhere else, but it really was a very odd feeling. I didn't feel particular upset by this sight, having not known the person and they did seem very old, I just felt very strange, at the end of the day we are all made up of the same stuff. In Nepal they cremate the bodies very soon after death, so the man I saw had only been dead for no more than 24 hours tops. I think the most morbid part about this place is that they've decided to place Nepal's only government funded hospice right next to where the bodies are prepared. What's more, just round the corner is an old people's home, just so you can truly be reminded of what's coming to you. There's clearly nothing better than looking out of your window and thinking, "well, that's probably me next, someone get the fire ready". 

So anyway, we stood on the riverbank and watched the preparation of the body. The man was lying on a special stone on the riverside and his clothes were removed before his family washed him. The feet are put into the river so that it can wash away the sins of the deceased, and the face is washed. The body is wrapped in white cloth and then a special orange cloth is put on top. I found out today that orange is the colour of sacrifice to both Hindus and Buddhists, which is why Buddhist monks wear orange robes. Once the body was covered they sprinkled red powder over it which symbolises purity and is used frequently in Hindu ceremonies, festivals and in daily life. From here they carry the body over to one of the platforms I mentioned above and start the cremating ceremony. I'm not going to lie, it was incredibly fascinating. My guide said it must be very different to what we do in the UK and I couldn't help but imagine what a nightmare it would be if we all started bathing our deceased in the Thames. I also started to think about how it would be to live in a country so focussed around tradition and religion, but I'll be writing about this later.

This is the only photo I'm going to upload because I don't think it's right to post photos of someone else's dead relative. On the right you can see 2 of the platforms in use. 

We then headed up to the top of the nearby terraces where there are 11 temples, which represent the 11 wives of a guy who's name escapes me. Sumit decided to chime in that if he had a beautiful wife like me, then just 1 would be enough. What a charmer. We then walked a little higher and I got a great view over the whole of Pashupatinath. Sumit (or should we call him Chief Charmer) took this photo, and told me not to worry about falling over the side because he is superman and he would save me. 

  

On the way back down to the river we saw some Sadhus, and I have seen a few of them out and about, but finally gave in to tourist temptation and got some photos (you have to give them money to do so). Sadhus are religious or holy men and there are 4 types: the naked ones, the hashish smoking ones, the entertainers who play music and the ones that I can't quite remember. Sadhus are considered dead to themselves and must remain celibate for their whole lives. To avoid temptation, the naked Sadhus cover themselves in the ashes of the dead in order to repulse women. If that doesn't work then I don't know what would. The hashish smoking sadhus are the only ones in Nepal who can smoke cannabis legally. So no to sex, but yes to drugs. Of course, here I am pictured with the naked, ash covered type.

       

After the sadhu excitement, we visited a small temple which is for the goddess Kali. Kali is usually pictured looking fierce as f***, because she is the goddess of destruction (in some forms. I've not got to grips completely with all of the gods, goddesses, incarnations etc). All around this small temple are carvings taken from the Kama Sutra, which have been put there to guard the main Pashupatinath temple from lightning. The logic behind this is that Kumari (remember her from before? Strange young child locked in a temple?) is the goddess of lightning, but because she is so young she doesn't know about sex so instead of destroying the main temple, she'll aim for this smaller one instead. All of this came from Sumit, so correct me if you know better.

Kali's temples are also a place for sacrifice, namely blood and alcohol. Many years ago it used to be that of the human sacrifice. They would trick a man into being sacrificed and then slit his throat in the shrine. They would then remove his little finger and then host a big dinner for men in the local area. The finger would be placed into the vegetables and whoever got the finger in their dinner would be the next sacrifice. These days they just go for animal sacrifices, which are one of each of the following: cow, sheep, duck, goat and chicken. Only male animals are sacrificed, because the females are needed for reproduction. According to Sumit, there is a really fair way of telling if an animal wants to be sacrificed...they simply chuck some water on it's head and if it shakes its head then it's ready. If it doesn't shake its head then they simply keep throwing water onto its head. Really fair that, really fair. 

The final point of call was the old peoples home, which houses over 200 elderly Nepalis. Oh my, elderly Nepalis are incredibly sweet! They are so tiny and so wrinkly I just wanted to hug all of them. Sumit is clearly friends with the whole geriatric community and one lady told us that because he is Nepali and I am white then we would make a great couple. Well that Russian fortune teller did say I would marry a South Asian man, so maybe he wasn't so wrong after all.

