Namaste!
I’ve made it to Nepal; the land of Never Ending Peace and Love!
I’ll be here for 3 months working in orphanages. I’m living in Pokhara, Nepal which is a town up in the mountains and when the weather is clear, I have an amazing view of the snow-capped mountains 🙂 I live in a small village called Maile Bhutan with the coordinator, Krishna, and his family.
Life in Nepal is very different than in Sri Lanka. There is almost never electricity; the power usually comes on around 7:00pm and is gone the next morning. There is no warm water; this didn’t bother me much in Sri Lanka because it was so hot, I was usually craving a cold shower, but the weather is much colder in Nepal, so a cold shower isn’t very enjoyable. We eat dhal bhat (rice and lentils) for every meal; literally, every single meal. I’m fine with it now, but I think that once I leave Asia, I’ll cringe at the sight of rice.
I’m working at Pokhara Nestling Home, which is an orphanage in my village only a ten minute walk from my homestay. Working at the Nestling Home is great. There are only 11 kids there and they’re all adorable.
I go to the orphanage at 7:45 every morning. In the mornings, I help the children get ready for school and help with the morning dhal bhat. At 9:30, I walk the kids to school, which should be just a 15-20 minute walk to the main road, but it sometimes take close to half an hour because I walk with Paban and he loves to stop and pick up anything cool he finds on the ground. After dropping off the kids, I go back to the orphanage to help Auntie with whatever she needs. Usually I just help with the dishes and the laundry. When the chores are over, I’m have free time until the kids get done with school. I pick the kids up from school at 3:30 and walk them back home, where they get lunch. After lunch, we go back into the rooms and I help them with their homework. When homework is done, I hang out with the kids until it gets dark. We sing, dance, draw, go outside, and just do whatever they want until dark.
At around 6:30 – 6:45ish, I walk back home for evening dhal bhat. Sometimes, I’ll go to Lakeside for the night, which is the touristy area of Pokhara, but some nights I just stay in and hang out with the volunteers.
I’m really happy in Nepal. I miss Sri Lanka terribly, but I’m super excited to be in Nepal for the next 3 months!
