Week 2 in Sirutar! :)

We got alot of work done this week on the project site. We began with clearing ALOT of wood from the school building site, which took us about a day and a half. While I was doing this two local school children came up to me and asked for a hand shake and then kissed my hand. I was like awww. After we cleared the wood we began levelling ground by removing soil so the floors could be put down. We then collected bricks and brought them to the site. We used the bricks to make a base for the floors. It was like doing a jigsaw puzzle. The remaining two walls of upstairs in the school were also completed. There was alot of water overflowing onto the bottom floor of the school, which didn't smell to good either, so we began to dig a drench to divert the water away from the school building. This week felt like we were doing something productive especially as we could see the physical difference we were making.

This week was Charyles' birthday. I hope you had a good one :) and enjoyed your cheesypuffs. As it was Charyles birthday we decided that on our day off we would go to Kathmandu to celebrate. The excitment had been building all week for our first night of freedom and our extended curfew on a Friday of 10.30 pm ...woop!! We all went out for pizza and a couple of beverages. We then headed to Sam's Bar for a few. In Sam's Bar there are signatures of customers all over the walls. We saw the previous Platform2 volunteers had left their mark so we decided to do the same. I wrote Platform2 Sirutar on the wall and then we all signed under it. Of course there is always one to mess things up....Thomas! Everyone puts their name under Platform2 except Tom who obviously puts his at the other side of the wall. I also noticed a hurl on the wall so of course I hada leave my mark on that with a little Ard Mhacha Abu. (It means up Armagh in Irish, which is the gaelic football team I support). Tom (being Irish aswell) wanted to do the same but he managed to smell his team Antrim wrong....doh! It was a great nights craic.

We left Kathmandu to head back to Sirutar. While I was on the bus I saw a cow attack 2 people in the street. When we got back we all decided to watch a movie. There was a power cut but James had a mini laptop over with him so we all crowded around to watch the Blind Side. It has been the only time i'v cried since I got here....great movie! Charyle's nepali family wanted to have a joint birthday party for her and her nepali sister, so on Sunday we got an extended curdew till 8 pm .... yes 8 pm.... woop! I wish I had a nepali birthday. It was so cute. They bought both of them cakes with their names on them with sparklers coming out of them. The mother then blessed us all by giving us "Tika". A tika is made of red and yellow dye. They bless you by putting it in the middle of your forehead and then by placing a flower on ur head. Once again it was a great night.

This week it was James' and my turn to give a presentation on climate change and the environment which went well. I was proud of our poster/presentation. A few things we learnt from this was about how Global Warming was causing flooding, droughts etc. throughout the world. We knew this fact already but in Nepal we can see/hear about the effects. On the way back from Kathmandu you can see people living in tents along the river banks as their homes have been destroyed by floods. You can also see children bathing in these dangerous waters. Climate change has also caused the rainy season in Nepal to be delayed which makes it difficult for the population to find water during these times. We learnt that the UK is the 3rd highest country for its carbon emissions which causes Global Warming. We can all do our bit by doing simple things such as recycling and by wasting less energy, food and water. A fact we also learnt was that in 2020 the Maldives will be under water.