At the end of the tour I politely declined the offer to go to tea and spent some more time back at the river watching the cremations. It seems like a very strange way to spend such a beautiful day but I can honestly say it's the most fascinating thing I've ever seen. There aren't really enough words.

Not too far from Pashupatinath is Boudhanath, home to Boudha Stupa, Nepal's largest Buddhist Stupa. Funnily enough I didn't fancy lunch at Pashupati and decided to go and bask in the Sun at the Stupa. I don't know too much about the stupa as there wasn't a guide or much information. What I can share with you however, is lots and lots of photos. 

This is what happens when you ask someone who can't speak English to take your photo. 

It was still lovely and sunny in the afternoon so I walked back to Thamel and had the longest, most thorough shower I've had in a long while. Now my hair smells much more like Herbal Essences and much less like the burning of dead bodies. 

Lizzie x

Escape to the Country.

Yesterday wasn’t my finest hour. I don’t think it came across so much in the previous post, but I wasn’t having the best of times. I’d slept really badly and was generally being aggravated by absolutely everything. It happens sometimes.

Today however, much better! It’s a miracle really as again I didn’t sleep too well, I was too busy trying to get as little of the duvet touching my skin but at the same time staying warm. To say the least, last nights hotel made me glad I’d had all my vaccinations. Despite being served a spicy potato curry for breakfast (you can only begin to imagine my thoughts on this), I was actually feeling really positive and ready to face the long day ahead.

And what a long day it has been. We started off again in Duipiple, popping into the office and visiting the other host home, which, may I add, has a cute baby. Bonus points to this house, and I’m already super jealous of whoever gets to live there. From here the details get a bit hazy because I can’t quite remember the order of the villages, but basically we visited the four other places within Lamjung. Essentially all of the villages are in a line along the valley, so once I get used to it, it should be easy enough to get around.

Casually stopping mid River Road to wash the bus. 

When I say easy to get around, I mean easy to navigate. Getting around isn’t quite so easy and there’s going to be a lot of walking over the next few months. Fortunately for our visits today, we had a jeep. I was a bit dubious of the driver; he didn’t really seem to slow down too much- not even when small rocks from the roadside were tumbling down the steep verges of the mountain (hill? Not sure). Luckily I was in a really positive frame of mind and took it as one of those occasions where you just need to sit back, keep smiling and have faith. We managed to complete the day in one piece so that’s the most important part.

The view from the top of one of the mountain villages.

Not entirely sure what this was for, but something ceremonial from one of the village schools.

Some host family members. 

The view from my host home. 

Visiting the host homes and village schools really opened my eyes to life in Rural Nepal. Although we did see one place yesterday, today really was a learning experience. I’m going to need to get some decent photos because words really don’t do it much justice. Lamjung valley is so vast and so, so beautiful. It’s getting really hot here now and so standing up at the top of one of the mountains looking down over the whole area was simply amazing. It’s quite dusty at the moment but on a clear day I’ll be able to see even more. Although the standard of living is nothing like what I’m used to, the volunteers living in the remote host homes are going to have such a wonderful experience. There are almost no vehicles and virtually every home has it’s own mini-farm. All of the homes I visited have chickens, most have goats and some have cows too. One home also had a family of monkeys sat outside, but I don't think these are very welcome as they steal the crops. Seeing lots of baby goats definitely improved my already chirpy mood. Above all else, it’s so very peaceful. Kathmandu is great, but so noisy and so dirty. Going out to Lamjung was literally a breath of fresh air.

Once we’d visited all four of the villages, which for me mostly just involved awkwardly smiling whilst everyone chatted away in Nepali, we drove up to Besi Sahar, which is where I’m currently spending a very relaxed evening. Besi Sahar is probably the closest thing to a large town anywhere near Lamjung and is where I’ll be returning to in just over a week to do the in-community training with the volunteers. 

I’m feeling very smug right now because not only do I have power and Internet in my room, but I’ve also got a western toilet AND a semi-decent mattress. To top it all off, one of the local people bought me a Dairy Milk earlier. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Lizzie x

The Sticks.

What does this look like to you? A stream, right?

