Saturday, 20 April 2013
Durbar Square in Kathmandu and the anniversary party.
Saturday 20th April
Today we went on a visit to the major cultural site in Kathmandu, Durbar Square. It is completely unlike anywhere I have been before. It is an enormous square surrounded by palaces, each with many courtyards within its walls. Nepal has been a democracy since about 2005. Prior to that there were always kings. In 2001, the crown prince fell out with his parents over his choice of a bride so he shot and killed the whole family before killing himself. His uncle took the throne but almost immediately gathered in the power to make himself an absolute monarch. The people rebelled especially the Maoist faction and there were many deaths before peace was restored. The Maoists are still agitating for more change.
Anyway, the centre of the square is chock full of huge temples, each belonging to a different god and I'm afraid that it was overload and I lost track of all the names, though I remember that Annapurna, like the mountain, means goddess with pot full of silver. There was one temple which had erotic carvings inside which were meant to deflect lightening from the temple. Lightening is the earthly form of the virgin goddess and she wouldn't want to see the carvings. However, although the temple was not open to the general public, you could go in if you were ”tantrically initiated" so that ruled me out. There was a temple to the monkey god and yes, I saw a monkey eating the offerings. It was a special holy day today to the god of rain and there was a huge pole with decorations on it on a great cart with large wooden wheels which was being pulled by water buffalo. There were lots of marigolds, rice and stuff I couldn't recognise being sold as offerings to the various gods. Also you could poke a bamboo stick into various street fires to give you good luck and long life, so I had a poke in as many fires as I could. However, apparently I didn't do it correctly as I didn't stir it round enough. I was actually afraid of singeing my hair. In one courtyard we saw the ritual slaughtering post where 54 water buffalo and 54 goats are slaughtered for sacrifice by beheading. 108 is a sacred number. What did they do with the carcasses? We found out when we walked through the market. There are of course many people hawking jewellery and purses etc in the square and they do not take no for an answer. One old woman had just one necklace to sell and followed us for the best part of twenty minutes. The price went down from 500 to 100 rupees in that time but we weren't interested. Finally she said, " crazy people" and stomped off. So full marks for good English.
When temple fatigue set in, we walked through the bazaar and then the market. Cashmere prices are fantastically low once you have haggled and there are lots of brass ornaments, sandals, saris, spices etc. The market is very basic. The butchers seem to have one big lump of meat, buffalo or goat, and they cut you a chunk off. Flies are a free, optional extra. There are also big baskets of all sorts of dried fish, as of course Nepal is far from the sea. But the fruit and vegetables are varied and really fresh.
Barbara bought some knitting wool for the girls at the orphanage. I had been asked to take some knitting needles over, which I did, but then we discovered they had no wool.
In the evening we went to the 13th Anniversary of the Orphanage at a hotel. Lots of local dignitaries were clapped and honoured with colourful scarves. We had no idea what was going on and were hugely embarrassed when our names were called out and we had to go up on the podium and be presented with scarves. We had decided to go in dresses and immediately regretted it as we were the only women there showing our legs and they made no effort to disguise looking us up and down. I don't think they were particularly disapproving but were surprised to see women with their legs on show. I had had taken a shawl with me so spent most of the evening draping in front of my legs.
The girls did their lovely dancing, the boys did their judo and there were lots and lots of speeches. However we did get an unexpected glass of wine to help things along. Suddenly we were called up again to receive a brass engraved dish on behalf of Saga. By this time, Barbara had her ceremonial scarf wound round her neck and trapped in her handbag and was struggling to get away from it.
I need to say how lovely and welcoming all the hosts were and how friendly everyone was. Lots of people made a special effort to come over and talk to us in English and we did feel like honoured guests.
Am still apparently not getting my photos posted correctly so I will try another way. Please let me know if its still not happening and I will send them to Facebook.
Today we went on a visit to the major cultural site in Kathmandu, Durbar Square. It is completely unlike anywhere I have been before. It is an enormous square surrounded by palaces, each with many courtyards within its walls. Nepal has been a democracy since about 2005. Prior to that there were always kings. In 2001, the crown prince fell out with his parents over his choice of a bride so he shot and killed the whole family before killing himself. His uncle took the throne but almost immediately gathered in the power to make himself an absolute monarch. The people rebelled especially the Maoist faction and there were many deaths before peace was restored. The Maoists are still agitating for more change.
