Day by Day

I am often asked about what life like is here, as in day to day life. It is hard to paint a picture of what my life is here, because it is a combination of mundane daily tasks, and unexplainable, unique experiences to Nepal. For example, today I hopped on a Micro to town to do some shopping, check mail, boring things, but on the way in we hit a jam because there was a cow in the middle of the road that wouldn't move, unusual unique to Nepal situation. Although it is these type of situations that make living here the experience it is. So I will do my best to explain what my days like are here.

I live in Godavari, which is a village, and quite the difference from Ekantakuana which was the city, but I am definitely enjoying being in a village. Things are quieter, peaceful, and in general more what I was looking for when I applied to JVI. The house we live in is the old Rana summer palace, but it is not the castles of Cinderella or Harry Potter. It is an old house, with big beautiful round windows, that let in the wonderful smells of the botanical gardens behind us. We live upstairs, in three bedrooms, a kitchen, and an incredibly creepy old attic, where we hang our clothes. Downstairs, are two teachers and their families. Khagendra Sir, lives under Denise's and my room, so I am often woken up by their 10 month old son's laughter. The Buddhiraj’s live on the other side and have two children who are at SXG. Bhuddiraj Sir is a Nepali teacher so my grammar is getting better by the day, and his wife is one of my biggest comforts here. Samprada and Sambid, their children, are great and Sambid is a constant reminder of what a younger sibling would be like. The school is about a five minute walk from our house (conveniently past chiyaa stands). My family lives about 20 minutes uphill from us, which has been really good for me, to be closer to them.

Each day we get up around 6:30 and start the coffee, which means turning on the hot water for the instant stuff. Then it’s the usual morning shuffle, of eating toast, showering some days, getting dressed, and finishing school things. We head up to school around 8:15, unless we have things to do at school then a lil earlier.

Once at school, the craziness begins. I sign in at the office, crossing my fingers that I don't get handed a substitution, taking away one of my only breaks. Then I head to the lower staff room where I get everything organized at my desk, finish lesson plans, check the sari, and head out to first period. I am a class teacher this year, so I have a homeroom. My class is 3C and they are quite the characters, which I love, most days. I have my favorites as all teachers do regardless of what they say.

One is Denish. He looks like he is four, but has the personality of a hyperactive forty year old. Most days he comes up to me with “Miiiissssss , and then some story of why he didn’t do his homework, or questions about why my eyes are blue, or how he flew, anything really. Which is the exact reason why I love him. Dinesh is a kid with a good heart, who likes to make others laugh and somehow always ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. To be honest, I would not be surprised to walk into class one day and see him sitting on the shelf; it just fits. He just loves and needs love.

All of my students our wonderful and I lucked out with the class I have. Although I have my days with them, like the time one of my students Pratik got in trouble for jumping out the window (were on the bottom floor), and I had to explain with a straight face why jumping from the window in class is not an okay way to leave, even if it is closer to the bathroom.

I also teach class 1 math and special English. Class 1 is a bit of a challenge because they don’t speak English when they start, so Special English, which is a supplementary English class is interesting; although my Nepali has really improved. The kids in class 1 are good for the most part, and I have come to have much more patience with them, which makes it easier. They also are just funny to be around because of what they do. It is not uncommon to walk into class and have kids with pants on backwards, desks turned around, and usually the class captain trying to keep order, which means hitting the kids who are running around while screaming in a mix of Nepali English “Hey, Sit now. NO Talk.” Or my favorite come to the door, see me coming and go running into the classroom screaming “ MISS IS COMING, MISS IS COOOOMMMMIIIINNNGGGG!!!.” Needless to say teaching class 1 keeps me on my toes.

I also teach all of class 3 math, which is better then I thought. My whole life I avoided any type of math, and now I teach it. But it’s good and my basic math skills are really improving. Class 3 is an interesting mix of students caught between being little adults and being little kids. I am at a unique age, where they no longer feel like little kids, but are not too cool for things yet. So while they don’t want to play duck-duck goose, they are willing to make funny sounds as their team buzzer during review games. Also, they have some of the biggest personalities around which is fun.

St. Xavier’s has 8 period days with three breaks. A ten minute break for chiyaa in-between 2nd and 3rd period, Tiffin (lunch) after 4th period and then another ten minute break between 6th and 7th. It is so the kids can run around and get some of that energy out which is good. The school has 4 main buildings for classes. My classes are under Loyola hall, which is the main auditorium, and in the upper building. They are not connected so to go from building to building you go outside, which has been great in the monsoon season. I learned the hard way to always bring an umbrella to class! Besides class buildings, there is are two staff rooms, one up where chiyaa is served near the junior and senior classes, and one where no one goes near the younger classes, I’m sure you can guess where I was put. And then there is a canteen for those students who buy lunch, a library, computer lab and Jesuit residence where staff eats a delicious lunch of Dhaal Bhaat (lentils and rice) everyday.

One of my favorite things about the school is the swimming pool, not because I like swimming so much, but because it is a round fountain that students swim in. It can hold a little over 5 ft of water and they keep the level based on which class is in the water. I think Denise said it best that when class 1 & 2 swim it is reminiscent of Titanic.

After school depending on the day, I am either doing tuition which is after-school tutoring for students who live in the village, volleyball for class 9 &10, or Social club which is Social Justice type group. Although I am attempting to make my switch to dance club.
Then I sometimes head up to my family’s house where I have chiyaa, talk, and just relax. If I don’t stay the night, I head back, usually stopping at Mangoli Misses house (one of my favorite teachers) or other students houses, making it back in time to cook dinner depending on who’s night it is. Then we have community night once a week and spirituality night once a week (with Katie and Sean). If its not one of those nights, then I usually am doing school work, reading or if it’s winter and no power sleeping.

As I said life here is pretty simple, which is good when you balance it with gender dynamics, language barriers, being foreigner and all the heavier things we deal with. I still sometimes feel like this is all a big dream, and often can’t believe how lucky I am to know those I do here and to see and experience all that I do, but it is a day by day thing, as hard and wonderful as that can be.