Wrong! This is the road. A part of the road that our jeep had to manoeuvre through as we went out to do community visits on Sunday. The journey was actually much easier than I expected and the roads far less scary. For the most part we had “black roads” (surfaced) and the roads were wide enough for two cars. Bonus.

Navigating what I have now titled 'River Road'

Once in the community it dawned on me just how rural and remote Lamjung is. I’m not going to pretend to know how to spell any of the places in my district, but I’ll give it a shot. There are 6 areas where my volunteers are placed: Duieiple, Rhambazaar, Samibhangyang, Suryabal, Sotibasal and Jitabesi. What a mouthful.

I’m in Duieiple (pronounced doo-ip-le-play) sharing a house with a couple, one of their mothers and my counterpart. I get my own room which is great, but it does mean I’ll be the sole victim if the spiders decide to get in. Swings and roundabouts.

Lamjung itself is absolutely beautiful. It was a gloriously sunny day when we arrived which probably helped, but set in a leafy valley with a mountainous backdrop the place was never going to not impress.

When we visited the host homes the difference in living conditions dawned on me, and due to a lack of sleep the night before I did begin to panic and think “what am I doing here?!”. I won’t lie to you, I was completely overwhelmed for a moment. One quick look from the balcony out over the valley was enough to calm these emotions and I’m sure I’ll adjust to it just as quickly as I did in Khujand (see also my own self declared importance of adaptation).

The host homes and schools are lovely and friendly, although with the language barrier it’d be hard to tell otherwise. We only went to two of the villages, so have many more places to visit tomorrow. One of the host homes has a gorgeous little baby girl who reminds me so much of Farzona, my host baby sister in Tajikistan. I’m a bit gutted to not have any young children in my host home this time round, they really do brighten the place up.

Life in rural Nepal is going to be so much different to anything I’ve ever experienced. Everything that I actually need is here, even if it is a basic version. The lack of completely unnecessary things that I would usually have in my life are not here and I am already feeling very content at the prospect leading a much simpler life. The people in this area of Nepal have managed to live this long without much western interference and I am glad to be living in an environment that is based on needs and not wants. There won’t be anyone here complaining that they don’t have an iPhone 6, that’s for sure.

Of course I say this now, but in a weeks time and I’m aching for a proper loo and am covered in mozzie bites (there’s no glass in the windows anywhere I’ve visited so far, KTM and Lamjung), I’ll probably be singing a different song. But for now, it’s refreshing and there isn’t a selfie stick in sight. Long may it stay that way.

Lizzie x

Updates and Adaptation.

It’s been a little while since I last posted and I’ll tell you for why. I’ve been here for just over two weeks now and I’m now totally comfortable in Kathmandu. I know roughly where things are, I know how much I’ll be ripped off by taxi drivers and I know where to get cheap mo-mos that won’t make my stomach cry. Because of this, it’s making the strange events that happen almost daily very, very normal. What I would have initially found very strange and/or exciting is now pretty much day-to-day life. When I first arrived there were a million things I could have written about that are completely different to the UK. Now however, I am not even noticing these things and the UK comparisons stopped almost as soon as they started.

Don’t get me wrong, I still notice things that make me do a double take (for example last week I witnessed a monkey being electrocuted on overhead cables just above pedestrians), it’s just that there aren’t so many of these moments now. And that’s perfectly ok by me.

Not noticing the difference in environment is all a part of adaptation, something I’ve become fairly good at over the last few years having moved a fair few times. Adaptation is also an absolutely crucial part of this programme. If you can’t get used to a new, and more than likely difficult, environment, then you’re really going to struggle. Learning to live in another part of the world isn’t always easy, but it’s certainly not impossible. I’ve been lucky enough to spend plenty of time in Kathmandu so it’s been pretty easy going, but my group of volunteers, they’ll be going almost straight into community, with a couple of days in between for training.

My next challenge is going to be adapting to the community, which is going to be a completely different kettle of fish. I’m expecting rural, I’m expecting basic and I’m expecting challenges. However, having lived in a community different to my own, I’m also expected warmth, hospitality and a home to call my own. I leave tomorrow so I’ll no doubt post an update as soon as possible.

Speaking of updates, this post was supposed to include them. Over the last week I have attended two rounds of Pre-placement Training (PPT) for the Nepali volunteers. Having already has this training myself in the UK, it was interesting to see it from another point of view. Luckily it was all conducted in English and I was able to facilitate sessions on the Millennium Development Goals, as previously mentioned, as well as conflict management. It was really great to do the session as I was able to get practice for when I conduct my own training, and also just good to interact with the initially very shy Nepali volunteers.