Anyway, the centre of the square is chock full of huge temples, each belonging to a different god and I'm afraid that it was overload and I lost track of all the names, though I remember that Annapurna, like the mountain, means goddess with pot full of silver. There was one temple which had erotic carvings inside which were meant to deflect lightening from the temple. Lightening is the earthly form of the virgin goddess and she wouldn't want to see the carvings. However, although the temple was not open to the general public, you could go in if you were ”tantrically initiated" so that ruled me out. There was a temple to the monkey god and yes, I saw a monkey eating the offerings. It was a special holy day today to the god of rain and there was a huge pole with decorations on it on a great cart with large wooden wheels which was being pulled by water buffalo. There were lots of marigolds, rice and stuff I couldn't recognise being sold as offerings to the various gods. Also you could poke a bamboo stick into various street fires to give you good luck and long life, so I had a poke in as many fires as I could. However, apparently I didn't do it correctly as I didn't stir it round enough. I was actually afraid of singeing my hair. In one courtyard we saw the ritual slaughtering post where 54 water buffalo and 54 goats are slaughtered for sacrifice by beheading. 108 is a sacred number. What did they do with the carcasses? We found out when we walked through the market. There are of course many people hawking jewellery and purses etc in the square and they do not take no for an answer. One old woman had just one necklace to sell and followed us for the best part of twenty minutes. The price went down from 500 to 100 rupees in that time but we weren't interested. Finally she said, " crazy people" and stomped off. So full marks for good English.
When temple fatigue set in, we walked through the bazaar and then the market. Cashmere prices are fantastically low once you have haggled and there are lots of brass ornaments, sandals, saris, spices etc. The market is very basic. The butchers seem to have one big lump of meat, buffalo or goat, and they cut you a chunk off. Flies are a free, optional extra. There are also big baskets of all sorts of dried fish, as of course Nepal is far from the sea. But the fruit and vegetables are varied and really fresh.
Barbara bought some knitting wool for the girls at the orphanage. I had been asked to take some knitting needles over, which I did, but then we discovered they had no wool.
In the evening we went to the 13th Anniversary of the Orphanage at a hotel. Lots of local dignitaries were clapped and honoured with colourful scarves. We had no idea what was going on and were hugely embarrassed when our names were called out and we had to go up on the podium and be presented with scarves. We had decided to go in dresses and immediately regretted it as we were the only women there showing our legs and they made no effort to disguise looking us up and down. I don't think they were particularly disapproving but were surprised to see women with their legs on show. I had had taken a shawl with me so spent most of the evening draping in front of my legs.
The girls did their lovely dancing, the boys did their judo and there were lots and lots of speeches. However we did get an unexpected glass of wine to help things along. Suddenly we were called up again to receive a brass engraved dish on behalf of Saga. By this time, Barbara had her ceremonial scarf wound round her neck and trapped in her handbag and was struggling to get away from it.
I need to say how lovely and welcoming all the hosts were and how friendly everyone was. Lots of people made a special effort to come over and talk to us in English and we did feel like honoured guests.
Am still apparently not getting my photos posted correctly so I will try another way. Please let me know if its still not happening and I will send them to Facebook.
Friday, 19 April 2013
Preparations for the Anniversay party at the orphanage
Friday 19th April
Today we had our first casualty. Judy went down with Delhi Belly and had to stay in her room so it was just Barbara and I who went to the orphanage. Today they were holding a painting competition. The children could choose to enter and were given the theme of "My House". We wondered if this was a bit insensitive for orphans but no one seemed to bat an eyelid. They had a piece of A3 paper, a pencil and a little pallet with 6 little paint colours and they worked on the floor.
The older girls had a dancing lesson from a nice young man wearing a fake leather/plastic jacket in that heat! They were practising for tomorrow when they will be performing in the 13th anniversary party of the orphanage. They were so excited because they would get to wear special costumes. The boys did not want to dance (quelle surprise!) so I lent them my iPad to play Angry Birds.
The littles ones' classroom was locked because of all the preparations for tomorrow, so they were just wandering around. I played some sort of rolling a bit of round wood with a few of them. I have no idea if I was any good at it.
So we had plenty of time to wander ourselves and ask questions. We were told the stories of some of the children which were truly heart rending. One little girl was the result of a rape and another little girl and her brother had arrived at the orphanage only last week. Her parents lived in the hill country and could no longer afford to feed their six children so the orphanage took two. We asked how a mother could choose which of her children to give up and were told that the orphanage chose them. So sad.
