Chapter 2: Nepal 7-Aug-08 to 8-Sep-08 First 10 days +ve spin rating: 5 out of 10

'only a positive spin of 5?' I hear you ask, all will be revealed...

so yes I made it to Kathmandu, Nepal at around 12.45 (5hrs 45mins ahead of GMT?!) and yes they let me into their country... wait a minute I've already left out so many details! The flight in was a good one and the landing fine despite what J Mac told me about it being one of the worst airports ever. It wasn't till the plane turned left at the end of the runway that I realized what he was on about; the cliff face that the plane would fall off if it didn't stop in time. Then the 'airport building' itself appeared, a sure hint of what to expect from the rest of Kathmandu. Anyway, so they give me a Visa ($40 for 30 days) and I exited arrivals to be met by Chandra, the Umbrella Foundation Volunteers Officer. We then got a 'taxi' to the Volunteer House in Swayumbhunath via the 'roads... I swear it was the most ridiculous journey I've ever been on! The car steering wheels are on the right which means they should drive on the left, right?! Well it turns out that's for only 50% of the time, anything goes as long as your equipped with a functioning horn, I shudder to think what would happen if every vehicle did not have a functioning horn. Actually I think that's one of the reasons their vehicles are in such crap condition, they focus all their attention on ensuring the horn operates. Other reasons include - the roads are s***; there are no such thing as traffic lights; 'roundabouts are not actually roundabouts as we know it; pedestrians also use the road to walk on. That's enough about the roads, I got to my next month's accommodation in one piece. Oh yea, we stopped at a money exchange place where I got the Nepali exchange rate and not the tourist exchange rate because they know Chandra. Sweet!

The first person to greet me in the house was a French volunteer who then introduced me to another French volunteer, who in turn introduced me to several more French volunteers. It dawned on me later on that there were a lot of French volunteers here, 8 male of 9 in total - (I was the 9th) and about 8 female of say 13 (other nationalities inc English, Oz, Dutch and an Ulster hater (Cork) girl). I got a bit of kip, woke up in a pool of sweat, then went to Sol Himal boys (one of the 8 orphanage houses and the one that I would be allocated to) at 7pm for a dance program they were putting on for my arrival. Imagine! It was for all the freaking French. It was class, kids from 5 to about 10 singing and dancing to Nepali and Hindi music for an hour and a half, plus a bit of yours truly in the middle of it. I got dragged up, I warned the occasion may turn very sour when they saw my moves but they had none of it. I don't think my dancing was as loved as I hear the Johnny dance was in Uganda, but it wasn't a complete disaster either.

Afterwards I went with some volunteers who happened to be French into Thamel, the tourist area of Kathmandu. No clubs or raves here, but we did find a Reggae bar. The band playing were excellent, a bunch of Nepalese lads playing anything from Coldplay to Bob Marley. Taxi in and taxi back similar to the taxi journey from the airport except this time in the dark and the rain.... 'twas fun!

The next few days consisted of getting up around 6.30 / 7 am to go meet my 53 Sol Himal boys while they got ready for school (study, play, mess, fight, bump head, eat with right hand, clean plate and teeth, mess, fight, fall over, put on uniform, play, line up, walk to school, fight, arrive at school). Sometimes I went into the school for a few classes but the teachers had this idea that I was going to teach the kids all they needed to know in academia and life, I quickly put that one to bed and decided to be a 10 year old pupil instead. I learned a lot about where to put apostrophes and commas in, English class. The kids are so enthusiastic and clever, the school facilities do not compare to their level of intelligence.

After that I needed to be ready for the daily lunch (for the French, but I gate crashed) at 12pm in a different orphanage house each day, every time the food was delicious (rice was in there every time, a given). I dunno if they've seen Father Ted but the cook's and servers kind of resemble the character of Mrs Doyle, or even Anne Mac. Before you have a chance to respond to the offering of more food its on your metal plate. They serve Tea after in a metal cup with no handle, I've no longer any sensation in my finger tips.

From then on its 'free time' till the kids get back from school between 3.30 and 4pm. School doesn't seem to tire them, they get back, study some more, fight over erasers and books and be noisy, however it is at this point that you thank your lucky stars for Mani, the oldest kid in the house at 19... the kids do whatever Mani says, I also do whatever Mani says (when I understand him that is). Then its Dalbaht time at 6pm i.e. rice (a given), other grain, a soupy sauce and some veg curry type thing. Its nice, I've now mastered eating with my right hand like the kids (remember no sensation in my finger tips anymore so the fact that its roasting hot doesn't matter anymore) and learnt that protecting your plate with your arm and saying 'malaii pugye danyabaad' - I've had enough thank you - reduces the possibility of unwanted seconds. By the way breakfast and dinner consist of the same ingredients. My backs in pieces too, sitting on the floor the whole time, they don't do chairs here.

For dessert its playing and fighting and shouting then it was time to leave Sol Himal boys to make the daily dance program at 7pm, this time in another house. Again very entertaining and sweaty once we were all dragged up to dance. We, the volunteers enjoyed ourselves, but the kids seemed to have the time of their lives, it was a delight to be involved in every night.

These nights were of course not complete without talking s*** with the rest of the volunteers over a few beers in the volunteer house. Regis, Geremi and Alex (all French in case you didn't know) get a special mention here.

You know as I'm writing this now I'm wondering why I put the +ve spin rating at 5, I'm in a good mood and maybe it should be higher. To be honest though I had a week of trying to figure out where I as a volunteer could contribute to this foundation because the kids are very well looked after and their living conditions, relatively speaking, are far better than most other family houses. Granted they are living in an orphanage and not with their families but that's an issue in Nepal I'm not going to get deep into, believe me though, there are big problems here!

On Wednesday 13-Aug-08 morning nearly all the French volunteers left us to go to Gurje, 20km north of Kathmandu into the Himalayas, to help with phase 1 of building a new centre where all the kids from Kathmandu Umbrella Foundation are to be moved within 2 years (hopefully the website explains all this in more detail). I was from that point the only male volunteer left in Kathmandu (-ve buzz - my room was all of a sudden very empty), but it gave me a chance to figure out how I would contribute to Umbrella Foundation.

That's all been turned on its head now though because as of tomorrow (18-Aug-08) I'm being posted to Gurje for a week... they need more muscle there so the Giante Verte has been called upon. I've seen some pictures, the scenery look out of this world, very exciting. Back to the sticks I go, I'm thinking the next 10 days +ve spin rating could go up... I'll fill you in sometime next week hopefully.