Once the PPT was over I had a well deserved day off and spent this with my counterpart Raul and another UK team leader, SJ. We subjected Raul to an excruciating experience in the tailors but then I softened the blow with ice cream. In case you’ve not seen, here is my wonderful new Nepali outfit. Can’t wait to wander the streets of Kent in this when I get home.

It was a gloriously sunny day so we had lunch at a rooftop restaurant and then had a really hardcore Friday night in watching movies. I was off again on Saturday so met up with two other TLs, Tayler and Annabel, who have been an absolute God send, providing me with all the information about the previous cycle of volunteers. We went to a wonderful little farmers market before heading to the Garden of Dreams to bask in the sunshine. It’s so much hotter than I expected and I may be forced into buying some new clothes for this unexpected heat. What a shame…

That brings me pretty much up to date and I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to talk about next time.

Lizzie x 

The Millennium Development Goals in Nepal.

From the creative title, you may have realised that this post is about the Millennium Development Goals in relation to Nepal. It took me a long time to think of that one you know. There was also the potential for 'The Millennium Development Goals in Nepal in Relation to Youth Volunteering as well as the Future of Sustainable Goals' but I just didn't think that was as catchy...

For those of you who don't know, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs for short) are 8 goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 200. There are 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators.

The goals are:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

You can find out plenty more about them on the UN website.

And why is it that I'm telling you this? One, because it's really interesting and two, because I'm doing a session about it to the Nepali volunteers tomorrow at their pre-placement training (PPT). It's also incredibly relevant to the ICS programme as the projects involved help to achieve these targets, especially in areas where youth are involved. Naturally, I'm procrastinating, but I'm thinking of it as a sharing of knowledge. If I write it up here then it will definitely be in my brain by tomorrow. 100%.

Back to the MDGs.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Nepal has a number of development issues, mostly in the areas of health and education. With the introduction of the MDGs, a number of frameworks have been put in place to work towards achieving these goals. The Nepal government have been committed to achieving their goals and there has in fact been a huge improvement in a number of areas. As of 2013, Nepal is on track and is likely to achieve most of it's MDG targets. It has already achieved the target of reducing maternal mortality by three quarters and has halted and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other diseases. Other targets that it is likely to achieve are to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, reduce child mortality, reduce biodiversity loss and achieve universal access to reproductive health. A great job so far, but still a long way to go, especially in regards to gender equality which is it's only goal  not likely to be achieved.

It's really important for ICS volunteers to look at the MDGs in training and during the programme so that they can see how their projects help towards these goals. Often it can be hard to see a positive change being made when progress can be so slow, and often the expectations of the volunteers can be very high. Although you may not change the world in a 12 week programme (and by may not, I mean, will not), by looking at the projects in relation to these goals then you can see the long term effect that they will have. It's amazing that the volunteers come to the programme with such enthusiasm, ideas and motivation, but sometimes in reality it can be very demotivating when you see no immediate change. I myself have felt this before and no doubt as a Team Leader I will be reiterating the point above to my own team at some point.

It has now been 15 years since these goals were set and there is still a long way to go, however, the goals have now been evaluated and in their place have come Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs- so many acronymns, I know, honestly not a disease though). The SDGs are of even more importance to young volunteers as they have come from a consultation of a youth forum. The youth forum were consulted directly and discussed ways in which young people can and are helping to manage the shift from the MDGs to the SDGs. By consulting with the youth forum, the SDGs also ensure that the needs and priorities of all youth are at the centre of the future development agenda and its implementation. Youth volunteering is key in the implementation of these goals and that is one of the reasons I am so pleased and privileged to be involved not once, but twice, in this kind of activity. In my opinion it is key that young people are consulted and actively involved in development work.

Now, that was a little heavy, and even I feel a bit confused (if anything is incorrect, please let me know!), so here's a lovely little animation about the MDGs. It's a little bit old now but some really interesting and still relevant statistics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3p2VLTowAA

Lizzie x

Living Goddesses and Massacre on Valentines.

This is going to be a long one, it's been a busy day.

First, I'll just touch on a slight incident from last night.

Oops.