It was very hot today in the morning so when we got back to the hotel, we went for a snooze and Barbara then came down with BD. I had a little wander round the Thamel district which is full of touristy shops and bought a face mask as it is very dusty (got a photo but can't post) then sat by the pool and read. But it looks like I am dining on my own tonight as the other two don't fancy eating. Hope I don't get whatever they have as we are going on a tour of Kathmandu tomorrow.
We meet the children
Thursday 18th April
We had our first proper day in the orphanage today. When we arrived the eight little ones were having writing practice. It was mostly copying in both Nepali script with some English and it was very good for children of their ages, 3 to 6. Then we had games like "Ring a Roses" and "I wrote a letter to my friend". The children all knew the words, in a fashion, and loved all the actions. One of the committee members came in and had them perform Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. If I ever get the hang of posting photos I will post a video of this. The fog horn voice is the Memsahib whom Barbara has named Mrs Gandhi. Some of the older children had started to drift up into the toddlers' room and the level of English in the 8 year olds is remarkable. I showed them photos of my house and the snow,and the pictures of Frank went down a storm. There are lots of dogs in the streets but they must be strays I think, as they look a bit uncared for and I don't suppose you could afford to feed a dog if you were struggling to feed your family.
Two of the older girls aged 13, have won scholarships to a private school, and honestly, their fluency in English would put our 6th formers to shame. Within a short time they wanted to hold our hands and hug us. They are so loving and eager to please. There are also three 15 year old boys who are in the orphanage at the moment on holiday but return to boarding school on Monday for three months. They all have sponsors. We asked about mealtimes and the children yesterday had a small bowl of noodles for lunch. Other days they have some spinach or cauliflower yet they don't look undernourished but they do get fed up with the repetitive food.
The sanitary arrangements are basic to put in kindly. Even the toilet in the administration area would probably be one you had a nightmare about. I took a photo of the gutters, which overflowed with dirty water.
We called in for a coffee at what is becoming our regular coffee shop, The Himalayan Java, and also to use the free wifi but there were repeated power cuts so the signal kept dropping. Actually there are planned power cuts for 10 hours per day and each building is in a rota but you still get smaller cuts in between. Today at the orphanage, there was not only a power cut but the water went off as well. Toilets even worse.
On the way back to the hotel, we passed a lovely shop selling hand made paper goods. Lovely wrapping paper, notebooks, wall decorations and lampshades etc. I bought a small mirror decorated with jungle animals.
Lastly we got a costing for our planned trip to go tiger spotting by elephant. We are travelling by road, 5 hours, to Chitwan, having 2 nights there and flying back. Not for another 2 weeks but am very excited about it.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
The Nepali banquet and meeting the orphans
Wednesday 17th April
Last night's dinner turned out to be a very authentic experience. The restaurant was an old palace of the kings of Nepal with wonderful old ceilings and carvings although the toilet was a bit like the krypton factor with a traditional Nepali locking system. I had to come out and ask our courier for help. Also they leave a pair of slippers outside the toilet for you to put on before you go in as you do not wear your shoes inside in Nepal. Some places have western toilets but most have the hole in the floor, so obviously you don't want to go in in bare feet.
We had rice wine and a seven course meal, apart from the rice, popcorn and fish, everything else was curried - cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, chicken, dal, momos. I had a large Everest beer to help it all along. Everything was served in brass cups and dishes which added to the flavour. But the best part was the ethnic music and dancing group. Half a dozen dances and songs from different parts of Nepal. I particularly liked the one where a boy passes a girl in the country and throws stones at her. He does this every day until she throws them back. Then they fall in love. I think I'd report him to the police.
When we left it absolutely poured with rain with thunder and lightening but the next day it was hot and humid. We were collected and taken to the orphanage to meet the chairman and a lady committee member who explained the philosophy of the foundation, which is the child, women's empowerment and the environment. the children are taught self sufficiency from an early age so they wash their own clothes and bedding among other things. imagine teenagers in the UK doing that without complaint. The children are there sometimes because their parents have died or because their parents can't keep them financially. Some are just left there and because they don't know who their parents are they are given the name of the orphanage as their surname. We were shown round and met quite a few of them as their schools were closed for a holiday. The little ones were very appealing and were having a writing lesson at which they were very good. The older girls were helping them and the older boys were playing chess or just sleeping, so obviously staying in bed is international for teenage boys.
In the afternoon we had a language lesson in Nepali. Obviously we couldn't use their script but we did learn some useful phrases. Bathroom kahaa chaa? Ma curry kantu. Ma mero Sue ho.
We called in at a very nice coffee shop, like a big Nepali Starbucks and back to the hotel.
PS am struggling to post my photos. If anyone has any advice to offer, please post it.
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