Nepal Part 1

I’ll attempt to write about my experience in Nepal starting with a rough timeline of events. I’ll end with some various cultural aspects that don’t really go in any specific chronological order.

I left Minneapolis with an awkward bang. I put my coat on backwards. Not a good sign. My luggage was under the weight limit and I got my first boarding pass to LAX. My flight was over an hour late arriving into LAX. My connection was a bit tight so I was very nervous about getting my Thai Airlines boarding passes and getting to the flight gate on time. When I arrived at LAX I wasn’t sure where to go, but eventually found out you have to go outside to get to the international terminal. I quickly scurried up there only to find that it is one super busy place. I ran to one side only to find that security had that point shut down so I have to scurry back to the other side and wait in line for 20-30 minutes. Sweaty and feeling exhausted I arrived at my gate with only 20 minutes to spare.

The 17-hour flight from LAX to Bangkok went better than expected. I slept a bit and got some reading done. The Bangkok airport feels like a sterile white hospital, but it is spacious. The Kathmandu, Nepal airport is considerably less modern. I got off the plane onto the tarmac and walked into the airport. When I got to the exit a guy holding a 8x11” sign the read “LANCE ESL” was waiting for me and not my teammates as I’d expected. I didn’t know who he was, but at least he was a native English speaker. He bartered in Nepali for a mini-bus/taxi for me and my luggage and off we went. Wow, was that a crazy cab ride! I’ve never been in a vehicle that cut through traffic like that. It swerved in and out of traffic barely missing people, motorbikes, and other cars. After being in Nepal awhile I realized that everyone drove this close to each other. The cab ride had the nice unasked for benefit of desensitizing me to the crazy driving and traffic in Kathmandu. I never did find a ride that was that exciting. It was better than an amusement park rollercoaster.

So I went out to the base only to find that I was the only white person there after Ross, my pick-up person left. But most people spoke understandable English and I had some good talks over dinner. I sat across from a guy from Bangladesh. It wasn’t uncommon to have 6-8 countries represented in the dining hall at any given meal. Then I met this guy named Stephen, at first I thought he was from the US. He spoke great English and it was a relief to talk with him. It gets exhausting trying to figure out what some non-native English speakers are trying to say. But, at least they are trying! I couldn’t speak more than a few words of Nepali.

Soon after I tried out the “squatty potties” which are glorified porcelain holes in the ground. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to squat. I went down and then back up. How are you supposed to do this without getting the bottom of your pants…….dirty? Do this for me. Squat down for me and imagine you have to pull your pants down and move them out of the way…clearing the way for your business to happen. NOT EASY. So I eventually took my pants off and tried again, successfully….well I had to go up and down three times since my legs were getting so sore, but other than that it went well.

So my team arrived a few days later. They had been on a trek to see the mountains from a much closer spot in a place west of Kathmandu. After I heard what they had to go through I’m glad I couldn’t go. It would have been an amazing site, but I guess they were very very exhausted and sore.

So that Sunday Peter and I decided to attend an all Nepali church service. It was a lot of fun at first. It’s an experience. But when you don’t understand anything it gets a bit boring. We had to sit on small cushions on the floor. My butt and back started to hurt pretty quickly. The men and women also sit on opposite sides of the room. In general you don’t see hardly any physical affection between married couples.

Next we had to prepare for English classes. It was a more trying period to get through all the preparation. We didn’t have very defined classrooms and the nicest room on the base (the office) was off-limits. That forced one classroom into meeting on the 3rd floor which was unfinished and not walled in. Eventually they moved to a first floor storage area and setup shop since it wasn’t as cold there. I had my class in a corner of the meeting hall since I had one woman who couldn’t walk very well.

My class had about 10 students. Both men I had got bumped up a level so that left me with about eight women! I can’t really adequately describe the experience of class, but it was very interesting to say the least. Some hadn’t had any schooling before. There is a VERY unfortunate saying in Nepal that says “sending your daughter to school is like sending your neighbor’s cow.” But I think that’s changing as one of the young girls on base was going to school.