So yeah, I sat down on my bed and one of slats clean snapped in half. Too many mo-mos for this girl. Luckily when we told the guest house about it they were really cool and they told us that the previous three Turkish people staying in the room had been, ahem, very active. I can only assume they did a lot of dancing on the bed.

But on with the good stuff, it's been a long busy day so I'll try to keep it entertaining.

Friday night we decided to see some of the major attractions in Kathmandu and decided Durbar Square would be a great place to start, however our taxi driver though differently and dropped us off somewhere totally different. Once we'd paid the money to get in we realised we were actually at Narayanhity Royal Palace Museum, the site of a huge massacre in 2001. What better place to spend Valentines day, am I right?!

Nepal has had a very turbulent history in regards to monarchy and power and only recently have things settled. Now I'm no expert in the full story of the Nepalese royal family so for now I'll just summarise what happened at this particular site. On June 1st 2001 in the palace grounds, the heir to the throne, Prince Dipendra, is believed to have killed 9 members of his own family and himself, including the king and the queen. The prince survived and became king, however died 3 days later, never waking up from his coma. After his death, his brother, Gyanendra, became king. Very Game of Thrones.

This isn't the only massacre in Nepalese history, but as there is so much to cover I'll save that for another time.

(Like quite a few places in Kathmandu you weren't allowed to take any photos, so you'll just have to picture the palace yourself. Think lots of taxidermy and 60's style interiors and you'll have a general idea.)

Just down the road from Narayanhity Royal Palace is the Garden of Dreams which sounded lovely but in reality was full of smitten couples. Really beautiful place, really bad day to go. The gardens are actually very beautiful and it was nice to relax in the middle of such a busy and dirty city. There was a moment when I almost had to step in and save the day as a small child had fallen into a pond, but fortunately someone got there quicker than I did. I spent the rest of the time trying to get chipmunks to come over by throwing pieces of croissant that I'd taken from breakfast. It seems chipmunks prefer cheese Lays to croissant, for future reference.

(All my photos from here are currently on another camera so will update in due time, but I'm sure you know what smug couples look like)

From the Garden of Dreams we were going to walk down to the real Durbar Square but decided now was the best time to experiment with rickshaws. Oh. My. Gosh. This is where I turned into a huge wimp and was clinging to SJ for dear life. Being in a taxi is bad enough but being on the back of a blooming rickshaw is far, far worse. The roads of Kathmandu (and I imagine all of Nepal) are just not designed for bicycles.

Obviously this was before we set off.

I was so blooming (I'm trying to keep the language here as PG) happy to get off that rickshaw and into the overpriced Durbar Square, although once you buy a ticket it is valid for your entire stay providing you've got a passport copy and spare passport photo. Honestly, they truly love paperwork here. Anyway.

Now I'm no history teacher so I'll go to my good friend Wikipedia for a short description of what Durbar Square actually is:

Kathmandu Durbar Square is the plaza in front of the old royal palace of the then Kathmandu Kingdom. It is one of three Durbar (royal palace) Squares in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Durbar Square is surrounded with spectacular architecture and vividly showcases the skills of the Newarartists and craftsmen over several centuries. The royal palace was originally at Dattaraya square and was later moved to the Durbar square location.^[1]

The Kathmandu Durbar Square holds the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city. Along with these palaces, the square surrounds quadrangles revealing courtyards and temples. It is known as Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square, a name derived from a statue of Hanuman, the monkey devotee of Lord Ram, at the entrance of the palace.

Today, Durbar Sqaure was also host to a market organised by a women's organisation. To any of the guys from my Tajik programme, it was very much like our business fair but slap bang in the middle of a tourist attraction. After a mooch around the stalls we went to the museum section of the square which was absolute bliss in comparison to the busy entrance area full of guys trying to offer themselves as guides and even one man who offered 'the best night of your life' in exchange for just $1000. Who could resist?

Women Entrepreneur Handicraft Fair- always on the job.

The museum was a big courtyard with buildings on every side and a 9 storey tower containing a very ricketey staircase which all of a sudden made incredibly afraid of heights. It really was a very wimpy day. The views from the top were great albeit restricted. After the tower we went to the museum which was interesting but a little over the top. There really is only so much you can say about a king, not to mention every single one of his belongings being on show too. None the less there were some wonderful things on show and it was great to see a royal wearing sunglasses in almost every one of their publicity photos.

