Report Card Day

Sarah and I went with Ramesh to the school to pick up the kids results from exams.  I really enjoyed this.  It wasn't because I had the best tea ever in the principal's office while waiting for the packets of grades for 31! kids.  Waiting with Sarah in there with the other parents made me feel like those parents, and i was picking up my kids' grades, we were their persons.  I had a sense of protectiveness for them and I felt as though I was someone important in their life.
On the way home we carried a stack of yellow folders.  I peaked over Ramesh's shoulder and saw that he failed.  The he walked ahead and peaked at several other kids papers, he even lost one it the wind but luckily it didn't get dirty.  I peaked at a few kids's folders too.
When we got back the kids were very anxious, except Rohan, he was his normal self.  We gave the results to Manoj and he called kids in on what seemed to be a random basis.

The first noteworthy story is when Angina came out and had received a 93.  Kids were yelling 93!! 93!! 93!!  and her little face was priceless.  A modest smile with raised shoulders and a tilted head.  All the kids cheered and cheered, I yelled "winner, winner".

Anjana was quite funny.  I was outside and she came up and simply came to report the results to me, "I passed 3, I failed 4" smiling.  I loved it, gave her a hug and said good job on 3.

I never saw Buddhi Ram get his grades, but he must've failed at least one.  Sarah said when he told her, he had tears in his eyes.

Sudip seemed upset after he got his grades, which surprised me because I peaked at his and I thought I saw a 98.  But I think he might've failed one.  I followed him upstairs where he was looking out his window into the rice fields on the cloudy day.  Kesheba came in with me and we both sat with Sudip, silently, while he reflected.  He's a little wild man but I have definitely observed a reflective side to him as well and to see him care so much about school at his age shows me yet another side to my peanut.  I am very proud of him.

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Miscellaneous quote:
"I met two Americans, the mother looked like a daughter and the daughter looked like a mother."
  -Mina

I'm ready to say it... it's love

Time is going by much faster now, Sarah and I leave again tomorrow already.  I'm going bungy jumping... aaaahhh! Then we'll come back and only have one week left with the kids.  Yesterday Manoj said our time was too short.  He was right really.  3 weeks doesn't seem as long as it used to, but it is surely long enough to care about people and even love them.   I have a love of some kind for nearly everyone here, but I've also extended past that for certain kids and for Sarah... and even though I can't carry on a two sentence conversation with Ganga or Samjhana I really do feel for them too.

The hardest part is the lack of connection I'm going to have with kids like Ram, Sudip, Kesheba, Bitisha and Nisha.  Who knows if they will ever have a facebook or email, and they don't have a postal address.  I care so much about them and want to see them grow up but the reality is after next Friday, this could be it.

-------- at a different time in the day

I'm sitting next to Sudip.  He's coloring small squares of paper, writing his name on them and copying the word black because that is what he saw on one.  He would be just fine and content without me right beside him, but I want to be with him.  He's so cute and focused, and I want to be near him.  I hope he can feel me because I love and I'm sitting right next to him, right now.  He's coloring and I'm writing.
The power is out again and we're the only two in the tv room.  A cloud of kids are outside playing the knockout dodgeball game.  Another bunch are in the reading/drawing room playing our makeshift version of Candyland we made earlier.   I'm so happy to be here.

Recap of the Chitwan weekend...

I forgot my journal over the weekend to Chitwan :(

Highlights

waterfall shower, check.

ride on top of a bus, check.

bathing with elephants, check.

"We saw a rhino, while on an elephant in Nepal"

Rhino

The night of the world cup final we stayed up to watch.  The power went out, per usual but we adapted quite well.  We met 3 gals from the Netherlands and a group of us took the 10 min walk to where we did the elephant bathing and watched the match on a large screen from a generator in the jungle.  I was very tired and the match was so long, with so many penalties.

The drive to Chitwan was beautiful as was the scenary for rafting...

I went on the weekend with plans of finding a trek in Pokhara to do my last days.  That changed, I've now changed my flight home and booked "7 days in Tibet".  The only hang up is I'm missing my aunt's 80th birthday.  I had scheduled my whole trip around it and then changed it once I was here.  But at the Ethiad office I flipped a coin on to go or not to go to Tibet.  Sarah and I had kind of made it this thing over our destiny to go and in the moment, by flipping a coin I felt like i was doing that.  So it will be quite exciting to see what this trip turns up to be.  The airline office guy let me keep the rupee I tossed because I reminded him of himself.  It's my destiny coin now.

