Sappo!

Things are swell here as usual. We've finished removing the last of the trees from the playground area and flattened the ground ready for construction. I will miss working on them, it was so satisfying when you sweat for hours chopping and digging and then they'd finally come loose. We arranged all the roots we'd got out on a concreted area so they didn't sink back into the grass when it rained. It ended up looking like a tree graveyard/hall of fame.

Now that all the trees are out we will most likely all be working together on the school building. As much as I liked going down to the tree's with a few people, we do work so well as a complete team. If anything needs moving or requires a lot of people to do it, without anyone even having to organize us it's like, bang, and we form a chain or form into teams and the tasks done. Hopefully this will speed up the work and we'll come home with even more done.

Before I go on I should say I forgot to mention last week's global discussion in my last blog. I'm really surprised that I did because it was the best one yet! Alice led a discussion on HIV and Aids. She made it really interactive and informative and I must admit, really changed some of my misconceptions about HIV and Aids. We all agreed we learnt so much.

This week Chloe and Jasmine led a discussion on Water and sanitation. This was also an informative presentation, but it was a DVD that we watched after their talk that really got to me. It was basically about global misuse of fresh water and various corporations turning water into a commodity. It made me quite angry to see the exploitation going on. How can someone make water, the foundation of everything around, into a commodity? A product? It's ridiculous.

We've watched a fair few DVDs out here, mostly as contingency plans when we've been rained off. They've been on a variety of subjects; global warming, trade, water. For the most part they've angered and upset most of us, especially the ones about global warming and climate change. I really do wonder whether, as a species, we're too selfish/stupid/short sighted to do something about climate change. Unless something is immediately affecting a large number of people in a developed country, it is very hard to motivate politicians to do anything about it. There are just so many factors working against any concrete action, it really makes me despair. I will try to do my bit, regardless!

Last Thursday Khem took us trekking on some nearby hills. To your average Nepali they are probably classed as barely foothills, but a few people were struggling in our group. Me and James were out the front leading the charge obviously haha. I had to laugh when we all struggled up what we thought was a fairly difficult climb, and at the top of the hill there was a primary school! Kids staring at us probably were thinking 'why are they all red faced/sweaty/struggling to breath'.

In our free time we play quite a lot of cards, and I've finally got round to learning how to play Poker, something I've been meaning to do for years. We also get the occasional chance to watch a DVD in the office. I forgot how good Rambo 2 and 3 are!

I was chatting to our Brother yesterday about more differences in Nepalese and British culture, it's becoming almost a daily chat we have now. I remarked that the two that take the most getting used to are that no one says 'thank you' or 'goodbye' here. The thank you thing (not sure if I've mentioned before sorry) is that in Nepal, people will do stuff for you because they believe they should, they don't need to be thanked. In fact, saying thank you in a shop/restaurant/bar will mark you out as a foreigner.

The goodbye thing is more to do with the fact there is no word for goodbye in Nepalese. People will literally be talking to you then turn round and walk off. That has left me stood awkwardly on the street a few times, watching someone walk off like 'bye then....'. When you do say 'goodbye' or 'thank you' here, people often just giggle and smile at you.

But these are minor glitches. As I say every blog, life out here is great and the people are really friendly. Our host family is the best and I'm beginning to realize I will really miss them when we go. I think they will miss us too, especially our little brother Pratik, we have such a laugh with him now.

But I do miss everyone at home, and now everyone's back at Uni I'm anxious to get back and crack on with my final year!

One more curious thing I've noticed out here. A lot of the programs and films shown on TV are Indian. Most Indians speak Hindi, which is quite similar to Nepali and therefore can be understood here. Watching these Indian TV shows and films, I've cottoned onto the smattering of English in the actor's vocabularies. On live shows, dramas, comedies, everything, every 6th or 7th sentence, the actor will say something in English. My elder Sister said it's often because no phrase will exist in Hindi for what the actor is trying to say. I find it crazy and wonder whether it's a relic of the British Empire in India? With India emerging as a global power onto the world stage and Western and Indian culture fusing together, I wonder whether this usage of English will eventually evolve into a Hindi/English hybrid language? Would such a language be embraced or resisted as an attack on Hindi culture? We shall see.

Thanks for reading!

Love

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