All along the square there were gurkhas, which offered a PERFECT photo opportunity. Naturally I couldn't resist and this guy is my favourite because he was so damn smiley!

My gurhka valentine. 

The nine storey tower. 

The next part of the day was by far one of the most surreal moments of my life. At 4pm they were going to be bringing out the LIVING GODDESS. I had only heard about the Living Goddess, Kumari, briefly before but the reality was just bizarre. The tradition of having a Kumari comes from the 1700's and a young girl is chosen when she is 3 years old and is considered to be an incarnation of the goddess Durga. The Kumari then spends all of her years up until puberty in the Kumari house being worshipped. She is allowed to leave the premises 13 times a year but isn't allowed to touch the floor so gets carried everywhere. Doesn't sound too shabby to me.

At 4 we crowded into a little courtyard to get a glimpse of her. It was all very exciting and as soon as she appeared at the window there were gasps and cheers. In reality it was a very young girl wearing some very lovely silk PJs wearing an awful lot of makeup. She came to the window, looked around and then left. It was very, very bizarre.

You're not allowed to take photos of the Kumari and there were threats from the security that they would break your camera if you did, so here's a photo from the web. I don't know if this is the one I saw but you get the picture, so to speak.

At the side of Durbar Sqaure is Freak Street, one of the popular haunts of many hippie backpackers in days gone by but now mostly just another tourist spot. From here we walked along the Kingsway and I had a case of Truly Bad Maths, asking a guy if he would do 3 for RS100 on DVDs that only cost RS30 each anyway. I blame tiredness.

I'm not entirely sure what this vehicle is but it sure looks good. 

The day ended back at one of my favourite haunts, Nema Cafe, with some buffalo mo-mos and a hot lemon and honey. Fortunately my bed has now been repaired and we have electricity tonight (yay!!) so I'll be living the rock'n'roll lifestyle watching a movie and eating Oreo's.

Lizzie x

Edit: literally as soon as I finished writing this the electricity went off. I guess it'll just be the Oreo's on their own then.

Training & Traditional Dress.

Today has been a really great day. I'm not going to go into too much detail about our training because it will be very boring/irrelevant to most people reading this, so I'll just assure that it's interesting and going well.

One thing from today though that was very interesting was a session about development issues in Nepal. Now call me ignorant but I'd never thought of Nepal being an especially poor country. This, however is not the case. The three major areas we looked at today were:

- Health: although heath is generally improving there are still many issues, for example 67% of children are stunted and 50% of them are underweight at birth. Due to measures brought in to reach the MDG for maternal health, the maternal mortality rate has been reduced from 415 in 2000 to 229 per 100,000 live births.

- Education: although 96% of children are enrolled in schools, the retention levels are very low and the numbers are often skewed. The average amount of years spent in school for males is 2.49 but only 0.6 for females.

- Gender: 7% of girls are married by the time they are 10, 40% by 15 and 51% by 18. Arranged marriage is still acceptable and although the age to be married has been risen, many villages do not abide by this. Women face many exclusions and discrimination, especially in rural areas.

In addition to this Nepal doesn't have much political stability. There have been 21 governments since 1990 and no elections since 2002. Nepal also suffers a lot from natural disasters, not helped by climate change.

For me the gender inequality was what hit home the most as I feel very strongly about this issue, and it was the theme of my project in Tajikistan. In addition to the training I also met one of the long term VSO volunteers who is working on an amazing project called Sisters for Sisters, which helps to get girls into school. She had a lot of really interesting stuff to talk about and it really is one of the best parts of working for VSO, as you get to meet so many interesting people with such varied experiences.

Despite the problems Nepal faces, VSO have been doing some great work through both the long term volunteers and the youth programme. The three main areas they work on are education, health and livelihoods, with cross cutting themes of gender and climate change. VSO have selected 20 districts across Nepal and aim to help women, youth and other marginalised groups.

On a lighter note...

After our training, SJ and I headed out with the two Nepali Team Leaders to go and buy fabric to have a traditional outfit made. Not as cheap as Tajik dress but still very cheap compared to the UK. I've had my measurements taken (was not impressed with the numbers, need to get hiking) and providing I don't look ridiculous I'll post a photo when I go to pick up the outfit.

Of course no outfit is complete without shoes, and I cannot resist a bargain so of course I picked up some shoes too. Here's mine and SJ's (pasty) feet with our amazing Nepali shoes.