In Kathmandu on the way to Ethiad office we ran into our rafting guide from the weekend, whom Sarah seemed to have a huge crush on.  It's so weird, in Nepal I came knowing no one but I'm always running into people I know now.  It's just the dynamic of the place.  On Friday when Sarah and i were going to Kathmandu from Bhaktapur for the first time we came out of the town with no real idea of our means to get to Kathmandu.  Sarah said, "What do we do?"  I replied, "Just stand here until someone helps us."  It just kind of works that way here.  So next thing you know the two of us are on a bus with no one else but the driver and his friend headed to Kathmandu for only 500 rupees.  We got dropped off in somewhere, Kathmandu and when we finally got towards our guest house, out comes 5 other IVHQ volunteers we were going to Chitwan with.  The whole weekend was really full of standing around until you get a clue and running into familiar faces.  

I also got my nose pierced, it's very Nepali.  I feel like that is something that could be a big event or just a passerby happening.  In this environment it was breakfast and just stopping by a shop.  Reminds me of my last skydiving experience.  I scheduled it like one would a manicure appointment.  I'll call and if they can fit me in i'll join was the comment I made to Casey that morning.  But then again she brought out a lot of the seize the moment in me anyway.  And here in Nepal, it's a constant seize the moment.

Everyday feels like a good day...

The batch of salty tea must be done, weeee!  Today Bishnu brought the tea in a mug without salt... life is good.

Yesterday we took the kids on a walk to the top of a "hill" for a picnic.  Hill is a relative term in Nepal.  When we went to buy goods Sarah asked Manoj how long it would take, he said, "around 3 hours, then we'll do a 2 hour rest and come back".  Hill is a relative term in Nepal.  But we ended up not going quite that long, but Sarah and I wandered around Bhaktapur for 2+ hours after getting our visitor pass to make up for it.

The littlest Angina led the way up the hill, Sudip and the other little ones also in the front.  I had my pack and the kids had some too and would alternate them about.

Early on in the walk we passed the skinniest dog I have ever seen.  Manoj pointed him out, otherwise I wouldn't have seen.   It was so sad and I had none of the supplies to give him.  He just was laying there, his ribs showing completely.  It made me feel better for the neglected pup at the orphanage... but it was still a sick feeling.  A bit later we passed another dog eating a dead chicken, raw.

For the entire walk but maybe 10 minutes I was holding hands with at least one of the kids.

Sudip is my little man now, I love that peanut.  He really could've cared less about Sarah and I being here, whereas some of the kids, especially Nisha and Bitisha just lit up because we'd walk into a room.  But I won Sudip over with a cushion fight a few days ago and yesterday after our awesome soccer game in the rain, where I had fallen all over the mud he ran out and jumped into my muddy arms after my team scored a goal.  It was so cute to see him clapping on the sidelines along with Nisha who watched most of the hour or so time we were playing.  She'd yell out, "Sister, sister very nice" and give me a thumbs up.  Samjhana, Manoj's wife, was also watching our game, but i later realized she was pretty angry with us because we were getting all muddy.  Her and Ganga eventually called off our game and she yelled something in Nepali, mostly to Manoj.  But Ganga couldn't help but laugh and she looked out from the upstairs window at the kids would just slip and fall in because of the rain and mud.  I think I smiled the whole time we were out there.

with Sudip

Everyday feels like a good day here now, I was afraid I'd just be spending the weeks mostly counting down to the weekends, but I am enjoying each day and almost each minute with the kids.  I am excited about Chitwan this weekend though.

Lights out

Tonight was great. The power went out just as we were about to watch tv after dinner. After a few minutes Manoj asked Sarah and I if we had any ideas of something to do. Sarah suggested singing. They sang us their Nepali National Anthem. Bhupin stood tall and stoic with his arms behind his back. Manoj led and every single one sang, lights out except our flashlights. It was filled with voices and culture.

After they finished they told us to sing our national anthem. At which point I couldn't thank Sarah enough for her suggestion of singing. And for whatever reason, I did. The entire Star Spangled Banner, solo. First time ever singing alone. I'm as bad as I'd thought I'd be, but I be damned if the children didn't have smiles on their faces and give me a huge round of cheers. Sarah sang a bit of Australia's national anthem, but she didn't know it all, lol. But either did they and they enjoyed her excerpt as well ;). With lights still out we had moved on to magic tricks and chatted. The whole day was good today, and Sarah and were both glad the power went out.

(foreshadow, we'd later learn that the power goes out regularly, very regularly, ha)