Small world...

I am currently in Godavri, which is on the outskirts of Kathmandu, right in the mountains. It is beautiful! I have been staying out here with the other JV's for the past couple of days and it has been really nice. They all teach at St. Xavier which is a Level 1-10 Jesuit school. I went with them yesterday and was able to sit in on classes, which was alot of fun. School is very different here. First, age does not correlate with grade. It is very common to fail so for example you can be 15 and in level 7. Which is another issue, that I dont know enough about to get into. Also, all the girls in level 1-8 have to wear pigtails, its a femininity thing, which I was astounded to see. I never associated how I wear my hair with my gender, which can be seen in the short hair I have from 1st to 2nd grade. Its weird to see all these girls with pigtails, it just really throws ya. But gender roles in genral is an interesting thing in Nepal. You get a different answer from each person when asked. There are however some very strong Nepali women, and like most countries especially poorer ones, with out them they would not survive. Here it is the "job" of the woman of a house to collect feed for the animals, so they go out and cut grass and weeds with machete like kinves and then place them all in a huge basket. They then place the strap of their basket across their foreheads and carry it this way. This is only the physical strength. Most of the women here run their families because the husbands are working away or just don't care. They have such a prescence in the country but are not respected in that way, which is interesting and something I still have alot to learn about. Another thing I dont know if I'll get use to and I hope I don't, is corpal punishment. All, but the JV teachers use it which makes discipline for them hard, since the students know they won't hit them, but they have come up with creative ways, such as the Extra Homework Club, which is exactly what it sounds like. But the funniest thing about the school is the fact that the principle is a Marquette Alum, and that Fr. Wilde has been to St. Xavier. What a small world. I think I might be Fr. Matthew's (the prinicpal) new favorite because of this. He has already asked me to judge the competition students have this Friday. Overall the school is a wonderful place. Though, I know some of the JV's struggle because it is private and alot of the students here are from wealthier families, so there not helping the village children as much. I guess I don't see the issue as much becuase I know how hard my family worked for me to go to a private school and I am sure its the same for alot of these parents, and wealth in a Nepal village is very different then wealth elsewhere. These families are not living in the gated communities, thats for sure. The school also, has alot of scholarship students which come from within the village. And I guess I feel that even those who pay the fees deserve a good education too, and you shouldn't feel bad for providing it. But I also, am just getting a birds eye view so we'll see what I think in a year.
Yesterday, D (JV) and I went on a walk in the Botanical Gardens here. It was gorgeous, and I see why people fall in love with it. It's a far cry from the pollution of the city I see all the time. I really do enjoy my time here. Last night it was just Sarah, D and I in the house since Chris was in town, (which I learned means the city where I live) and we had fun talking and joking around about life when we get home. Its nice to hear them talking about being comfortable here since they have only been here six months so they still remember what it feels like to be me. We also, shared a bottle of Tuborg Denmark's finest bottled beer. Which is okay to drink unlike the rice beer which I learned is all bacteria...Oh Nepal, it never fails to amaze me.