The shopping was good because we got to spend a bit of time with the Nepali girls (funnily enough my male counterpart Rahul didn't want to come) as we've only been training together so far. They're really sweet but there are some clear differences between our cultures, especially our ways of working. The programme is all about cross cultural working though, so it's all part of the learning curve. 

We've found a great little restaurant near where we live which makes amazing mo-mos, which are sort of like a spicy dumpling containing either chicken, buffalo or vegetables. I can't get enough of them at the moment, which isn't going to help me improve those measurements! 

I'm writing this against the clock because we've had no electricity in the guest house all day and I'm running out of charge on my laptop, so that's all for now. I was having a bit of a rubbish day yesterday as I realised just how hard and challenging this is going to be, but my spirits are high again now and I'm really keen to meet my Nepali volunteers next week.

Lizzie x

Training Day.

So this is a short one because I'm going to lump all of the training into one post when it all finishes next week.

BUT.

I realised I hadn't even spoke about the weather. What kind of terrible British person am I?! Usually I wouldn't go into too much depth about this, but the weather here is just not usual at all. First thing in the morning, it's freezing. So you layer up, step outside and... it's toasty sunshine. By the time we walked down to the office I was really warm. Until you go back inside again...and it's freezing. All through the day there is beautiful warm sunshine but as soon as it gets to about 6 the temperature really drops. Right now it's actually not too cold in the room although I do have a chilly nose.

For any of the volunteers about to come out here, all I can say is go for layers because I've spent most of the day putting clothes on and taking them off again.

Lizzie x

Monkeys and Musings.

I woke up to the sounds of dogs barking, something I think is going to become a common theme. After a fantastic nights sleep I was able to have a hot(ish) shower and felt remotely human again, ready to face the first day in Kathmandu.

Some girls from the VSO office came to meet us and we had lunch and a catch up with the project co-ordinator before heading off into the city. As this is our first day, SJ and I were able to do what we wanted, and there was really only ever one thing on our minds...monkey temple.

Navigating to the temple (via the city for a SIM card and money cash) was easy enough. We simply found one cab, haggled the price, he refused, so we went to the next guy. This guy happened to be asleep but that's just not good enough when 2 eager UK volunteers want to see monkeys so we woke him up. We agreed a much better price and then...he went back to the first guy, told him what we were paying and we got in the first cab anyway. Sleepy driver gets a nap, we get to the monkeys. Everyone's a winner.

We were not disappointed. As soon as we arrived we were overwhelmed with monkey excited. Far less exciting was the walk up a very high, steep set of stairs to the temple. Luckily there were plenty of monkeys to distract us on the way up and I needed the exercise anyway after sitting on planes/in airports for almost an entire day. It seems that in Nepal they follow the rule of one price for locals and another price (four times as much) for foreigners. No matter though. Monkeys. The temple was really very beautiful and were got some absolutely amazing views of the city.

After our monkey adventures we headed to a very tourist-y bit of Kathmandu, Themal, for some dinner and maybe a gin based cocktail. I think at this point it would be good to explain that in Kathmandu there really is no concept of road safety and pavements are non existant, so everyone is in the road, expecting you to move out of their way. Luckily the cars move very slowly (probably because they are tiny Suzukis not really designed for rough terrain, but maybe that's just me), so no real damage could ever happen. Plus, providing the horn is working then that's all that really matters. Not a second goes by when you can't hear someone beeping their horn to make another car/person/animal move out of the way.

I'm home now in the very nice guest house and listening to the dogs, of course. There isn't a huge amount to do at night time, but all the time I have wi-fi I'll be able to inform you of my monkey and non-monkey based adventures.

Tomorrow my training starts so I'm really looking forward to that and meeting some of the Nepali volunteers. But for now, this will be all.

Lizzie x

Surreal Beginnings.

About 5 minutes after my previous post all of my mounting nerves vanished. SJ had arrived so I was able to fill my mind with comparing what we had brought with us and who had a worse passport photo.

The journey, despite being around 19 hours went relatively quickly. I amused myself with Whiplash and then St Vincent (still got it Mr Murray, sorry not sorry). We managed to find a women's only sleeping area in Doha airport so that covered the 6 hour stopover and then it was a short flight to Kathmandu. Waiting at Doha airport we realised that we were 2 women amongst a grand total of around 5, so we stuck out like a sore thumb. It was awkward.

The fun really began though, at Kathmandu airport. Before we even landed the Nepali travellers had decided they were going to get up and start getting ready to leave. When we were eventually let off the plane we had to figure our way through customs and then wait for approximately 10,000 years for our bags. Luckily our co-ordinator was there to pick us up.

Oh no, wait, no they weren't, they had the wrong day. All was good though, we got in touch with VSO and were safely in a car on the way to dinner (yay!) without having to wait too long. What I quickly learnt in Nepal is that they don't really use words for saying 'please can you move', they just blow whistles. So waiting at Nepal airport we were just in a big crowd being herded around by whistle blowing guys. Now I know how sheep feel. Except that at no stage were we going to be eaten. Or shaved for that matter, at least I hope not.

Sadly, driving through Kathmandu on the way to the guest house we couldn't really see much because there is very little street lighting and everyone goes to bed super early so all I could see was darkness. Darkness and stray dogs, of which there are plenty.

As we had arrived quite late, the only place we could find that was open was a bar called 'Mirrors' and as I walked in I expected one of the Corleones to be there. It turns out women don't really go to bars like this and as I sat down on a white leather sofa in an all white room with white tables and mirrors on every wall, surrounded by 10 or so intimidating men, I couldn't for the life of me work out why. Never the less it was actually very friendly. Surreal as hell, but friendly. I had a great garlic chicken dish which burnt out my entire mouth so I never have to worry about taste buds again. Winner. Extra points to the 'band' that were playing that night. Nothing beats an acoustic cover by Nepalis of Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box.

After dinner we attempted to navigate back (taxi drivers don't know the way) to the guest house and after a quick scan for any 8 legged friends, I fell swiftly asleep to the glorious sound of planes overheard and dogs barking. Living the dream.

Lizzie x

The First Post

Hello!

Welcome to my blog, where I will (hopefully) be documenting everything that happens on my trip to Nepal with VSO ICS.

I'm currently the most nervous person at Heathrow drinking a coconut water (that cabin pressure really dehydrates you, you know) so trying to get a quick post in to calm my nerves, although I have had a wonderful person at the end of the phone keeping me sane too.

So, as a little background, in 2014 I volunteered with VSO in Tajikistan, which was a 12 week project working with marginalised women starting their own businesses. Those 3 months were absolutely amazing and I got to work with some really interesting people, some of which have become life long friends. Although I was a 'regular volunteer' in Tajikistan, this time round I will be a Team Leader, which is a mostly pastoral role, making sure all the volunteers are OK and everything is running smoothly. I'll be working with a counterpart and we will lead the team of 8 UK volunteers and 8 Nepali volunteers. There's also a programme coordinator out in country to help us. The community I'm heading out to is called Lamjung but I'll be starting my training in Kathmandu to begin with.

Up until this point I have been frantically fundraising, packing and moving out of wonderful London back to my parents house in Kent. It's been insanely busy and that probably explains why it's only just dawned on me that I'm leaving. This morning was the last time I'll be waking up in my nice comfy bed with my quite frankly amazing duvet, and things began to feel very real.

Fast forward a few hours and here I am, nervous, excited and suffering from a somewhat psychological sinus infection. I'm not entirely sure what lies ahead of me, but whether it's smooth sailing or challenging, no doubt it's going to be an incredible experience.

I've noticed a real difference in how I feel today compared to how I felt just before I left for Tajikistan. Almost a year ago I spent the night before I travelled getting to know the 14 other UK volunteers I was flying out with. There was so much eagerness and anticipation that I hardly noticed any nerves. Plus, we all instantly got along so there was plenty of conversation to make the journey fly by. In addition, I had never taken part in ICS so I had no idea at all what was in store.

This time round I'm feeling a lot more nervous, partially due to the unknown and partially down to the added responsibility I have this time. I've had a lot more time to think whilst waiting around for my flight, and having had 2 weeks off work I've got very settled in at home. None the less I'm still insanely excited and cannot wait to experience Nepali culture.

Luckily I'm not totally on my own as I'll be flying out with another Team Leader and as I type my gate has been opened, so this is it for now. I would love to say 'next stop Kathmandu but I've got a 6 hour wait in Doha first. You win some you lose some.

Lizzie x